Can Yeginsu and Ian McDonald Secure Finding of Arbitrary Detention before UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Alaa Abd el-Fattah

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has handed down its Opinion in the case of Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam Abd el-Fattah, the Egyptian-British writer and pro-democracy activist currently detained in Egypt.

Mr Abd el-Fattah was arrested in September 2019 on charges including spreading “false news” and held in pre-trial detention for nearly two years. In December 2021, he was convicted by an Emergency State Security Court and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Despite the expiry of that sentence in September 2024, the Egyptian authorities have refused to deduct the time he spent in custody before and during trial.

In its Opinion, the Working Group found that Mr Abd el-Fattah’s detention violates Articles 2, 3, 7, 10, 11 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 2, 9, 10, 14, 19 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It concluded that his deprivation of liberty is arbitrary under:

• Category I – no legal basis for detention;
• Category II – detention resulting from the exercise of protected rights and freedoms;
• Category III – serious breaches of due process rights; and
• Category V – discrimination on political and other protected grounds.

The Working Group found that Mr Abd el-Fattah has been imprisoned for exercising his right to freedom of expression; that the “numerous violations” of his fair trial rights were of “such gravity” as to render his detention arbitrary; and that his continued imprisonment is the result of his political opinions and his status as a human rights defender. It called for his immediate release, an enforceable right to compensation, and an independent investigation.

Can Yeginsu and Ian McDonald acted as Counsel for Mr Abd el-Fattah’s family before the Working Group. The Opinion is available here.

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