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moment en represailles а Г action qu'elle menerait en faveur de son mari. A la suite de cet entretien radiophonique, M. Kadinga aurait ete transfere le 2 aout au sous-commissariat de Selembao, ou il resterait detenu jusqu'a cejour dans des conditions d'hygiene deplorables et sans etre autorise a recevoir de visites.
Observations
142. La Representante speciale regrette qu'aucune reponse du Gouvernement n'ait ete recue jusqu'a cejour. Elle se felicite neanmoins de la liberation le 20 juin 2001 de M. Robert Ilunga Numbi, de la liberation le 7 septembre 2001 de M. N'Sii Luanda, ainsi que de la liberation
le 13 septembre 2001 de Golden Misabiko.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Communications sent
143. On 20 July 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal regarding Father Pedro Ruquoy, a Belgian citizen and a permanent resident of the Dominican Republic, and a defender of the rights of Haitian refugees and workers in the Dominican Republic. He reportedly received anonymous threats
on 18 February 2001, sent to him on postcards. It was alleged that this followed the publication of an article written by him denouncing the massive arrests and deportations of Haitians, as well as of Dominicans of Haitian origin. In addition, on 14 April 2001, an armed unidentified man, who claimed to be a member of the Dominican army, reportedly entered Father Ruquoy's house and threatened to kill him with a knife. According to the information received, Father Ruquoy reported these facts to the police, but no detention order has been issued.
Communications received
144. By letter dated 2 October 2001, the Government of the Dominican Republic informed the Special Representative that Father Ruquoy was being given police protection and that the competent authorities would conduct a thorough investigation into the threats received by him.
Observations
145. The Special Representative thanks the Government for its reply.
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ECUADOR Communications sent
146. On 3 April 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, sent an urgent appeal regarding members of the human rights organization QUITOGAY and of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community, who reportedly received an e-mail on 23 March 2001 in the QUITOGAY office in Quito mentioning that "a total social cleansing in all the QUITOGAY sector" was going to be carried out. Although the threat was directed to QUITOGAY and to LGTB people in Quito, the message allegedly referred to a "social cleansing of the whole country". These threats came at a time when police officers had allegedly tortured and threatened to kill LGTB people.
147. On 25 July 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal regarding
Mr. Alexis Ponce, national spokesperson of the Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos del Ecuador, who was the victim of harassment by police officers in Quito airport on 22 July 2001 and forced to abandon attending a conference due to take place in Spain. Previously, in 1999, Mr. Alexis Ponce was reportedly seriously threatened in retaliation for the active role he plays in the field of human rights and to have received anonymous threatening phone calls.
148. On 6 August 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, regarding a number of Ecuadorian human rights organizations which reportedly received death threats via e-mail
on 30 July 2001. The e-mail was addressed to the Fundacion Regional de Asesoria en Derechos Humanos (INREDH) and copied to Frente Ecuatoriano de Derechos Humanos (FEDHU), Comite Andino de Servicio (CAS/AFSC) and Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ). The e-mail specifically mentioned the names of Mr. Pablo de la Vega, coordinator of the Centro de Documentation en Derechos Humanos "Segundo Montes Mozo SJ", Ms. Elsie Monje, Director of the Comision Ecumenica de Derechos Humanos (CEDHU), Ms. Ines Espinoza, Ms. Teresa Orrego, Ms. Yanet Yanez and Mr. Jhonny Jimenez, President of SERPAJ. It was alleged that the message called human rights defenders drug traffickers and accused them of organizing ideological centres financed by Cuba, China and Russia. It has been further reported that the threat was reportedly directed at the entire human rights community in Ecuador. According to the information received, those responsible for these acts are members of a newly created paramilitary organization named Legion Blanca.
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Observations
149. The Special Representative regrets that no reply from the Government has been received so far.
EGYPT Communications sent
150. On 11 January 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal regarding Law 153 of 1999, "Law on Civil Associations and Institutions". This law was allegedly found to be null and void for procedural reasons by the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court on 3 June 2000. According to the source, the Government intended to reintroduce the law in accordance with the constitutional requirements. It was alleged that Law 153 of 1999 violated the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly as guaranteed by various international instruments. Several of its articles were allegedly hampering or prohibiting the work of NGOs in their function as human rights defenders. Concerns have also been expressed regarding sanctions against individuals who engage in human rights work without the approval of the Government.
151. On 15 January 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal concerning Saadeddin Ibrahim, an independent human rights activist, professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo and director of the Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Development Studies. On 30 June 2000, the State security investigation bureau allegedly arrested him and some of his documents were confiscated. At the same time, another force from the state security investigation bureau reportedly raided the Ibn Khaldoun Centre and the Women's Voters' Support Centre and confiscated a number of account files, computer disks, computers, pamphlets and a safe. Mr. Ibrahim and 27 other individuals reportedly faced charges ranging from accepting foreign funds without government authorization to compiling false reports about domestic conditions. Concern has been expressed that if found guilty, Mr. Ibrahim may be sent to jail for 15 years. It has been alleged by the source that the case against Mr. Ibrahim was "fabricated" and "politically motivated" since the charges reportedly resulted from his work as a human rights defender and his intention to set up a watchdog committee to monitor parliamentary elections.
152. On 18 May 2001, the Special Representative sent another urgent appeal concerning Saadeddin Ibrahim. According to the sources, Saadeddin Ibrahim's defence counsel had been denied copies of the documents containing the prosecution's case, and was only allowed to see these documents for three hours in April 2001. It was reported that the prosecution's case had
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almost 300 pages, and therefore Mr. Ibrahim's lawyers could not adequately prepare their defence. According to the information received, Saadeddin Ibrahim has been charged under article 80 (d) (1) of the Penal Code with "disseminating tendentious rumours with the purpose of undermining Egypt's reputation". It was reported that this matter is being brought before a Supreme State Security Court, whose verdicts can only be challenged before the Court of Cassation on procedural grounds, but not before a higher appeal court on the substance of the case. It was further reported that some of the charges against Saadeddin Ibrahim, in particular those alleging the acceptance of foreign funds without government authorization, relate to projects funded by the European Commission aimed at promoting participation in the elections.
153. On 22 May 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, concerning the conviction
on 21 May 2001 of Saadeddin Ibrahim to seven years imprisonment. It is further reported that 27 co-defendants, most of whom are members of the Ibn Khaldoun Centre or the Egyptian Women Voters' Support Centre, received prison terms ranging from one to seven years. According to the information received, the charges against Saadeddin Ibrahim relate entirely to his activities as a human rights defender. On 25 May 2001, the Special Representative, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, issued a press release in which they expressed their deep concern to the Government of Egypt over the trial and conviction of Saadeddin Ibrahim and 27 co-defendants by the Supreme State Security Court on 21 May 2001.
154. On 6 June 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal regarding Nawal El Saadawi, a writer and eminent defender of women's rights. According to the information received, legal proceedings have been launched in order to annul on the grounds of apostasy the 37-year marriage of Nawal El Saadawi and her husband, Sheriff Hetata, reportedly on the basis of an interview with Nawal El Saadawi published by the Egyptian weekly newspaper "Al Midan" on 6 March 2001, according to which she was critical of certain religious practices. It has been reported that Ms. El Saadawi's statements, which related to historical facts and to her views on the wearing of the veil by women, polygamy and the inequality of women with regard to inheritance law, were misquoted by the newspaper. According to the source, a lawyer named Nabih El Wahch lodged a complaint before the General Prosecutor and the Cairo Court for Personal Status Affairs, accusing her of contempt of Islam and asking for her separation from her husband.
155. On 8 August 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal concerning the alleged harassment of Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali and of members of her family by the Egyptian police in Helwan. According to the information received, they have been the target of a series of abuses,
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including threats, beatings, arbitrary arrests and detention, committed by members of the Helwan police investigation station. Fears have been expressed that these incidents have been motivated by Mrs. Hamid Ali's involvement in the ongoing trial of the policeman accused of having tortured to death her husband, Mr. Fathi Abd El Monem, in the Helwan police station in 1994. For instance, on 4 May 2001, the police reportedly went to Mrs. Hamid Ali's house in order to arrest her and confiscated pieces of furniture and ordered the men to take off all of their clothes except their underwear. The police reportedly took Mrs. Hamid Ali to her son's house, where they arrested him, ordered him to strip down to his underwear and made Mrs. Hamid Ali and her son walk down the street without their clothes on, in order to humiliate them. According to the information received, Mrs. Hamid Ali visited the Helwan prosecutors' office on 12 May, in order to register a complaint about the aforementioned abuses. She was told to return the following day, at which time the prosecutor ordered her to go to the police station, in order to retrieve some of the items confiscated from her home by the police. However, when she went to the police station, the prosecutor's order was ignored and she was detained at the police station for three days, until 15 May.
156. On 10 August 2001, the Special Representative transmitted an allegation jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture regarding Carsten Jurgensen, a researcher at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London. He was reportedly assaulted by four plainclothes men, believed to have been security police officers or to have been acting with the complicity of security police officers. This occurred when he was visiting the polling station of the Khalid Ben al-Walid school in the parliamentary election district of
Shubra al-Khaima/Da'irat al-Ula on 14 November 2000 as part of a fact-finding mission to Egypt. His belongings, including a video camera, were said to have been initially seized but were later returned to him, with the exception of his mobile phone, videotape and camera film.
Communications received
157. By letter sent on 19 January 2001, the Government replied to the urgent appeal sent on 15 January 2001. The Government stated that the details of the Professor Ibrahim's court case were public knowledge, that the hearings were being conducted with transparency, and that a number of local and international observers were being allowed to witness the proceedings. The Government informed the Special Representative that Professor Ibrahim was being tried by a court of law which comprised independent civil judges, and its verdict could be appealed.
158. By letter of 19 July 2001 the Government replied to the urgent appeal sent jointly
on 22 May 2001, with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. The Government asserted that the Supreme State Security Court consisted of civilian judges who enjoyed full independence and that all accused persons had the right to appeal against procedural
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or substantive aspects of a judgement. The Government informed the Special Representative that the charges against Dr. Saad ed-Din Ibrahim were: receipt of funds from foreign bodies without obtaining authorization from the competent authority; criminal conspiracy with a view to bribery and appropriation, by deception and fraudulent means, of an amount of money belonging to the European Union through the presentation of falsified documents designed to mislead the Union into believing in the existence of a bogus project. The Government stated that none of the charges brought against Dr. Saad ed-Din Ibrahim were of a political nature or related to his right to freedom of opinion and expression. According to the Government, all the litigation procedures had been observed, the defence had had free and full access to all the documents in the case file and all the witnesses called by the defence had been summoned. The Government added that the court had had almost a full year in which to study the case file. The Government informed the Special Representative that no executive authority had the right to order the release of Dr. Saad ed-Din Ibrahim before a court judgment had been handed down.
159. By letter of 21 August 2001, the Government replied to the allegation transmitted jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture on 10 August 2001. The Government stated that
Mr. Carsten Jurgensen had failed to draw up a report on the incident, which made its follow-up difficult in the absence of a written statement confirming the injuries, describing the assailants and indicating whether the persons present at the time were members of the police, so that they could be called to account, or whether their task was confined to supervision of the delivery of the ballot boxes. The Government affirmed that if Mr. Jurgensen had drawn up a report, it would have been possible to pursue the investigation and apprehend and prosecute the assailants if he had so desired. The Government stated that if Mr. Jurgensen had notified the Egyptian authorities of his intention to visit the electoral commissions, a special guard would have been assigned to protect him.
160. By letter of 23 August 2001, the Government replied to the urgent appeal sent on 8 August 2001 concerning the case of Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali. The Government affirmed that Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali was the mother of a citizen called Yassir Fathi El Bab Abd El Monem Sha'ban who had previously been indicted on 18 counts of theft and affray and who had recently assaulted a citizen by the name of Abd El Rahman Awd Timam. According to the Government, the Helwan police, acting on a warrant issued by the Department of Public Prosecutions, arrested Yassir Fathi El Bab Abd El Monem Sha'ban, who confessed to the crime. The Department of Public Prosecutions ordered that he should be detained pending further investigation. The Government stated that the inquiries showed that the allegations which Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali had made against the Helwan police were totally unfounded and that she had made those complaints in order to discredit police officers in the hope of preventing legal action being taken against her son.
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Observations
161. The Special Representative thanked the Government of Egypt for the detailed replies provided. Despite the fact that no reply from the Government was received concerning the case of Ms. Nawal El Saadaoui, the Special Representative had been informed that on 30 July 2001 the case was dismissed for procedural reasons. The Special Representative would like to be kept informed of the latest developments concerning the case of Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali. Furthermore, the Special Representative would like to express particular concern over the case of Dr. Saad ed-Din Ibrahim and his 27 co-defendants, particularly at the use of the State Security Court instead of courts of ordinary jurisdiction, the limited access for defence lawyers to prosecutorial documents and the speed with which the verdict was reportedly reached. The Special Representative considers that the conviction of these members of civil society for their human rights activities will have a chilling effect on the activities of other human rights defenders in Egypt. The Special Representative notes, with particular concern, the use of laws that could restrict access to resources for the promotion and protection of human rights and could be used for penalizing human rights defenders for soliciting, receiving and utilizing funds for this human rights activity. Finally, the Special Representative recalls that, in a letter