(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is a 7 March 2000 EOHR press release: URGENT APPEAL FOR ACTION: Life of Journalist Gamal Abdel Raheem in Danger With extreme concern, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) follows the deterioration in the health condition of Al Gomhourrya journalist Gamal Abdel Raheem. Abdel Raheem announced that he would begin […]
(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is a 7 March 2000 EOHR press release:
URGENT APPEAL FOR ACTION:
Life of Journalist Gamal Abdel Raheem in Danger
With extreme concern, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) follows the deterioration in the health condition of Al Gomhourrya journalist Gamal Abdel Raheem. Abdel Raheem announced that he would begin a hunger strike on 26 February 2000 at the headquarters of the journalists syndicate because of a decision to transfer him to the paper’s regional bureau in Aswan, about 800 km south of Cairo. He was taken to the hospital and put in the intensive care unit because of chest pains, circulatory failure and suspected Angina Pectoris. A lawyer from the EOHR met with Abdel Raheem while he was in the hospital and noted that he suffered from a condition of severe general weakness, which rendered him unable to speak with people around him. Once released from the hospital, Abdel Raheem returned to the press syndicate and resumed the hunger strike which he is still on at present.
Gamal Abdel Raheem has worked for Al Gomhourrya in Cairo since 1987. In 1998, an unjustified decision to remove him to the Aswan Bureau was issued and he filed a complaint. When the complaint was rejected he went on a hunger strike that drove the press union to intervene and mediate. This limited the journalist’s transfer period to three months.
In 1999, to his surprise, Abdel Raheem was referred to a tripartite investigation committee within the paper. In response, he started a second hunger strike on 19 March 1999, which caused his health to deteriorate. The committee decided to dismiss him, and then re-appointed him with a new salary which in effect annulled his more than 10-year seniority with the paper. He was also prevented from working and did not obtain his overdue financial entitlements. The situation escalated on 27 January 2000 when he was referred to the committee for the second time, based on a letter by the editor in chief of Al Gomhourrya, which paved the way for his dismissal on the pretense of his declining to work again.
At the time of his second hunger strike, the EOHR called upon all competent parties, including the Chairman of the Highest Council for Press, officials in the Conflict Resolution Committee in the Journalists Syndicate, the Secretary General of the Journalists Syndicate, the head of the Journalists Syndicate and others to intervene quickly and investigate this incident. Out of concern for the life of Abdel Raheem, the EOHR renews this call. The EOHR has confidence in the role of the Journalists Syndicate in defending the interests of its members. It also urges the Chairman of the Board of the Tahrir Establishment and the Editor in Chief of Al Gomhouryya to strive to resolve this matter in a way that guarantees Abdel Raheem’s rights.
