The ACIJLP Calls upon Egyptian public prosecutor to open an independent investigation About the killings and the arrest in the 3rd anniversary of the January Revolution

Cairo, 28^th January 2014

The ACIJLP Calls upon Egyptian public prosecutor to open an independent investigation

  About the killings and the arrest in the 3^rd anniversary of the January Revolution

The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) expresses its full condemnation of all forms of violence and counter-violence in Egypt, which represent a grave threat to the right to life, especially that there is an increase in violence forms that threatens the exacerbation of it risks and its effects.

The ACIJLP is deeply regretted about the events that took place on Saturday, January 25th, 2014 on the occasion of the 3^rd anniversary of the January Revolution 2011, which occured against demonstrators opposing the interim administration in Egypt, and resulted in the deaths of about 64 people, according to the report of Forensic Medicine and the Egyptian Ministry of Health.

The ACIJLP is concerned that the right to life in Egypt is witnessing a grave threat, due to the use of excessive force against demonstrators on the one hand, and the involvement of some citizens who are not responsible for law enforcement in acts of infringement and the killing of demonstrators in conjunction with the security forces, as well as the clear violation of the basic principles on use of Force and firearms by law Enforcement Officials, which are only permitted in exceptional circumstances, such as internal political instability or any other public emergency, to justify any departure from these basic principles.

The ACIJLP is deeply concerned about the breach of the guarantees of fair trial against those who were arrested on the demonstrations, and their detention in isolation from the outside world, and the separation between them and their lawyers  which is considered a clear violation not only on Egypt international commitments, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political , but also a violation of the provisions of the Egyptian constitution, especially Articles (54 and 55) of this Constitution.

The ACIJLP believes that any attempts to combat crimes of violence or terrorism requires from the Egyptian authorities to ensure in any measures taken  the fulfillment of their obligations under international law, in particular human rights law, and to consider acceding, without delay, to the main international instruments on the law of human rights, as well as to consider accepting the jurisdiction of the international and regional human rights monitoring organizations, respect for the principles of equality and the rule of law and support the criminal justice systems characterized by efficiency, integrity, and independence, and take into account the standards of fair trial.

The ACIJLP calls upon the Egyptian public prosecutor to open an independent investigation, in order to uncover the circumstances of the violation of the right to life and the death of so many of the demonstrators, and whether there is involved persons in the excessive use of force and violence against them, and a finding the nature of the non-security forces involved in the killings, and to bring them to trial. In addition to open an investigation on the violation of guarantees of fair trial and on the breach of the provisions of the Articles of the Constitution related to personal freedom and rights of the defense.