The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights

Forced Disappearance is defined as 'the forceful detention of an identified person, by a governmental employee or by organized groups, or normal individuals alleging that they work for the government, and by hiding this person or refusing to reveal his fate or admit that he is detained'.
Through its fieldwork investigation in 1992, EOHR monitored and documented forced disappearance of fifty-eight people.
The fates of seventeen were discovered, however the rest are still considered to be missing.
This dangerous trend of violations emerged in the 1990s as one of the consequences of armed violence and the conflict between state security and armed Islamic groups.
According to EOHR's follow up of these cases, there is a strong link with the phenomenon of political violence, which the Egyptian society witnessed, and the phenomenon of forced disappearance.
The geographical distribution of most of the people who disappeared during that time shows that there is a clear connection between forced disappearance and places with a high incidence of violence.
Unfortunately, despite the seriousness of this violation, the Egyptian government has not taken any mentionable steps to open investigations in any of the cases of disappearance even though EOHR and victims' families have presented complaints and reports.
The positive step that EOHR monitored during 2002 came from the Egyptian judiciary and is represented by the sentence handed down by the Egyptian Administrative Court in the State Council dated 26 November 2002.
The sentence compelled the Interior Ministry to pay LE 100 thousand to the family of a detainee who was supposed to be in prison since 1989, but could not be located.
The Court considered the victim to be missing.
This came in lawsuits number 6525/45, 6687/45, and 855/45 raised by the family of the detainee Mustafa Muhammad Abdel Hamid Othman against the Minister of Interior.
They raised the lawsuit after they had presented a petition to the court requesting to end the implementation and revoke the decision of refraining from telling the family of the whereabouts of the victim.
They also requested the Minister of Interior to cover all costs.
The petition explained that an order to detain their son, Mustafa Muhammad Abdel Hamid Othman, who is registered in the third year of Medical school, Zakazik University, was issued on 17 December 1989 without informing his family of the reasons for and place of detention.
When they inquired as to the place of detention, they were told that their son was detained in Istikbal Turrah Prison.
On 12 April 1990, the General Prosecutor allowed them to visit him in prison, but the prison authorities verbally stated that the detainee has been released.
Since then, the family has no knowledge of the whereabouts of their son.
In 2002, EOHR received information on the disappearance of three individuals.
EOHR contacted officials but did not receive any replies as to the whereabouts of the detainees, which raises doubts about their fate.
These cases are:
1. Sherif Metwally Saeed:
On 6 July 2002, EOHR received a complaint from the family of Sherif Metwally Saeed, a 23-year-old Egyptian citizen carrying Identification Card Number 202307.
He was arrested on 30 April 2000 at around 11:30 pm while he was outside his home.
According to the information, which EOHR received, the family did not know the reason for the arrest or the place of detention and he never returned home.
The family submitted a missing-persons report number 4846 for the year 2000, Hadaek el-Quba.
The family requested the prison authority to hold an inquiry.
The authority later replied that the aforementioned was not to be found in prisons in Egypt.
The family also presented many petitions to different bodies but to no avail.
From its side, EOHR contacted concerned officials to investigate the petition and find out the fate of the victim.
2. Mustafa Muhammad Abdel Hamid Othman:
A decision to arrest the aforementioned person was issued on 17 December 1989. When the family inquired as to the place of his detention, they were informed that he was being detained in Istikbal Turrah Prison, but were not told the reason for the arrest.
Mustafa Muhammad Abdel Hamid Othman was a student in the Faculty of Medicine, Zakazik University.
On 12 April 1990, his family requested a permit to visit their son.
However, the prison administration informed them that their son was not there.
They presented a complaint. An order to release him was issued on 22 April 1990.
However, the family has not heard from him since.
3. Muhammad Abdel Rahim Abdel Baki Emeish:
EOHR received a complaint on 18 August 2002 from the family of the aforementioned, a 20-year-old Egyptian citizen carrying National Identity Card Number:
28101022602523.
They said that he was arrested on 13 September 2001 while he was on his way to the city of Asiut to visit one of his relatives.
He was stopped by State Security Police Officers on his way and was then arrested.
His family insists that their son has not committed any crimes and that he is not involved in any political activities.
The family also insists that since he was arrested they have not been informed about the place of or the reason for detention.
The Family reported the situation in report number 3438 of the year 2001, Tama Administrative.
EOHR contacted concerned officials to investigate the complaint and release the aforementioned person.

List of Forced Disappearance Cases, investigated and documented by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights

Those who Disappeared in 1992
No:	Name	Residence	Date and place of Disappearance	Political inclination/td>	Concerned Authority
1	Mahmoud Ahmed Badawy Fayed	Tama, Sohag	28 June 1992	No political inclination	Police forces
2	Adel Saoudy Abdel Rasoul	Cairo	1992	No political inclination	Police forces
3	Muhammad Attiya Hafez	Al-Tebbin, Cairo	Al-Tebbin; 25 February 1992	Student with no political inclination	Armed forces
4	Gomaa Muhammad Abdel Razek	Dakahliya	Dakahliya 7 June 1992	No political inclination	State Security Investigating Bureau
Those who Disappeared in 1993
5	Mansour Rashid al-Kikha	Libya	Cairo, 11 December 1993	Former Libyan Foreign Minister	Unknown body
6	Abdel Fattah Abdel Dayem Aly	Idfo, Aswan	1993		State Security Investigating Bureau
7	Bahaa Eddin Abdel Raouf	Aswan	13 August 1993	No political activities	State Security Investigating Bureau
8	Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammad	Aswan	Aswan, 7 April 1993	No political activities	State Security Investigating Bureau
Those who Disappeared in 1994
9	Magdy Muhammad Aly	Melawy, Minia	Mahras, 28 October 1994	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
10	Mustafa Kamel Sayed	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 7 November 1994	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
11	Ahmed Shelkamy Hosni	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 5 November 1994	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
12	Farghaly Abdel Rahman Hosni	Manfalout, Asiut	Manfalout, 14 November 1994	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
13	Abdel Nasser Muhammad	Kalyobiya	Kalyobiya, 9 April 1994	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau/td>
14	Magdy Muhammad Aly	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 28 April 1994	No political activity	Police forces
15	Muhammad Farghaly Muhammad	Minia	Minia, 13 November 1994	Leader of political group	State Security Investigating Bureau
16	Mustafa Aly Mahmoud	Sohag	Asiut, 15/4/1994	Suspected to be in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
Those who Disappeared in 1995
17	Sobhi Abdel Hady	Melawy, Minia	Asiut, 29 August 1995	Student and suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
18	Khaled Muhammad	Sohag	Sohag, 1995	Suspected in connection with armed groups
19	Sayed Aly Hassan	Minia	Minia, 27 September 1995	Suspected in connection with armed groups
20	Talaat Fouad Kassem	Minia	Croatia	One of the leaders of political groups	Egyptian and Croatian Security forces
21	x	Melawy, Minia	31 October 1995	Suspected in connection with political groups	Police Forces
22	Muhammad Mabrouk Muhammad Othman	Al-Adwa, Minia	14 February 1995		State Security Investigating Bureau
23	Yousry Khalifa	Cairo	November 1995	No political activities	State Security Investigating Bureau
24	Khaled Muhammad al-Sayed	Sohag	November 1995	Student and suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau.
Those who Disappeared in 1996
25	Khaled Muhammad Abdel Rahman	Abu Kirkas, Minia	14 September 1996	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
26	Nasser Khayri Tanash	Abu Kirkas, Minia	Abu Kirkas, 14 September 1996	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
27	Nabil Muhammad Hosni	Beni Suef	Beni Suef, 7 July 1996	Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigating Bureau
28	Aly Mansour Ahmed	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 1 October 1996	Suspected in connection with political groups
29	Abdel Sabour Abdullah	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 5/96	No political activities	Police forces
30	Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud	Asiut	Minia 5/10/96	No political activities
31	Omar Tawfik Tony	Minia	Minia, 5/10/96	No political activities
32	Amer Abdel Hamid Sawy	Minia	Minia, 26/2/96	No political activities
33	Aly Mansour al-Gamal	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 1/10/96	Hiding runaways	State Security Investigating Bureau
34	Abdel Sabour Abdullah	Melawy, Minia	Melawy, 1/10/96	Farmer. Hiding runaways	State Security Investigating Bureau
35	Emad Afifi Hammam	Abu Kirkas, Minia	Abu Kirkas, 25//2/96	Farmer. No political inclinations	Police force
36	Mahmoud Ahmed Shokeir	Asiut	Asiut, May 1996		Police Force
Those who Disappeared in 1997
37	Gihad Farouk Abdel Moneim	Suez	24 February 1997	Criminal with no political inclination	Criminal Investigators in El-Arbaein police force
38	Sami Sayed Muhammad	Beni Suef	Beni Suef, 7 July 1997	Teacher Suspected in connection with political groups	State Security Investigation Bureau
39	Atef Muhammad Khalaf	Minia	Minia 1997		Police Force
40	Boutros Markus Iskander	Minia	Melawy, 4 August 1997		Police force
41	Walid Abdel Gowad Abdel Ghaffar	Cairo	2 February 1997	No political inclination	Police force
42	Nasser Suleiman Yassin	Minia	Minia, 5 May 1997	Suspected in connection with political groups
43	Walid Abdel Gowad	Cairo	Atay el-Baroud, 23 February 97	No political activities	Police force
44	Mustafa Muhammad Abdel Hamid Othman	Sharkiya	7 December 1997		State Security Investigation Bureau
45	Sami Sayed Aly Muhammad	Al-Wasty, Beni Suef	Al-Wasty, 7 July 1997	Suspected with political activities	State security Investigating Bureau
Those who Disappeared in 2000
46	Sherif Saeed Metwally	Hadaek el-Quba, Cairo	30 April 2000		Police Force
47	Hossam Eddin Refaat	Sohag	Sohag, 8 March 2000	No political activity	Police force
48	Muhammad Abdel Hamid Metwally	Kalyobiya	8 March 2000	Trade in weapons	Police force
Those who Disappeared in 2001
49	Muhammad Abdel Rahim Abdel Baki Amish	Sohag	13 September 2001		State Security Investigating Bureau
50	Muhammad Abdel Rahim Abdel Rahman	Toma, Sohag	Sohag, 13 September 2001		State Security Investigating Bureau