Egypt should respect convention of children rights: Human Rights Monitor

Jihad Abaza
2 Min Read
An Egyptian demonstrator throws a fuel bomb at police vehicles (AFP File Photo)

Human Rights Monitor submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calling for their urgent intervention in the case of the detained minor Mohamed Abdellatif in Egypt, the group said in a Friday statement.

13 year-old Mohame Abdellatif’s health is severely deteriorating as he continues into the third week of his hunger strike.

The prosecutor renewed his detention another seven days on 2 October.

Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities arrested and detained another five 14 year-old boys from Shubra, Cairo on Thursday, according to Freedom for the Brave, an initiative that provides support for detainees and their families.

The boys were arrested for wearing t-shirts with signs of Rabaa Al-Adaweya.

Abdellatif is the youngest out of a group of around 90 prisoners in Egypt currently on hunger strike, according to Freedom for the Brave.

He has already lost consciousness several times, the group said, and was transferred to Damanhour prison on Thursday.

Through his hunger strike, Abdellatif is protesting against his unlawful detention, torture, and ill-treatment inside detention, according to Human Rights Watch Monitor.

Security forces arrested Abdellatif along with a group of other students his age on 14 August 2014 as he was going to his evening class in Damanhour, HRM stated. Police arrested him without an arrest warrant and did not give him a reason for his arrest.

Whilst being held at the prison’s security camp, police beat Abdellatif up with police batons. He spent most of his detention in an adult criminal cell and was recently moved into a cell with other political detainees, HRM said.

He was charged with blocking roads and railways, being affiliating with a banned group, and burning tires.

HRM calls on Egyptian authorities “to respect its obligations under international law and to treat minors in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

Egypt ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in July 1990.

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Jihad Abaza is a journalist and photographer based in Cairo. Personal website: www.abaza.photo
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