The Supreme Constitutional Court issued on Monday a verdict which obligates the government to reveal the whereabouts of people arrested and under enforced disappearance.
According to state-run newspaper Akhabr Al-Youm, the verdict specifically calls on the government to reveal the location of a young woman from Upper Egypt who was arrested in 2014.
Asmaa Khalf Shendid was working as a doctor at the Women’s Health Hospital in Asyuit when she was arrested, according to official police papers that documented the arrest.
Many of Asmaa’s relatives complained on social media that she was subjected to enforced disappearance since her arrest 2014, adding that she is not present in any prison affiliated with the Interior Ministry.
The Interior Ministry responded to the inquiry issued from the Supreme Court on the aforementioned doctor by reaffirming that Prisons data bases do not include any information on Shendid.
The court responded by demanding the Interior Ministry reveal the whereabouts of the missing doctor, adding that claiming non-availability of information is considered a violation to police forces’ duties.
The court asserted that the Interior Ministry’s vital role is locating missing people, adding that enforced disappearance is a violation to human rights and that anyone who commits such acts should be tried in court.
