Decision of the African Commission
256. In view of the foregoing, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights:
i. Finds a violation of Articles 1, 4, 5, 11 and14 of the African Charter by the Arab Republic of Egypt;
ii. Finds a violation of Article 2 only in relation to the fourth Victim;
iii. Finds a violation of Article 5 in relation to the denial of access to the Victims to the bodies of their loved ones as well the failure to provide an effective remedy; iv. Finds a violation of Article 16 only in relation to the fourth and seventh Victims;
v. Finds a violation of Article 18 as it relates to the negative obligation on the State;
vi. Does not find a violation of Article 6 by the Arab Republic of Egypt;
vii. The Commission finds the following remedial actions to be necessary for addressing the violations above:
1. To reopen the investigations into the violations and hold the commanding officers who were conducting the breakup of the protest accountable for the human rights violations that were committed,
2. To provide compensation to all the Victims, including the Victims in this Communication for the violations suffered, in accordance with national laws; and
3. To revise the laws in relation to police and regulation of assemblies to bring it in line with the rights in the African Charter, and in particular to review the Egyptian Police Act 109 of 1971 to bring it in line with the various Guidelines of the Commission cited in the analysis above, as well as the principles of necessity and proportionality; viii. Requests the Respondent State in line with Rule 125 of the Commission’s2020 Rules of Procedure to report to the Commission within 180 days on the measures it intends to adopt for the above purpose, as well as detailed submissions on the training initiatives being undertaken for police officers on human rights and crowd control.
Adopted during the 66th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held virtually, from 13 July to 07 August 2020
