EGYPT: RELEASE AHMADI MINORITY MEMBERS

Dear Counsellor,

I am concerned over the ongoing arbitrary detention of members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light who have been detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief.

On March 11, 2025, police officers in plain clothes arrested Ahmed Mohammed Al-Tenawi and his brother, Hussein Mohammed Al-Tenawi, two registered Syrian asylum seekers, at their house without presenting an arrest warrant, according to a family member. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Tenawi was held incommunicado for 28 days before being unlawfully deported to Syria on April 9. On March 10, security forces arrested Omar Mahmoud Abdel Maguid, another member of the Ahmadi community. His brother-in-law, Hazem Saied Abdel Moatamed, also a member of the religious minority, was arrested three days later, on March 13. Security forces forcibly disappeared Hussein Mohammed Al-Tenawi, Omar Mahmoud Abdel Maguid, and Hazem Saied Abdel Moatamed for periods ranging between 29 to 34 days before bringing them before a prosecutor. Prosecutors investigated them and ten others on charges of “joining a group established in violation of law and constitution”.

I urge you to immediately and unconditionally release Hussein Mohammed Al-Tenawi, Omar Mahmoud Abdel Maguid, Hazem Saied Abdel Moatamed, and all other members of the Ahmadi religious minority who have been arbitrarily detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief, to open an investigation into the three men’s enforced disappearance, and to stop prosecuting Ahmadi believers solely for peacefully exercising their faith.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]