Chairman of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) Ahmed Abdullah was allegedly the subject of an attempted act of “kidnapping” by security forces on Saturday, the commission announced in an official statement on Sunday.
“Three men in civilian clothes claiming to belong to the police forces raided the coffee shop often visited by Abdullah in the Agouza district and questioned the workers about him,” the statement read.
“They searched the entire coffee shop for him without showing any arrest warrants or orders from the prosecutor general, but Abdullah was not present at the time.”
The ECRF expressed major concern over potential harms and risks posed to Abdullah’s life. “The setting of the raid indicates the Interior Ministry’s intention to target Abdullah for illegal detention, in an unknown place and maybe put endanger his life,” they said.
In response, Abdullah filed a complaint about the “kidnapping attempt” to the prosecutor general, holding the Interior Ministry responsible.
Observing the human rights situation in Egypt, the ECRF recently published a full report on enforced disappearances in Egypt. It cited the alleged involvement of security forces in the abduction of people and hiding them incommunicado in secret detention or illegal locations, such as the National Security headquarters in Lazoghly in Cairo and the Central Security Forces camp in Tanta.
Military prisons were also cited as having held “prisoners” in violation, including the Azouli and new Azouli military prisons within the Galaa camps in Ismailia, at the headquarters of the Second Field Army.
