CAIRO: Following “the first decision by an international court against the Egyptian government”, authorities have revoked death sentences to three Sinai locals handed down by the State Security Emergency Court in 2006 for their alleged involvement in the 2004 Taba bombings that left 34 dead.
The decision was a response to a call by the African Commission for Human Rights to halt the execution of death penalties issued by the State Security Emergency Court, an exceptional court that violates the rights of the defendants.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the International Center for Legal Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS) filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian government in 2006 accusing it of torturing the three defendants and trying them in an exceptional court, which violates the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights signed by Egypt in 1984.
"The three men were among the thousands who were rounded up by Egyptian authorities in the immediate aftermath of the bombings. They were held in incommunicado detention and subjected to torture including electric shocks, beatings and hanging by their hands and legs for days and weeks on end," EIPR said in a statement Tuesday.
"Following a sham trial by the State Security Emergency Court, they were convicted on the basis of confessions extracted under torture and sentenced to death with no right of appeal," said the statement.
The Commission’s verdict was approved by the African Summit held in Adis Ababa two weeks ago which was attended my Egypt’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.
"The decision by Egyptian authorities came as a new policy is in the making to appease Sinai locals who have long been marginalized, tortured, and oppressed by the ousted Mubarak regime," head of the African Studies Institute Mahmoud Aboul Enein told Daily News Egypt Wednesday.
Leader of El-Kararsha tribe and member of Sinai Revolutionaries Coalition, Shiekh Ahmed El-Hareesh, told DNE that if authorities are serious about ending violence in Sinai, all detainees have to be freed or retried.
Recently, Sinai Bedouins have repeatedly abducted tourists to demand the release of their tribesmen. In all cases, the tourists were released following negotiations with security. It wasn’t clear if the demands were met.
"Court verdicts against Sinai Bedouins range from 25 to 85 years in prison. Dealing with us using strict security measures will not solve the political crisis," El-Hareesh said.
However, media spokesman of EIPR Ramy Raouf told DNE that the decision has nothing to do with reconciliation attempts with Sinai residents.
"The move by authorities needs to be seen within an international framework as it is the first decision by an international court against the Egyptian government which is not something easy," Raouf said.
"The charter which Egypt signed in 1984 is not binding to Egypt, but respecting international charters is a positive indication," he added.
The Commission’s verdict raises hope that human rights violations committed under the reign of the ruling military council may be addressed by international commissions.
"We have to understand that the Commission’s decision was accepted because it is in line with the political will of the Egyptian authorities. If it had not matched the political will of the ruling military, it would never have been welcomed," Aboul Enein said.
He speculated that if the same Commission addressed the violations that took place under the reign of the ruling military council, there would be no such response.
"I still believe that violations committed by the ruling junta could be addressed by the Egyptian judiciary," he said.
An Egyptian citizen living in Norway Iman Elgebaly previously told DNE that she filed a lawsuit against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) before the International Criminal Court (ICC) demanding their prosecution for violations committed by army forces against protesters.
However, legal experts said that Elgebaly’s lawsuit is void since Egypt is not party to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC.
"Unlike the ICC, we can file lawsuits against SCAF in front of the African Commission for Human Rights, but we must exhaust all possible legal procedures before the Egyptian judiciary first," Raouf said.
"If the Egyptian judiciary fails to try SCAF for human rights violations, we can resort to the African Commission," he added. -Additional reporting by Yehia Zakaria from South Sinai.
