900 Groups, Individuals Call for Release of Egyptian Writer Ahmed Douma After 10 Years of Detention

Ahmed Douma is an Egyptian poet, writer and activist who has been targeted due to his political activism and vocal criticism of Egyptian governments. He has been arbitrarily detained in prison for ten years. Signatories of this letter reiterate calls on Egyptian authorities to release all those held for exercising their human rights.

The full text of the letter can be read below.

On 3 December 2022, Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma entered his 10th year in arbitrary detention. The undersigned individuals, groups and organizations urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Douma and all those arbitrarily detained in Egypt. 

Douma is an Egyptian poet, writer and activist who has been targeted due to his political activism and leading role in the 25 January 2011 revolution, as well as his vocal criticism of successive Egyptian governments. Over his prolonged years in prison and through severe restrictions, Douma has kept writing about his experiences, dreams, and aspirations in his poetry. His poetry collection "Curly" was printed and published during the 2021 Cairo International Book Fair. However, security officials forced the publishing house to take Douma's poetry collection down.

Security forces first arrested Douma, then aged 25, on 12 January 2012 in relation to his participation in the "Cabinet Offices" sit-in. He was released after three months, but re-arrested on 3 December 2013 amid a wave of arrests after enactment of the draconian protest law (Law No. 107/2013) restricting the right to peaceful assembly. Throughout his detention he has been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including deliberate denial of access to medical care, and he was held in solitary confinement for four years and eight months in total for prolonged periods of time, between December 2013 until January 2020. Douma suffers from severe pain in different parts of his body as a result of being confined to his cell for more than 22 hours a day in poor prison conditions. He has knee and back pain resulting from the lack of movement and the failure to provide him with a bed, and sometimes even a mattress, in his solitary confinement cell. He also suffers from high blood pressure, insomnia, constant headaches, severe depression, and panic attacks. 

In February 2015, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in relation to his participation in anti-government protests following a grossly unfair and politically motivated trial intended to punish him for his activism. In July 2020, the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest court, upheld his conviction and sentence. As a result, the only avenue for him to be released is through a presidential pardon. On 26 April 2022, the Egyptian President announced "reactivating the work of the Presidential Pardon Committee".

Douma's family has submitted several requests for a presidential pardon, and have again renewed their call on the Egyptian President to reconsider the case and issue a presidential pardon, in particular in light of his deteriorating mental and physical health. To date, however, the Pardon Committee has not announced that it is considering Douma's case. 

In 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found that Ahmed Douma's detention was arbitrary as it stemmed solely from his peaceful exercise of his human rights, and followed criminal proceedings that failed to meet fair trial standards. The UNWGAD called for his immediate release and an enforceable right to remedy. The Egyptian authorities have disregarded these calls. 

Most recently, on 24 November 2022, the European Parliament urged the Egyptian authorities to immediately release those unjustly detained in Egypt including Douma. Ahead of COP27, more than 1400 organizations, groups and individuals, including parliamentarians, from across the world called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those held simply for exercising their human rights, and for the implementation of criteria set by local NGOs for these releases, namely, fairness, transparency, inclusiveness, and urgency. 

We reiterate these calls and urge Egypt to implement them without delay.

Signatories:

Organizations and groups: 

1. African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
2. Amnesty International
3. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
4. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
5. Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
6. CIVICUS
7. Committe for Justice
8. Democracy for the Arab World Now ( DAWN )
9. Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
10. Egyptian Human Rights Forum ( EHRF)
11. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
12. EgyptWide for Human Rights
13. El Nadim Center
14. English PEN
15. EuroMed Rights
16. Friends of the Earth Scotland
17. Global Justice Now
18. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
19. Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum
20. Instituto Internacional de Educacao do Brasil
21. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
22. International Federation for Human Rights
23. International helping for young
24. International Service for Human Rights
25. International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
26. Ipswich Amnesty group
27. MENA Rights Group
28. PEN International
29. Plataforma CIPÓ
30. Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
31. Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR)
32. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF)
33. The Freedom Initiative
34. US Committee to End Political Repression in Egypt
35. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
36. حزب العيش والحرية (تحت التأسيس)

Individuals:

1. Anne and Neil Knott
2. annette gore
3. Astrid Laich, personal
4. Barney Green
5. Bert Giskes
6. Carolina Lebesmühlbacher
7. Cassandra Smithies, artist
8. Christina Isherwood
9. David Johnson
10. Doug Seidman
11. Dr Matthew Lumley
12. Dr Viviane BALADI
13. Dr. Peter Oppenheimer Ed.D.
14. Dr. Zoe Gardner
15. EJ Brittin
16. Elemide oyebola
17. ELISABETH PENKEN
18. Ellen Sansone
19. Fraser Harrison
20. helen cook
21. James Mulcare
22. Jean-Maurice Salomon
23. Kathy Bradley
24. Laila Soueif, assistant professor, Cairo U.
25. Lily Nemirovsky
26. M. Áine Kelly-Costello
27. Mahienour El-Massry ماهينور المصري
28. Michele Dunne
29. Miss I.Huddleston
30. Mohammad Haque
31. Mounir Satouri
32. Mr C Preston
33. Mr Michael Shaw
34. Mr Peter Cauwenberghs
35. Mr Sean Hall
36. Mr Stephen Branscombe
37. Mr. AHM Badr
38. Mr. Alan Paul
39. Mr. Johnny Badr
40. Mrs Kate Prasher
41. Mrs. Pauline Bentley
42. Ms Allison Rensch
43. Ms Elena Cal
44. Ms H Martin
45. Nagwa Farid Naguib
46. Ola Shahba
47. Ossis
48. Patricia Hackbarth
49. Patricia Hackbarth
50. Pete Klosterman
51. Pete Yorke
52. Philippe Dehalu
53. Pieter Jansen
54. R Lloyd-Jones
55. Ragia Omran
56. Ramy Shaath, HRD
57. Rosemary Cleary
58. Ruben Vanholme
59. Rufus Rune, activist, Scout leader, Confirmation leader, Student
60. Salma El Hosseiny, human rights defender
61. scott barden
62. Solafa Magdy, Journalist/ WHRD
63. Stephen Oren
64. Yves Lador, Consultant