• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: YOUTH UNJUSTLY JAILED IN RELATION TO PROTEST (Egypt: UA 73.23)

August 2, 2023

Badr Mohamed is serving an unjust five-year prison sentence following his conviction in January 2023 in connection to the Ramsis Square protests on 16 August 2013, when he was 17 years old. His trial before a terrorism circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court was grossly unfair. He is held at the Badr Prison Complex in conditions that violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill- treatment and is denied healthcare despite suffering from toothaches, vision impairment, inability to sleep and mental health concerns.

TAKE ACTION: 

  1. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.

  2. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 73.23. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

    CONTACT INFORMATION:
    President Abdelfattah al-Sisi
    Office of the President, Al Ittihadia Palace
    Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt Fax: +202 2391 1441
    Email: [email protected];
    Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

    Ambassador Motaz Zahran
    Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
    3521 International Ct NW, Washington DC 20008
    Phone: 202 895 5400 I Fax: 202 244 5131
    Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
    Twitter: @EgyptEmbassyUSA , @MotazZahran
    Facebook: @EgyptEmbassyUSA
    Salutation: Dear Ambassador

    SAMPLE LETTER:

    Dear President,

    I am writing to express my deep concern over the unjust imprisonment of Badr Mohamed, a 27-year-old who was convicted in January 2023 in connection to protests and sentenced to five years in prison after a grossly unfair trial. The charges relate to a protest violently dispersed by security forces on 16 August 2013, when Badr Mohamed was 17 years old. Badr Mohamed, who was initially convicted in his absence, was retried before a terrorism circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court after his arrest on 11 May 2020. His rights to a fair trial were violated, including his right to adequate defence, to equality of arms, to be tried by a competent independent and impartial tribunal and to cross-examine witnesses against him and to call witnesses on his behalf. During the trial hearings, which commenced in June 2020, Badr Mohamed was kept inside a glass cage where he could not fully observe, hear, or speak during proceedings. He was banned from communicating with his lawyer privately through the pre-trial and trial phases. His appeal in front of the Court of Cassation is pending.

    Badr Mohamed is held in Badr 1 prison, notorious for its inhumane detention conditions. He is only allowed short family visits once a month, which is not enough to spend time with his daughter who was born while he was detained. According to the child’s mother, the absence of her father due to his unjust imprisonment has impacted their child’s mental health. Prison guards often deny or delay written correspondence between him and his loved ones, and ban any phone calls. He is held in a small, poorly ventilated cell, which lacks any natural light, together with another 20 detainees. Prisoners are subjected to camera surveillance and fluorescent lights round the clock, which causes severe pain and suffering and violates the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. Badr Mohamed also complained about the failure of prison authorities to provide him and other prisoners with sufficient and nutritious food and potable water. Prison authorities also ban books, paper, pens, and climate appropriate clothes. These prison conditions have had a detrimental impact on his physical and mental health with his family reporting that he lost significant weight since his detention. Badr Mohamed has also complained about his vision worsening, toothaches, and inability to sleep. Despite this, he has not had access to any healthcare.

    Given the above, I urge you to quash the unjust conviction and sentence against Badr Mohamed, and in light of his arbitrary detention release him. Pending his release, he must be granted immediate access to his family, lawyers and any medical assistance he may require, and he must be held in conditions that meet international standards for the treatment of prisoners.

    Yours sincerely,

    [YOUR NAME]

    ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: