CALL UPON THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE THE IMMEDIATE
RELEASE OF SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM AND HIS CO-DEFENDANTS
August 5, 2002
On July 29, Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim and five co-defendants were again convicted and sentenced by a Supreme State Security Court sitting in Cairo. The re-trial of Professor Ibrahim and his colleagues commenced on April 27, after the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest criminal court, ordered that their original trial before a Supreme State Security Court had suffered from procedural irregularities requiring new proceedings. The re-trial was again conducted by a Supreme State Security Court, composed of three new judges, headed by Judge Adel Abdel Salaam Gomaa. The verdict was read out on July 29 by Judge Gomaa, to the surprise of the defendants and their lawyers, as well as observers in attendance, who had expected to hear rebuttal arguments from the prosecution that day. Professor Ibrahim received the harshest sentence – seven years imprisonment with hard labor. The Court’s written reasoning for its decision will be issued within 30 days. Four other defendants also received prison terms: Magda al-Bey, 3 years; Mohammed Hassanain, 3 years; Nadia Abdel Nour, 2 years; Marwa Zaki, 2 years (in absentia).
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who holds dual Egyptian and U.S nationality, is a renowned human rights activist and professor of sociology at the American University of Cairo. In 1988, Ibrahim founded the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, a research and advocacy institute in Cairo, concerned with issues of democratization and political and social development. He remains the director and chairman of the Center’s board of trustees. Several of his co-defendants are either permanent employees of, or are working on specific projects for the Center. Others worked at the Association for the Support of Women Voters (Hay’at Da’am al-Nakhibat, or Hoda Association), an affiliated organization, of which Professor Ibrahim is the treasurer. This year, Professor Ibrahim will be one of the recipients of Human Rights First’s annual Human Rights Award, in recognition of his courageous work to promote human rights and democracy in Egypt.
Four charges were leveled against Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his co-defendants, who numbered 27 at the original trial, which commenced in November 2000. In May 2001, all of the defendants were acquitted of the first charge, conspiring to bribe public officials to undermine the performance of their duties (articles 40 and 48 of the Penal Code). However, all were convicted on some or all of the other three charges, which were: receiving donations without prior permission from the competent authorities (contrary to articles 1 and 2 of Military Order No. 4, 1992); deliberately disseminating false information abroad harmful to Egypt’s interests (contrary to article 80 of the Penal Code); and defrauding the European Union (contrary to article 336 of the Penal Code).
The second charge related to the receipt of funds by the Ibn Khaldun Center and the Hoda Association from the European Commission, for specific projects. Under Military Order No.4 of 1992, passed in the wake of a serious earthquake in Egypt, the Minister of Social Affairs must approve the collection of foreign funds by non-governmental organizations. The third charge alleged that Professor Ibrahim had made statements, disseminated abroad, to the effect that elections held in Egypt were rigged, and that there was widespread religious discrimination in the country. The fourth charge against Professor Ibrahim was that he had presented false claims to the European Commission for expenses that had never been incurred. This charge was made despite the fact that the Commission itself refuted the claim that it had been defrauded, and it submitted an affidavit to this effect to the Supreme State Security Court during the re-trial.[1]
Human Rights First has followed this case closely from the original arrest and detention of Professor Ibrahim and his colleagues in 2000. We have continuously raised our serious concerns about the nature of the charges against the defendants, which appear to be politically motivated and represent serious human rights violations in themselves. Restrictive laws on the receipt of funding by human rights and other non-governmental organizations are being used selectively by the state to harass Professor Ibrahim and to attempt to intimidate him and other outspoken government critics. In addition, the criminal prosecution of anyone for the expression of legitimate political views renders the right to freedom of expression meaningless and contravenes the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and other international human rights instruments.
The use of special state security courts in Egypt, promulgated under longstanding emergency legislation, has been repeatedly criticized by local and international human rights organizations, as well as by the United States government and various United Nations bodies. The fairness of the procedures operated by such courts and their independence from the government has often been called into question. The right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal, affording basic due process guarantees, is a fundamental human right recognized in numerous international treaties and instruments. The trial and re-trial of Professor Ibrahim and his colleagues by a State Security Court is itself cause for concern.
In addition, the procedure by which Professor Ibrahim and the other defendants were arrested and detained in 2000, for several weeks without charge, was a violation of their rights to be free from arbitrary detention. The violations of the defendants’ rights continued and were compounded during the pre-trial and trial period. In particular, the defendants did not have adequate time and facilities to prepare their defense, and were denied access to crucial documents. Important issues raised by the defense in the course of the trial were not addressed by the Court, and the judges delivered their verdict extremely quickly, despite the fact that the defense had submitted additional documents for their consideration that same day. In addition to the problems inherent in the system of state security courts in Egypt, all of these factors demonstrate that the defendants did not receive a fair trial, as required by article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
While the written verdict of the Court on re-trial has not yet been rendered, and therefore the particular charges on which the new conviction and sentencing are based are not yet clear, many of the flaws in the original trial were not remedied in the subsequent proceedings. The defendants were not detained throughout the period of the re-trial, after their release was ordered by the Court of Cassation, but they were held each day for several hours in an iron cage in the courtroom. Despite persistent defense requests for the re-opening of the Ibn Khaldoun Center so that access could be gained to important documents, the Court ignored such requests. The judges also chose to ignore defense challenges to the constitutionality of Military Decree No.4, which would have to be referred to the Constitutional Court. A further defense request, to allow Professor Ibrahim to travel for three weeks for urgent medical treatment, was similarly given no mention by the Court, despite his clear ill-health.
As with the original trial, the Supreme State Security Court delivered its verdict on July 29 quickly and unexpectedly, without the normal period of deliberation. On the day prior to the announcement of the verdict, Judge Gomaa denied a request by Professor Ibrahim and other defendants to address the Court orally, although written statements were permitted. However, these written statements cannot have been read by the judges prior to the sentencing. Defense lawyers have announced their intention to appeal the new verdict to the Court of Cassation, which may rule on the substance of the case this time, rather than only on procedural matters.
Human Rights First is calling for the immediate release of Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his co-defendants and the dropping of all charges against them. We believe that these charges are politically motivated, rather than based on evidence of any real criminal activity, and are intended to intimidate the Egyptian human rights community. Given the spurious nature of the charges, the trial before a Supreme State Security Court, and the conduct of the proceedings, we do not believe that Professor Ibrahim and his co-defendants received a fair trial and their detention constitutes a continuing violation of their basic right to liberty. Moreover, all persons deprived of their liberty have the right to be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity. We are extremely concerned that Professor Ibrahim’s health will rapidly deteriorate, as it did during his eight month period of detention in 2000-2001. He is an elderly gentleman who suffers from what is apparently a degenerative neurological condition, requiring urgent, expert treatment. He should therefore be released immediately, on humanitarian grounds, in order to ensure that his condition can be stabilized.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please write to President Hosni Mubarak, demanding the immediate release of Saad Eddin Ibrahim and each of the other imprisoned co-defendants. Appeal to President Mubarak urgently to take action on humanitarian grounds for the release of Professor Ibrahim and call for the conviction and sentencing of all defendants to be rescinded. Remind President Mubarak of Egypt’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including its obligations to ensure freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial. Emphasize the importance of the work of human rights activists such as Professor Ibrahim, for the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law and remind the President of the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which lays out the protections to be afforded to human rights defenders and the need for their work to be promoted.
Should you require more information, please contact Lorna Davidson (212 845 5251, defenders@humanrightsfirst.org) or Matthew Bray (212 845 5298, Braym@humanrightsfirst.org).
Regularly updated Human Rights First documents on the Saad Eddin Ibrahim case can be found on our web-site at http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defender/home.htm.
Please send your letters to:
President Hosni Mubarak
c/o. Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: (202) 244 5131
Cc: Ambassador C. David Welch
American Embassy Cairo
5 Latin America St.
Garden City
Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +20 2 797 3200