Human rights group accuses Egypt of 'disappearing' dozens of people
In addition to abusing detainees, enforced disappearances also inflict severe psychological and socioeconomic distress on relatives of the detained.
Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, drinks at the defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the Torah prison, Southern Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Amr Nabil/AP
A report from Human Rights Watch accuses Egyptian security forces of聽 of people, and asks authorities "to immediately disclose their whereabouts and hold those responsible to account.鈥�
International law forbids enforced disappearances, which the UN defines as "the聽or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law."
Why do states inflict enforced disappearances on their own citizens?
Amnesty International says they are used to 鈥� within society,鈥� especially in relation to the repression of political opponents.
According to the BBC, most of the detained in Egypt are 鈥渕embers or supporters of the outlawed but also secular and liberal activists.鈥�
Human Rights Watch documented the cases of five people forcibly disappeared and two people "most likely" forcibly disappeared between April 2014 and June 2015. In three of the cases, the people were last seen in the custody of state officials, despite denials from authorities. In another three cases, those who knew the victims said security forces had apprehended the victims.
Last month, masked policemen raided Hassan Sultan鈥檚 apartment at dawn and before charging them with membership of a terrorist group, AFP reported.
"It happened early in the morning. They blindfolded me and my sons, tied us from behind and made us sit on the floor like prisoners of war," Sultan told AFP.
A senior police official from Egypt鈥檚 interior ministry鈥檚 media department told AFP, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 use these methods. If anyone has proof, they should file a formal complaint to the interior ministry.鈥�
Mohamed Lofty, founder of The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, told Human Rights Watch聽that authorities have not responded to most complaints filed by independent groups.
A report by the International Center for Transitional Justice documented the impact of enforced disappearances on women, concluded that聽they are likely to suffer the same levels of abuse as men while disappeared, but are additionally more likely to .
Female relatives of the disappeared often wrestle with severe psychological and socioeconomic implications.
鈥淣ot knowing if their loved one will ever return, those left behind live in limbo,鈥� Amnesty notes.
This lack of closure is compounded by dwindling 鈥渇inancial security鈥� as 鈥渢he disappeared person is often the family鈥檚 main breadwinner鈥� and some 鈥渘ational laws don鈥檛 let you draw a pension or receive other support without a death certificate.鈥�
The ICTJ report notes, 鈥淭he precarious legal status of the disappeared often results in the inability of their wives to access bank accounts, social services, or retain ownership of assets. Socially, women may be blamed for the disappearance [and] ostracized for financially burdening the family.鈥�
The report also offers recommendations to mitigate the painful aftermath of enforced disappearances.
鈥淲hen done in consultation with family and community members, symbolic reparations [such as monuments, plaques, and tombstones] can promote healing and restore social balance,鈥� it states.
The report also recommends all reparations programs recognize relatives as victims, as is required by international law. It urges that states ensure access to such benefits is not dependent on a declaration of death as this requires complicated emotional decisions.
Egypt isn鈥檛 the only country that suffers from allegedly state-sanctioned mass detentions, Amnesty notes.
In Mexico, more than 26,000 people were reported missing or disappeared between 2006 and 2012. In Sri Lanka, 12,000 complaints of enforced disappearances have been submitted to the UN since the 1980s. The actual number, Amnesty estimates, is at least 30,000 higher.