Egypt's Ayman Nour takes HR chief to court

Ayman Nour, opposition leader of Ghad Party sues NCHR for neglecting his plight

CAIRO (Marwa Awad)

After four years of filing complaints of prison torture, jailed opposition leader
Ayman Nour has filed suit against Boutros Boutros Ghali demanding one
million pounds ($181,750) and accusing the former chairman of the National
Council for Human Rights of failing to perform his duties.

"Nour's condition worsens daily behind the walls of Egypt's Tora prison,"
activist Jameela Ismail, Ayman Nour's wife, told AlArabiya.net.

Real motives behind arrest Democracy activists believe Ayman Nour was jailed for running up against Mubarak in 2005 Nour was sentenced during the 2005 Egyptian presidential elections to five years in prison on charges of forging many signatures that his opposition Ghad party needed to get legal recognition, charges vehemently denied by Nour. Human rights organizations and democracy advocates however believe the real causes of arrest were Nour's decision to run against President Hosni Mubarak in the September 2005 elections, in which Nour secured 13 percent of the votes, according to independent surveys. “Ayman Nur’s trial, like the violence against voters in the parliamentary elections, is a terrible advertisement for President Mubarak’s supposed reform agenda, and for Egypt’s judiciary,” Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East division said in a 2005 HRW report. Since his arrest, Nour has repeatedly filed complaints to the council detailing the physical and emotional abuse he says he faces daily at the hands of Tora prison guards. The council responded by setting up a committee of inquiry into Nour's situation. "What we have seen from the council was one single visit in 2005 followed by promises to look into Ayman's case. Four days after Ayman was beaten up by Egyptian police officers as he was being transferred to the Giza court for a hearing," Ismail recalled.

Prison torture Jameela Ismail, permitted to visit her husband once every two weeks, says Nour suffers daily Ismail, who is allowed to visit her husband once every two weeks, believes the beating came in defiance of the committee's visit. "The police and guards beat him in a clear sign to the committee that what NCHR does means nothing and will achieve nothing," she said. HRW has condemned Egypt's record of human rights abuses in its 2007 report on the country's human rights violations. “Egypt has for too long committed serious and systematic abuses at home while consistently undermining UN mechanisms to defend rights,” Joe Stork was quoted in the report.

Ghali's response " I have not received any official papers about a lawsuit and until then, these claims are just rumors. " Boutros Boutros Ghali, NCHR chief NCHR chief Boutros Boutros Ghali said he had no knowledge of any lawsuit filed against him. "I have not received any official papers about a lawsuit and until then, these claims are just rumors," he told AlArabiya.net. He claimed that NCHR has sufficiently addressed Nour's complaints, adding that the Egyptian Judiciary has the final say on Nour's plight.

EGYPT/BONINO: NO OPENINGS. DISSIDENTS STILL IN PRISON

"In Egypt a relevant economic liberalisation is not accompanied by an opening from a political point of view".

Minister Emma Bonino, who has lived in Cairo for a long time, said this to Radio Radicale the night before Romano Prodi's visit to Egypt. "I haven't spoken with Prodi about Egypt in particular" Bonino said "in that country there is a economic liberalisation in progress with a relevant growth while there are no openings from a political point of view.

I have no information about openings that are relevant or consistent. Ayman Nour (dissident Egyptian intellectual, ed.) is still in prison".

Egypt/Bonito: “AYMAN NOUR’S FIVE YEAR JAIL TERM FILL ME WITH GRIEF”

Rome, May 18, 2006 - “Ayman Nour’s sentence to five years imprisonment by the Court of Appeals in Cairo is bewildering.. As a friend, the fact that Ayman Nour will stay in prison for another four years fill me with grief: my thoughts go to his wife and adolescent children.

In March 2005, together with colleagues from the Liberal Group of the European Parliament, we had successfully urged the authorities to release him. Today, depriving him of his personal freedom for another four years has a sour taste of political persecution”.

Reuters : Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour was ordered released on bail from prison

Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour was ordered released on bail from prison, a judicial official said Saturday, a detention that had caused tension with Washington.

Egypt released on bail on Saturday Ayman Nour, an opposition leader who has been in detention since the end of January, the public prosecutor said.

Maher Abdel-Wahed told a news conference Nour and five others had been freed on bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,724) each in connection with the case involving allegations that Nour's Ghad (Tomorrow) party forged documents when it applied for recognition last year.

The prosecutor said the investigation was continuing.

The party has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated fabrications.
"They are in the process of getting him (Nour) out of the court room," Ghad party member Mazen Mostafa told Reuters after the announcement, adding that some procedural issues had to be completed before Nour could walk out.

Party members were preparing a greeting party later on Saturday at Ghad's offices in central Cairo, Mostafa said.

A close associate of Nour left jail on Friday after more than five weeks of detention for questioning about allegations against Nour.

Nour has been a vocal advocate of constitutional change and welcomed President Hosni Mubarak's proposal last month to change the constitution to allow multi-candidate elections to replace the existing single-candidate referendum.

He announced his intention to run for the presidency in the first edition of the party's newspaper that came out this week.

The proposal to amend the constitution is currently working its way through parliament.

The United States has said it has "very strong concerns" about the Nour case but Nour has said he has not asked for and does not want any foreign intervention.

Watson calls on Egypt to release Ayman Nour

11.21.14am GMT Tue 1st Feb 2005

On hearing of the arrest yesterday of Ayman Nour, member of the Egyptian parliament and leader of the liberal opposition party al-Ghad ("Tomorrow"), Graham Watson, leader of the European Liberal Democrat Group in the European Parliament called upon President Mubarak and the Egyptian authorities to respect both the letter and the spirit of the EU-Mediterranean Agreement.

"2005 marks the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona process and represents an opportunity for a new stimulus to EU-Mediterranean relations. This kind of politically-motivated arrest of the leader of the only real opposition movement in a country dominated by a single ruling party sends all the wrong signals - that Egypt still has far to go on the road to democracy," he said.

"Political legitimacy derives precisely from a free choice of the electorate from a range of political viewpoints and not from imposing one view on everyone. Approaching the end of his fourth term of office, Mubarak should seize the opportunity of going down in history for supporting constitutional reform and a multi-party democracy. The EU should not stand idly by in the face of blatant disregard for the rule of law in its relations with privileged partner states. If Ayman Nour is not released promptly, collective EU action should be considered. Parliament should address this matter in its next 'urgency debate' on Human Rights on the 24th February if the matter has not been resolved, " Mr. Watson added.

EMMA BONINO introduces an urgent written question to the European Commission and Council

ARREST OF EGYPTIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AYMAN NOUR : EMMA BONINO INTRODUCES AN URGENT WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND COUNCIL

Bruxelles, 1st February 2005-02-01

Emma Bonino, Member of the European Parliament and former member of the European Commission, introduced an urgent written question to the European Commission and Council with regard to the arrest of the lawyer Ayman Nour, Egyptian Member of Parliament and President of the party Egypt Tomorrow (El Ghad), on 29 January 2005, in front of the Egyptian Parliament, immediately after it lifted his parliamentary immunity.

Emma Bonino underlined that Ayman Nour was subject to investigations by the Supreme State Security Office, one of the tribunals established under the emergency law in vigour since 1981.

Within the frame of the Euro-Mediterranean relations, the European Union signed bilateral association agreements with Egypt which entered into force on 1 June 2004, and is based on the respect of principles of democracy and respect of human rights.

In view of the lifting of Ayman Nour's parliamentary immunities which is a clear infringement of the internal regulations of the People's Assembly, Emma Bonino seeks the support of the European institutions and in particular stresses the strict application of Article 2 of the Association Agreement.