On 24 September 2015, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (SRT) regarding the arrest of 32-year-old freelance journalist Hassan Mahmoud Ragab El Kabany in January 2015. Reportedly tortured on numerous occasions, including in September, El Kabany has not been brought before a judge in his eight-month detention, has been denied any form of medical care and remains at high risk of ill-treatment in Tora high security prison.
On the night of 22 January 2015, several members of the Homeland Security – Egypt's main domestic security services – and of the General Investigations Department – the Criminal Investigations Department – broke into El Kabany's home in 6th of October City, 30km west of Cairo. Without showing any warrant, they thoroughly searched the rooms and confiscated his computer, mobile phones and identification papers before arresting him. Brought to the Security Forces camp of Sheikh Zayed, he was detained incommunicado and tortured for two consecutive days to force him to confess to crimes. Among other acts of torture, El Kabany was subjected to electric shocks on his every single part of his body, including genitals, and beaten up by officers. They also pushed him on the floor and dragged him, causing permanent injuries to his knees and back.
Two days later, El Kanbany was brought the Public Prosecutor of 6th of October City, who did not pay any attention to the marks of torture on his body or his demands to see a doctor, but charged the journalist with "spying on behalf of foreign entities and spreading false information," "participating in a criminal conspiracy to commit crimes to destabilise the State and the Constitution" and "joining an outlawed group" − charges usually brought against journalists critic of the government, such as these nine journalists sentenced to death or life in prison in April 2015.
He was then transferred to Tora high security prison, a place notorious for the practice of torture within its walls, including against youths such as 19-year-old Ammar Mohammed Mohammed Mahmoud. His detention has since been constantly renewed pending investigations and he has still not been brought before a judge. Moreover, he has been denied any form of exercise as well as the right to see his family. To protest against his conditions of detention, El Kabany started a hunger strike in February. He nevertheless had to end it to preserve his health but has continued to complain about the treatment of prisoners in Tora prison. An officer eventually retaliated against him after El Kanany told him on 20 September that Allah was witness to his abuses and that he would judge him when the time comes. Angered, the prison guard beat him and his co-detainees up, and confiscated their blankets.
When his wife heard what happened to him after she visited him on 21 September, she sent a telegram to the Public Prosecution's headquarters in Cairo to ask for measures to be taken to preserve El Kabany's health and ask that the perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners be held accountable, but she has not received an answer to date. "We will continue to fight against the authors of these crimes, locally and internationally until we make sure that they will be punished by a court of law," she told Alkarama.
It is with this goal in mind that Alkarama solicited the intervention of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (SRT) to ask the Egyptian authorities to guarantee El Kabany's physical and psychological health and to promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate the reports of torture he made and punish the authors of such crimes. Egypt has to live up to its international obligations, particularly under the Convention against Torture (CAT), binding upon it by virtue of its ratification in 1986, and launch a campaign to effectively end torture and ill-treatment across the country and ensure justice for victims.
For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).