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In a statement published by the Egyptian Public Prosecution on Wednesday, Counselor Hamada el-Sawy, the Attorney General, ordered his technical office and the International Cooperation Department of the Attorney General’s Office to examine ‘illegal immigration cases at the national level, consider the positions of the defendants in them, and prepare detailed reports and statistics on the results of the examination; to take the necessary action regarding those cases and the defendants they pertain to.’
The statement explained that ‘The Monitoring and Analysis Unit of the Statement Department of the Public Prosecutor’s Office monitored on social media sites complaints circulated by citizens about the repeated imprisonment of defendants in illegal immigration cases on a national level, prepared an analytical report on the results of this monitoring, and presented the report to the Attorney General who ordered an examination of these cases on a national level to consider the positions of the defendants in these cases, and take necessary just decisions regarding who they pertain to.’
‘It should be noted that the Attorney General’s assignment of the International Cooperation Department, along with the technical office, to examine these cases came pursuant to his previous decision No. 1744 of 2021 to assign the International Cooperation Department to follow up and direct the handling of investigations of such cases nationwide in order to ensure their completion.’ The Public Prosecution concluded in their statement that they will announce the results of the examination as soon as the examination is complete.
A number of citizens posted numerous complaints on social media websites that their relatives were arrested and charged in unlawful migration cases, as well as were imprisoned despite their lack of involvement in any migrant smuggling activities and the absence of any evidence. Moreover, after the public prosecution issued decisions to release the detainees, security services refused to implement these decisions and imprisoned the detainees further arbitrarily by charging them in new cases repeatedly in the same region or other areas of the country using the same, original charges on which they were already released. This carceral method is referred to as ‘rotation’ by human rights organizations, and is used by security services to keep those detained in connection with political cases in detention for as long as possible under the cover of the due judicial process and law.
The demands and grievances posted by citizens came from different governorates and regions. ‘For 5 months, my father was forced to flee from governorate to governorate, and from one charge to another, all of which were dismissed; however he was not released and is forced to run after the release of every repetitive charge. All these charges concern illegal immigration and are made without any evidence. The last one was in Qena Governorate, even though my family is originally from Beheira, however the complainant is in Qena. I went to speak with the complainant, and the complainant did not recognize my father or his imprisoned companions. The complainant said they do not know my father or his detained companions, and have never met my father or his imprisoned companions. The complainant also denied ever filing a complaint, and my father’s companions were released, however my father is still not out as usual. Security services are definitely preparing a new charge as my father and his released companions are planning to demonstrate in Qena, otherwise they will die from coercive carceral oppression and the malicious charges repeatedly made against them. My father is an old man and has nothing to do with any of the reports that were filed against him as there is no evidence of my father’s involvement.’ One of the relatives of the detainees comments read on the Egyptian Public Prosecution’s Facebook post on Wednesday.
‘In order for people to understand this topic, one must explain the topic in detail for example: that hundreds of destitute fishermen, who cannot keep food on the table daily, not even bread, die by drowning for a living. These poor and destitute labourers were arrested from Abu Qir and falsely charged and accused. They were attacked in their dilapidated homes and subject to severe physical assaults and torture because of these false charges that they do not even know anything about nor do they even know the complainant behind these charges. Now, these people are rotting in prisons in Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh. And when prosecutors release them on bail for thousands of pounds, the same charges and rotated cases are levied against them so they are arrested again from the backdoors of these security divisions and then deported to destinations that are unknown by their own families. And again, they are held using the same charges, where some of them were released more than five times and paid bail repeatedly, yet they still face the harshest forms of punishment and humiliation in police stations. Hundreds of families and thousands of children in Abu Qir were forcibly displaced as a result of the arrests of their family’s only breadwinner for no reason and unfairly. We do not still know until now why the poor fishermen of Abu Qir who die in the sea for the chance to feed themselves and their families are abused, and only God is the best disposer of the matter before and after #Release the oppressed immigration cases #Report to the Public Prosecutor.’
A post circulating on social media by the families of fishermen from Abu Qir who were arrested on charges of unlawful migration.
“#Help us!
My two sisters, one is two months old and the other is 22 years old. The security forces came at 2 PM/14:00 on November 2nd and took them away from our home. We don’t know why, but we were shocked when we heard about something called illegal immigration being done to them. I swear to God they had nothing to do with it and the first time we even heard this term was when they were taken, my sisters work with their father in the fields as farmers and farmhands to help him because he is getting older.
They filed a report in Aswan and were released but were subjected to enforced disappearance for a while and we were surprised that they left, one in Alexandria and one in Quseer with a new charge of illegal immigration again. We were psychologically devastated while dealing with travel between two different governorates and between their bureaucratic regulations, including meetings with several lawyers and detention visits. Our father is an old retired man, he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic fatigue that he deals with as we try to figure out my sisters’ unjust charges. My family is ruined mentally, emotionally, financially, and morally. I swear to God, my sisters were wronged. The officer himself questioned my sisters’ arrest by asking, “Why did you detain them?” He said only two hours and my sisters would return but since then, no one has seen them. My mom and dad are literally dying without them. Save my sisters, because our future is at stake. I swear to God, they were falsely accused #Mr. Public Prosecutor, we know that when you promise, you deliver, and we hope to see our family members soon”
A person’s comment on the Egyptian Public Prosecution’s Facebook post, February 16th, 2022.
Such charges, arbitrary detention, and repeated extrajudicial imprisonment are not only limited to Egyptians, but also to migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.
‘Peace be upon you, God’s mercy and blessings always. May God protect Egypt, its leader and its people. I am Syrian and my son has been in prison since 4/9/2021. He is accused of unjustly participating in illegal immigration. The reason is that my son’s name was found in the phone of one of the defendants. And this defendant lives near us because I live in the Officer’s Tosun Housing complex, and the defendant was my son’s friend from 9 years ago when we came from Syria when my son was still a child. The defendant saved, in his phone, the name of my son as ‘Youssef the Syrian’. And that is the reason, his crime is that he is a Syrian.
The officer ordered the defendant to talk to my son and tell him that the officer has a boat and that he was sending Syrians to Europe by sea, so my son told the officer that I, his father, have a factory and that we do not need to deal with immigration. So the officer told my son “If you have someone who wants to travel, tell me.” And my son said to him “If someone comes to me, I will inform you.” Just this response alone is the reason why they released him in Montaza 2 with a bail payment of 10,000 EGP.
The officer ordered my son’s arrest through a second case in Marsa Matrouh, and I submitted a telegraph to a public defender who I did not hear back from. And so, my son was imprisoned in Marsa Matrouh, where he was then released on a bail of 5000 EGP. I submitted another telegraph to a public defender, and I again did not hear back. Then, my son was charged with a third case and transferred to Kafr El-Sheikh, and he is currently still being detained in Kafr el-Sheikh in the deportation unit. And we are waiting for God’s mercy.’
Comment from a Syrian on the Egyptian Public Prosecution’s Facebook post, February 16th, 2022.
Egyptian authorities detain Egyptian and non-Egyptian migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers following attempts to enter or exit unlawfully from Egypt; despite the fact that Article 2 of Law 82 of 2016 to combat unlawful migration and human trafficking states that ‘no criminal or civil liability is imposed on the smuggled migrant for migrant smuggling offenses stipulated in the law.’ The article also clarifies that ‘the consent of the smuggled migrant or the consent of their official or handler shall not be considered in migrant smuggling offenses stipulated in this law.’
From 2016 until December 2021, the Egyptian Armed Forces border guard forces issued several statements at different times stating that about 90,000 people of different nationalities were arrested while trying to enter or exit Egypt without clarifying information regarding the measures taken against them. Additionally, according to what the Refugee Platform in Egypt documented, those arrested in these attempts are, at best, deported to the security directorates affiliated with their place of residence; while asylum seekers refugees and migrants of other nationalities and are detained for varying periods of time and their identification papers are presented to the Egyptian military prosecution.
The Refugee Platform in Egypt published reports on the detention and deportation of Eritrean refugees in Aswan and Red Sea governorates for entering Egypt unlawfully to seek asylum, most recently a report in cooperation with Human Rights Watch on the detention and deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants.
The Refugee Platform in Egypt documented the conditions of detainees in different border governorates, where they were placed in extremely poor detention conditions that do not respect basic and fundamental rights of detainees. This includes a lack of evidence-based judicial order and in the complete absence of any medical care, under the coercive threat of deportation which is often carried out; as is what took place when security services deported 40 Eritreans, including children, during the past year.
On January 26th, 2022, the cabinet announced their approval of two new draft laws: the first amending some provisions of Law No. 232 of 1989 regarding ship safety, and the second amending some provisions of the Law on Combating Irregular Migration and Migrant Smuggling promulgated by Law No. 82 of 2016. The amendments focus on ships and marine vessels and their owners with harsher penalties of imprisonment and fines if they are involved in any actions related to unlawful migration. The amendments also increase penalties for anyone who initiates or facilitates unlawful migration, and increases penalties for anyone who creates or manages a place to shelter, collect, or transport smuggled migrants, or engages with or provides them with any services with proof of knowledge. The legislative amendments are expected to be submitted to parliament for approval.
On September 30th, 2021, the public prosecutor issued a decision to form specialized prosecutor units to combat unlawful migration; but the scope and form of their work and the extent of their jurisdiction compared to the jurisdiction of military prosecutions in unlawful migration cases were not disclosed. Moreover, the public prosecution did not issue any other decision regarding these units until Wednesday’s decision by the public prosecutor.
On Wednesday, February 16th, 2022, the families of some detainees in the el-Maks area of Alexandria held a sit-in demonstration to present their grievances concerning the arrest of their relatives from their homes; accusing them of unlawful migration cases and rotating them in new cases with the same charges, while exposing their poor living conditions after their arrests and their inability to provide them with food, and demanding their release.
The grievances highlighted that their relatives were subject to numerous legal violations, such as prolonged pretrial detention in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which limits the duration of detention. Article 143 stipulates that pretrial detention should not exceed 6months for misdemeanors, 18 months for felonies, and 2 years if the prescribed penalty for the crime is life imprisonment or the death penalty.
A grievance to the Public Prosecutor in Cairo from a father reporting that his sons were arrested and charged multiple times in unlawful migration cases without evidence:
The complaints also mentioned the rotating of defendants in cases with the same charges, which contradicts what was legally established: that a person cannot be tried for the same act – or accusation – twice. Article 455 of the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that a criminal case cannot be revisited after a final judgment, based on the appearance of new evidence or new circumstances or based on a change in the legal description of the crime. Although the text here refers to the final judgment, it is understood that a person may not be charged with the same offense again after the prosecution releases them. Furthermore, this is also clarified by the rulings of the Court of Cassation. Article 14/7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that no one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for a crime for which they already were convicted or acquitted by a final judgment in accordance with the law and criminal procedure in each country.
