Executions imminent after unfair trials in Egypt

Three men are facing imminent execution in Egypt. Muhammed Gayiz Sabbah, Usama
'Abed al-Ghani al-Nakhlawi and Younis Muhammed Abu Gareer were convicted of
terrorist offences after a grossly unfair trial.

The three were tried
before the (Emergency) Supreme State Security Court in Ismailia in connection
with a series of bomb attacks in Taba and elsewhere on the Sinai Peninsula in
October 2004.

Amnesty International condemned these attacks, which left
at least 34 people dead, and called on the Egyptian authorities to bring those
responsible to justice in accordance with international standards and without
recourse to the death penalty.

The men denied the charges, but the
emergency court sentenced them to death in November 2006. Ten other people were
convicted in connection with the bomb attacks and sentenced to terms of
imprisonment.

Muhammed Gayiz Sabbah, Usama ‘Abed al-Ghani al-Nakhlawi and
Younis Muhammed Abu Gareer continue to be held on death row in separate cells in
Liman Tora Prison and are allowed short family visits only once a month.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases,
irrespective of the crimes that were committed, on the grounds that it violates
the right to life and constitutes the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment. It is particularly abhorrent that Muhammed Sabbah, Usama
al-Nakhlawi and Younis Abu Gareer are facing execution after a grossly unfair
trial before a special court after being convicted on the basis of "confessions"
they allege were extracted from them under torture.

The trial was marred
by a long list of violations, some of which were witnessed by an Amnesty
International observer at the trial in July 2005.

The African Commission
on Human and Peoples' Rights has called for a stay of the executions. Amnesty
International and others are also urging the authorities to uphold their
international obligations, halt the executions and hold a fair retrial before a
civilian court without recourse to the death penalty to ensure that justice is
done and is seen to be done.