A/HRC/WGAD/2021/79
23.
According to the information received, on 24 June 2019 at around 4 a.m., a number
of police officers and national security agents, in both plain clothes and uniforms, stormed
Ms. Abdelhalim’s place of residence. Reportedly, they violently searched the house and took
a number of mobile telephones, three laptop computers, gold earrings and LE 3,600. They
then arrested Ms. Abdelhalim without showing an arrest warrant or providing a legal
explanation, and dragged her to an unknown location, subjecting her to enforced
disappearance.
24.
Allegedly, after five days of enforced disappearance at the national security premises
in Shubra al-Khaimah, Ms. Abdelhalim was brought before the Supreme State Security
Prosecution on 29 June 2019 and accused of joining and financing a terrorist group and
possessing political pamphlets.
25.
The source claims that Ms. Abdelhalim’s pretrial detention in the Al-Qanater
women’s prison was periodically renewed for the following one year and 8 months until, on
8 February 2021, when she was ordered to be released in that case. However, the release did
not materialize. On the next day, 9 February, Ms. Abdelhalim was brought again before the
Supreme State Security Prosecution, which accused her, in a new case, of organizing a secret
cell from inside prison and communicating with leaders of a foreign terrorist group. Since
then, Ms. Abdelhalim’s pretrial detention in the Al-Qanater women’s prison has been
continually renewed for 15-day periods pending investigations.
26.
According to the allegations of the source, during her enforced disappearance, Ms.
Abdelhalim stayed in a dark room and was continuously threated with being beaten and
electrocuted. During investigations, one of the national security agents showed her the blood
on the walls of the room she was detained in, indicating that it was the blood of two of Ms.
Abdelhalim’s neighbours, who had been killed. He reportedly threatened that she would
undergo the same fate if she did not confess and provide the national security agents with
some names.
27.
Ms. Abdelhalim was able to see her family for the first time 21 days after her arrest.
Currently, she is allowed visits once per week, but she is not allowed to exchange letters. She
has also been totally prohibited from speaking with other detainees in prison.
28.
The source claims that Ms. Abdelhalim has been detained in inhumane conditions, in
a small and overcrowded cell, infested with insects and lacking ventilation. In addition, she
has been denied her right to meet with or contact her lawyer, as he has not been allowed to
visit her.
29.
On 24 June 2019, Ms. Abdelhalim’s family submitted several official complaints to
the Public Prosecutor, the Attorney General and the Minister of Interior. They have received
no response.
i.
Category I
30.
The source claims that Ms. Abdelhalim’s and Mr. El-Elaimy’s arrest and detention
are arbitrary, falling within category I of the arbitrary detention categories referred to by the
Working Group when considering cases submitted to it, as there is no legal basis or
justification for them. The prohibition of arbitrary arrest under article 9 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights is a protection of the right to liberty provided for under article
3.
31.
In its general comment No. 35 (2014), the Human Rights Committee stated that any
person was to be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for the arrest and that that
requirement applied broadly to the reasons for any deprivation of liberty.2 Principle 10 of the
Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or
Imprisonment states that anyone who is arrested is to be informed at the time of his or her
arrest of the reason for the arrest and promptly informed of any charges against him or her.
Article 14 (3) of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, ratified by Egypt, emphasizes that
2
4
Para. 24.