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Unfair and partial election, mixed with security interference
There is a man called Mohamed Hafiz Fikry who works in Qena Health Administration. Following he will tell us what happened to him when he decided to nominate himself in the labor elections. He said:
"Unfortunately, I have decided to nominate myself for the membership of the board of the syndicate branch committee for the workers of health services, after I heard that the government is calling citizens to take part in these elections.
I applied to be a candidate in these elections in the syndicate branch committee. Then, I started to search for the headquarters of my syndicate, and after a long and exhausting search, I finally found it in an apartment inside an old building. I went in, met the official and asked him for my membership certificate to this syndicate. He asked me "do you know anyone from the state security?", and I said "what do they have to do with this?". He said that it is all up to them, the list of candidates is ready and he doesn't have any instructions to give me the certificate or anything that proves my membership in this syndicate. He told me that if I want my membership certificate, I must go to the state security to get it.
I went back to the branch committee and found out that my name was removed from the list of candidates with an order from the Minister of Manpower. This made me consult some of my friend lawyers, and they advised me to file a lawsuit. I filed lawsuit no. 85/15 before the Administrative Judiciary Court in Qena against the Minister of Manpower. The lawyer of the Minister lied and said that I didn't apply to get the nomination papers, but the court canceled the Minister's decision to remove my name from the list of candidates.
I sent a copy of the court's decision to the Ministry of Manpower, then my name was back in the list, but last Sunday, it was removed once again. The election's observer told me that he accepted my papers in the first place not because of the court's decision, but because my papers were all good and complete,, and then he received a complaint against me filed by the Ministry of Manpower demanding the removal of my name from the list of candidates, and this was according to instructions by the state security.
On Monday morning, I tried to apply again using the court decision that I have, but the treasurer of the syndicate for the workers of health services told me that there is no use of what I'm trying to do, and that they will win with or without the elections.
There, I met dozens of workers from my governorate who were also deprived of their right to nominate themselves in these elections, although they had court ruling to do so. Some of the people that I met were:
Ahmed Ali Ahmed, from the administrative services syndicate in Qena.
Ali Goda Mahmoud, from the public facilities syndicate in Qena.
Esam Abdel Naby Abdel Latif, from the education syndicate in Qena.
Moreover, I have received threats and intimidations by the state security that I will be arrested and detained if I didn't relinquish this case. I ran away from my home and left my wife and children all alone. I ask for your help and advice, how can I return safely to my home? Because I don't know how did all of this happen, and what did I do to deserve all of this?"
LCHR demands all the officials in Egypt starting with the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Manpower to help this man and guarantee his rights to freedom and safety.
For more information, please contact the Center.