AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo and founder and director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies, was arrested on 30 June 2000. State security forces raided his house and the Ibn Khaldun Center, confiscating some of the Center's account files, computer disks, computers, a safe, pamphlets and personal documents. The following day his colleagues at the Center, Nadia Abdel Nour, Khaled Fayyed, Mamdouh Mansour and Ayman Gabel were also arrested and face similar charges.

Dr. Ibrahim was charged with improperly collecting funds from international sources to prepare provocative propaganda that could cause damage to the public interest and damage Egypt's reputation abroad. The funds were designated for a pro-democracy documentary that details corruption in Egypt's voting practices. The charges against Dr. Ibrahim carry a possible sentence of 15 years in jail.

Several human rights groups including Amnesty International and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights are concerned that Dr. Ibrahim's arrest may be part of a larger attempt by Egyptian authorities to stifle political dissent and intimidate human rights defenders, particularly in advance of the upcoming parliamentary elections. The head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Hafez Abu Saada, was arrested last year on similar charges of improperly accepting foreign donations. He was later released and is serving as Dr. Ibrahim's lawyer.

Dr. Ibrahim, a dual U.S. and Egyptian citizen, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He is an internationally respected advocate for greater democracy and respect for human rights in the Middle East. The Ibn Khaldun Center is a think tank that deals with issues of democratization and the role of civil society organizations. The Center conducts commissioned research and conducts advocacy programs and training services on these topics.

Suppressing legitimate political debate is in direct violation of several international treaties, including the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which Egypt ratified on 4 August 1967.

Relevant articles of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights include:

• Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference (Article 19.1);
• Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds (Article 19.2).

This action also violates Article 6 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 March 1999. This declaration directly affirms the international standard of protecting the rights of human rights defenders, like Dr. Ibrahim:

• To know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including having access to information as to how those rights and freedoms are given effect in domestic legislative, judicial or administrative systems;
• To freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters.

(Sources of information for this alert include: Amnesty International, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams, faxes, airmail letters or emails:

• Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim on the grounds that he was solely arrested for exercising his right to freedom of expression;
• Express concern that Dr. Ibrahim's arrest may be part of a larger attempt by Egyptian authorities to stifle political dissent and intimidate human rights defenders;
• Request that Egypt abide by relevant international standards for the protection of free speech and the civil rights of human rights defenders.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency Mohammed Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdeen Palace
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 2 390 1998
webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
Salutation: Your Excellency

The Honorable Farouk Seif El Nasr
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Midan Lazoghly
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 2 355 8103
Salutation: Dear Mr. Minister:

The Honorable General Habib Ibrahim El Adly
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior
Al Shiek Rihan Street
bab al-Louk
Cairo, EGYPT
Telex: 21361 UN
Fax: 011 20 2 355 8103

COPIES SENT TO:

The Honorable Daniel Kurtzer
The Ambassador of the United States
5 Latin America Street
Garden City
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 2 357 3200

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