CAIRO (MEMO) – The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Wednesday issued an urgent injunction against Egypt, ordering it to suspend the death penalties issued against 26 detainees whilst it considers a complaint submitted by former senior members of the Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).
The FJP was the political party of the government of Egypt that was ousted in a military coup in 2013.
The men, the legal team who submitted the complaint said, were “convicted in mass trials which were heavily criticized for severe due process irregularities and fair trial violations by leading international human rights organizations.” The original charges brought against them “related to their participation in pro-democracy protests against the coup”.
Charges were initiated against 739 individuals with the court handing down 75 death sentences, 47 life sentences, and heavy prison sentences ranging from five to 15 years to 612 people. “Complaints about the trials included failing to meet basic fair trial standards, hearings involving large numbers of defendants, and a failure to identify specific allegations against each of the defendants,” a statement by Bindmans LLP said.
Egypt has now been granted 15 days to confirm that the special measures will be implemented and 60 days to present arguments with regards to the admissibility of the men’s complaint. Tayab Ali, partner at Bindmans LLP, said: “The international community turned a blind eye to the serious human rights violations that have been committed by the Egyptian authorities since the coup in 2013.
Egypt’s final phase is to try to silence opposition voices through the use of sham trials and the death penalty. These men have no recourse to further appeals within Egypt and now will rely entirely on the case submitted to the African Commission to determine their fate.