Fifteen Egyptian and international human rights organizations demanded Monday that Egyptian authorities immediately and unconditionally release 35 Shiite citizens, including journalist Haidar Kandil, and stop using counterterrorism laws to target religious minorities and journalists.
The joint demand follows decisions by prosecutors on July 27 and 28 to extend the pre-trial detention of 32 of the defendants. The 35 individuals are among 36 people swept up around the Ashura commemoration in June, most of whom were subjected to more than 20 days of enforced disappearance before appearing in court facing terrorism charges.
In a joint statement, the groups said authorities must stop retaliating against journalists for doing their lawful work, in accordance with Article 70 of the Egyptian Constitution, and stop using exceptional judicial mechanisms, particularly the Supreme State Security Prosecution and terrorism and military courts, to investigate and try civilians.
The groups also called for all detainees to be given immediate access to their families and lawyers and to receive medical care, as well as an independent and transparent investigation into their alleged enforced disappearances and accountability for officials responsible for unlawful arrests and documented abuses.
According to the statement, the arrests of Shiite citizens began on June 22, when security forces detained at least six of them from their homes.
That same day, security forces arrested Al Dostor journalist Haidar Kandil outside his workplace in Dokki, Giza, after he spent the day documenting arrests targeting Shiite citizens ahead of Ashura, a highly revered holy day when Shia Muslims worldwide gather to mourn the historical martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.
On June 24, police raided a religious gathering in Cairo’s Sayyida Zeinab district and arrested more than 20 people who were there.
The rights groups said all 36 detainees were forcibly disappeared for more than 20 days in undisclosed detention facilities, during which they were denied contact with their families or lawyers, before they began appearing before prosecutors.
Kandil first appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on July 14, when prosecutors charged him with “leading a terrorist organization and financing it,” while the other detainees were charged with “joining a terrorist organization.”
Between July 14 and 20, prosecutors ordered 35 defendants held for 15 days pending investigation and released one defendant. They later renewed the detention of 32 detainees on July 27 and 28 in the same case.
The rights groups said they were deeply concerned that questioning by prosecutors focused on the detainees’ religious beliefs, sectarian affiliation, and participation in Ashura rituals.
They said the timing of the arrests around the Ashura commemoration showed that the detainees were targeted over their religious identity and their exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, which are protected under Article 64 of the Egyptian Constitution.
The statement was signed by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Committee to Protect Journalists, Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, Egyptian Front for Human Rights, Egyptian Human Rights Forum, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Minority Rights Group, Committee for Justice, Refugees Platform in Egypt, Egyptwide for Human Rights, Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement, Law and Democracy Support Foundation, and REDWORD for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression.
