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The attorney general is aware of Dia Eddin Gad’s situation, yet nothing is being done.
The National Council for Human Rights is powerless to help.

Cairo 25 Feb 2009

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information expressed its deep disappointment over the prosecution’s disinclination, and lack of efficient action, in punishing those responsible for kidnapping the young blogger, Dia Eddin Gad, while it had full knowledge of his arrest by the State Security Headquarters. The prosecution’s behavior, ANHRI says, gave the State Security enough time to punish Dia, detain him, and then transfer him to Katta prison in Giza.

Three weeks elapsed before ANHRI and Dia’s family knew his whereabouts. The prosecution has apparently changed from being a body that makes violators of the law account for their actions, to a mediator between the State Security, the arrested blogger’s family, and ANHRI’s lawyers. This, ANHRI says, gave the officers of this brutal body the chance to punish Dia for his severe criticisms of the Egyptian government’s stance on the recent attacks on Gaza, and the transfer him to Katta prison.

The government affiliated National Council for Human Rights did nothing to better the situation. It did not dare to denounce the police practices of the State Security. Dia has become a number on a file, added to others that mislead the public into believing the National Council for Human Rights is something other than an organization for a thousand complaints.

Dia Gad a young man, 22, expressed his rejection of the Egyptian government’s practices during the recent attacks on Gaza, and Egypt’s continued support for Israel through fuel sales. Instead of communicating with Dia, or just leaving him to vent his anger through his blog, the state bodies collaborated to punish him for expressing his opinion. The State Security battered him in front of his house before kidnapping him. His father went through psychological shock, and temporary paralysis, that resulted in an inability to move or use his arm. His family was terrified. Dia was deprived of medical care, including treatment for his chest illness.

The role of the police, in Egypt, has changed from keeping the peace, and protecting the law, into punishing and kidnapping critics of government policies, enacting a form of governmental revenge.

This is a police country, characterized by evasion of just punishment and utter disregard for the law.

ANHRI says that, the State Security might forge an earlier date for Dia’s arrest and employ yellow journalism to praise its role in protecting security. In this case, we have a list of the wrongdoers, therefore the prosecution can record the crime of Dia’s kidnaping. We know the lies they want us to believe. Silence is not an option, and we will publish all these lies.