مركز النديم لتأهيل ضحايا العنف والتعذيب

The undersigned non-governmental organizations wish to express their extreme dismay at recent news that the Ministry of Social Solidarity has completed a draft for a new NGO law. According to the latest leaked copy, the bill is more restrictive and draconian than repressive bill already in place. It is expected to pass into law with the approval of the government parliamentary majority in the coming month.

It seems that the haste to pass the bill is attributable to a desire to undermine civil society efforts to monitor the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Following the abolition of judicial supervision of elections in the last round of constitutional amendments and the government’s refusal to allow international monitors, this step will facilitate further dishonest elections conducted without any meaningful oversight. Some articles of the new bill aim to limit the activities of human rights organizations or shut them down completely by criminalizing all forms of unregistered civic organization.

This criminalization may have ramifications for some of the most important political reform movements (such as the National Association for Change, Kefaya, April 6th Youth and others) including the threat of imprisonment for their leaders and activists.

• Six months later torture marks still visible through the cage bars
• Maltreatment allegedly continues in prison

Today, Saturday the 20th of March, the Emergency State security court of Abbaseyya, Cairo held the second session in what has come to be known as El-Zeitoun case.

The defendants remained handcuffed while in the court house and although the judge ordered the handcuffs to be removed upon the request of the lawyers, the senior rank security authorities present in the court room ignored the order, but then had to comply when the matter was raised again by the lawyers.

The striking event of today's session was the defendants publicly declaring for the first time that they have been subject to torture while in state security intelligence detention center as well as in prison. Mohamed Khamis, the second on the list of the accused, took off his shirt, and turned his back to the many media cameras present in the court room exposing injuries that he said were a result of flogging back in September 2009. Almost six months later the injuries were still visible through the bars of the cage where they were held. The defense insisted that the judge examine the injuries, upon which he summoned Khamis to the bench and personally examined his back, which showed several marks of flogging. According to Khamis the flogging took place when he denied his confession in September 2009 to the prosecution claiming that it was given under duress. Khamis also showed the judge a right broken middle finger and claimed that this injury was a result of maltreatment in prison, which continues until now and which involves beating and stripping.

The trial was adjourned for the session of 18 January 2010. This is to get evidence from the Police Station register to find out whether Shady Maged was taken out of his cell between 14 and 24 October 2007 to be presented to 6 October City’s General hospital and for the defense lawyers to present witnesses who were detained at the same time as Shady. Shady’s lawyers in the civil case asked for the addition to the charges, the charge of detention without cause for detaining Shady, his wife and baby from the 10 to 15 March 2008.

Mohamed Sobhi Mohamed El Farakh is an Egyptian 53 year old man who works as a construction carpenter, he is married and has 3 living children; a daughter who is divorced and two sons. He lost his son Adel four years ago to AIDS. He was infected during a blood transfusion in Al Asafera specialist hospital, which led to the closure of the hospital. The hospital was reopened four months later by a decision from the governor.

The death of Adel is not the last tragedy Mohamed Sobhi El Farakh has had to face.

UPDATE: The case has been adjourned until Dec 28 after Shady's lawyers requested that the civil claim be announced and the police station's log book be made available to them.

El Nadeem Centre invites all who are interested in combatting torture, individuals involved in Human Rights or media institutions to join in solidarity with Shady Maged Sa’ad Zaghloul and his wife. He was arrested and tortured in 6th October City Police Station two. After having made a complaint to the prosecutor’s office and showing his injuries and being examined by a forensic doctor he was further subjected to torture in the Police Station and was injured again. He was examined once more by the forensic doctor after the failure of the Police from carrying out the orders of the Prosecutor’s office. The Police Officers tried to pressure him in to withdrawing his complaint using different methods, the last of which was his and his wife and baby daughter’s abduction from in front of the prosecutor’s office. They were taken to the Police Station and detained for four days until Shady was forced to withdraw his complaint with the Prosecutor’s office.

Shady returned to the Prosecutor’s office to prove that his withdrawal occurred under pressure and this pushed the prosecution to try the three police officers Sherif Samir Ahmed Metwally, Hazem Beltagy Ibrahim and Ahmed Samir Sha’ban on the charge of the use of cruelty and detention without cause.

The first session of this trial is on Monday 7 December 2009 in 6 October City Misdemeanor Court.