Muslim scholars slam arbitrary arrests and torture in Egypt

The International Union of Muslim Scholars condemned the indiscriminate arrests and torture in Egyptian prisons especially those against women, scholars, journalists and youth.

In a statement, the Union called on human rights advocates to support the Egyptian people in their distress and on the Egyptian authorities to immediately release all the detainees especially after many of them announced their intention to go on hunger strike.

The statement mentioned Abdullah Al-Shami, a journalist who has been detained for nearly 250 days and went on hunger strike 84 days ago, and Mohammed Salah Sultan who has been detained for eight months and went on hunger strike 60 days ago. Sultan is said to have suffered from serious health conditions and weighs 40 kilogrammes. The Union called on the Egyptian people to unite and continue peaceful resistance until the fall of the coup and the return of legitimacy.

The Union’s statement:

“The International Union for Muslim Scholars is deeply concerned about the deteriorating level of public freedoms and human rights in Egypt in light of the arbitrary arrests against all categories of the Egyptian people, even women and minors as well as scholars, journalists and students and others and what they have been exposed to of inhumane torture and denial of their fundamental rights established by the norms and laws and international conventions.

The Union condemns the arrests and demands the immediate release of all detainees and calls for the following:

1. Stop all forms of arbitrary arrest against the Egyptian citizens who peacefully express their legitimate right to object to the military coup in Egypt.
2. Calls on human rights organisations, international bodies and the free world to stand with the Egyptian people to reserve their dignity and their legitimate rights which are denied by the military coup without any legal justification.
3. The Union denounces the detention of women, journalists, minors and scholars and demands their immediate release, especially after several detainees announced their intention to go on hunger strike, endangering their health in protest of their unanswered just demands. These include journalist Abdullah Al-Shami, detained for nearly 250 days he has been on hunger strike for 84 days, and Mohammed Salah Sultan, detained for eight month ago and has been on hunger strike for more than 60 days. Sultan suffers from serious health conditions and weighs 40 kilogrammes; this forced his father to crying out to the free world to save his dying son and thousands of others.
4. The Union calls on the Egyptian people to unite and continue peaceful resistance until the fall of the coup and the return of the legitimacy.

Dr Ali Al-Qara Daghi and Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
Secretary-General and President of the Union