The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
PRESS RELEASE

24 February 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 banned Muslim Brotherhood in Beni Suef governorate,
on the evening of 19 February 1999. The three arrested, all of them
teachers, are: Gamal Abdalla Habib, Ahmed Abel Maqsoud and Anwar Ibrahim
Ibrahim. They were referred to the State Security Prosecution in connection
with official reports no. 103, 104 and 105-State Security. They are accused
of joining an illegal group which aims to hamper the implementation of the
Constitution and the law, and possession of leaflets which call for hatred
of the regime and threaten public security. The State Security Prosecution
ordered their imprisonment for 15 days pending investigations in the
Mazra'a Tora Prison, in Cairo.


The EOHR is seriously concerned over the continuation of the arrest
campaigns launched by the SSI against members of the Muslim Brotherhood and
the violations committed against some of them. The organization appeals to
the authorities to stop these campaigns and respect the right of citizens
from all political and ideological trends to peaceful assembly, a right
which is guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international human
rights standards ratified by the Egyptian government. The EOHR also calls
on all civil society institutions, political parties, and intellectuals to
work together for the defense of freedom of opinion and expression, the
right to peaceful assembly, and the right of all citizens, whatever their
political or ideological orientation, to personal safety. It also calls on
them to urge the Egyptian government to take serious and prompt steps to
top these violations which threaten the situation of  human rights in
Egypt. 

This document is published online by Derechos Human Rights. Derechos works against violations to human rights and humanitarian law all over the world.