The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
PRESS RELEASE

2 July, 2000

The Egyptian Organization For Human Rights strongly condemns the state
security's raid on the house of Dr Saad El Din Ibrahim, the professor of
political sociology at the American University in Cairo and the director
of the Ibn Khaldoun for Developmental Studies. He was arrested at
midnight on Friday 30 June 2000 and some of his documents were
confiscated. At the same time another force from the state security
investigation bureau raided the Ibn Khaldoun Center and arrested two of
the center's staff, Nadia Abdel Nour the Financial Director of the
Center (a Sudanese national), and Ossama Hamad. The force confiscated a
number of the center's accounts files, computer disks, computers, a safe
and a number of pamphlets.

Dr Saad El Din was held at the headquarters of the Higher State Security
Prosecution Bureau until the following morning, Saturday 1 July 2000,
where he was interrogated by the State Security Prosecutor who charged
him with the following

* collecting funds without a permit from the official authorities

* misappropriation of funds in a fraudulent manner to prepare forged
voting lists and cards

* cooperation with others to prepare forged voting lists and cards

* preparing public media containing false phrases and rumors and
disseminating provocative propaganda that could cause damage to the
public interest

* accepting funds from a foreign country with the purpose of carrying
out work harmful to the national interest by producing a film that
damages Egypt's reputation abroad.

The prosecutor ordered the arrest of Dr Saad El Din Ibrahim and Nadia
Abdel Nour for fifteen days pending investigation.  He also ordered the
seizure and arrest of three other workers, Khaled Fayyad, Mamdouh
Mansour and Ayman Gabel from the Ibn Khaldoun Center. The interrogation
was attended by Hafez Abu Saada, the Secretary General of the EOHR,
Negad Al Borai and Nasser Amin, board members of the organization.
The arrest of Dr Saad Al Din Ibrahim is a repetition of the arrest of
Hafez Abu Saada, the Secretary General of the EOHR who was charged with
receiving funds from a foreign entity to prepare a report that damages
the reputation of the country. The report in question was the
organization's report on the torture of citizens in Al Kosh village in
August 1998.

The organization believes that the arrest of Dr Saad El Din Ibrahim and
his colleagues is a continuation of the state's hostile policy towards
the institutions of the civil society in Egypt and another attempt to
silence all institutions that endeavor to participate in the public life
in the country. Based on the organization's experience in the case
against its security general, it has severe doubts that the State is
intimidating the civil society institutions to wear out their energy and
block their initiatives in the defense of human rights or democracy and
in their participation in economic, social and political development.
While the organization strongly condemns this action, it makes
assurances that such practices will only frustrate and bury the
society's activist forces and evacuate civil society institutions. The
organization expresses its full solidarity with Dr Saad El Din Ibrahim
and the members of the Ibn Khaldoun Center and calls on all the forces
of democracy in Egypt and worldwide to support the Ibn Khaldoun Center's
members in defense of democracy and civil society. It also calls upon
the academic society in Egypt to support Dr Saad El Din Ibrahim. Finally
it appeals to the Egyptian authorities to stop their unjustifiable
security campaigns against human rights activists in respect for
democracy and human rights so that the discourse of the state
internationally does not conflict with its practices internally.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR)
E-maileohr@link.com.eg
Webpagehttp//www.eohr.org.eg
Tel+20-(2)-3636811      +20-(2)-3620467
Fax +20-(2)-3621613

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