The situation of human rights in Egypt Annual report 2003


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1/6/2002

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The situation of human rights in Egypt Annual report 2003

The state of emergency in Egypt…an obstacle to political reform and respect for human rights

Introduction

Part one: Legislative developments and court decisions.

Part two: Human rights violations in 2003

1. The right to life.

2. The right to freedom and personal security

3. Forced disappearance

4. Treatment of prisoners and detainees

5. The right to a fair trial

6. The right to freedom of opinion and expression

7. The right to peaceful assembly

8. Economic and social rights

9. The right to political participation

10. The right to formation of political parties, associations and unions

11. The rights of Egyptians abroad

12. Discrimination against women

Part three: EOHR fieldwork in 2003

1. Lawyers' Unit fieldwork

2. The Refugee Legal Aid Project

3. Women's Legal Aid Project

Appendix

Chapter 3

Forced disappearance

The General Assembly's Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Forced disappearance states in its preamble that forced disappearance occurs where:

persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or by organized groups or private individuals acting on their behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.

Forced disappearance violates the right to life, the right to liberty and personal security and the right to a fair trial before a natural judge as enshrined in international instruments and the Egyptian Constitution. While the Articles 41, 42 and 57 of the Egyptian Constitution provide for individual freedom and due process and bans illegal arrest, Egyptian legislation does not directly criminalise forced disappearance or penalise its perpetrators.

Article 280 of the Penal Code criminalizes arrest or detention carried out without an order from the competent authority, while Article 40 of the Criminal Procedures Code states:
No-one shall be arrested or detained without an order from the competent authority. Anyone arrested or detained must be treated in a manner which respects his human dignity and does not harm him physically or mentally.

EOHR calls for the Egyptian authorities to take all necessary measures to put an end to the spread of forced disappearance and demands that they respect their international treaty obligations in this regard.

EOHR's fieldwork unit has monitored fifty nine forced disappearance cases since 1992. In seventeen of these cases the individual concerned was freed but the whereabouts of the remaining forty two individuals remain unknown. In 2003 EOHR monitored one case of forced disappearance. Reda Halal, 45 years old, was working as deputy editor of Al-Ahram newspaper when he disappeared. His whereabouts remain unknown. His family informed the Sayeda Zeinab police of his disappearance on the 11th August 2003 after they found he was missing from his flat where he lived alone.

Table of forced disappearance cases investigated and documented by EOHR 1992 - 2003

No.	Name	Place of residence	Place and date of disappearance	Political tendencies	Authority responsible for disappearance
1992
1	Mahmoud Ahmed Badawy Fayed	Tima, Sohag	28/6/92	None	The police
2	Adel Saudi Abdel Rasoul	Cairo	1992	None	The police
3	Mohamed Atiya Hafez	El Tibeen, Cairo	El Tibeen, Cairo	None	Armed forces
4	Gumaa Mohamed Abdel Razeq	Daqhilaya	Daqhilaya 7/6/1992	None	State security forces
1993
5	Mansour Rashid al-Kakhya	Libya	Cairo 11/12/1993	Former Libyan Foreign Minister	Unknown
6	Abdel Fattah Abdel Rouf	Edfu, Aswan	1993		State security forces
7	Bahey Eddin Abdel Rouf	Aswan	13/8/1993	None	State security forces
8	Ahmed Abdel Rahman Mohamed	Aswan	Aswan 7/4/1993	None	State security forces
1994
9	Magdy Mohamed Ali	Malawy, Minya	Mahrous 28/10/1994	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
10	Moustafa Kamel Sayyed	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 7/11/1994	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
11	Ahmed Shalqamy Hosny	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 15/11/1994	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
12	Farghaly Abdel Rahman Hosny	Manfalout, Assuit	Manfalout 14/11/1994	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
13	Abdel Naser Mohamed	Qaloubiya	Qaloubiya 9/4/1994	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
14	Magdy Mohamed Ali	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 28/4/1994	None	The police
15	Mohamed Farghaly Mohamed	Minya	Minya 13/11/1994	Part of a group’s leadership	State security forces
16	Moustafa Ali Mahmoud	Sohag	Assuit 15/4/1994	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
1995
17	Sobhy Abdel Hady	Malawy, Minya	Assuit 29/8/1995	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
18	Khaled Mohamed	Sohag	1995	Suspected links with armed groups
19	Sayed Ali Hassan	Minya	27/9/1995	Suspected links with armed groups
20	Talaat Fouad Qasem	Minya	Croatia	Leader of a group	Egyptian & Croatian security forces
21		Malawy, Minya	31/10/1995	Suspected links with groups
22	Mohamed Mabrouk Mohamed Uthman	El Edwa, Minya	14/2/1995		State security forces
23	Yousry Khalfiya	Cairo	November 1995	None	State security forces
24	Khaled Mohamed as-Sayed	Sohag	November 1995	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
1996
25	Khaled Mohamed Abdel Rahman	Abu Qarqas, Minya	14/9/1996	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
26	Naser Khairy Tantash	Abu Qarqas, Minya	Abu Qarqas 14/9/1996	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
27	Nabil Mansour Ahmed	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 1/10/1996	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
28	Ali Mansour Ahmed	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 1/10/1996	Suspected links with groups
29	Abdel Sabour Abdallah	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 12/10/1996	Suspected links with armed groups	The police
30	Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud	Assuit	Minya May 1995	None
31	Omar Tawfiq Touny	Minya	Minya 5/10/1996	None
32	Amar Abdel Hamid Sawy	Minya	Minya 26/2/1996	None
33	Samir Abu el-Maaty	Qena	11/1/1996	Member of an Islamic group	State security forces
34	Ali Mansour al-Gamal	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 1/10/1996	Charged with aiding fugitives	State security forces
35	Abdel Sabour Abdallah	Malawy, Minya	Malawy 1/10/1996	Helped fugitives	State security forces
36	Amad Afify Hammam	Abu Qarqas, Minya	Abu Qarqas 25/2/1996	None	The police
37	Mahmoud Ahmed Shaqir	Assuit	Assuit May 1996		The police
1997
38	Gihad Farouq Abdel Moneim	Suez	24/2/1997	None	Criminal investigations unit based at al-Arba3in police station
39	Samy Sayyed Mohamed	Beny Souif	Beny Souif 7/7/1997	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
40	Atef Mohamed Khalaf	Minya	Minya		The police
41	Boutros Morqass Askander	Minya	Malawy 4/8/1997		The police
42	Walid Abdel Gawad Abdel Ghaffar	Cairo	Etay al-Baroud 23/2/1997	None	The police
43	Nasser Suleiman Yassin	Minya	Minya 5/7/1997	Suspected links with groups	State security forces
44	Walid Abdel Gawad	Cairo	Atay el-Baroud	None	The police
45	Moustafa Abdel Hamid	Sharqiya	17/12/1997		State security forces
46	Nasser Suleiman Yassin	Minya	Minya 5/7/1997	Suspected political activity	State security forces
47	Samy Sayyed Ali Mohamed	Al-Wasta, Beni Souif	Al-Wasta 7/7/1997	Suspected political activity	State security forces
2000
48	Sherif Saeed Mitwalli	Hadeyek el-Qubba, Cairo	20/4/2000		The police
49	Hossam Eddin Rifaat	Sohag	Sohag 8/3/2000	None	The police
50	Mohamed Abdel Hamid Mitwalli	Qaloubiya	8/3/2000	Weapons selling	The police
2001
51	Mohamed Abdel Rahim Abdel Baqy Ameesch	Sohag	Sohag 13/9/2001		State security forces
52	Mohamed Abdel Rahim Abdel Rahman	Tema, Sohag	Sohag 13/9/2001		State security forces
2003
53	Reda Halal	Cairo	11/8/2003

Chapter 4

Treatment of Prisoners and detainees

The Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Caracas, 1980) revealed the failure of national penal policies, including that of Egypt, to rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them for reintegration into society. The following reasons were given for this failure;
- Overcrowding in prisons

- The failure of long term imprisonment to rehabilitate prisoners

- The danger of short-term imprisonment on first time offenders

- The inability of most countries, including Egypt, to meet the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners .

- Prison conditions are not suitable for the rehabilitation process of prisoners.

Legislative intervention can therefore play a crucial role in changing penal philosophy in Egypt in order to bring it in line with that of more advanced countries. This requires greater concern for prisoners and their rehabilitation during the duration of their sentence, improvement of prison conditions and provision of food of nutritional value, clothes and bed linen. The prison system as a whole must be completely reviewed.

Prison authorities are responsible for prisoner rehabilitation both during the course of their sentence and after their release during what is known as "post prison supervision". This supervision allows the success of prisons in the rehabilitation and reformation of prisoners to be measured.

This section of the report encompasses information gathered by EOHR in 2003 through prison visits made by EOHR lawyers, interviews with prisoners and detainees and the testimony from members of the detainees' families. As in previous years, violations of prisoners' basic constitutional and internationally guaranteed rights continued unabated in 2003. These violations include:
1. Torture and mistreatment

2. Inadequate health care

3. Deprivation of the right to education

4. Deprivation of visits and contact with the outside world.

1. Torture and mistreatment of prisoners and detainees
Under article 1 of the Convention against Torture (CAT) ratified by Egypt in 1986, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is defined as:
any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

The torture of prisoners and detainees is also criminalised under rule 31 of the Standard Minimum Rules which states:
Corporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences.

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provide that "no one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Article 10(1) of the ICCPR states that:

All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

Under article 3 of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment "no State may permit or tolerate torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Examples of violations of prisoner rights in 2003
1. Solitary confinement in punishment cells measuring no more than 2 x 1 m² without any ventilation openings except for an opening in the door measuring 20 x 20 cm². Prisoners are only permitted to leave the cell (which lacks toilet facilities) once in every 24 hour period, and are denied visits from, or communication with, their families in violation of article 38 of Law 396 [1956].

2. Assaults against prisoners leading to serious injury, which prompted some political prisoners to launch a hunger strike. This led to the confiscation of all their personal possessions including clothes, food and books and their being detained in the punishment room.

3. Authorities still conduct inspections four times a year. Electric stun guns are used during the search and prisoners physically assaulted and their possessions confiscated. These practices constitute forms of torture and inhumane treatment.

2. Inadequate medical attention
Diseases spread quickly inside prisons which poses a threat to the right to life, physical wellbeing and psychological health of prisoners. Dire health conditions inside prisons are principally due to the following factors:

Overcrowding

Low cleanliness standards, contaminated water, bad ventilation, lack of sports facilities and the provision of food of a low nutritional value. All these factors lead to the spread of epidemics such as tuberculosis and scabies inside prisons.

Prisons clinics are poorly equipped and lack vital medicine making them unable to deal with serious cases which require special treatment or surgical intervention. In addition there are not enough doctors and some doctors fail to respect professional standards in their treatment of prisoners.

Under article 33 of the Prisons Organisation Regulations prison directors are not obliged to follow doctors' recommendations and directives. This robs doctors of their authority and responsibility by making their recommendations subject to interference from non-medical bodies.

Political prisoners are not allowed to receive medication while the families of criminal prisoners are allowed to bring them medication.
Health conditions in prisons continue to deteriorate despite Presidential decree no.396 [1956] on general rules for the treatment of prisoners and medical supervision and the clarification by an implementing statute of the measures which must be taken in order to realise better health care for prisoners and detainees. Interior Minister Decree no. 79 [1961] on the internal regulations of prisons explains the duties of prison doctors, the most important of which is the doctor being made responsible for all the health procedures in prisons which guarantee prisoners' wellbeing (articles 24, 26, 27, 28, 30 and 31).

EOHR noted an increase in the percentage of cases of illness inside prisons in 2003, strongly linked with the increase in prisoner numbers, the lack of ventilation in cells, the paucity of food given by prison authorities and the low nutritional value of what is given. This renders the majority of prison inmates dependent on food given to them by their relatives during visits. Compounding health problems is the difficulty of going to hospital for examination; appointments are repeatedly postponed on any pretext.

Medical cases monitored by EOHR in 2003
1. Mohsin Ahmed Kamel was imprisoned in 1997 and is currently in Fayyoum prison. He suffers from heart and liver problems, high blood pressure and weak sight for which he requires glasses. He is in need of medical examination and attention. According to a medical report dated the 7th June 2002 he was scheduled to be transferred to Ramad Fayyoum Hospital but this has to date not taken place.

2. Taha Khalifa Taha has been detained since the 1st February 1992 in Abu Zabal penitentiary. He has a brain tumor for which he was receiving treatment in Alexandria Hospital when he was detained in Damanhor Prison. Since his incarceration in Abu Zabal however his family knows nothing about his medical state as he is denied visits.

3. Abdel Fattah Abdel Wahab was detained on the 16th Novermber 1994 and is currently in Wady el Gadid Prison. He suffers from tuberculosis, weak sight and inflammation of the spine. In their last visit to him his family realised that he has developed psychological disorders as a result of the long period of detention to which he has been subjected to.

4. Dahy Khalaf Muhamed was detained in April 1995 and is currently in Wady el Natrun 2 Prison. He has suffered from tuberculosis since 1997 and was isolated in Fayyoum Prisom for nine months where he developed asthma and contracted hepatitis. He also suffers from kidney stones, high blood pressure and gout.

5. Elsaayid Hafez Elsayyid Suleiman was detained on the 28th March 1995 and is currently in Fayyoum Prison. He has a lung allergy, his right kidney has stopped functioning, he has problems with his left kidney and the right and left urethras as well as renal fibrosis and risks total kidney failure according to the medical report issued by Tora penitentiary hospital.

6. Ramadan Ali Hassan Rageh was detained in December 1994, and is currently in Fayyoum Prison. He suffers from chronic glaucoma in his left eye and was scheduled to undergo an operation in Manial teaching hospital, but this has to date not taken place. His right eye was also infected with glaucoma and he has now lost all vision in it. He also suffers from prostate problems, an ulcer in the gall bladder and weak blood circulation in the brain.

7. Ahmed Mukhtar Muhamed was detained on the 7th November 1994 and is currently in Damanhor Prison. He suffers from weak blood circulation, heart problems, difficulty in breathing, inflammation of the sinuses and weakness of the nervous system.

Name	Date of detention	Prison	Medical condition
Ahmed Ali Naguib Ali	1995	Fayyoum	Stomach ulcer.
Hamdy Mohamed Ahmed	1994	Damanhour	Kidney stones.
Abdel Fattah Abdel Wahab Ahmed Aref		Al Wady al Gedid	Tuberculosis.
Ali Abdel Naby Mohamed Farag	1994	Al Wady al Gedid	Skin allergy.
Abdel Rahim Mohamed Abdel Aal Ali	1992	Al Wady al Gedid	Heart problems. Requires pacemaker.
Mohamed Moustafa Khaled Ali	1995	Fayyoum	Brittle bone disease. Weak vision.
Ahmed Mahmoud Salouma	1992	Al Wady al Gedid	Diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney problems.
Shabaan Ali Mohamed		Fayyoum	High blood pressure, kidney stones and bleeding from the eye.
Mamdouh Nasreddin Amin Abdallah	1995	Fayyoum	Tuberculosis, weak vision and emaciation.
Mohamed Ahmed Mahmoud Mohamed	1992	Al Wady al Gedid	Lung allergy, eye disease and prostate.
Ahmed Abdel Fattah Ahmed Hussein	1992	Tora Reception	Lung allergy and kidney inflammation.
Ramadan Mohamed Abdel Wahab	1995	Al Wady al Gedid	Slipped disc.
Ziyad Nimr Abdallah al Qashash	2002	Al Gharbanaat	Mediterranean Fever.
Al Sayyed Mahmoud al Sayyed Abdel Aal	1994	Al Wady al Gedid	Hepatitis C, heart disease and high blood pressure. Needs two operations.
Ahmed Suleiman Mady	1994	Fayyoum	Diabetes, high blood pressure, joint and nerve inflammation, cirrhosis, enlarged liver and spleen, Hepatitis C and coronary artery problems.
Essam Abdel Razeq Abdel Aal	1994	Al Wady al Gedid	Low blood pressure and emaciation.
Hamdy Saber Mohamed Gumaa	1997	Fayyoum	Lung allergy, asthma and difficulty in breathing.
Osama Farouq Awis Ramadan	1992	Abu Zabal	General weakness, dislocated lower jaw and severe depression.
Amru Ismail Mohamed	May 2003	Tora Reception	Heart problems.
Badr Fadel Khalafallah Mohamed	1995	Damanhour	Lung allergy and difficulty in breathing.
Qurany Al Sayyed Ali Abdel Riba	1994	Wady Natroun 1	Skin allergy and weak vision.
Khaled Mohamed Ahmed	1993	Wady Natroun 1	Partial paralysis.
Walid Okasha Abu Bakr Ali	1996	Wady Natroun 1	Paralysed right hand, irritable colon, general weakness and emaciation.
Sayyed Abdel Sabour Mohamed Ammar	1998	Al Wady al Gedid	Loss of hearing, inflamed kidney and rheumatism.
Masaad Farouq Mohamed Soweify	1998	Abu Zabal Penitentiary	Lung disease.
Ashraf Abbas Mansour Moustafa	1993	Al Wady al Gedid	Has suffered from Tuberculosis since 1997.
Qassem Abdel Aziz Qassem	1992	Tora Reception	After an eye operation a doctor forgot a stitch leading to complications and his almost losing his vision.
Taha Mohamed Hussein Radwan	1998	Wady al Natroun 2	Haemorrhoids, spleen problems, lever disease and hepatitis C
Yousry Mohamed Fahmy	2002	Tora Reception	Stomach hernia and rheumatism.
Badir Hamed Badir	1998	Wady al Natroun 1	Skin allergy and stomach-aches
Mamdouh Mohamed Abdel Baqy	1995	Al Wady al Gedid	Heart and prostate problems, blood pressure and rheumatism
Affat Ibrahim Salah	1993	Wady al Natroun 1	Partial paralysis, asthma, general weakness and emaciation.
Mohamed Abdel Neby Suleiman Higazy	1992	Wady al Natroun 1	Tonsillitis and rheumatism.
Mohamed Abdel Gawad Mohamed	1993	Fayyoum	Diabetes and asthma.
Hassan Abdel Aal Hassan Gad	1996	Wady al Natroun 2	High blood pressure, weak vision, general weakness, emaciation and irregular heart rhythms.
Mohamed Fawzy Abdel Gawad	1994	Al Wady al Gedid	Tuberculosis and a skin allergy.
Hammad Farouq Tawfiq	1994	Al Wady al Gedid	Rheumatic fever, high blood pressure, inflation of the liver and spleen, heart and kidney problems and high levels of gall and liver enzymes.
Helal Abdel Tawab Ibrahim	1995	Tora Reception	Kidney and gall bladder problems.
Sayyed Ahmed Hamimy Salama	2001	Wady al Natroun 2	Stomach ulcer, coronary artery disease, irritable colon, rheumatism in the joints.
Al Rifaei Ahmed Imam Ali	1993	Wady al Natroun 2	Heart problems and high blood pressure.
Mahmoud Ahmed Abdel Zaher	1997	Wady al Natroun 1	Lung allergy.
Mohamed Fawzy Abdel Gawad Suleiman	1992	Al Wady al Gedid	Tuberculosis and abscesses.
Ahmed Abdallah Ahmed Abdel Warath	1993	Wady al Natroun 1	High blood pressure, heart disease, stomach ulcer and rheumatism.
Awny Mohamed Fadel	1994	Wady al Natroun 1	Underwent a surgical operation. Prostate problems.
Mohamed Abdel Rahim Mahmoud	2001	Tora Reception	Back problems.
Taha Khalifa Taha	1992	Abu Zabal Penitentiary	Brain tumour.
Mohamed Eid Mohamed Ibrahim	1992	Fayyoum	Malignant tumour in the upper jaw.
Mohamed Shaker Farid Ibrahim	1993	Fayyoum	Slipped disc, damaged vertebra, perforated eardrum and bronchitis.

3. Deprivation of the right to education
Education is particularly important for prisoners. Deprived of their freedom, sometimes for long periods of time, it is imperative that prisoners in general prisons be allowed to continue their education because it is a fundamental element of their reform, rehabilitation and reinsertion into society. Education plays a vital role in correcting criminal habits and prepares prisoners for useful employment after their release. It also helps prisoners who have not completed their education to adapt to employment and regain the respect of society following their release. Reading and study are profitable uses of prisoners' free time, a valuable investment in their future and better than their spending their sentence languishing in prison and taking drugs.

Rule 77 of the Standard Minimum Rules states:
1. Provision shall be made for the further education of all prisoners capable of profiting thereby, including religious instruction in the countries where this is possible. The education of illiterates and young prisoners shall be compulsory and special attention shall be paid to it by the administration.

2. So far as practicable, the education of prisoners shall be integrated with the educational system of the country so that after their release they may continue their education without difficulty.
In Egyptian legislation prisoners' education is limited to wiping out illiteracy pursuant to Law 128 [1944] on fighting illiteracy and spreading popular culture. Article 11 of the Law obligates the prison authorities to provide education while Decree 180 [1949] of the Prisons Regulations stated that access to education and taking examinations must be facilitated. Education was afforded greater importance following Law 396 [1956] whose explanatory notes emphasised the role of education in reform and rehabilitation:

It has been noticed that if the prisoner is left to his own devices in prison without supervision or guidance he will entirely devote his thoughts to crime and imitate other criminals. To prevent this it is felt that the prison administration should educate prisoners and paths to culture opened to them in order that they fill their free time, derive some intellectual benefit and distance themselves from the influence of criminal elements.

Prevention of prisoners from completing their studies is a flagrant violation of their rights. The final decision often rests with the prison administration which the majority of time prevents the detainee or prisoner from sitting examinations. Furthermore prisoners are transferred between prisons or detained in prisons far away from the university in which they study. This is used by the prison authorities as a reason for refusing to transfer prisoners to prisons in order to sit examinations. However in 2003 some Abu Zabal high security prisoners were transferred to Tora reception prison to sit an examination without having first obtained a court order for this.

There were a many instances of prisoners' and detainees' being denied the right to sit examinations, sometimes for as long as eight years. This number includes students of non-practical disciplines which do not impose a requirement that students attend a minimum number of classes in order to pass the final exam. EOHR has presented a number of petitions to the Prosecutor General, the Interior Minister and the head of Prisons Affairs Office concerned with the prevention of prisoners and detainees from sitting their exams, but has not received a response to any of them.
Deprivation of the right to education cases in 2003

Ibrahim Ibrahim Mohamed was detained on the 15th March1995 in el Wadi el Gadid Prison. He is a student in the Faculty of Law, Cairo University. Despite the Interior Minister having issued a decree stating that the Prisons' Affairs Office would pay the education expenses of all prisoners enrolled in schools or universities, Mohamed's family were forced to pay the examinations fees. He was prevented however from sitting examinations.

Ayman Muhamed Abdel Magid is a fourth year student of the Helwan University Faculty of Science. He was detained on the 17th August 1992, and detained in numerous prisons including Fayyoum and Damanhour. He is currently being detained in Abu Za'bal Prison. His family presented a case to the Administrative Judicial Court concerning his being denied the right to education. A court ruling given on the 14th June 1994 found in his favour to complete his studies but it was never implemented and he was not able to sit the examination.

Saeed Abdel Wahab Mahmoud is a student in Mansoura University's Faculty of Law. He was detained in 1998 and placed in Abu Zabal high security prison. He has to date not been able to sit his examinations despite the fact that his family have presented a number of complaints to the concerned authorities.

Mohamed Abdel Rahim Hassan is a student in Cairo University's Faculty of Literature who was detained on the 10th April 1994. He has been detained the right to sit examinations.

Amru Hassan Ahmed is a student in Cairo University's Faculty of Arts. He was detained on the 28th September 1994 and detained in numerous prisons. He was eventually expelled from University. His family have not been allowed to bring him his course books.

Ahmed Ali Naguib is a 1st year student in Minya University's Faculty of Arts. He was detained in 1996 and has not been allowed to sit his examination since his incarceration in Wady el Gedid prison. Hs family have presented many demands requesting that he be allowed to sit his examinations but the prison authorities have consistently refused this.

Prisoners denied the right to sit examinations in 2003

Name	Date of detention	Place of detention	Faculty, university and year of study
Suleiman el Abd Abu Bakr	29/9/1991	Abu Zabal High Security	Law, Cairo University, 1st year
Ahmed Galal Attiya	1993	Damanhour	Law, Cairo University
Ibrahim Hamed Uthman	1997	Fayyoum	Law, Cairo University, 3rd year
Ramadan Mohamed Abdel Wahab	1995	Al Wady el Gedid	Law, Assiut University, 1st year
Hamdy Saber Mohamed	10/10/1997	Fayyoum	Literature, Minya University
Badr Fadel Khalafallah	2/9/1995	Damanhour	Arts, Minya University
Sayyed Abdel Sabour Mohamed	1998	El Wady el Gedid	Literature, Minya University
Mohamed Abdel Naby Suleiman	15/7/1992	Wady Natroun 1	Commerce, Helwan University, 1st year
Hassan Sidqy Mohamed	1995	El Wady el Gedid	Engineering, Helwan University, 1st year
Mohamed Fawzy Abdel Gawad	1992	El Wady el Gedid	College commerce student
Yasser Mahmoud Attaallah	1999	Damanhour	Islamic studies, Fayyoum branch of Cairo University
Diaa Mahmoud Rifaat	1994	El Wady el Gedid	Education diploma, Sohag University
Khashin Mohamed Mohamed	15/3/1996	Wady Natroun 1	Al Azhar diploma, 5th year
Ibrahim Ibrahim Mohamed	15/3/1995	El Wady el Gedid	Law, Cairo University, 1st year
Mohamed Hamdan Mohamed	1995	El Wady el Gedid	Social work, Assiut
Mohamed Hassan Abdallah	8/3/1995	Abu Zabal high security	Law, Cairo University
Abdel Rasoul Hassan Abdallah	1992	Wady Natroun 2	Arts, Cairo University
Mohamed Ahmed Abdallah	1992	Damanhour	Law, Cairo University
Abu Qassem Hassan Abdallah	1992	Wady Natroun 2	Literature, Cairo University
Ali Maher Mohamed	1994	Fayyoum	Law, Cairo University 2nd year
Abdel Qader Bakry Gumaa	1993	Abu Zabal high security	Engineering diploma
Mohamed Hassan Rahim	1995	Damanhour	Education, Cairo, 3rd year
Harby Ali Abdel Fattah	1992	El Wady el Gedid	Law, Assiut University, 1st year
Abdel Nasser Fathy as-Sayyed	1992	El Wady el Gedid	Law, 2nd year
Ammadeddin Rifaat Ali	1995	Fayyoum	Arab Studies, Minya University
Khaled Baghdady Youssef	1992	Tora Penitentiary	Arts, Alexandria University
Momen Mohamed Zein al Abdeen	1993	El Wady el Gedid	Commerce, South Wady University
Mohamed Rifaat Sadeq	1/1/1994	Sohag general prison	Education, Sohag University
Essam Abdel Hamid Diab	29/9/1990	Abu Zabal high security	Law, Cairo University
Ali Ahmed Abdel Naby	1993	El Wady el Gedid	Pharmacy, Assiut
Abu el Hassan al Shazly al Amir	1991	El Wady el Gedid	Law, Cairo University
Wael Abdel Latif Mohamed	1994	Abu Zabal high security	Law, Cairo University
Abdallah Mohamed Abdel Aziz	1996	Wady Natroun 2	Pharmacy, Al Azhar
Mahmoud Rifaat Attiya	1994	El Wady el Gedid	Commerce, Cairo University, 1st year

3. Visits
International human rights instruments whose provisions were incorporated into Egyptian law upon the government's ratification provide for prisoners' right to contact with the outside world as an essential element of prisoner reform. Isolating prisoners and preventing them from checking on the well being of their families does not contribute to their reform or social and psychological rehabilitation. Article 37 of the Standard Minimum Rules provides:
Prisoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits.

Article 61 states:
The treatment of prisoners should emphasise not their exclusion from the community, but their continuing part in it.

Article 71 of the Egyptian Constitution states:
Any person arrested or detained should be informed, forthwith with the reasons for his arrest or detention. He has the right to communicate, inform, and ask the help of anyone as prescribed in the law. He must be faced, as soon as possible, with the charges against him.

This provision makes clear that visits are a right rather than a privilege and must therefore not be used as a reward or punishment. Denial of prisoners' right to communicate with their relatives is an unacceptable means of punishment. Articles 38 - 42 of Law 396 [1956] on Prison Affairs Regulation govern visits and communication with the outside world, while article 38 of Prisons Internal Regulations states:
All those sentenced have the right to communication and their visits have the right to visit them according to the Internal Regulations. Detainees in pre-trial custody possess this right without prejudice to the provisions of the Criminal Procedures Code in this regard.

Violations of the right to visits and communication with the outside world monitored by EOHR in 2003

1. During visits the prisoner and his family are separated by twin sets of bars which leave them some 120 cm apart.

2. Visits are short, despite the provisions of article 71 Interior Minister decree no. 79 [1961] on Prison Internal Regulations which sets the length of visits at 15 minutes for all those in pre-trial detention in general prisons or serving a hard labour sentence. Prisoners in pre-trial detention in central prisons have the right to a 30 minute visit (article 40 of decree 1954 [1971]). In reality visits do not exceed 10 minutes.

3. The unsuitable conditions in which visits take place because of the discretion granted to prison authorities to determine and regulate these conditions. The din in which prison visits are conducted make it virtually impossible for the prisoner and his family to hear each other.

On the 18th May 2003 a decision issued by the director of prison affairs barred visits for members of the Jihad and Takfir and Higra groups detained in Tora high security, Abu Zabal, Fayyoum and Damanhour Prisons for up to six months. This prompted some of their relatives to bring legal action in the Council of State seeking the annulment of the administrative decision. The Court quashed the decision but allowed one visit only with the result that relatives must raise further legal cases in order to secure the right to a second visit.

Closed prisons constitute one of the most serious impediments to the enjoyment of the right to visits and communication. There is no convincing or credible justification for the suspension of this right other than security factors described in article 42 of the Prisons Regulation Law which states that "visits may be entirely or partially restricted as demanded by circumstances at certain times, for health or security reasons." This provision gives the Interior Ministry the right to ban visits without having to provide an objective justification. The reasons given in the law are vague and lead to a flagrant violation of prisoners' constitutionally guaranteed right to visits.

It should be remembered that members of the Jihad or Takfir and Higra groups detained in Egyptian prisons receive visits according to the "blanket visits" system according to which the prisoner is allowed to sit with his family on a blanket for up to two hours. This followed an initiative to stop violence launched by the leaders of these groups within and outside prisons. Members of Jihad have been placed in Abu Zabal Prison while members of Takfir and Higra have been transferred to Wady Natroun.

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Egyptian Organization for Human Rights is a member in five Organisations that are Consultant in the UN Economic Social Council (ECOSOC)