EOHR demands the whereabouts of detainee Mostafa Mohammed Abdel Hameed Othman

EOHR is deeply concerned about the ongoing disappearance of 25 year old detainee Mostafa Mohammed Abdel Hameed Othman.  He was detained on December 17 1989 during his third year at the faculty of medicine at Al Zagazig. Despite obtaining a release verdict at a session on April 22 1990, his family were prevented from visiting him or obtaining information about his whereabouts.  In response, the family requested a declaration of his fate from the Administrative Court (Case No. 6687/45)  The Court delivered its verdict on 26 November 2002 and the Ministry of Interiors was ordered to pay a 100,000 LE fine to the family of the detainee. 

Significantly, the Court held in its verdict that the detainee was still located at the Ministry of the Interiors.  The Court then held that the Ministry “hid, by its own free will and due to its public power, any information of the detainee which takes the form of involuntary disappearance. This represents a continuous blatant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms granted by the Constitution and international instruments and is a breach of its commitments to enable the associates of the defendant to know his fate whether dead or alive.” The Ministry of Interiors was held to be in breach of its legal obligations and therefore ordered to pay compensation.

EOHR demands that the immediate declaration of the fate of the detainee be made known by the relevant authorities.  EOHR has continuously warned against the danger of administrative detention empowered by the emergency law which leads to further crimes such as involuntary and coercive disappearance.

As affirmed by the 1992 UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, this practice represents one of the grossest violations of human rights.  Involuntary disappearance involves the loss of personal freedom and safety, the denial of equality before the law and the loss of protection to be free from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman treatment.