Egyptian Front for Human Rights published a report entitled: “Life restrained by State Security’s Follow-up” about the National Security’s follow-up policy towards former detainees.
Follow-up is a policy that greatly controls the shaping of people’s lives after their release from prison by imposing a state of complete control over these people. Given that follow-up is a policy applied in the post-prison phase, and is not considered legal detention, precautionary measures, or police surveillance, as each of those has its own legal characterization, this report, in the first part, attempts to shed light on the legal adaptation of follow-up through considering the jurisdiction of the National Security Agency. This will come following the section that presents a review of the current various forms of follow-up in practice and their target groups. It also discusses its use before the January 25 revolution and how it progressed since then.
The second part of the report discusses the serious violations accompanying the follow-up, in terms of the restrictions it imposes on the freedoms of people subject to them, whether they are restrictions on movement or freedom of movement inside and outside the country. This section also deals with a very important dimension represented in the psychological impact of being subject to follow-up and the hardship of overcoming the trauma of imprisonment. In addition, those subject to follow-up may be subjected to illegal detention, preceded in some cases by arbitrary arrests. These violations also extend to torture and cruel treatment that may be experienced during follow-up. The report examines all these violations in light of the Egyptian constitution, law, and relevant international treaties. Finally, the report’s conclusion summarizes its most important findings.