A group of citizens who were subjected to unlawful detention and enforced disappearance for varying periods appeared yesterday before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Egypt.
The group included four siblings, including two women, one of whom suffers from epilepsy, finally appeared after being forcibly disappeared for 50 days.
The prosecution ordered their detention for 15 days pending investigations on charges of “joining a terrorist group and spreading false news”. Such charges are often directed by the regime against its critics to silence them.
During the investigations, the siblings complained of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including beatings, solitary confinement, and being denied essential medications, thus putting the life of the epileptic at risk.
The four siblings are, Abdel Rahman Hamdi Khater (31 years old), Omama Hamdi Khater (25 years old), Khadija Hamdi Khater (27 years old), and Talha Hamdi Khater (29 years old). They were arrested on different dates starting from November 13, when a security force raided the family’s home in Imbaba, Giza Governorate.
Despite the family’s appeals to the Public Prosecutor and the Ministry of Interior to reveal their whereabouts, no action has been taken until their appearance today.
In addition to these siblings, another group of 24 young men and women appeared before the prosecution today after they were also subjected to enforced disappearance. The charges against them varied between “publishing false news,” “joining a terrorist group,” “misusing social media,” and “promoting violence.”
Among the detainees are Fatima Al-Zahraa and Gharib Muhammad, as well as other young men between the ages of 20 and 30. These arrests highlight the regime’s use of the policy of arrest campaigns targetting young people.
These violations constitute a flagrant violation of international treaties ratified by Egypt, such as the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and highlight the urgent need for comprehensive reform of the Egyptian legal and security system, which requires urgent action by the international community and human rights organisations to put an end to the practices of enforced disappearance and torture in Egypt.
