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Arish…random arrests, detention and torture:
Stop the tragedy
23/11/2004
Ahmed Abdallah Ribaa
"We were sitting downstairs, me and my cousin Mahmoud Moustafa. My wife suddenly started screaming 'Ahmed! Help!' They burst in on us and I found lots of people with their faces covered wearing black. I asked what was going on and they said 'we're from the government and don't want to hurt anyone.' One of them ordered me to lie on the ground and I refused. He punched me in the face and they threatened me with the weapons they were carrying. This made me obey them and I lay down on the ground. Honestly, I was scared for my wife and the other women in the house. Afterwards I asked about Mohamed and they said that he had run upstairs and that they had brought him downstairs.
Ahmed's wife went on to say "the children are still terrified after that day and can't sleep." Ahmed confirmed that his brother Ismail Abdallah Ribaa worked with him in the workshop. "When the security forces came into the workshop the people there thought that it had been robbed and that they were guards. They telephoned Ismail so that he would come but he was arrested and we haven't heard anything about him or Mohamed."
Hossam Eddin Abdel Rahman, a primary school teacher
Mission members spoke to Hossam's mother and sister. His mother began by saying: "on Monday the 25th October 2004 at 1.30 a.m. members of the security forces came and asked for Hossam. When I asked them why they wanted him they said that it was nothing, just a case of similarity of names. At the time Hossam was in Cairo and I told them that when he came back I would let them know."
Hossam's sister continued the account because her mother had burst into tears. "As soon as Hossam found out that he was wanted he went to the state security forces the next day, and still hasn't come back. On the same day that Hossam turned himself in police forces again stormed into the house at around dusk. When we asked for the reason they said it was nothing, just a similarity of names. We still don't know what has happened to Hossam."
The family of Ismail Uthman Ahmed Mitrass (60 years old)
Ismail's son says "On the third day of Ramadan (18th October) forces from the state security department came and asked about my father. But he wasn't in Arish at the time so they took his brother Ahmed and Mohamed. The next day my father went to ask after them, and he himself never returned. A week later they came and asked about a relative of mine, Mohamed Abdel Rahman Badawy who has been in Libya for a while. They took my mother Fathiya Moustafa Mohamed Darwish who is 50 years old and my sister Salwa Ismail, who is pregnant, to the state security offices. About half an hour later Salwa was released because she was really ill, and she later had a miscarriage. We still don't have any information about where my father, his brothers and my mother are, and we don't know why she is still being detained. We're worried about my parents' health and can't take them food or clothes. All that I know is that they arrested the family so that they can reach Mohamed Abdel Rahman Badawy even though he's in Libya. He's a trader and so is constantly travelling to Libya. Many families related to Mohamed were arrested."
The EOHR mission attempted to meet with these families but they refused.
The family of Ashraf Abdel Razeq Mahmoud
"I swear Ashraf has nothing to do with anything" Mohamed Abdel Razeq Mahmoud told the EOHR mission, saying that his brother was religious and that this devoutness seems to be the reason for the calamity which has befallen him. He went on to say that he had been interrogated more than once by the state security forces but was always released on the same day. He goes on to say
"On the 14th of October 2004 at 2.00 a.m. we were surprised with a violent knock on the front door. Soldiers and police officers in civilian clothes came in and took Ashraf. When we asked them the reason why they were taking him they said 'we'll just have two words with him and he'll come back.' We waited until sunrise and then went to the state security department office to ask after him. We weren't able to find out any information and still know nothing of what has happened to him. We don't even know where he's being detained but some people say that he's been taken to Cairo. But we don't know the truth, and neither Ashraf nor any other member of our family has ever been detained before. I'm sure that Ashraf doesn't know anything about the bombings and that they know this - so why did they arrest him?"
The family of Mohamed Khamis Selim Awwad, a teacher
"Thank God for everything, but I just want to make sure that he's safe. God will protect him and those with him because they've been wronged." Zeinab Fahmy Suleiman, Mohamed's mother calmly says about her son. "On Wednesday the 20th 2004 there was a knock on the door of our house in Al Sagha Street, Arish at 3.30 a.m. Soldiers and police officers entered and took religious books which were in the house as well as Mohamed himself. I don't know anything about what's happened to him. I heard from some people that a detention order has been issued against him and that he has been taken to Damanhour Prison. I later found out that his cousins, the sons of Mohamed Gumaan Selim Awwad and his uncle Abdel Naser Gumaan and we don't know anything about them either."
Ahmed Samy Abdel Maqsoud
Ahmed is a 26 year old science teacher who works in the Mubarak primary school in Arish. Recently married, he has a son born on the 19th October 2004. His joy was abruptly shattered by his arrest a week later on the 26th October.
Samy, Ahmed's father described the circumstances surrounding his arrest to the EOHR mission. "I was sitting in the shop. It was only a few minutes before the time to break the fast. Ahmed was playing football with a group of his friends when suddenly a van appeared carrying seven soldiers and two police men. They took my son with them. We tried to find out where they were taking him but without success. We've tried to send him money - also without any joy. Ahmed didn't have any money at all in his pocket when he was arrested. By the way, Ahmed was a strict Muslim three years ago, but now only prays regularly. We heard that they are going to issue a warrant for his detention and transfer him."
The family of Ibrahim Khalil al Gaabary
Ibrahim, far advanced in years, has been assailed by numerous illnesses including a stroke which has left him partially paralysed. He had been receiving treatment for this and used to say that the cure would come from God. The family described him as a mountain and used to tell him that he would soon be back on his feet. However the stroke had a devastating effect on him. He produces words in a disordered fashion and sometimes is unable to complete sentences. His sentences are mixed with sounds of pain and distress and accompanied by tears. The separation from his sons and his sense of loss of support and protection weighs heavily on him.
With some difficulty the mission were able to talk to Ibrahim who told them "I have three sons; Hassan, Mohamed and Gumaa. On the 11th October a force from the state security came to the house at 2.30 in the morning and took Hassan. They asked about the taxi and when they found out that it belongs to Mohamed they went and arrested him at 4.30 a.m. As you see I wasn't able to do anything to help them and I don't know why they arrested them."
Ibrahim's wife told the mission that the taxi was the reason for their arrest because Iyad Salah the suspect who died in the explosion used to drive the taxi. "Iyad worked with Mohamed for two months from June to August 2004. Iyad came to us and left the car keys with us telling that he wouldn't be driving it again because he was going to work in farming. Even the man who drove the car after Iyad was arrested. We don't have anyone to support and help us except our children. All of them are married and have children who need them. Hassan has ten children the oldest of whom is ten years old and Mohamed has seven children the oldest of whom is sixteen."
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