• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER MUST BE RELEASED (Egypt: UA 80.23)

September 18, 2023

Since his arrest on September 10, 2017, Egyptian authorities have arbitrarily detained Ibrahim Metwaly, human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Families of the Disappeared in Egypt group, who was detained on his way to Geneva to address the UN. Ibrahim Metwaly is held at the Badr Prison Complex in conditions that violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. He must be immediately and unconditionally released as he is being held solely due to the peaceful exercise of his human rights, including seeking truth and justice for his forcibly disappeared son.

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 80.23. 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:

    Public Prosecutor Hamada al-Sawi
    Office of the Public Prosecutor
    Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt
    Fax: +202 2577 4716
    Twitter: @EgyptianPPO

    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 Counselor,

    I am writing to express my deep concern over the arbitrary detention of 58-year-old Ibrahim Metwaly who has been arbitrarily detained since 10 September 2017. Ibrahim Metwaly , a human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Disappeared in Egypt, was detained by Egyptian security forces at Cairo International Airport on his way to Geneva, where he was invited to meet with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to address the issue of enforced disappearances in Egypt. After his detention, he was held incommunicado for two days until he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecutor (SSSP) in Cairo. During this period, he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. He told his lawyers that National Security Agency (NSA) officers stripped him naked, gave him electric shocks in various parts of his body, doused him in water, and beat him. In June 2022, after five years in Tora Prison Complex, Ibrahim Metwaly was transferred to Badr 3 prison where he remains. According to Amnesty International’s research, prisoners held in this prison often suffer from horrific and punitive conditions and are denied access to adequate healthcare. He suffers from chronic back pain.

    Ibrahim Metwaly has remained in pre-trial detention since 2017 pending investigations into charges including of ‘’founding and leading an illegal group’’, “conspiring with foreign parties to harm Egyptian national security”, and “publishing false news.” While the maximum period of pre-trial detention permitted according to Egyptian law is two years, authorities refused to release Ibrahim Metwaly and the SSSP opened two cases against him on similar charges to keep him in prolonged pre-trial detention.

    I urge you to immediately and unconditionally release Ibrahim Metwaly as he is detained solely for peacefully exercising his human rights. Pending his release, he must be protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and have access to his family and lawyers.

    Yours sincerely,

    [YOUR NAME]

    ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: