AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 21 May 2001, the Egyptian Supreme Security Court sentenced Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim to seven years in prison. Dr. Ibrahim, 62, is a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo and founder and director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. Twenty-seven of his associates at the Center also received sentences ranging from time served to seven years. Dr. Ibrahim was first arrested on 30 June 2000, and charged with accepting 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 three-judge panel reached its decision only 90 minutes after defense lawyers had finished their summations. Due to the large amount of evidence, which includes thousands of pages of documents, and information that was filed only hours before the verdict was announced, international observers of the trial had expected the court to deliberate for months. Human rights organizations are concerned at the speed at which the panel of judges reached their decision. There was such a loud outcry from observers of the trial after the verdict was announced that the judges did not even explain under which counts Dr. Ibrahim and his associates had been found guilty.

The Ibn Khaldun Center is a civil and human rights organization in Cairo. The Center has been an outspoken critic of Egyptian government policies. Its activities have included producing a documentary about voter fraud, serving as election monitors, conducting research on democracy, civil society, and minority rights in Egypt.

Dr. Ibrahim's trial was conducted in the High State Security Court, which was established as a legal institution under the State Security Law of 1980. This special court suspends some of the usual rights and protections guaranteed in the civil court system, including the right to appeal.

In a joint statement issued after the verdict was announced, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated, "We believe that the charges against Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim were politically motivated. This trial falls in the context of a number of blows intended to muzzle civil society in Egypt."

Dr. Ibrahim holds both U.S. and Egyptian citizenship. His wife, Barbara, is an American academic working in Egypt. A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department's Near Eastern Affairs Bureau made the following statement: "We are deeply troubled by the outcome and we have some concerns about the process that resulted in this sentence."

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

(Sources of information for this case include: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies (http://www.ibnkhaldun.org/), and the New York Times)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 19(1): Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
• Article 14(1): All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him [or her], or of his [or her] rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

The Human Rights Defenders Declaration

• Article 6(c): Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: 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.
• Article 6(b): Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• Article 6(a): Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: 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.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams, faxes, airmail letters or emails:

• Expressing your concern that the sentencing of Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim to seven years in prison appears to be part of a larger attempt by Egyptian authorities to stifle political dissent and intimidate human rights defenders; and
• Expressing your concern that the trial of Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and his associates of the Ibn Khaldun Center did not meet international standards of fairness because it was tried in the State Security Court where due process is limited and the defendants do not have a right to appeal.

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: 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
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
ibnkhaldun@ibnkhaldun.org


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

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6796; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals re to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

To verify the contents of this alert and/or the electronic signature, please download the signed file for this alert along with the Program's PGP Public Key.

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