The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
PRESS
RELEASE
Intensive arrest campaign against students before the new academic year |
Cairo, 13 September 1999 The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) is deeply concerned at the wide arrest campaign launched by the State Security Investigations (SSI) against students members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. These campaign started at the beginning of last month and targeted students of different Egyptian universities. All the arrested students were referred to the State Security Prosecution, which ordered their imprisonment pending investigations in Mazraat Tora prison. On 11 August, SSI officers arrested ten students of Zagazig University, in Al-Sharkia governorate. They were referred to the State Security Prosecution, which ordered their imprisonment for four days pending investigations. On 15 August their imprisonment was renewed for a further 15 days. These students areAhmed Mohamed Salem (Faculty of Medicine), Mohamed Abdel Monaem Al-Deeb (Faculty of Pharmacy), Kadree Akif Fekry (Faculty of Engineering), Reda Al-Sherif, Hany Hassan and Hassan Hamada (Faculty of Education), Amr Mohamed Abdalla (Faculty of Commerce), Mohamed Farouk Hussein (Faculty of Law), Abdalla Al-Naggar (Faculty of Agriculture), and Abel Fatah Attia (Faculty of Arts). On 25 August, the SSI in Cairo and Giza arrested 13 students of Cairo University. They were referred to the State Security Prosecution, which ordered the release of five and the imprisonment of eight for 15 days pending investigations. On 8 September their imprisonment was renewed for another 30 days. The names of the eight arrested students areSameh Abdel Hameed Al-Boky, Ahmed Saad Al-Zaaloun, Samir Metwaly Al-Battawy, Hatem Mohamed Thabet, Ehab Mohamed Taiel, Moaaz Al-Mohamady Ismael, Ali Mohamed Leila, in addition to another student, called Anwar Abdel Fattah, who is a fugitive. Also, on 4 September three students of Ain Shams University were arrested and referred to the State Security Prosecution, which ordered their imprisonment for 15 days pending investigations. EOHR regrets to say that these arrest campaigns, launched by the SSI against students with political affiliations before the beginning of every academic year, appear as a systematic practice, as recorded many times before by EOHR. In this respect, EOHR urges the authorities to promptly release the arrested students. In addition, it calls on them to stop such practices, as they violate the right of all citizens to freedom and personal safety, and to freedom of opinion and expression, all of them guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights standards ratified by the Egyptian government.
