Rights Groups Condemn Egypt’s Use of Remand on Widening Crackdown of Journalists and Activists

On Sunday, human rights groups and 14 political parties have criticized Egypt's use of remand as an alternative to arbitrary detention. The organizations issued the statement  as the government's crackdown against journalists  and activists intensifies. 

The groups who signed the statement includes the Al-Dostour Party, Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP), the Press Syndicate's Freedoms Committee, and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). According to Daily News Egypt,  Egypt's use of remand only violated the constitutional rights and freedom of people more and more each day.  The statement also detailed the 25 January Youth Movement case that arrested ten defendants before the 2011's 5^th anniversary revolt.

"A detainee has to be informed of the reason of his detention and be able to seek the assistance of a lawyer. These are all guarantees listed in the constitution and law that are persistently violated," the statement of the groups against Egypt's use of remand.

As The New York Times revealed,  the numbers of journalists and activists arrested in Egypt have reached its greatest record in decades.  Despite the release of the controversial Al Jazeera journalists this year,  records showed that the number of reporters detained had doubled since last year.  "It's the largest number of detentions since we started documenting arrests in Egypt in 1991," said Sherif Mansour, the committee's coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. "The situation had been going from bad to worse."

Under Article 142 of Egypt's Criminal Procedure Code, an arrested person can be detained even before being charged for 15 days.  However, Egypt's use of remand could be extended to up to two additional 15 days (45 days) depending on the testimony of the accused and the prosecutor.  It could still be extended if the 45-day period is already reached and the examination is not yet finished.  The prosecutor may request for additional detention renewal  of 45 days, TimeP Org reports.

Since the start of 2015, at least 13 human rights defenders, including Hossam Bahgat, Gamal Eid, and Israa Abd al-Fattah have been prohibited from travel.  It also follows the travel ban issued to one of Egypt's leading investigative journalists, Hossam Bahgat.

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Egypt Use of Remand, Crackdown of Journalists and Activists, Egypt crackdown against journalists and activists, Egypt Protests, Egypt human rights groups

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