Deposed President Morsi Sentenced to Death Despite UN Opinion Asking for Release

Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi raises his hands from behind the defendant's cage as the judge reads out his verdict sentencing him and more than 100 other defendants to death at the police academy in Cairo on Saturday.

On 18 May 2015, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (SUMX) regarding the sentencing to death of Mohamed Morsi, first democratically elected president of Egypt, together with 105 co-defendants for having escaped the Al Wadi Natrun prison during the 2011 revolution.

Dr Morsi was sentenced to death despite a December 2013 Opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) finding "the deprivation of liberty of Dr. Morsi and his advisors (...) arbitrary."

The Opinion followed an urgent appeal sent by Alkarama on 15 July 2013 in which Alkarama considered the arrest of Morsi and his co-defendants as a violation, not only of their rights to liberty and to security, but also of their right to fair trial procedures, and called upon the WGAD to intervene to protect them from torture and secure their release.

Morsi had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison along with other members of his staff in April 2015 in the so-called "Presidential Palace" case.

This time, and despite several procedural irregularities in this new trial, the former president was sentenced to death, together with 105 other individuals, including Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, Freedom and Justice Party General Secretary Mohamed Al-Beltagy, and controversial preacher Safwat Hegazy.

Not only was Morsi not charged during the first days of his detention - in violation of Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified by Egypt in November 1989 - but his lawyer was not always present during his hearings, violating several of his fair trial rights. Additionally, Morsi was reportedly detained incommunicado in a fake civilian prison at the edge of a naval base, which in itself characterises a form of arbitrary detention.

The decision of the Cairo Criminal Court to sentence Morsi and the other 105 individuals in a mass trial will now be reviewed by Egypt's Grand Mufti - whose opinion is not legally binding - in view of the issuance of the final sentence on 2 June 2015 - a decision which should be possible to appeal.

"We are extremely concerned with the turn of events in Egypt, and in particular with the recent sentencing to death of these 106 individuals, including deposed President Mohamed Morsi," declared Rachid Mesli, Legal Director at Alkarama.

"By issuing such a sentence against the regime's political opponents - and in particular leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood - in complete disregard for the numerous irregularities in this trial and in spite of the international community's previous outcry regarding mass sentences, the Egyptian judiciary has again demonstrated that it is, in fact, just a tool at the service of the executive branch and the army."

In addition to the death sentence handed against them, Morsi and some of his staff members are still prosecuted under other charges, such as that of having "collaborated with the Hamas and the Hezbollah," "colluded with Qatar," or "insulted the judiciary," which could lead him to be sentenced to death for a second time, during his detention in Tora prison, a place notorious for the practice of torture within its walls.

Alkarama therefore called upon the SUMX to urgently intervene with the Egyptian authorities and call upon them not to carry out the death sentences, shall they be confirmed on 2 June, to dismiss all charges held against Morsi and to release him immediately, as requested in the WGAD Opinion.

U.S. Congress to Hold Hearing On Rwanda's Troubling Human Rights Record

Legal Link International-Washington, DC — Witness David Himbara: Hearing to Shine Light on President Kagame's Repressive Regime

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations announced today that it will hold a hearing on May 20 to examine Rwanda's deteriorating human rights record under President Paul Kagame.

The hearing, "Developments in Rwanda," will feature testimony from several experts on Rwanda including David Himbara, a former top economic aide to President Kagame and coordinator of the North American branch of Democracy in Rwanda Now (DIRN); Robert Higiro, a former Rwandan army major who fled the country when he was ordered to assassinate Rwandan dissidents living in South Africa; and Robert Jackson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the US Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs.

"I highly commend Chairman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Ranking Member Karen Bass (D-CA) for holding this very important hearing, which will shine a brighter spotlight on Rwanda's troubling and worsening human rights record," said Mr. Himbara.

"I sincerely hope that this hearing, in addition to raising awareness among members of Congress and the American people about President Kagame's repressive regime, serves as a critical step toward ending the troubling, long-established authoritarian governance of Rwanda. The Rwandan people deserve to live in a country of opportunity and freedom, not one of tyranny and fear."

In recent years, President Kagame has taken deliberate steps to control Rwandan media, silence all opposition and quiet those who criticize his regime, as evidenced in Human Rights Watch's World Report 2015. The US State Department has condemned these actions, with spokesperson Jen Psaki noting in a Jan. 16, 2014, press briefing that the United States is "troubled by the succession of what appear to be politically motivated murders of prominent Rwandan exiles."

Many Rwandan opposition activists have disappeared or died under mysterious circumstances; the State Department's 2013 Country Report on Human Rights Practices states that Rwanda has "major human rights problems," including "arbitrary or unlawful killings both inside and outside of the country, disappearances, torture, harsh conditions in prisons and detention centers, arbitrary arrests, prolonged pretrial detentions and government infringement on citizens' privacy rights."

Democracy in Rwanda Now (DIRN) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes democracy, free speech and human rights for Rwandans.