The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
PRESS
RELEASE
Arrest of three members of the Tagammu Party |
14 March 1999
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) received with deep concern news of the arrest by State Security Investigations (SSI) officers of three members of the Tagammu political party in the Shobra El-Kheyma district, near Cairo, on 12 March 1999. The arrested are Mohamed Aouf, trade unionist, Yehia Fekry Amin, engineer, and Wael Mohamed Tawfik. The following day, 13 March, they were referred to the State Security Prosecution in connection with official report no. 377/1999-High State Security, on charges of disseminating information that threatens public security and inciting workers to strike. The State Security Prosecution ordered their release on LE 500 bail pending investigations. According to the information received by the EOHR, they were arrested following their participation in a conference held to discuss the new draft Unified Labour Law. They were taken to the SSI office in Shobra El-Kheyma, where SSI officers blindfolded and questioned them for more than two hours. Later, they were transferred to the Shobra El-Kheyma police station and held there until the following day, when they were referred to the State Security Prosecution at noon. The EOHR was also informed that the arrests took place upon a report by the SSI which alleged that Mohamed Hassan Aouf and others were planning to stir unrest among workers inside the companies and factories of Shobra El-Kheyma. Such plans included disseminating information and holding a series of conferences and meetings aimed to incite workers to reject the new labour law and hamper its issuance by the parliament. The EOHR is seriously concerned about the arrest campaigns launched by the SSI against opposing social and political forces, whether legally recognized or not, without legal grounds. This case is particularly serious given that the three men were arrested merely for exercising their right to discuss issues of concern to them as citizens, such as laws and draft laws. The organization is also deeply worried about the continuous ill-treatment of political detainees inside SSI offices. The EOHR asserts that such practices violate the rights to peaceful association and freedom of opinion and expression, which are stipulated by the Constitution and international human rights conventions ratified by the Egyptian Government. Therefore, it urges the authorities to stop such practices and guarantee the enjoyment of these rights to all Egyptian citizens. It also calls on civil society institutions, especially political parties, trade unions, syndicates, intellectuals and social activists, to cooperate in defence of human rights and to urge the Egyptian Government to take serious and prompt steps to stop these violations which endanger human rights conditions in Egypt.
