Urgent Action

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 12/011/2008
12 June 2008

UA 165/08 Forcible return/Fear of torture or other ill-treatment

EGYPT Up to 1,400 asylum seekers from Eritrea

The Egyptian authorities forcibly returned a group of around 200
asylum-seekers to Eritrea in the night of 11 June, and are preparing
to forcibly return a further 1,400. In Eritrea they will be at risk of
torture and other ill-treatment. The office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt has not been granted access
to any of the Eritreans to assess their asylum claims, despite
repeated requests. The authorities appear to have scheduled a number
of special flights to Eritrea.

A group of 169 Eritrean asylum-seekers could be returned as early as
the evening of 12 June: they were moved from Nasr al Nuba police
station near Aswan city, where they had been detained, to Central
Security Forces camp in Shallal, south of Aswan. Hundreds of Eritrean
asylum-seekers are detained in several police stations near Aswan
city. Dozens of others are detained in Al-Qanater prison near the
capital, Cairo. Around 700 are detained near the Red Sea cities of
Hurghada and Marsa Alam. Lawyers representing the asylum-seekers held
in Aswan believe that 200 of those held in Hurghada are being
transported to Aswan, in preparation for forcible return.


The 200 asylum-seekers deported on 11 June had been detained in a
Central security forces camp in Shallal in Aswan city. They were told
they would be transported to the UNHCR office in Cairo. Their lawyers
tried to reach them the same evening to offer medication and food but
could not get to them. The Eritreans were then taken to Aswan
International airport and put on a special EgyptAir flight to Eritrea.

Most asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea are likely to be arbitrarily
detained incommunicado in inhumane conditions from weeks to years.
They will be at serious risk of torture or other ill-treatment,
particularly those who have fled from compulsory military service.


Since the end of February, flows of Eritrean asylum-seekers have
reached Egypt either via its southern border with Sudan or by sea,
south of the city of Hurghada. Others are recognized as refugees by
the UNHCR in Sudan, and are fleeing Sudan to avoid being forcibly
returned to Eritrea by the Sudanese authorities.

Hundreds of the Eritrean asylum-seekers in Aswan were charged with
illegal entry in Egypt and were sentenced to a suspended one-month
prison term. They were however kept in administrative detention by
orders of the Ministry of Interior, as granted under the Emergency law
in Egypt.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued
guidelines to all governments opposing return to Eritrea of rejected
Eritrean asylum seekers on the grounds of the record of serious human
rights violations in Eritrea. These guidelines are still in force.

Refugees and asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea have been detained
incommunicado, and tortured. Two asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea by
the German authorities on 14 May are believed to have been arrested on
arrival, and have not been seen since. Another asylum-seeker returned
from the UK in November 2007 was detained in inhumane conditions and
ill-treated before being released.

Thousands of people are detained incommunicado in Eritrea, in secret
and indefinitely, without charge or trial. They have been arrested for
suspected opposition to the government, practicing their religious
beliefs as members of banned evangelical or other churches, evading
military conscription or trying to flee the country.

Military service is compulsory for all men and women aged 18 to 40.
There is no limit on length of service. There is no exemption for
conscientious objectors, and no alternative non-military service. The
usual punishment for evading military service is detention and
torture: this can include having hands and feet tied behind the back
in a painful position known as "the helicopter".


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in Arabic or your own language:
- calling on the Egyptian authorities to immediately stop all forcible
returns of asylum-seekers to Eritrea;
- urging them to respect Egypt's international obligations under the
1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the UN
Convention Against Torture not to forcibly return asylum-seekers to
Eritrea where they would be at risk of torture and other serious human
rights abuses ;
- asking them to ensure that all Eritrean asylum-seekers are given
immediate access to Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in
Egypt to assess their asylum claims.


APPEALS TO:
Minster of Interior
Minister Habib Ibrahim El Adly
Ministry of the Interior
25 Al-Sheikh Rihan Street
Bab al-Louk, Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +20 2 279 0682
Email: moi@idsc.gov.eg
Salutation: Dear Minister


COPIES TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Corniche al-Nil, Maspiro
Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +20 22 574 8822
+20 22 390 8159
+20 22 574 9533
E-mail: minexter@idsc1.gov.eg
Salutation: Dear Minister

National Council for Human Rights
Ambassador Mokhless Kotb
Secretary General
National Council for Human Rights
1113 Corniche El Nil
Midane Al Tahrir
Specialized National Councils Building - 11th floor
NDP Building, Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +202 2574 7497
Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

and to diplomatic representatives of Egypt accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International
Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 24 July
2008.



--
Suchitra Vijayan , Barrister-at-Law ( PLR member and correspondent )

www.linesofgrey.org

www.suchitravijayan.com