NGO Support

EGY 001/0105/OBS 041
Legal proceedings/Women's rights/Freedom of conscience
Egypt
17 May 2001

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Egypt :

Description of the facts:

The Observatory has been informed that Dr. Nawel Saadaoui, writer and eminent defender of women's rights is the subject of arbitrary legal proceedings.

Nawel Saadaoui's commitment to the protection of women's rights has been well known for forty years, both nationally and internationally. In 1981 she was imprisoned by Anwar El Sadat for 11 years for her activities and in 1991 the Arab Women's Solidarity Association, which she founded, was banned. This year the Egyptian government has prohibited several of her works from being exhibited at the Cairo Book Fair.

The proceedings of which she is now a victim are a result of the publication on 6 March 2001 by the weekly Al Midan, of an article based on an interview with her, according to which she was critical of certain religious practices. The writer contested its reporting, considering that she had been misquoted. She claimed that during the interview she had related historical facts and "repeated [her] view on the wearing of the veil by women, implying that a woman is merely a body, on polygamy, on the inequality of women with regard to inheritance law, and [she] emphasised that all these rules were in contradiction with the true spirit of Islam and the correct interpretation of the Koran". Following the publication of this article, the lawyer Nabih El Wahch lodged a complaint against her in the Sharia Court, demanding her divorce from Sherif Hetata on the grounds of apostasy. He based his request on an old Muslim precedent known as Hisba which permits any Muslim to introduce proceedings against another Muslim whom he considers guilty of violating an Islamic obligation. Although the Hisba had become obsolete in most Muslim countries, it has been invoked in recent years by militant theologians. The judicial administration was obliged by the Constitution to register this petition and a hearing has been fixed on 18 June 2001, even though the procedures followed by the plaintiff are not compatible with the law currently in force. Indeed, an amendment to the Hisba law obliges a plaintiff to apply first to the Attorney General who is the sole authority competent to decide on the follow-up to the complaint. The lawyer has simultaneously filed a complaint with the Attorney General who has not yet given a verdict.

If Nawel Saadaoui is found guilty of an offence against religion, she runs the risk of being sentenced to prison; if the accusation of apostasy is upheld, she will be forced to divorce.

The proceedings against Nawel Saadaoui constitute a violation of her rights to freedom of expression, of conscience and of action and are in total contradiction with international mechanisms of protection applicable in this context.

Action requested :

Thank you in advance for writing to the Egyptian authorities, requesting them :

• to ensure that the proceedings against Nawel Saadaoui are dropped;
• to comply with the terms of the declaration adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998 "on the right and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms" and Article 1 in particular which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels"
• more generally, to comply with the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and regional and international mechanisms concerning human rights, to which Egypt is a party.

Addresses :

His Excellency Mohammad Hosni Mubarak,
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
E-mail: webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
Fax : + 202 390 1998
Telex: 93794 WAZRA UN

His Excellency General Habib al-'Adeli Minister of the Interior
Fax: + 202 579 2031
E-mails: moi2@idsc.gov.eg

His Excellency Farouk Solf Al Nasr,
Minister of Justice
Fax : +202 355 81 03

You may also write to the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in your country

In France : Press office : fax : +33 1 49 52 08 06 Cultural service : fax : +33 1 01 40 70 08 31

In Switzerland : Embassy, Berne : +31 352 80 12 Cultural service, Berne : +31 352 23 51 Press office, Geneva : +22 731 13 19

Paris - Geneva, 17 May 2001

Thank you for informing the Observatory of any action taken, quoting the code of this appeal.

The Observatory, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and strives to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

Tel. : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11
OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch

Laurence Cuny
Responsable du Programme des Défenseurs des droits de l'homme

O.M.C.T. Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture
Organizacion Mundial Contra la Tortura
World Organisation Against Torture

8, rue du Vieux-Billard Case postale 21 CH-1211 Genève 8, Suisse

Tel.: (+ 41 22) 809 49 39
Fax : (+ 41 22) 809 49 29
E-mail: omct@omct.org
http://www.omct.org