Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 4th April. UN human rights experts on Wednesday expressed grave concern after death sentences were handed down to seven people by Egypt’s highest court in January, in the years long so-called “Helwan Brigade” counter-terrorism case.
The experts said in a statement issued that their executions would constitute arbitrary killings in violation of the right to life due to unfair trials and other human rights violations.
It noted that suspected Helwan Brigade members were accused of targeting security forces in the wake of the military coup against former democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi over 10 years ago.
The experts said “Capital punishment may only be carried out after a legal process that guarantees all of the safeguards required by international human rights law,”.
They said in a statement that the cases allegedly involved grave violations of international law, including enforced disappearances and incommunicado detention, torture and forced confessions, denial of access to lawyers and family visits, protracted pre-trial detention, solitary confinement, and mass trials before special terrorism courts which did not meet fair trial standards.
“Egypt has also failed to independently and effectively investigate and remedy these alleged violations as required by international and Egyptian law,” they said.
They added the death sentences further violate international law because they are based on convictions for vague and overly broad terrorist offences.”
The experts said that there is a real risk that executions in practice may constitute prohibited torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
“We urge Egypt to halt these executions, to independently investigate the alleged human rights violations and review the judicial proceedings in light of Egypt’s international obligations,” they added.
Comments are closed.