International Commission of Jurists

Egypt: Ahmed Douma, 10 years of arbitrary detention. Over 900 individuals and Rights groups renew their call for his immediate release.

Dec 13, 2022 | Advocacy, News

On 3 December 2022, Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma entered his 10th year in arbitrary detention. The undersigned individuals, groups and organizations urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Douma and all those arbitrarily detained in Egypt. 

Douma is an Egyptian poet, writer and activist who has been targeted due to his political activism and leading role in the 25 January 2011 revolution, as well as his vocal criticism of successive Egyptian governments. Over his prolonged years in prison and through severe restrictions, Douma has kept writing about his experiences, dreams, and aspirations in his poetry. His poetry collection “Curly” was printed and published during the 2021 Cairo International Book Fair. However, security officials forced the publishing house to take Douma’s poetry collection down.

Security forces first arrested Douma, then aged 25, on 12 January 2012 in relation to his participation in the “Cabinet Offices” sit-in. He was released after three months, but re-arrested on 3 December 2013 amid a wave of arrests after enactment of the draconian protest law (Law No. 107/2013) restricting the right to peaceful assembly. Throughout his detention he has been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including deliberate denial of access to medical care, and he was held in solitary confinement for four years and eight months in total for prolonged periods of time, between December 2013 until January 2020. Douma suffers from severe pain in different parts of his body as a result of being confined to his cell for more than 22 hours a day in poor prison conditions. He has knee and back pain resulting from the lack of movement and the failure to provide him with a bed, and sometimes even a mattress, in his solitary confinement cell. He also suffers from high blood pressure, insomnia, constant headaches, severe depression, and panic attacks. 

In February 2015, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in relation to his participation in anti-government protests following a grossly unfair and politically motivated trial intended to punish him for his activism. In July 2020, the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest court, upheld his conviction and sentence. As a result, the only avenue for him to be released is through a presidential pardon. On 26 April 2022, the Egyptian President announced “reactivating the work of the Presidential Pardon Committee”.

Douma’s family has submitted several requests for a presidential pardon, and have again renewed their call on the Egyptian President to reconsider the case and issue a presidential pardon, in particular in light of his deteriorating mental and physical health. To date, however, the Pardon Committee has not announced that it is considering Douma’s case. 

In 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found that Ahmed Douma’s detention was arbitrary as it stemmed solely from his peaceful exercise of his human rights, and followed criminal proceedings that failed to meet fair trial standards. The UNWGAD called for his immediate release and an enforceable right to remedy. The Egyptian authorities have disregarded these calls. 

Most recently, on 24 November 2022, the European Parliament urged the Egyptian authorities to immediately release those unjustly detained in Egypt including Douma. Ahead of COP27, more than 1400 organizations, groups and individuals, including parliamentarians, from across the world called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those held simply for exercising their human rights, and for the implementation of criteria set by local NGOs for these releases, namely, fairness, transparency, inclusiveness, and urgency. 

We reiterate these calls and urge Egypt to implement them without delay.

Signatories:

Organizations and groups: 

  1. African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
  2. Amnesty International
  3. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
  4. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
  5. Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
  6. CIVICUS
  7. Committe for Justice
  8. Democracy for the Arab World Now ( DAWN )
  9. Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
  10. Egyptian Human Rights Forum ( EHRF)
  11. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
  12. EgyptWide for Human Rights
  13. El Nadim Center
  14. English PEN
  15. EuroMed Rights
  16. Friends of the Earth Scotland
  17. Global Justice Now
  18. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
  19. Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum
  20. Instituto Internacional de Educacao do Brasil
  21. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
  22. International Federation for Human Rights
  23. International helping for young
  24. International Service for Human Rights
  25. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
  26. Ipswich Amnesty group
  27. MENA Rights Group
  28. PEN International
  29. Plataforma CIPÓ
  30. Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
  31. Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR)
  32. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF)
  33. The Freedom Initiative
  34. US Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt
  35. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
  36. حزب العيش والحرية (تحت التأسيس)

Individuals:

  1. Anne and Neil Knott
  2. annette gore
  3. Astrid Laich, personal
  4. Barney Green
  5. Bert Giskes
  6. Carolina Lebesmühlbacher
  7. Cassandra Smithies, artist
  8. Christina Isherwood
  9. David Johnson
  10. Doug Seidman
  11. Dr Matthew Lumley
  12. Dr Viviane BALADI
  13. Dr. Peter Oppenheimer Ed.D.
  14. Dr. Zoe Gardner
  15. EJ Brittin
  16. Elemide oyebola
  17. ELISABETH PENKEN
  18. Ellen Sansone
  19. Fraser Harrison
  20. helen cook
  21. James Mulcare
  22. Jean-Maurice Salomon
  23. Kathy Bradley
  24. Laila Soueif, assistant professor, Cairo U.
  25. Lily Nemirovsky
  26. M. Áine Kelly-Costello
  27. Mahienour El-Massry ماهينور المصري
  28. Michele Dunne
  29. Miss I.Huddleston
  30. Mohammad Haque
  31. Mounir Satouri
  32. Mr C Preston
  33. Mr Michael Shaw
  34. Mr Peter Cauwenberghs
  35. Mr Sean Hall
  36. Mr Stephen Branscombe
  37. Mr. AHM Badr
  38. Mr. Alan Paul
  39. Mr. Johnny Badr
  40. Mrs Kate Prasher
  41. Mrs. Pauline Bentley
  42. Ms Allison Rensch
  43. Ms Elena Cal
  44. Ms H Martin
  45. Nagwa Farid Naguib
  46. Ola Shahba
  47. Ossis
  48. Patricia Hackbarth
  49. Patricia Hackbarth
  50. Pete Klosterman
  51. Pete Yorke
  52. Philippe Dehalu
  53. Pieter Jansen
  54. R Lloyd-Jones
  55. Ragia Omran
  56. Ramy Shaath, HRD
  57. Rosemary Cleary
  58. Ruben Vanholme
  59. Rufus Rune, activist, Scout leader, Confirmation leader, Student
  60. Salma El Hosseiny, human rights defender
  61. scott barden
  62. Solafa Magdy, Journalist/ WHRD
  63. Stephen Oren
  64. Yves Lador, Consultant
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