The We Record team has obtained reliable information from confidential sources that the Egyptian citizen, Madian Ibrahim Mohamed Hasanein, 59, is currently held at the headquarters of the Egyptian Interior Ministry’s National Security Sector in Zagazig city, Sharqia governorate, after the Sudanese authorities had secretly handed him over to the Egyptian authorities.

We Record reiterates its firm rejection of the current Sudanese authorities’ behavior of forcibly expelling the Egyptian opponent Madian Hasanein to his country, exposing him to facing torture and various kinds of degrading treatment. It is regrettable that the deportation process takes place while the popular will in Sudan has been manifested in formation of a sovereign council expressing the people and working to achieve justice, freedom, dignity and democracy.

The Sudanese authorities under the rule of Omar al-Bashir arrested Mr. Hasanein in November 2018 at the request of the Egyptian regime, where he was subjected to enforced disappearance for several months in Khartoum. After eruption of the Sudanese revolution, We Record learned that Mr. Hasanein was still under detention in Sudan. Last September, Egyptian human rights activists announced that the new Sudanese authorities intended to expel Hasanein upon the request of the Egyptian government; but according to Egyptian opposition figures, the Sudanese authorities pledged that they would not allow forced deportation of any Egyptian citizen living in Sudan to his country for fear of exposition to risks threatening their life. The sources said Sudanese authorities also confirmed that Mr. Hasanein, along with other Egyptian nationals held with him, would be allowed to leave Sudan to any other destination they might choose.

One of the Sudanese intelligence agents, Mohamed Ahmed Farah Suleiman, holding a Sudanese passport No. 03429762, had asked some Egyptian parties concerned with the issue to deliver an amount of US$3,200 for buying air tickets to Madian and other Egyptian citizens held with him. However, it later turned out that Madian did not leave Sudanese territory.

The parties concerned then contacted the intelligence agent who informed them that only four Egyptians were allowed to leave, and that the remaining four, including Mr. Hasanein, would later leave Sudan, requesting delivery of US$4,000 more on the pretext of booking air tickets for them, although the first amount (US$3,200) included the ticket fees of eight people. Anyway, the US$4,000 was also delivered as requested.

According to the We Record investigation section contacts with the Egyptian opposition figures concerned, the Sudanese intelligence agent said that the procedures of Hasanein’s departure had been delayed, while confirming that he would not be handed over to the Egyptian regime. But the We Record team found out that the Sudanese authorities reneged on the values ​​of the Sudanese revolution and its pledge not to forcibly extradite Egyptian opposition figures to their country, especially that the International legislation prohibits forcibly expelling or handing over persons to a country where they would be at risk of torture, as in Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which states that “No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

It is noteworthy that We Record learned that the Egyptian citizen Madian Hasanein is listed among defendants in the case known in the media as Ansar al-Sharia (Supporters of Sharia), despite the fact that he was not in Egypt at the time of events, and that he has not ever visited Egypt since his legal departure in November 2013, which indicates the malicious accusations and political reprisals against him because of his anti-government views and ideology for which he was twice unlawfully detained by the State Security Apparatus under former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Accordingly, We Record team calls on the Egyptian authorities to disclose information on the fate of Mr. Hasanein and other Egyptian deportees from Sudan and present them before the prosecution immediately under proper legal procedures that guarantee all their rights.

We also call on the Sudanese government to open an investigation into the incident in a way that fits the new Sudan that seeks justice and upholds the values ​​of the law and the will of its people, and to hold perpetrators accountable for the suffering that they have caused to victims who are certainly facing enforced disappearance and torture in Egypt against the backdrop of their political positions that seek achievement of fair demands exactly as those sought by the Sudanese revolution.

We Record

16 October 2019

Cairo, Egypt