Egyptian trials a travesty, says Amnesty
Mass trials of civilians in military courts in
Egypt are grossly unfair, and many of those being tried
have reportedly been tortured to extract confessions,
said Amnesty International on September 23.
Twenty-eight death sentences have been passed by military
courts since December 1992, and 14 executions have now
taken place. Two Amnesty International delegates returned
from Egypt on September 10 after observing sessions of
the trials of two groups of people before military
courts, which follow an upsurge in political violence in
Egypt. The scores of civilian defendants were charged en
masse with membership of a banned Islamic organisation
"Talai' al-Fatah".
The defendants were reportedly tortured by state security
officers while held secretly and illegally for weeks or
months at state security buildings in Cairo. They are
said to have been blindfolded day and night and suspended
in painful positions or given electric shocks until they
agreed to make statements. Amnesty International has
detailed descriptions of the torture methods, and
forensic medical reports have confirmed that scars on
many defendants are consistent with the methods of
torture they describe.
Defence lawyers have not been given sufficient time to
prepare their clients' defence. In one case involving 55
defendants, the prosecutors had over six months from the
to prepare 3000 to 4000 pages of case files, but the
defence lawyers were not able even to look at the files
until the court's first session on August 15; they had to
prepare the defence case in time for the next session on
August 25.
In another case, the defence lawyers withdrew on
September 7 following the military judge's refusal to
allow cross-examination at a certain point. Rather than
adjourning the case and allowing the Bar Association to
arrange for the appointment of new lawyers, the military
judge immediately appointed former military lawyers to be
the defence lawyers, against the wishes of the
defendants. Two of these defendants were subsequently
sentenced to death on September 15.
There is no right to appeal against the decision of these
military courts to a higher court, which violates a
strict requirement of international law.
Amnesty International called on President Mubarak to
cease issuing special decrees referring civilians to
military courts (a practice started in October 1992), and
for all civilian prisoners tried by military courts to
receive new trials in civilian courts with all
internationally recognised guarantees of fair
trial.