Violations of fair trial

In October 12, 2017, 299 defendants – 203 detainees and 96 fugitives – were referred- by the Northern Military Prosecution in Cairo in case No. 64 of 2017, known as the Assistant Attorney General or the Case of Hasm Movement…

Read the full report Egyptian Front for Human Rights has released a report known: “Arbitrary Violations “on violations of the defendants’ rights in the state security case 1338/2019 Those arrested in connection with the September 20 protests Several protests broke…

{:en}Geneva, August 2019 “There is no doubt that the respect for human rights and the application of guarantees of fair trial is the higher goal of a developed democratic society that safeguards the rights of citizens, guarantees their equality before…

In the years following July 2013 the judicial authorities began to issue death sentences excessively in cases where civilians were tried before military courts or before extraordinary chambers such as terrorism tribunals in civil courts. During this period, the authorities carried out executions in 13 cases involving acts of political violence, eight of which were before military courts and five cases before civil courts, the last of which was the executing of nine persons in the case commonly known as “the assassination of the Attorney General” which was widely condemned on local and international levels, raising the number of executed persons in more than five years ago to at least 47 people. In which the defendants faced – with the rest of convicts in these cases – gross violations, breaching the most basic standards of fair trial, which must be met, especially in the death penalty cases.

This manual presents documentation methodology of violations of the rights of the accused through analyzing official documents of cases in Egyptian courts. It intends to monitor and analyze arbitrary measures and violations committed against the accused, especially in political cases, by judicial authorities and law enforcement personnel. Such measures violate rights guaranteed by the Constitution and International Conventions from the moment of arrest, through the process of investigation and trial, and until the accused is sentenced, after all litigation procedures established by Egyptian law are exhausted..

The undersigned organizations denounce the ruling on September 24, 2018 to uphold the death sentences of 20 defendants in connection with the 2013 attack on the Kerdasa police station. Egypt’s use of the capital punishment has been escalating at an unprecedented rate, with defendants slated for execution following brazenly unfair trials failing to meet minimum due process standards. The undersigned reaffirm our rejection of the death penalty and renew our calls for an immediate moratorium on mass death sentences in Egypt, and a suspension and review of all death sentences previously issued.