An Egyptian rights group said Wednesday that it has records for 57 cases of forced disappearances – abductions or secret arrests – dating to 1992 and is prepared to release them.
In a statement, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) said it has asked the ruling military council about the fate of those who have been abducted.
It also said it received complaints about people detained by the disbanded State Security apparatus whose families were unable to contact them or find out about their whereabouts.
Egyptian rights reports blamed forced disappearances on State Security, which held people without declaring their place of detention under the oversight of former interior ministers Hassan al-Alfy and Habib al-Adly.
Meanwhile, the Arab Penal Reform Organization expressed its fear that those who were forcibly kidnapped would have endured health risks or death.
Hafez Abu Saeda, head of EOHR, said in the statement that Egyptian law did not include a clear text concerning the definition of forced disappearance as a crime. It also didn't impose punishment on perpetrators.
The EOHR said Al-Ahram journalist Reda Helal and the former Libyan Foreign Minister Mansour al-Kikhia are still missing, in addition to Ramadan Mohammadein, who was arrested in 1995 on suspicions of affiliation with Jama'a al-Islamiya.
Mohammadein’s family in Minya Governorate, according to the organization, didn’t have information about where he is. The family said it has filed many reports inquiring about him, but never got a response.
