(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a 4 December 1998 ARTICLE 19 letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression further to the arrest and detention of Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights: Abid Hussein UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Geneva 4 December 1998 ARTICLE 19 […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a 4 December 1998 ARTICLE 19 letter to
the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression further to the arrest and
detention of Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organisation
for Human Rights:
Abid Hussein
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
Geneva
4 December 1998
ARTICLE 19 requests you urgently to intervene to assure the safety and
immediate release from detention of Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary-General of
the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights. According to information
received by ARTICLE 19, on 1 December 1998 Mr Seada was committed for up to
15 days detention by the State Prosecutor on three charges, pending further
inquiries.
We are seriously concerned for the safety of Mr Seada, who has not been
brought before a judge promptly, as required by Article 9 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a
party. We understand that no representative of Mr Seada’s interests has seen
him since he was detained, and that his wife was denied access to him when
today she went to Tora Istiqbal prison (where it is believed her husband is
being held) despite having permission from the authorities to visit him.
ARTICLE 19 is disturbed that the State Prosecutor’s office summoned Mr Abu
Seada to answer questions in connection with an investigation into a report
on a particular human rights issue in Egypt, and that while there he was
charged with offences under the Penal Code (second chapter, items 80 and 87)
and under an Army Law, the specifics of which are somewhat unclear to us,
and immediately jailed.
As we understand it, the charges are of dissemination abroad of false
information harmful to Egypt’s national interests; accepting funds from a
foreign country for the purpose of carrying out acts harmful to Egypt; and
receiving donations without obtaining permission from the Egyptian
authorities.
As mentioned above, Egypt is a party to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, and as such is committed to upholding freedom of
expression under Article 19 of that international treaty. This includes the
right to impart and receive information regardless of frontiers. ARTICLE 19
is concerned with upholding that right, and believes that laws allowing
prosecution for dissemination of ‘false’ information should be removed from
the statute book, as they breach Article 19 of the ICCPR. The United
Nations’ Human Rights Committee has frequently commented on the
incompatibility of false news provisions with the guarantee of freedom of
expression. We therefore call on you to press the Egyptian government to
repeal any laws which criminalise expression on these grounds.
According to our information, Hafez Abu Seada’s arrest arises from funding
actually granted by the Human Rights Policy Department of the Foreign Office
of the British Government to the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights for
a specific project concerned with enhancing the status of women. Not only
that, but it would appear that due to the amount of concern expressed, EOHR
returned the money to the British Foreign Office on 30 November 1998, and
the project has been cancelled, to the detriment of those it was intended to
benefit.
It is difficult to understand how such a project would harm Egypt’s
interests. Certainly, the Egyptian government continues to accept money
directly from the United Kingdom government, and in 1996-97 received a total
of £6.28 million from the Department for International Development (in the
form of Technical co-operation – £3.29, debt relief – £1.268 and trade and
aid – £377,000).
In conclusion, ARTICLE 19 requests that you make representations to ensure t
hat Hafez Abu Seada is released immediately and that no further action is
taken without full respect for legal guarantees, including guarantees of
basic human rights. We also ask you to urge the Egyptian government to
repeal forthwith laws relating to the publication and dissemination of false
news.
I look forward to receiving your reassurance on this important matter at
your earliest convenience.
Frances D’Souza
Executive Director
ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, campaigns for
freedom of expression worldwide. Members of the International Board are as
follows:
Zeinab Badawi (Chair, UK), Professor Peter Baehr (Netherlands), Geoffrey
Bindman (Treasurer, UK), Professor Kevin Boyle (UK), Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy
(Malaysia), Salah Eldin Hafiz (Egypt), Paul Hoffman (US), Cushrow Irani
(India), Jody Kollapen (Director of East and Southern Regional Office, South
Africa), Daisy Li (Hong Kong), Goenawan Mohamad (Indonesia), Mario Vargas
Llosa (Spain).
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Abid Hussein
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
Geneva, Switzerland
