AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 18 November 2000, judges in the South Cairo District Supreme State Security Court granted a defense request to postpone the trial of Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, and 27 of his associates at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies. The trial is now scheduled for January 2001. Ibrahim and the other defendants were placed in a barred cage without chairs for the duration of the four-hour hearing.

The defense lawyers requested the postponement in order to have more time to prepare for the case. The lawyers learned of the formal content of the indictment in mid-October through reports in the local press. By early November, none of the defendants had been served with an official indictment. One of the lawyers was able to pay to photocopy about one-third of the 2,000 plus pages of case documents, which included the official stamped indictments. Dr. Ibrahim was charged with accepting donor funds from the European Union without official permission, deliberately disseminating false information and malicious rumors about the internal affairs of the State, and harming the image of the State abroad. The funds were designated for a pro-democracy documentary that details corruption in Egypt's elections.

The defense lawyers also asked that the Ibn Khaldun Center be re-opened to allow the defendants access to documents and files needed for their defense. In addition, the defense lawyers requested that Dr. Ibrahim's passport be returned and that travel restrictions against him be lifted. The judges did not address these requests; it is unclear if there will be a decision on them before the January trial. There is great concern that without full access to the Center, it will be very difficult to prepare a proper defense.

Dr. Ibrahim, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo and founder and director of the Ibn Khaldun Center, was first arrested on 30 June 2000. He and his associates were held in jail for six weeks without formal charges.

Dr. Ibrahim's trial is being conducted in the High State Security Court, which was established as a legal institution under the State Security Law of 1980. The State Security Laws created a parallel court system, which consists of security courts and military courts. These special courts operate outside the civil court system. The security courts have power to suspend some of the usual rights and protections guaranteed in the civil court system. The law also grants officials far-reaching powers to detain individuals without indictment or trial. Most politically sensitive criminal cases are tried in the special security courts. The decision of the judges is final and cannot be appealed.

Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim thanked all those who wrote letters to Egyptian officials about his case. He wrote, "Thousands of you had never met me or any of my associates at Ibn Khaldun. But you supported the principles and values for which we stand in this part of the world: democracy, human rights, peace, and development for all. We are determined to continue our struggle, and hope that you will continue your support."

(Sources of information for this alert include: Amnesty International, the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development, and IFEX International Freedom of Expression Exchange.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams, faxes, airmail letters or emails:

• Requesting that the Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies be re-opened;
• Asking that Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his associates be allowed full access to all documents and files in the Center as well as to any documents confiscated in the investigation so that they may prepare their defense;
• Requesting that the case against Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his associates of Ibn Khaldun Center be taken out of the State Security Court where due process is limited and the defendants do not have a right to appeal, and heard in the Egyptian civil court system.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency Mohammed Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdeen Palace
Cairo, EGYPT
Telex: 93794 WAZRA
Fax: 20 2 390 1998


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


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: 20 2 355 8103

COPIES SENT TO:

The Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies (ICDS)
17, st. 12
P.O. Box 13
Mokatam
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 20 2 508-1030


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

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