A/HRC/WGAD/2021/42
Submissions
Communication from the source
4.
According to the source, two journalists, Mr. Gharib and Mr. Elsayed, are allegedly
being held in arbitrary detention in Egypt solely because of their profession. The source
claims that since 2013 a significant number of journalists in Egypt have spent years in
detention without trial or have been sentenced to long jail terms as part of a clampdown on
free speech.
5.
Mr. Gharib is a citizen of Egypt born in 1977. He is married and has three children.
Mr Gharib once worked as a journalist and producer for Al-Jazeera in Doha.
6.
According to the information received, on 20 June 2019, at around 6 p.m., Mr. Gharib
arrived at Cairo International Airport from Qatar with his family. He was apprehended by an
immigration officer and taken to the National Security Agency, where he was interrogated
for six hours. His personal belongings and the luggage of his family were reportedly searched.
Although he was released, his passport and mobile telephone were confiscated.
7.
Upon arrival at his residence in Cairo, Mr. Gharib reportedly received a telephone call
from a national security officer who instructed him to return to the airport to have his passport
handed back to him. At the airport, National Security Agency and police officers, some in
uniform and some in plainclothes, allegedly kidnapped Mr. Gharib and dragged him to an
unknown location, where he was subjected to enforced disappearance for four days. It is
believed that this location was in fact the National Security Agency headquarters in the Fifth
Settlement.
8.
The source claims that, on 24 June 2019, after the prosecution had accused Mr. Gharib
of allegedly belonging to a prohibited group and spreading false news (case No. 1365/2018),
his family learned that he was being held in Tora Prison.
9.
According to the source, Mr. Gharib’s pretrial detention was “renewed periodically
for 15 days” until 5 December 2019, when it was ordered that he be released on a 20,000
Egyptian pound bail. However, the actual release did not take place. While finalizing his
release procedures at Hadaeq al-Qubbah police station on 11 December 2019, Mr. Gharib
was reportedly subjected to enforced disappearance for a second time, to a place unknown to
his family or his lawyers, for 41 days, allegedly at the National Security Agency premises in
the Fifth Settlement. He reappeared before the prosecution on 20 January 2020 and was
accused, in a new (case No. 1956/2019), with exactly the same charges in connection with
which his release had been ordered, namely for joining a prohibited group and spreading false
news.
10.
Subsequently, Mr. Gharib’s pretrial detention in Tora Prison was reportedly renewed
over and over again pending investigations. No trial date was set.
11.
The source claims that Mr. Gharib’s lawyer was only allowed to attend Mr. Gharib’s
hearings in September 2019, three months after his first arrest, and was prohibited from
visiting him in detention.
12.
After his arrest, Mr. Gharib was allowed to receive family visits once a week.
However, on 10 March 2020, under the pretext of restrictions imposed in response to the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Egyptian authorities reportedly suspended
family visits. Mr. Gharib’s family members were denied any access to him until 22 August
2020, when visits resumed. Since then, Mr. Gharib’s family has been allowed to visit him
once a month. It is alleged that Mr. Gharib is being detained in very poor conditions, in a
small, overcrowded cell with no water, sanitation or hygiene facilities or adequate ventilation.
13.
According to the information received, Mr. Gharib’s health started to seriously
deteriorate after he was placed in detention. He now suffers from glaucoma in both eyes and
elevated eye pressure. He also suffers from a hearing impairment. He has almost completely
lost the ability to hear in his left ear and is gradually losing his hearing in his right ear. He is
at grave risk of losing his hearing and vision.
14.
Mr. Gharib was examined twice by a medical doctor in the prison’s hospital. He has
also been examined by a medical doctor in Al-Qasr al-Ayni hospital. However, the
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