I thank the committee for the invitation to update it on the current situation in the Middle East and north Africa, with particular regard to the grave human rights concerns we have about the situation in Egypt. Amnesty International launched a new global campaign on torture yesterday. We have decided to launch the global campaign because of our analysis that, 30 years after the adoption of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, torture is not just alive and well but is flourishing in many parts of the world. As more Governments seek to justify torture in the name of national security, the steady progress made over the past 30 years in this field is being eroded. Our presentation will focus predominantly on the human rights situation in Egypt, but we also want to raise concerns about the prevalence of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment across the Middle East and north Africa region. We have also provided the committee with hard copies and access to digital copies of a media briefing paper, "Torture in 2014: 30 years of Broken Promises", which provides an overview of our concerns about torture at the global level. It provides a regional breakdown and contains some of the information we will flag in this presentation. We would also be delighted to meet the committee on the topic of the wider global campaign.
The Middle East and north Africa has been convulsed for much of this decade. Initial optimism that human rights, including the right to be free from torture, would be better respected has largely given way to despair at the lack of broad progress or, in the case of Syria, horror at a human rights catastrophe in which torture is being committed on an industrial scale. Elsewhere, particularly in countries in which we have seen the fall of long-standing rulers, there has been frustration at the pace of change. New authorities, in some cases, have taken limited positive steps such as strengthening the legal prohibition of on torture and, in the case of Tunisia, have begun the process of transitional justice. However, the factors that facilitate such abuses have so far proved to be too deeply entrenched to translate law into practice. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment in Syria have skyrocketed since protests in March 2011 drew a brutal response from the authorities and led to an ongoing internal conflict. The practice is used routinely against those detained for their suspected involvement in opposition activities, including peaceful activists and children. There are reports that thousands have died in custody as a result. Amnesty International has also documented torture by armed opposition groups.
Torture and other ill treatment have also blighted the records of countries emerging from conflict. In Iraq, the phenomenon remains widespread in prisons and detention centres. More than 30 people are believed to have died in custody as a result of such treatment between 2010 and 2012. In Libya, the practice is rife in both state and militia-run facilities. Amnesty International has documented 23 cases of deaths under torture since the end of the 2011 conflict in Libya. A common feature across the Middle East and north Africa is the extent to which Governments have resorted to torture and other ill-treatment to clamp down on dissent and protests or to respond to perceived threats against national security. In Egypt, the current authorities are drafting new counter-terrorism legislation that would, if passed, erode existing safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment, a practice that has remained endemic.
In Iran, the authorities have relied on torture and other ill-treatment as a way to obtain confessions to secure convictions which can lead to death sentences in cases ranging from repression of peaceful dissent and drug-related offences to trials of minorities. The committee visited Iran this year and raised some of these issues. We are grateful to the committee for that.
In Jordan, 11 men arrested in October 2012 for allegedly planning violent attacks in Amman claimed to have confessed under torture. Moreover, Government opponents and civil society activists have often intentionally been caught up in operations under the guise of counter-terrorism or security operations. In Saudi Arabia, torture and other ill-treatment are frequently reported in cases of individuals suspected of security-related offences, a category that can include political opponents. There are recent allegations of torture or other ill-treatment against detainees, some of them held on security grounds, in many Middle East and north African states and other Gulf countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
In Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, abuse of detainees during arrest and interrogation remains a serious concern, particularly in the case of Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the de facto Hamas Administration in the Gaza Strip have been responsible for torturing and otherwise ill-treating detainees, particularly their respective political opponents.
Cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments such as stoning, flogging and amputations remain on the statute books of a number of countries in the region, notably in the Gulf, but it is in Iran and Saudi Arabia that they are principally imposed. The entrenched patterns of torture and other ill-treatment across the region are facilitated by the fact that security forces operate largely unchecked, the judicial system relies heavily on confessions, and the judicial authorities, which generally lack independence, often fail to act when faced with reports of such treatment. Across the region, violence against women is a persistent problem. States have failed to ensure effective protection in law against such crimes committed by private individuals and tolerated them in other ways by not ensuring they are adequately investigated or prosecuted. Further detail of our analysis of the use of torture across the region, and globally, is available in the briefing document supplied to the committee via the clerk.
Egypt is the country of principal concern to the committee. Egypt is rapidly spiralling into a human rights crisis. Repressive legislation restricts the rights to freedoms of expression, association and assembly. The security forces routinely use unnecessary and excessive force to disperse protests and have detained thousands of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi as well as activists and journalists. The Judiciary has been quick to jail Mohamed Morsi’s supporters and political activists, but has largely ignored human rights violations by the security forces. The 2014 constitution contains improved human rights guarantees, although these are insufficient to meet Egypt’s international human rights obligations. The constitution does not establish the supremacy of international law over national legislation and fails to address endemic human rights problems such as prohibiting military trials of civilians and forced evictions.
In recent weeks, two grossly unfair trials have exposed the shortcomings and selective nature of Egypt’s judicial system. In both cases, the court agreed to impose hundreds of death sentences despite a lack of due process. On 28 April, a criminal court in the Upper Egypt city of Minya sentenced 37 people to death and 491 others to life in prison. All faced charges of involvement in an attack on a police station in the village of Mattay on 14 August 2013, murdering a police officer and the attempted murder of two other police officers, as well as belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement. During the previous hearing on 24 March, the court had agreed to sentence 528 of the defendants to death and referred the case to the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest religious official. Under Egyptian law, criminal courts must consult with the Grand Mufti before formally handing down death sentences, though his opinion is not legally binding. The court’s reversal on 28 April of the majority of the death sentences appeared to follow widespread criticism from Egypt and outside the country. The first hearing in the trial of 528 defendants, on 22 March, lasted less than 30 minutes. Just 64 defendants were present in court out of the 118 people in detention, defence lawyers told Amnesty International. At the start of the trial, the prosecution failed to read out the charges against the defendants, a requirement under Egyptian law. The judge did not review the evidence against the men or allow the defence to cross-examine any witnesses. He also rejected the defence’s request for additional time to review over 3,000 pages of case documents. The judge then ordered armed guards to surround the defence team after some of them called for him to recuse himself from the case.
In a separate hearing on 28 April 2014, the Minya Criminal Court referred a further 683 people to the Grand Mufti, after agreeing to sentence them to death. They included Mohamed Badie, the detained General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. All faced charges of involvement in deadly violence around the police station in the village of al-Adwa in Minya governorate on 14 August 2013. No defendants were present in court, although the security forces are holding 74 of them in detention, a defence lawyer told Amnesty International. It was unclear what evidence the prosecution had produced, if any, connecting Mohamed Badie to the violence in al-Adwa. The court will formally hand down the sentences on 21 June.
Defence lawyers boycotted the only previous court hearing in this case on 25 March, after the same presiding judge referred 528 of the defendants in the Mattay village case to the Grand Mufti. Despite the absence of the defence lawyers, the judges continued the trial, questioning more than 50 witnesses and 74 defendants in only one hearing that lasted just a few hours. An Amnesty International delegate observed the court sessions on 28 April 2014, speaking to some of the defendants and their families outside the courtroom.
Those sentenced to death in their absence have the right to a re-trial. Others may appeal to Egypt's highest court of law, the Court of Cassation, which may quash the verdicts and order a re-trial. The Egyptian authorities do not release figures on death sentences and executions, despite repeated requests over the years by Amnesty International. According to our monitoring, Egyptian courts handed down at least 109 death sentences in 2013, at least 91 in 2012 and at least 123 in 2011. The last known execution was in October 2011, when the authorities hanged one man for the killing of six Coptic Christians and a Muslim police guard in a drive-by shooting in January 2010. It is fair to say that the level of death sentences handed down in recent months is sentencing on a industrial scale in a grossly unfair legal process. It just calls into very significant disrepute the notion that system can even be described as a justice system anymore.
The security forces in Egypt have continued to use excessive force, including unnecessary lethal force, to disperse protests. Since 3 July 2013 alone, 1,400 people have been killed in political violence, most after security forces forcibly dispersed protests by Mohamed Morsi's supporters. In the bloodiest incident, security forces killed at least 550 people when they used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse Morsi supporters at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in Cairo on 14 August 2013. Hundreds more died the same day after security forces used excessive force to disperse protests by Mohamed Morsi's supporters across Egypt. The only response we are seeing from the criminal justice system to that level of deaths and that extraordinary range of human rights violations are the trial to which I referred earlier. There has been no appropriate investigation of the deaths at the hands of the security forces.
Over three years since the 25 January revolution, impunity for human rights violations remains the rule. Most human rights violations since the uprising have never been investigated and prosecuted and measures taken by the authorities to deliver truth and justice have proven toothless. The public prosecution has not effectively investigated the killings of hundreds of protesters by the security forces since 3 July. The government has ordered a judge to investigate the violence but with little guarantee that the investigation will be independent or impartial. A fact-finding committee appointed by President Mansour last year lacks the mandate to properly investigate human rights violations or to establish individual criminal responsibility for them. Furthermore, the committee does not have powers to compel government bodies to co-operate with it or to make its findings public.
Since the 2011 uprising, the authorities have suppressed the findings of the fact-finding bodies appointed to investigate human rights violations. Egypt's new constitution enshrines impunity for human rights violations by giving military courts continued jurisdiction over crimes linked to the armed forces.
The unwillingness by the Egyptian authorities to investigate human rights violations should not go unchallenged by the international community. A key indicator of progress will be whether Egypt's investigations deliver accountability for the events of 14 August 2013 and the authorities make the findings of such inquiries public.
The security forces have led a sweeping crackdown on individuals perceived to be supporters of Mohamed Morsi, arresting thousands and detaining many without respecting their due process rights. Those detained include people who were peacefully expressing their opposition to the authorities. Some detainees have complained of torture or other ill-treatment by the security forces.
As mentioned earlier, the government is also drafting counter-terrorism legislation which, if adopted, could impose further arbitrary restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and assembly and erode fair trial safeguards. In practice, the authorities are likely to use any new counter-terrorism powers to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood. The authorities designated the group as a terrorist organisation in December 2013.
In the months after 3 July 2013, the circle of repression has widened to encompass journalists and opposition and human rights activists more generally. The authorities have restricted freedom of expression. Journalists and media workers who have reported on abuses or criticised the authorities have faced harassment, arrest and trial on accusations of spreading false rumours and belonging to banned terrorist groups. The authorities have also closed down television stations known for their support of Mohamed Morsi.
The authorities have continued to suppress the work of human rights organisations. The government restricts the registration, funding and activities of civil society organisations and it is drafting legislation that would further constrain freedom of association.
The authorities have also imposed new restrictions on freedom of assembly. A new protest law gives the Interior Ministry sweeping powers over demonstrations. The security forces have used the law to forcibly disperse protests staged by Mohamed Morsi's supporters, as well as other opposition and human rights movements, and to arrest and detain protesters.
I will move on to discrimination against women and Coptic Christians, which we want to flag. Women and Coptic Christians have faced a rising tide of violence and discrimination amid the political turmoil. Women protesters continue to face the threat of sexual violence, with more than a hundred such attacks around Tahrir Square reported in the week of 30 June 2013 alone. Despite the level of violence, and the fact that attacks regularly take place during protests, the authorities have taken little action to stop or investigate them or to bring those responsible to justice. Coptic Christians faced an unprecedented level of violence after the Rabaa al-Adawiya dispersal. Sectarian attacks left four dead and 200 Christian properties and 43 churches damaged. The Egyptian authorities said the attacks were terrorism, yet failed to ensure adequate, impartial and independent investigations, including into the security forces' failure to prevent and stop the violence.
Both supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi committed human rights abuses in the protests around the former President's ousting in July. In most cases documented by Amnesty International, security forces failed to police protests adequately to defuse the situation or to protect the right to life. Amnesty International is also concerned at ongoing political violence, including attacks by armed groups. The organisation condemns indiscriminate attacks, as well as attacks targeting civilians. However, the authorities are using the deteriorating security situation as a pretext to repress all forms of perceived opposition, including those who use lawful and peaceful means of protest. The Egyptian Government has the right and duty to protect lives and prosecute those responsible for crimes, but it must not sacrifice human rights in the name of countering terrorism.
The security situation has deteriorated in the months following Morsi's ousting, with army checkpoints, security personnel and government buildings all coming under increased attack by various armed groups. Attacks against the security forces have left more than 100 security personnel dead since 3 July 2013, according to figures from the Interior Ministry, military spokespeople and Egyptian media. While the violence has mostly affected North Sinai, it has increasingly spread to other regions. Violence targeting the security forces in the wake of Rabaa al-Adawiya left 64 police officials dead, according to a recent report by the National Council for Human Rights.
That is a very broad overview of our concerns in the region in respect of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment. There are very specific concerns in regard to the human rights situation in Egypt. We also supplied some detail on a number of cases of prisoners of conscience and individuals at risk as well as some further detail on some of the human rights violations I mentioned earlier in a separate document. We are very happy to talk about individual cases and any action the committee might be able to take but at some point, I would like to flag the case of Ibrahim Halawi with which I am sure the committee will be very familiar, where an Irish citizen is being detained in Egypt.
