Arrested While a High School Student… Continued Enforced Disappearance of Youth Islam Mohamed Suleiman Rabaa for Nearly 10 Years in Al-Arish, North Sinai
Arrested While a High School Student… Continued Enforced Disappearance of Youth Islam Mohamed Suleiman Rabaa for Nearly 10 Years in Al-Arish, North Sinai
Al-Shehab Human Rights Center monitors the continued enforced disappearance of youth Islam Mohamed Suleiman Rabaa, born on 17 July 1999, and a resident of Al-Arish in North Sinai Governorate. He was 17 years old at the time of his arrest and was a student in the third year of secondary school, with no disclosure of his place of detention or his fate to date.
According to his family’s statement, a security force affiliated with the Second Al-Arish Police Station arrested him from inside his home located on the seafront in Al-Arish, in full view of neighbors, before all news of him completely ceased from that date. The incident dates back to nearly ten years ago.
The family confirmed that they searched for him across various police departments in an attempt to find out where he was being held or to ensure his safety. However, all their efforts have so far yielded no information that reveals his fate or his legal status.
Al-Shehab Human Rights Center expresses deep concern about the continued enforced disappearance of Islam Mohamed Suleiman Rabaa, especially since he was a minor who had not yet turned seventeen at the time of his arrest, and was in an important stage of his life. This raises serious fears regarding violations he may have been subjected to during the years of his disappearance.
The Center stresses that the continued disappearance of a person since his arrest as a child, and the denial of his family’s knowledge of his fate for all these years, constitutes a grave violation of human rights. It calls for an urgent investigation and accountability for any violations proven to have been committed against him.
The Center calls on the Public Prosecutor and the relevant authorities to immediately disclose the location of his detention and his fate, to conduct a serious and independent investigation into the circumstances of his arrest and disappearance, to ensure his physical and psychological safety, to enable his family to be reassured about him, and to release him immediately if it is established that he is being held without any legal basis.
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