Egypt: 35 people detained following enforced disappearance

More than 30 Egyptians appeared at headquarters of the country's Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on Friday after periods of enforced disappearance.

After investigations were completed, it was decided to detain all 35 people until Saturday, The New Arab's Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

The SSSP said they would keep them jailed for 15 days pending ongoing investigations related to several cases.

Prosecutors levelled a number of allegations against the detained in different cases, including "broadcasting, publishing, and spreading false news and statements", "joining and participating in a terrorist group to achieve its goals with knowledge of its aims", and "financing and promoting violence".

The detainees include Ibrahim Salem Hussein, Karim Al-Din Fathi Shehab, and the young woman Nourhan Al-Sayed Daraz.

The families of the detained had submitted reports to the public prosecutor saying their children had been subjected to enforced disappearance despite being arrested by security authorities.

Egypt has faced significant criticism over its human rights record.

"SSSP prosecutors and judges routinely renewed pretrial detention orders for thousands of detainees without allowing them to meaningfully challenge the legality of their detention," Amnesty International said in a report covering the year 2023.

"Detention renewal hearings took place via videoconference with detainees connected from prison, denying them the right to adequate defence and exposing them to reprisals for reporting abuse in front of prison guards."

Local and international human rights groups estimate that Egypt has been holding as many as 60,000 political prisoners and detainees behind bars since president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi took office after overthrowing Mohamed Morsi, the country's first democratically elected leader, in a military coup in 2013.

In 2022, the New York Times reported that no public records exist of how many people are held in pretrial detention in Egypt and that Egyptian security forces regularly use enforced disappearances against dissidents in the country, with some detainees appearing days or weeks later at a prosecutor's office to face charges, while others have disappeared entirely, and others dying due to torture.

Last month, the death of six detainees in Egyptian prisons in the space of one week sparked concerns among rights groups, further highlighting terrible conditions in prisons across the country.

The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) reported that the six political prisoners died in a detention centre in the Sharqia governorate while tens of thousands of other detainees enter their 12th year behind bars.