Egypt Repeals Death Sentences After Human Rights Probe

Egypt’s interim government announced yesterday the repeal of the death sentences against three men for their alleged roles in the October 2004 bombings in the Sinai Peninsula tourist resorts of Taba and Nuweiba and the 2005 bombings at Sharm el Sheikh. Mohamed Gayez Sabbah, Osama Mohamed Abdel-Ghani Al-Nakhlawi, and Younis Mohamed Abu-Gareer were among the thousands rounded up by Egyptian authorities in the aftermath of the bombings. According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the three men were subjected to torture – including electric shocks, beatings, and hanging by their hands and legs. Throughout their detention they were denied access to lawyers or medical treatment. They were not brought before a court, nor did they have legal representation until the day their trial began, when they were convicted on the basis of confessions extracted under torture and sentenced to death.

The repeal follows a ruling by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which found Egypt in violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights by denying the  suspects their basic rights. The decision to repeal the death sentences is “a welcome and significant development,” said Hossam Bahgat, Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, “but the Egyptian government must now take further measures to prevent the recurrence of these abuses.” These measures include ending the State of Emergency, repealing the Emergency Law, and halting military tribunals of civilians, Bahgat said. Helen Duffy, Senior Counsel at Interights, said the decision “makes clear that ‘state security courts’ have no role in an Egypt based on respect for democracy and human rights.” Duffy added that “whether Egypt implements the decision in full will be a measure of its commitment to move from authoritarian rule to the rule of law.”