Press releases

Case no. 173 of 2011: A Pending Case Fully Unresolved

24 March, 2024

On Wednesday the 20^th of March, 2024, the Counselor, investigating judge, issued a ruling in Case No. 173 of 2011, known as the Human Rights Organizations Case, stating that there is no basis for filing a criminal case against five organizations that were in progress. In fact, however, the investigating judge’s decision did not include all the organizations involved and did not close the case permanently, thus the case is not resolved completely, contrary to all the statements issued and the news published in many newspapers and news websites on Wednesday.

Until now, the file of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) has not yet been closed, while it is the first Egyptian organization to be investigated before the investigating judges in Case no. 173 on December 28, 2011, after entering its headquarters and seizing its files and computers. Its founders are still on the list of those banned from traveling according to the decision of the previous investigating judge in the same case, who referred ACIJILP file to the Supreme State Security Prosecution from 2017 until now without resolution.

It must be noted that the current investigating judge has fulfilled the procedures for the 85 Egyptian organizations whose files have only been examined since 2016, without those organizations that were investigated in 2011 and 2012 and whose situation has not been settled yet.·

ACIJLP confirms that, so far, it has not yet received any information from any judicial authority regarding the its legal condition in the case, in which a decision of ending investigations was issued. This makes case no. 173 still open and it cannot be claimed to have been resolved permanently according to what was reported from some websites on Wednesday.

ACIJLP also welcomes the decision issued in the case on Wednesday the 20^th of March 2024, and demands that the Egyptian authorities ensure that the decision includes all the organizations listed in the case, with the investigating judge clarifying ACIJLP’s legal position. It also demands that all Egyptian human rights advocates to be guaranteed the entitlements of all their civil rights, most importantly their right to movement and travel and their right to manage their seized funds.

The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP)

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Enforcing the Right to Appeal on Rulings of Criminal Lawsuits

18 January, 2024

Starting from January the 18^th, 2014, those accused of criminal cases have the right to appeal the rulings issued against them, in accordance with Law no.1 of 2024 amending some provisions of the Criminal Procedure law, which came in implementation of the constitutional entitlement contained in Article no.240 of the Egyptian Constitution, the article that granted the government ten years’ time limit to regulate the right to two-level litigation in criminal cases, a right that was approved by Article no.196 of the Constitution.

Read the full statement

Disregarding Constitutional Entitlements Threatening Courts of Felonies Stability

14 January, 2024

The Justice Support Foundation affiliated by The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) warns against the critical judicial consequences of the government disregarding binding constitutional entitlements regarding regulating the right to litigate at two levels in Felonies lawsuits, which, according to article no.240 of the constitution, are decided to be abolished by the 17^th of current January, 2024.

.To view the full statement, please open the following link:

Nasser Amin Representing Victims of Darfur Case before the ICC

31 May, 2021

Lawyer Nasser Amin has represented victims of Darfur of Sudan case before the International Criminal Court (ICC). On May 26, Amin has completed the verbal pleadings of the confirmation of charges hearing against Ali Kushayb, the Janjaweed militias’ commander, and one of the suspects in that case.

Notably, and after voluntarily surrendering himself to the ICC in The Hague, Ali Kushayb got accused in 31 charges that varies between war crimes and war against humanity. Kushayb attended the confirmation of charges hearing held from the 24^th to the 26^th of May, 2021.

Nasser Amin is calling upon all victims affected by the attacks that took place between 2003 and 2004 in the regions of Dilij, Bindisi, Kadoum and Wadi Saleh areas in West Darfur state, to participate in the trial procedures by submitting requests to participate in the procedures, given the importance of this in implementing the principle of victims participation in trial procedures in accordance with the statute of the court.

Urgent: the ACIJLP Calls upon the Kuwaiti authorities to freeze the application of death sentences and the abolition of its application and ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

1 April, 2013

The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Professions (ACIJLP) is deeply concerned over the application of the Kuwaiti authorities the death sentence on 3 men by hanging (Pakistani, a Saudi, stateless man) on Monday 1^st April 2013. The death penalty is executed against them in the central prison west of the capital Kuwait in the presence of judicial officials and security officials only.

The ACIJLP has raised many concerns about the return of the Kuwaiti authorities to apply the death penalty, especially since this is the first time of executing death sentence in Kuwait since 2007. The ACIJLP is concerned over the fact that application of the death penalty will be the beginning of a series of executions, especially that there are 44 persons in Kuwait sentenced to death and their sentences are not executed till now. Moreover, the ACIJLP is concerned that Kuwait has halted executions in the last six years, and then re-activate the application of this severe penalty today, a matter which feared the ACIJLP that these executions are a message to activists and political opponents in Kuwait. This opinion is supported by the fact that many TV channels, including the formal television made a direct broadcast to the execution of the penalty from inside the central prison in the presence of the Attorney General and the Committee of the Ministries of Justice and Interior, in clear violation of the provisions of Article 53 of law No. 26 of 1962 which provides that “the death penalty may be executed only within the prison or in a hidden place

The ACIJLP also believes that the resumption of the Kuwaiti government to the application of the death penalty represents a breach of the Kuwaiti international commitments, particularly because it has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 21 May 1996 and entered into force in Kuwait on 21 August of the same year.

The ACIJLP points out that the Kuwaiti legislation recognizes the application of the death penalty on many crimes that do not fit in terms of seriousness of this cruel, degrading and inhuman penalty, and in spite of the accession and ratification of Kuwait to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or degrading treatment on 8^th March 1996 and the entry into force of this Convention for Kuwait on April 6 of that year. The ACIJLP calls upon the competent Kuwaiti authorities to give consideration to respect its international commitments and conventions. The ACIJLP also demands immediate moratorium of all cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment and harmonization of its national legislation with relevant international conventions and commitments, as well as the ratification and accession to the Second Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty and to the International Covenant on Civil and political .

The ACIJLP calls upon the Iraqi authorities to freeze the enforcement of death sentences and immediate moratorium of this penalty

17 September, 2012

The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Professions (ACIJLP) expresses its deep concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in Iraq, particularly violations against the right to life, either through armed militias or through a steady rise in death sentences.

The ACIJLP raised several concerns on death sentences in Iraq and accelerating its enforcement in a collective manner, especially in light of the lack of Iraqi trials to the guarantees of fair trial, a matter which descended these sentences from the ranks of judicial judgments, to what looks like physical liquidation, and extrajudicial killings.

Furthermore, the ACIJLP is deeply concerned that many of the Iraqi TV channels consistently broadcast confessions registered for many of the defendants, in which they admit committing crimes punishable by death, a matter which refers to the possibility of exposing these defendants to torture in order to get them to confess committing crimes suspects.

The ACIJLP calls upon the Iraqi authorities to fulfill international obligations and commitments related to the protection of the right to life, to freeze death sentences and to ensure minimum guarantees of fair trial, until the abolition of the death penalty.

The ACIJLP also calls upon the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to urge the Iraqi authorities to freeze the enforcement of the death sentences and replace such penalties with alternative penalties after providing fair trials and fair to the accused.

It should be noted that the year 2011 witnesses the issuance of 291 sentenced to death, implemented by the Iraqi authorities, including 28 executions. In the year 2012, the number of those persons sentence to death has increased to 96 people. On 27^th and 29^th (August 2012), the Iraqi Ministry of Justice ordered the execution of 26 Iraqi people, without specifying the details of the charges against the convicted and convicted for terrorism.

According to UN statistics, Iraq has witnessed the issuance of death sentences of more than 1200 people since 2004, but the number of those who were executed is still unknown. The Iraqi judiciary allows the death penalty in about 50 crimes, including terrorism, kidnapping, murder and other crimes such as damage to public utilities and property.

.To view the full statement, please open the following link:

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