CAIRO: Egyptian NGO the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has launched a stinging attack on the public prosecution office for what it describes as its “contribution to the detention of a blogger who disappeared 19 days ago.
In the statement – published yesterday – ANHRI says that it is “extremely disappointed by the public prosecution office s “tarrying in holding to account the state security investigations officers alleged to have kidnapped 23-year-old Diaa Eddin Gad.
“[The public prosecution office] tarried in holding to account those responsible for the kidnapping of blogger Diaa Eddin Gad, despite the fact that it knew he was being held in state security investigations headquarters, the statement reads.
Gad, who runs the “Angry Voice blog on which he posted criticism of the Egyptian government s policy on the Israeli invasion of Gaza, disappeared on the afternoon of Feb 6.
According to his mother, Amal Abdel Fattah Ahmed, Gad was attacked by four men wearing civilian clothing outside his home in Qotour, near Tanta in El-Gharbeyya governorate before being bundled into central security forces truck.
His whereabouts remained unknown for almost three weeks. According to ANHRI, he is currently being held in the El-Qata prison, Giza.
“The public prosecution office has changed from being an instrument for holding to account violators of the law into a mere intermediary between Gad s family and his ANHRI lawyers on one side, and state security investigations on the other, ANHRI says in its statement.
“This gave officers of this brutal apparatus the opportunity to punish Diaa for his harsh criticism of the Egyptian government s position during the Israeli attack on Gaza, and then send him to El-Qata prison where he is being held in detention.
ANHRI is also critical of the position taken by Egyptian governmental body the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) regarding Gad s case, saying that the NCHR is “oblivious.
“Diaa Eddin Gad is a mere number amongst [NCHR s] cases . which it uses to deceive and mislead public opinion in Egypt in its capacity as a body which receives thousands of complaints, without daring to criticize state security investigations practices, ANHRI says.
However, lawyer Hafez Abu Saeda, a NCHR member, assigned blame firmly to the interior ministry.
“When the NCHR receives a complaint we act on it immediately and send it to the interior ministry. We have addressed a complaint to the interior ministry regarding Diaa Eddin Gad, Abu Saeda told Daily News Egypt.
“Unfortunately, however, the interior ministry never responds to complaints submitted by either the NCHR or human rights NGOs, Abu Saeda continued.
ANHRI remains defiant in the face of what it describes as state security investigations bodies “lies.
“State security investigations bodies can falsify the date of Diaa s detention order, they can use the tabloid press to extol its so-called role in maintaining security, the public prosecution office can ascribe the kidnapping incident to an unknown person … but we know the names of the officers who punished [Gad], and we know the name of the person who kidnapped him. We are aware of all the lies they want us to swallow, and we will publish them for the public opinion. Silence is not an option for us.
