AOHR in UK is calling you to Solidarity demanding the Indian authorities to release the Egyptian Dr. Hossam Tawfiq Abdelfatah Mohammed
Here is the letter that has been sent to the officials of India
Shri Rajnath Singh
Minister of Home affairs
Smt. Sushma Swaraj
Minister of External Affairs
Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda
Minister of Law and Justice
Re: Hossam Tawfiq Abdelfatah Mohammed
The Indian authorities arrested Egyptian physician Dr. Hossam Tawfiq Abdelfatah Mohammed (born 13 December 1966) at Mumbai Airport on Thursday, March 24. Dr. Mohammed, an urologist, had just arrived from Qatar on a medical mission to India. His arrest came in response to a Red Notice issued by INTERPOL after Dr. Mohammed, along with hundreds of others, was convicted of rioting, murder, attacking a police station and stealing weapons. The bogus charges were fabricated by security forces to punish him for his opposition to Egyptian coup authorities.
Dr. Mohammed had travelled to India to attend a workshop and medical conference scheduled for the 26thand 27th of March upon an invitation he had received back in January. On Friday 25 March, Dr. Mohammed appeared before a Mumbai judge who ordered his remand in custody be extended until 29 March 2016. He was later transferred from the police station where he was being held to a jail in Mumbai.
INTERPOL had issued a Red Notice for the arrest of Dr. Mohammed upon a request from the Egyptian Authorities who convicted him, along with 528 others, in case number 8473/2013/Matai, registered under no. 1842/Minya. The case was known in the media as the “Matai Police Station Attack”.
The case received a lot of attention form international media and human rights organizations and was equally criticized on 7 November 2014 by more than 100 countries member in the UN Human Rights Council. The case was widely regarded as a very serious indicator of the politicization and deterioration of Egyptian judiciary.
On 24 March 2014, Judge Saeed Yusuf Sabri, president of Minya Criminal Court, referred the death sentences of 529 Egyptians to the Grand Mufti following a court session lasting a record 10 minutes. There was not enough time to read out the names of the defendants, let alone sentence them to anything. The defendants were not present during sentencing nor were their lawyers allowed to defend them or present any evidence to counter the claims of the state. Many of the defendants had solid alibis or proof they were elsewhere when the incident took place. Some were not even in the country. The defendants included minors and people with physical disabilities. On 28 April 2014, the death sentences of 37 defendants were upheld, including Dr. Mohammed’s. Court of Cassation later overturned the verdict and ordered his retrial on 24 January 2015.
We would like to point out that Egyptian authorities have used INTERPOL- through Red Notices based on fabricated charges- to persecute those political opponents who succeeded in fleeing the campaigns of murder, torture, arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, and politicized convictions amounting to death sentences in some cases.
We can also confirm that Egyptian authorities have failed in their attempt to have Egyptians arrested in many countries which now recognize that these Red Notices are based on fabricated charges and farcical trials in a country where the judiciary has all but collapsed.
Paragraph (1) of Article (3) of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment stipulates that “No State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
Customary Law requires countries that file for Red Notices to submit evidence linking those wanted to the terrorist acts of which they have been convicted. A conviction by an Egyptian court is not sufficient evidence that those wanted are indeed criminals in light of the politicization and collapse of the judiciary following the military coup of 2013. It has long been acknowledged by the international community that Egyptian courts and
prosecutors fabricate charges against those opposed to the military government.
We demand the immediate release of Dr. Mohammed and urge the Indian government to refrain from extraditing him to Egypt where torture, forced disappearances, unfair trials and politicized judiciary are rampant. Egyptian courts have issued very harsh sentences, including capital punishment, in mass trials that lack the most basic standards of justice, fairness, due process and transparency. Convictions are based on the flimsiest of evidence or evidence fabricated by the authorities, such as the case of Dr. Mohammed.
We also urge the Indian government to cease all forms of security cooperation with the Egyptian regime in light of his human rights violations, especially the politicized judiciary, rendering any form of cooperation tantamount to aiding the Egyptian regime in its persecution of political opponents.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any additional information or further assistance.
Yours sincerely
- Jamil
Chairman
Tel:0044 20 31 88 4107 PO BOX 68981
Fax:0044 20 3188 4108 LONDON
Email:[email protected] NW26 9FY
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