The Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners Campaign

Hand in Hand for Combating Torture in Egypt

Cairo: 16/8/2004

The Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners files a case against the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American embassy in Cairo to unveil the destiny of the Egyptian citizen Sherif Fathy Aly Al Mashad who are detained in Guantanamo since 2001 till now
 

On August 12, 2004, the Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners filed a case No. 30728/58 judicial year, against the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American embassy in Cairo to unveil the destiny of the Egyptian citizen Sherif Fathy Aly Al Mashad who are detained in Guantanamo since 2001 till now, however the session time has not been set yet.

In March 27, 1997 the detainee, born in September 14, 1976 and have a diploma from Industrial School in 1994, decided to travel to Italy to work there in contracting company with some partners from Tunis and stayed in Italy for continuous three years to get the stay permission and he has already got it. He stayed in Italy until July 2001 and since then his family did not get any news from him. As a result, Sherif Fathy Aly Al Mashad sent a message to his uncle who stays in Italy via the Italian Red Cross telling him that he is detained in Guantanamo detention. He mentioned in the message that he was visiting his Afghanistan friend who told him that he could trade in clothes in Afghanistan that give high profits. When he went to Afghanistan found some international organizations that contribute humane assistances to people there. He stayed in Afghanistan until he had been detained in September 30, 2001 during getting out of from Afghanistan to Pakistan to return to Italy with the company of the American forces there and went to Guantanamo with a group of people informing him the reason of detaining him to face his unknown destiny. 

He is still detained there and has spent three years without a trial or inflicting any accusation against him as it is considered a flagrant breach to the international agreements and covenants that U.S.A. has ratified and assumed it before the international community. The family followed up what the detainees in Guantanamo expose to like maltreatment, torture, and the unjustified long-term detention without inflicting any accusation or referring him to court all this time. All these evidence prove that the detainee Sherif Fathy Aly Al Mashad is not guilty and there is no any accusation against him.

The continuation of this situation is considered flagrant breach against the international covenants and agreements as U.S.A. is considered a main partner in it and the article 9 of the international declaration of human rights states that:

1.       Every one has right in freedom and physical safety and it is not allowed arresting him or stopping arbitrarily and it is not allowed also to deprive any one of freedom on the ground of law according to the stated procedures.

2.       Anyone, who has been detained, has the right to be informed of reasons of detention immediately.

3.       The detainee or the arrested for a charge have to be brought immediately before the judge or any other official legally authorized to practice judicial authorities, and the detainee or the arrested one has the right to be brought to a trial during a reasonable time or released. Detaining anyone waiting for a trial under control do not have to be a general rule however release order may be subjected to guarantees ensure bringing him before court in any other procedures of the judicial procedures and enforcing the ruling if necessary.

4.       Everyone, deprived of his freedom because of detaining or arresting him, has to be brought before court to decide immediately the legality of detaining him and releasing him immediately if detention order is not legal.

5.       Anyone suffered from illegal detention or arrest has the right to applicable compensation.

The article 14 of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights states that:

1.        All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charges against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law. The press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, or when the interests of the private lives of the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interest of justice; but any judgment rendered in a criminal case or in juvenile persons otherwise requires or the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children.

2.        Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the rights to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

3.        In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone should be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:

a.    To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understand of the nature and cause of the charge against him.

b.    To have adequate time facilities for the preparation of defense and to communicate with counsel of his own choice.

c.     To be tried without undue delay.

d.    To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choice; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it.

e.    To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;

f. To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;

g.    Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt

4.        In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take account of their age and the desirability of prompting their rehabilitation.

5.        Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to have his conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.

6.        When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to the law, useless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partially attributed to him.

7.        No one shall be liable to be tried or punished against for an offence for which has already be finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.

It worth mentioning that his family tried hard to urge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cooperate with him to correct his conditions but in vein. Consequently, the association sent many complaints to the authorized bodies which urged the association to file this case to oblige the defendants to unveil the destiny of this citizen either by releasing him or inflicting certain accusations against him and providing the necessary guarantees to be tried fairly and allowing his lawyers to meet him.   

The Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners