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afrol News, 10 September - Fifty-one alleged members of an armed Islamist group yesterday were sentenced to prison terms in a trial before Egypt's Supreme Military Court. Human rights groups express concern over the use of these courts, claiming the trial had been "unfair" and in violation of "international standards" for civilians. The accused were yesterday sentenced to between two and fifteen years' imprisonment on various charges, including possession of arms and membership of an illegal organisation which has been referred to as Tanzim al-Wa'd (Organisation of Promise). The claims of an unfair trial were backed by reports of irregularities by the accused. Dozens of them - including Magdi Hassan Idris Muhammad, and Omar Abd al-Aziz Khalifa Omar Hagayif Mahdi, who were all sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment - had reported before the prosecution that they were subjected to torture, including electric shocks, by members of the State Security Intelligence. Several of them further claimed that they had been coerced into making confessions. Many of the defendants were detained in May 2001. Defendants included several foreign national, including Russian citizens from the Republic of Dagestan. In October 2001, ninety-four defendants were referred for trial before Egypt's Supreme Military Court. Forty-three of them were acquitted. The human rights group Amnesty International today stated its "serious concerns" about the conviction of the alleged armed Islamists. "This trial of civilians before the Supreme Military Court violates fundamental international fair trial standards, including the right to appeal to a higher court and the right to be tried before an independent and impartial tribunal," the group said in a statement. Amnesty had, on several occasions, called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate these torture allegations thoroughly and impartially, but had received no response. The group called on President Hosni Mubarak "not to ratify this verdict and to ensure that the accused will be guaranteed a fair trial in accordance with international standards." In October 1992, President Mubarak had begun issuing special decrees referring civilians charged with offences related to "terrorism" for trial in military courts. According to Amnesty, "proceedings before these courts violate some of the most fundamental requirements of international human rights law, including the right to be tried before an independent and impartial tribunal and the right to appeal to a higher court." Verdicts by military courts are subject only to review by the Military Appeals Bureau, a body composed of military judges, which is not a court, and ratification by the President. The group however claims this was violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Egypt has ratified. In July 1993 the UN Human Rights Committee also had expressed deep concern about military courts trying civilians in Egypt, concluding that "military courts should not have the faculty to try cases which do not refer to offences committed by members of the armed forces in the course of their duties." In 1994, the Committee against Torture also expressed concern about "the existence in Egypt of ... military courts whose functioning would suggest that they are subordinate to the head of the executive branch." Sources: Based on Amnesty and afrol archives
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