Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution has ordered the pre-trial detention of 38 individuals, including four women, for a period of 15 days pending investigation, following their first appearance after being subjected to enforced disappearance.
The detainees had reportedly been held in undisclosed locations for varying periods prior to being brought before prosecutors, during which time they were denied contact with their families or access to legal representation. The practice, which has become increasingly routine, constitutes a clear violation of legal safeguards enshrined in both the Egyptian Constitution and international fair trial standards.
Charges brought against the detainees include broadly worded accusations such as joining a terrorist organisation, spreading false news, misusing social media, and incitement to violence. Human rights organisations have long raised concerns about the frequent use of such charges to justify extended pre-trial detention in the absence of publicly available evidence or transparent legal proceedings.
Among those named are four women: Nada Ahmed El-Ghazaly, Nehad Raafat Kotb, Sabrine Maghawry Hassan, and Maha Hamdy Ahmed. Their detention reflects a broader and ongoing trend of targeting women in politically sensitive cases, amidst recurring reports of inhumane conditions in detention and the absence of effective judicial oversight.
Families of the detainees had previously submitted formal complaints to the Public Prosecutor immediately following the disappearance of their relatives, calling for disclosure of their whereabouts and accusing security agencies of detaining them without presenting them to judicial authorities. These complaints reportedly received no response, in contravention of Article 54 of the Egyptian Constitution, which guarantees the right of any detainee to contact their relatives and legal counsel within 24 hours of arrest.
The names of the detained individuals include Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed, Ahmed Zayed Saad, Ashraf Ali Abdel Hamid, Belal Sayed Seddiq, Hossam Hassan El-Senousi, Hussein El-Sayed Shoaib, Khaled Adel Abdallah, Khaled Mohamed Abdel Badi’, Khaled Youssef Mohamed, Safwat Youssef Zaki, Amer Kamal Ammar, Abdullah Mahmoud Abdel Qawy, Abdel Malek Mohamed Ahmed, Amr Khaled Atef, Mohamed Hassan Abdel Fattah, Mohamed Attia Abdel Rahim, Mohamed Fakhry El-Maghawry, Mohamed Mahmoud El-Asyouti, Mahmoud Helmy Fares, Mostafa Medhat Diab, Walid Mahmoud Mohamed, Yassin Mostafa Salem, Ahmed Hassan Metwally, Ahmed Abdallah Abdel Hafez, Ahmed Wageeh Fathy, Islam Zayan Abdel Fattah, Abdel Rahman Adel Seddiq, Kareem Karam Abdel Raouf, Mohamed Adel Kamel, Mahmoud Khaled Abdel Aziz, Moamen Sayed Youssef, Yasser Farag El-Dafrawy, Youssef Jad El-Karim El-Sayed, and Youssef Khalifa Ibrahim.
This case does not represent an isolated incident but forms part of a wider pattern of prolonged detention without oversight and a persistent reliance on exceptional measures that undermine basic rights and the rule of law. The continued lack of accountability in such cases has raised serious concerns among human rights monitors, particularly in relation to Egypt’s obligations under international treaties prohibiting enforced disappearance.
