Abdullah Awad was arrested on 25 March 2009 at his home in Al-Arish, northern Sinai, by State Security Intelligence (SSI) and held incommunicado for 2 months at their headquarters in Nasr City, Cairo, during which time he was brutally tortured.
On 11 September 2009, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Torture asking him to intervene with the Egyptian authorities in order to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Abdullah Awad.