These profiles were first published on September 14, 2021, updated for the first time on April 12, 2022, for the second time on November 16, 2023, and for the third time on November 20, 2024.
Name: Houda Abdel Moneim Aziz
Job: Human rights lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 730 of 2020 (Supreme State Security)
On November 1, 2018, a National Security forces stormed the house of human rights lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights, Houda Abdel Moneim Aziz, in Cairo Governorate, as they searched the house and seized a number of Abdel’ Moneim’s personal belongings before being taken to an unknown place, and did not tell her family about the reason for the arrest or her place. Houda was kept in enforced disappearance by the National Security for twenty days before she appeared on November 21, 2018, at the Supreme State Security Prosecution, accusing her pending investigation in Lawsuit No. 1552 of 2018 the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged Abdel Moneim with accusations: joining a terrorist group established in violation of the law, receiving funding for a terrorist purpose, and inciting to strike the national economy. The Public Prosecution ordered to imprison her for fifteen days under pending investigations.
On November 21, 2020, Abdel Moneim exceeded the two years in pretrial detention, which requires the Supreme State Security Prosecution to release her, for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention in the same lawsuit, according to the Criminal Procedure Code.
Instead of releasing her, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Abdel Moneim, along with thirty others, to the Supreme State Security Court on 23 August 2021, in connection with Case No. 1552 of 2018 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), which is registered under No. 1 of 2021 (Nasr City Second Emergency State Security Felonies). The first session of trial was held on 21 September 2021.
In March 2023, the Emergency Supreme State Security Criminal Court, an exceptional court that works under the state of emergency and issues unappealable verdicts, issued hard labor sentences against 30 defendants, including Abdel Moneim, who was sentenced to five years in prison, put under police supervision for another five years, and added to the terror list.
While everyone was waiting for Abdel Moneim’s release after she served her jail term, she appeared again before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on 31 October 2023 as a defendant in connection with a new case No. 730 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution). She faced the same charges, namely joining and financing a terrorist group. The State Security Prosecution remanded Abdel Moneim in custody for 15 days pending investigation into the case.
Meanwhile, Abdel Moneim is facing a number of violations inside her prison. Her daughter told AFTE that the last time the family met Abdel Moneim was on 27 August. She stressed that her mother had been denied visits since she was detained in 2018, and the family visited her for the first time three years later. The daughter said the prison administration told them that Abdel Moneim was banned from visits at the time upon a request from the State Security Agency. The family used to visit her at the officer’s office and in his presence, and sometimes the visit was filmed, so they could not know information about her situation, the daughter said.
With regard to Abdel Moneim’s health condition, her daughter confirmed that the family is denied access to her medical reports, but it can be said that the situation in the 10th of Ramadan prison is relatively better than that of Al-Qanater prison. Abdel Moneim suffered vesicoureteral reflux in the right kidney and failure in the left one two years ago, in addition to deep vein thrombosis in the foot. She had to use a crutch. She was asked to do an echocardiogram, but her request for that – as well as all her requests – was ignored.
Abdel Moneim’s family was banned again from visiting her a day after she was recycled into a new case after completing her five-year prison term.
In November 2020, the Federation of European Bar Associations, which has nearly one million members in 32 European countries, announced that Abdel Moneim and six other Egyptian lawyers had won the union’s annual award in recognition of their role in defending human rights cases. The federation has given its annual award since 2007 to lawyers who have brought honor to the legal profession by upholding the highest values of professional and personal conduct in the field of human rights, according to the federation.
Abdel Moneim, 65, is a human rights lawyer and a former member of the National Council for Human Rights.
On 17 November 2024, Abdel Moneim was summoned again for interrogation in connection with a new case, No. 800 of 2019 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).
Name: Ezzat Ghoneim
Job: Executive Director of the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms
Legal status: Serving a 15-year prison sentence in Case No. 1 of 2021 (Emergency State Security Felonies – Nasr City Second).
On March 1, 2018, a force from the National State Security of the Ministry of Interior arrested the human rights lawyer and executive director of the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, Ezzat Ghoneim, while returning to his home in the Haram district in Giza, but he was not resented to any investigation body until two days later. On March 3, 2018, he was presented to the Supreme State Security Prosecution for the first time, accused in Lawsuit No. 441 of 2018 Supreme State Security Prosecution, known in the media as (The Media Action).
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged Ghoneim with accusations: joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and statements, and misusing social media. Continued to renew his pretrial detention for six months before the Giza Criminal Court’s Council Chamber ordered to release him on September 4, 2018. Ghoneim was transferred to the Haram police station for his release, and his family visited him there until September 13, before the police station denied his presence, and no news of him or any official information regarding his whereabouts was available for nearly five months. The court cancels the precautionary measures and ordered his arrest and summons for his absence from the execution of the precautionary measures, then he appeared before the Criminal Court in the same clothes he wore during the session in which he was released. The prosecution refused to launch an investigation into Ghoneim’s disappearance after the court’s decision to release him, and ordered to imprison him for 45 days pending investigation in the same Lawsuit No. 441 of 2018 Supreme State Security Prosecution.
On July 28, 2019, the Supreme State Security Prosecution summoned the 42-year-old Ghoneim for interrogation regarding a new lawsuit under No. 1118 of 2019 the Supreme State Security Prosecution, in which he is accused of the same accusation in the first lawsuit.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution released Ghonim, pending investigation into Case No. 441 of 2018, after he spent two years in pretrial detention, and began to execute his 15-day detention pending Lawsuit No. 1118 of 2019, who is currently imprisoned in this lawsuit.
On May 28, 2021, the Supreme State Security Prosecution summoned Ghoneim for a second time for interrogation regarding a third Lawsuit No. 1552 of 2018 Supreme State Security Prosecution, in which he is accused of the same accusations in the previous two lawsuits.
As well as, Ghoneim suffers from poor detention conditions, as the Al-Qanater prison (Men) administration has prevented him from visiting since February 2020.
On 23 August 2021, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Ghoneim, along with thirty other defendants, to the Supreme State Security Court, in connection with Case No. 1552 of 2018 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), which is registered under No. 1 of 2021 (Nasr City Second Emergency State Security Felonies). The first session of the trial was held on 21 September 2021.
The court sentenced him to 15 years in prison and ordered that he would be placed under police surveillance for five years after the end of his jail term. Moreover, he was placed on the terror list.
Name: Muhammad Abu Huraira Muhammad Abd Al-Rahman
Job: Human rights lawyer and spokesperson for the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF).
Legal status: Serving a 15-year prison sentence in Case No. 1 of 2021 (Emergency State Security Felonies – Nasr City Second).
On Sunday 5 March, the Emergency Supreme State Security Court sentenced human rights lawyer Mohamed Abu Huraira to 15 years in prison. The court also ordered that he would be placed under police surveillance for 5 years after the end of his jail term, in addition to placing him on the terror list, closing the ECRF’s website, and preventing him from communication.
The events of the case go back to November 1, 2018, when a National Security forces stormed the house of human rights lawyer and spokesman of the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, Muhammad Abu Huraira, in Cairo Governorate. As they searched the house and seized a number of Abu Huraira’s personal belongings before taking him to an unknown place, and did not tell his family about the reason for his arrest or his place. Abu Huraira was kept in enforced disappearance by the National Security for twenty days before he appeared on November 21, 2018, at the Supreme State Security Prosecution, accusing him of pending investigation in Lawsuit No. 1552 of 2018 the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged Abu Huraira with accusations: joining a terrorist group established in violation of the law, receiving funding for a terrorist purpose, and inciting to strike the national economy. The Public Prosecution ordered to imprison him for fifteen days pending investigations. The State Security Prosecution has continued to renew the detention of the human rights lawyer.
On November 21, 2020, Abu Huraira exceeded two years of pretrial detention in the same lawsuit, which requires the Supreme State Security Prosecution to release him for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention in accordance with the Legal Procedures Law.
On 23 August 2021, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Abu Huraira, along with thirty other defendants, to the Supreme State Security Court, in connection with Case No. 1552 of 2018 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), which is registered under No. 1 of 2021 (Nasr City Second Emergency State Security Felonies). The first session of the trial was held on 21 September 2021.
On 5 March 2023, the Emergency Supreme State Security Court sentenced human rights lawyer Mohamed Abu Huraira to 15 years in prison and ordered that he would be placed under police surveillance for 5 years after the end of his jail term. It also placed him on the terror list.
Name: Ibrahim Abdel-Moneim Metwally Hegazy
Job: Human rights lawyer and founder of the “Families of the Forcibly Disappeared” Association
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 786 of 2020 (Supreme State Security).
Targeting began on September 10, 2017, when Cairo International Airport security force arrested the human rights lawyer and founder of the “Families of the Forcibly Disappeared” Association, Ibrahim Abdel-Moneim Metwally Hegazy, while he was at Cairo Airport on his way to the Swiss capital, Geneva, to attend a meeting, at the invitation of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances. Two days later, On September 12, 2017, Metwally was brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which ordered to imprison him for 15 days pending investigation in Lawsuit No. 900 of 2017 Supreme State Security Prosecution, after accusations were brought against him, most notably: establishing an illegal organization, conspiring with foreign entities to harm the security of the state, and dissemination of false data and information.
On September 12, 2019, Metwally completed two years of pretrial detention pending investigations in Lawsuit No. 970 of 2017, which is the maximum period of time for pretrial detention, according to the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires the release of Metwally, but he remained in illegal detention for a whole month, before the State Security Prosecution ordered to release him for the first time on October 14, 2019, and during the completion of the release procedures, Metwally’s lawyer and his family were surprised on November 5, 2019, by his presentation for the second time, before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, where he was rotated for the first time pending a second Lawsuit No. 1470 of 2019 Supreme State Security Prosecution, ordered to imprison him for 15 days pending investigations, after accusing him of same accusations he faced in the first lawsuit.
Ten months after Metwally was held in pretrial detention pending the second case, the First Circuit of the Criminal Court decided on 25 August 2020 to replace his detention with precautionary measures, but the Ministry of Interior – for the second time – refused to release him. In the first week of September 2020, Metwally was recycled for the second time into the third case No. 786 of 2020 (Supreme State Security). His detention is still being renewed until now, although the maximum legal period of his pretrial detention expired in September 2022.
Metwally is also the father of the young Amr Ibrahim Abdel Moneim Metwally Hegazy, who submitted his lawsuit to the UN team and who has been under enforced disappearance since his arrest on August 7, 2013.
Metwally suffered severe violations during his detention. It all began with torture, electric shocks, forced nudity, and dousing with cold water upon his arrival at the State Security headquarters in Abbasiya immediately after his arrest at the airport. In the notoriously harsh and ill-reputed Tora 2 Prison, Metwally continued to suffer mistreatment. He was denied visitation rights throughout his detention there, confined to a poorly ventilated cell, deprived of physical exercise, forced to sleep on the floor, and denied access to books or newspapers. His health deteriorated as a result of this mistreatment, leading to severe prostate inflammation and enlargement. In 2022, he was transferred to the Badr 3 Rehabilitation Center, where the center administration allowed only two recorded visits via telephone for him, each lasting no more than 20 minutes, through a glass partition.
On 20 November, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) announced that Metwally was referred to trial in connection with two cases, namely Case No. 900 of 2017 (Supreme State Security Prosecution) and Case No. 1470 of 2019 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).
Ahmed Nazeer El-Helw
Job: Human rights lawyer
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 1940 of 2022 (Supreme State Security)
On 7 November 2022, a security force arrested human rights lawyer Ahmed Nazeer El-Helw from his home in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, based on a detention order issued by the Public Prosecution. He was detained in an unknown location for six days until he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on 13 November of the same year. The prosecution charged him with spreading false news, misusing social media, and joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes.
El-Helw’s arrest came in parallel with an intense security crackdown that preempted calls for protests on 11 November 2022.
El-Helw is a human rights lawyer who was active prior to his arrest in providing legal support to victims of human rights violations before various bodies, especially the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
Name: Osama Abdel-Hakim Bayoumy
Job: Human rights lawyer
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 1096 of 2022 (Supreme State Security)
On 30 January 2022, a police force arrested human rights lawyer Osama Abdel Hakim Bayoumy from his home and took him to an unknown destination.
Bayoumy did not appear before any official body for four days until he was brought to the Supreme State Security Prosecution on 3 February, in connection with Case No. 640 of 2018 (Supreme State Security Prosecution).
The Supreme State Security Prosecution charged Bayoumy with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news. It remanded him in custody for 15 days pending investigation into the case. According to the justice committee, Bayoumy was released and then recycled into a new case No. 1096 of 2022 (Supreme State Security).
Name: Fathy Mohamed Al-Taher
Job: Human rights lawyer
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 908 of 2021 (Supreme State Security)
On 17 May 2021, a National Security police force arrested human rights lawyer Fathy Mohamed Al-Taher from a street in Al-Ibrahimiyah district in Zagazig, Sharqiya Governorate. On 20 May 2021, he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution as a defendant in Case No. 908 of 2021 (Supreme State Security). The prosecution charged him with joining and financing a terrorist group by providing legal support to detainees in political cases. It remanded him custody for 15 days.
The prosecutors asked the 56-year-old human rights defender about the nature of his work as a lawyer, why he defended defendants in political cases, and the extent to which this activity is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Taher denied all this and admitted that he was doing his job as a freelance lawyer through his own office. The investigation report submitted by the National Security Agency also stated that he financed a terrorist group by providing legal support to political detainees. His mobile phone, a number of publications, as well as the report of his official arrest dated 19 May 2021, were all included in the exhibits.
*The referral of the case to court is being verified.
Name: Mohamed Salah Aggag
Job: Rights lawyer
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 2526 of 2023 (Supreme State Security Prosecution)
Security forces arrested the undersecretary of the Bar Association in Suez Governorate and member of its Freedoms Committee, lawyer Mohamed Salah Aggag, from his home on 19 March 2020. He appeared at the Supreme State Security Prosecution as a defendant in Case No. 535 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution). The prosecution charged him with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.
Aggag was arrested likely due to a post he shared on Facebook calling on the Egyptian authorities to abolish pretrial detention and release political detainees in conjunction with the spread of Covid-19.
On 17 January 2021, the Cairo Criminal Court issued a decision to release Aggag pending investigation into the case, but the decision was not implemented, as he was recycled into another case. On 30 January of the same year, he reappeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in connection with Case No. 65 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), on the same charges he faced in the previous case.
On 10 December 2022, the Cairo Criminal Court replaced Aggag’s pretrial detention with precautionary measures, obliging him not to leave his home, except on Sundays and for a period not exceeding three hours. Aggag was released on 15 December 2022.
On 6 December 2023, a security force raided Aggag’s house and rearrested him. He appeared before the State Security Prosecution on the same day, on the same charges he faced in the previous case, pending investigation into Case No. 2526 of 2023 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), in which he is still held in pretrial detention.
Name: Abd Rab Al-Nabi Abdullah Ismail Salem
Job: Lawyer
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 2175 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution)
On 26 October 2021, a security force arrested lawyer Abd Rab Al-Nabi Abdullah Ismail, while he was leaving his private office in Sharqiya Governorate, where he was taken in a microbus to an unknown destination. Immediately after his arrest, his family sent letters to both the Public Prosecutor and the Ministry of Interior to prove the arrest.
Ismail was presented to the Supreme State Security Prosecution in the Fifth Settlement as a defendant in Case No. 2175 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.
Ismail was subjected to a number of violations during his detention. He was moved from Tora Prison to the maximum-security Al-Aqrab Prison, then to the Badr Prison in the second half of 2023. During that period, Ismail was denied visits, appeared handcuffed before the criminal court in one of the detention renewal sessions, and was assaulted while being presented via video conference before the court, which did not intervene at the time.
Ismail has been held in pretrial detention for more than two years in the same case, thus exceeding the maximum limit set by law for pretrial detention. This obliges the prosecution to release him immediately, but it still ignores the law.
This was not the first time that Ismail was targeted, as he was previously arrested on the same charges in June 2019, and remained in detention until the first quarter of 2020. However, we were unable to get accurate information about the incident.
Ismail is a human rights lawyer based in Sharqiya and a member of the Committee for the Defence of Detainees in the governorate. He suffers from several diseases that require continuous health care, such as hepatitis and high blood pressure.
Name: Al-Sayed Saeed Ahmed Mohamed Khalaf
Job: Rights lawyer
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 238 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution)
On 23 September 2020, security forces arrested lawyer Al-Sayed Saeed Khalaf on his way back to home in Sharqiya Governorate, in connection with Case No. 2468 of 2020 (Emergency State Security Misdemeanors, First Zagazig Police Station). He faced charges including joining a terrorist group, working to revive its organization, and financing its activities.
On 27 March 2021, the Zagazig Criminal Court decided to release Khalaf. The prosecution appealed the decision, but the court rejected the appeal and upheld the release decision the next day.
Following Khalaf’s release, he faced protest-related charges in three other cases, but he was acquitted in all three cases on 8 April 2021.
After his acquittal and the completion of all procedures for his release, Khalaf was not released. Rather, he was forcibly disappeared until he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in the Fifth Settlement on 12 May 2021, as a defendant in connection with Case No. 238 of 2021 (Supreme State Security Prosecution). The prosecution accused him of joining a terrorist group and distributing leaflets, despite the fact that he had been detained since September 2020, and his detention has since been renewed.
Khalaf is a lawyer and a member of the Committee for the Defence of Sharqiya Detainees. He has a social media platform that publishes news related to judicial procedures and decisions in political cases daily.
Name: Marwa Arafa
Job: Translator and human rights defender
Legal status: Held in pretrial detention pending investigation into Case No. 570 of 2020 (Supreme State Security Prosecution)
Marwa Arafa is a translator and human rights defender. Before her detention, she was active in supporting political detainees.
A security force arrested Arafa on 20 April 2020 after searching her home and confiscating money and her mobile phone without displaying a permit from the prosecution. After a two-week enforced disappearance, Arafa appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, in Case No. 570 of 2020 (Supreme State Security). Her family sent letters to the Public Prosecutor and the Minister of Interior about her arrest and enforced disappearance. Arafa was denied visits during the first three months of her detention at the Nasr City police station.
Arafa faced charges of joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes and committing a finance crime for a terrorist purpose.
Without trial or evidence to prove the charges levelled against her, and despite the illegality of her continued detention, the Criminal Court has been renewing her detention for more than three years, in violation of the law, which stipulates that the period of pretrial detention should not exceed a maximum of two years, which Arafa exceeded on 9 May 2022.
The prosecution interrogated Arafa only once, where she was questioned about her family, childhood, education, and work as a translator, as well as the main charge (financing a terrorist group), based on the accusation that she was financially supporting prisoners. Arafa denied the accusation, according to AFTE lawyer Mokhtar Mounir. She told the prosecution that she was only trying to help those in need, including the families of prisoners who may have lost their only breadwinner, and that she did not provide any financial assistance, but only food supplies and clothes.
According to her mother, Arafa’s health has deteriorated sharply in recent months after she suffered months of bleeding. She needs medical care that is not available at the prison’s hospital.
