Oqba Hashad has been arbitrarily detained without trial for over four years and six months solely for his brother’s human rights activism. Security forces subjected him to enforced disappearance for 77 days, during which they tortured him including through severe beatings, electric shocks, and suspension in contorted positions. Authorities in Wadi al-Natroun prison, where he is held, continue to deny him access to adequate health care, including for his right leg, amputated above the knee from his childhood, and for which he needs a prosthetic leg to move. Since his prosthetic leg broke in August 2022, prison authorities have denied him a replacement as well as the medicine and antiseptics he needs for his stump care.
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- 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.
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contact information:
Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky Ayyad
Office of the Public Prosecutor; Madinat al-Rehab; Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt
Fax: +202 2577 4716;
Twitter: @EgyptianPPO
Egyptian Embassy in the United States
Ambassador Motaz Mounir Zahran
3521 International Court, NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: (202) 895-5400
Email: [email protected]
sample letter:
Dear Counsellor,
Oqba Hashad, a 26-year-old university student, has been arbitrarily detained for four years and six months without trial, solely due to the human rights activism of his brother Amr Hashad, who left Egypt in 2019. Following his arbitrary arrest on May 20, 2019, from his university accommodation in Sadat City, Menoufia governorate, without an arrest warrant, security forces forcibly disappeared Oqba Hashad for 77 days, during which period he was subjected to torture and other ill treatment. On August 1, 2019, he was ordered to pre-trial detention pending investigations. Since then, his pre-trial detention has been extended without the opportunity to meaningfully challenge the lawfulness of his detention.
Since August 2022, prison authorities have denied Oqba Hashad access to adequate healthcare and a prosthetic leg. After his prosthetic leg broke in August 2022, prison authorities refuse to deliver the prosthetic leg his family repaired He has been denied antiseptics and sterilization tools needed to care for his stump.
I urge you to ensure that Oqba Hashad is immediately and unconditionally released and all charges against him dropped as he is detained solely as a punishment for his brother’s activism. Pending his release, he must be granted regular access to his family, lawyers, and adequate healthcare.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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