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At dawn on 8 May 2001 Hisham Mahmoud Diab, 51, a dual citizen of Dutch and Egyptian nationalitiy was arrested by State Security forces at his home in Heliopolis, Cairo. He was then tried and sentenced by a Military Court, despite being a civilian, to three years imprisonment. He served this sentence and should have been released in May 2004, but he remained detained to this day (5 years later).

Immediately after his arrest he was taken to State Security headquarters at Lazoghli and was exposed to continuous torture for 45 days.

After his horrifying experience in Lazoghli, he was tried by a Military Court. Without the presence of a lawyer, was sentenced to three years imprisonment.

After the trial, he was transported, in late June 2001 to Torah prison where he was detained in a 3.5m x 3.75m cell along with 20 other prisoners. He was once again exposed to horrendous torture.

After serving his three year sentence, he was to be released in May 2004. However, under orders from State Security Investigative (SSI) services, in accordance with Egypt's State of Emergency Law, he was instantly rearrested and taken to SSI's headquarters Lazoghli. He has since been illegally detained and repeatedly transferred between various Egyptian prisons.

Alkarama will be following Mr. Diab's case and will bring this information to the attention of the appropriate United Nation HR mechanisms.