Egypt Ngo Pushes Against Forced Disappearance

An Egyptian rights group on Thursday launched a new campaign to trace Egyptians disappeared in the past few years and also lobby against the forced disappearance of Egyptians.



The Hesham Mubarak Law Center said the new campaign aimed to curb forced disappearances; put pressure on the government to reveal the fate of disappeared citizens; force the government to sign the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and spread information about these disappearances.



The center added in a statement read out during a press conference at its downtown Cairo headquarters that it would file a lawsuit against the government on the background of its failure to take measures to protect citizens against forced disappearance.



"Forced disappearance is a crime overlooked by the state," the center said in the statement, alleging that the tactic was used by successive regimes to get rid of political opponents.



Anadolu Agency could not immediately obtain comments from the Egyptian government on the allegations of the center.



Journalist Mohamed Abdel-Qodous, meanwhile, said more than 100 Egyptians had disappeared following the 2011 revolution that ousted longstanding president Hosni Mubarak.



He added that hundreds of Egyptians also disappeared following the violent dispersal of two sit-ins by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013.



Rights activist and former presidential candidate Khaled Ali referred to an increase in forced disappearances in Egypt during 2013 and 2014.



He said the families of the disappeared individuals continued to search for loved ones in a desperate bid to know their fate, while Egyptian laws deem a person disappeared only after five years of going missing.



By Hussein Qabani



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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