Press Release

For Immediate Release

 

African Commission Requests Stay of Execution in Taba Bombings Case

 

London/Cairo, December 12, 2006 – The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has requested the government of Egypt to stay the execution of three men allegedly involved in bombing the Red Sea resorts of Taba and Noueiba in October 2004.

 

Sentences of death were passed on the three defendants by the Egyptian State Security Emergency Court on 30 November. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and INTERIGHTS, the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights, brought a complaint to the African Commission arguing a number of violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory. These include torture in detention, failure to meet fair trial standards and the absence of a right of appeal from a sentence of death.

 

The Commission has not yet ruled on the substance of the case, but has requested the Egyptian authorities to stay execution pending an urgent consideration of the complaint at its next session in the spring, 2007.

 

 

For further information contact:

 

Hossam Bahgat, Director, The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights: +20 10 628 8928, Hossam@eipr.org

 

David Geer, Executive Director, INTERIGHTS, The International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights: +44 (0) 20 7843 0485,  dgeer@interights.org