Mohamed El-Derini was
released in the early hours of today's morning after fifteen months he spent
in administrative detention on the basis of his belonging to the shi'a
Muslim beliefs.
El-Derini's release came a
few days after the announcement of an opinion issued by the United Nations'
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding a complaint submitted to the
working group by the Egyptian Intiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). The
decision had found El-Derini's deprivation of liberty to be arbitraty and
called on the Egyptian government to take steps to remedy the situation.
The EIPR had also obtained
four final rulings by the Supreme State Security Emergency Court ordering
the termination of El-Derini's detention under the Emergency Law, the last
of which was issued last week on 19 June 2005.
Mohamed El-Derini was
detained at his house on 22 March 2004 amidst a campagin that targeted a
number of Egyptian Shi'a Muslims. El-Derini is the last to be released of
the 11 detainees who were also incarcerated for varying periods without ever
appearing before a proseuctor.
"The release of Mohamed El-Derini
does not negate the fact that a citizen spent 15 months in detention without
charge or trial; that an investigation has yet to be conducted in the
allegations made by him and other fellow detainees about being subjected to
torture while in custody at the State Security Intellignece offices; and
that thousands of political detainees remain in prolonged detention under
the emergency law in spite of court rulings ordering their release," said
Hossam Bahgat, Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
