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Arish…indiscriminate arrest, detention and torture: stop the tragedy
9/11/2004
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) today issues its report Arish…random arrest, detention and torture: stop the tragedy. The 25-page report deals with the human rights violations faced by residents of Arish, north Sinai following the Taba bombings. Egyptian security forces make indiscriminate mass arrests and detain women and children as "pawns" in an attempt to force suspects to turn themselves in. Many detainees are tortured while in police custody. These acts are a flagrant violation of the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights instruments ratified by Egypt which guarantee the right to life and personal security
EOHR drew on information from the statements of people whose relatives had been arrested as well as witnesses who confirmed that security bodies have arrested some 3,000 residents of Arish and neighbouring villages since the Taba explosions. Mass arrests are periodically carried out and at any one time the security forces office holds some 100 -150 individuals who are interrogated before being sent to detention. Another group then takes their place.
In addition to this, security forces hold women and children as "pawns" in order to force suspects to come forward. Houses are stormed, their occupants terrorised and in some cases personal possessions destroyed as part of these operations. Several witnesses confirm that while patrolling the streets looking for a suspect security forces forcibly lift the veil from the faces of women wearing a full veil covering (revealing only the eyes).
Arish residents also testify that detainees, including women and children, have been subject to various forms of torture. They daily hear terrible screams coming from the security forces office, evidence that they are inflicting torture on detainees.
These acts come despite EOHR's press statement issued immediately after the Taba bombings which urged security forces to respect human rights during their investigations into the identity of the perpetrators of the bombings, and treat suspects in a humane manner which respects their human dignity. While recognising that combating armed violence and protecting citizens is of paramount importance, it stated that respect for human rights and standards of justice can and must form an integral part of the counter terrorism efforts and security investigations of all states, because the fight against terrorism will only succeed where there exists full respect for human rights. Respect for human rights and counter-terrorism measures are not mutually exclusive, as was reaffirmed by the International Committee of Jurists' biennial conference held under the title 'upholding human rights and the rule of law in fighting terrorism.'
In the light of this EOHR makes the following demands:
1. Random arrests, which violate the right to personal security, must end. Article 41 of the Constitution provides that:
Individual freedom is a natural and inviolable right. Other than in cases of flagrante delicto no-one may be arrested, searched, detained, have his freedom restricted in any way or be prevented from moving freely except following an order necessitated by police investigations or public security. This order must be issued by the competent judge or the public prosecution office in accordance with the law.
EOHR also emphasises the necessity of ending the implementation of the Emergency Law which is the legal tool used to attack this and other rights guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights instruments.
2. Arbitrary detention, a flagrant violation of the Constitution and international human rights instruments must be ended. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that "nobody shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile." It also violates a number of the provisions of the Egyptian Penal Code which forbid illegal arrest.
3. The Egyptian authorities must immediately release detainees and "pawns" in application of the law and the Constitution, and must reaffirm their respect for human rights values.
4. An immediate investigation must be launched into allegations of torture and the appropriate measures taken to stop torture. Both the Egyptian Constitution and the Criminal Procedures Code forbid torture and provide for the inadmissibility of confessions obtained through torture in court. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which was ratified by Egypt in 1986 and incorporated into Egyptian law under Article 151 of the Constitution obliges Egypt to undertake measures to prevent it.
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