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Marwa Arafa

Freelance translator, Mother of 3 – year – old daughter.

About Marwa: She was known for providing humanitarian support for families who lost their breadwinners to Arbitrary detention in rights cases.

Arrest: On April 20, 2020, plainclothes police officers and five men in police uniforms arrested Marwa while she was at her friend’s house. The police force took Marwa to an unknown place without providing an arrest warrant or justifying the reason behind the arrest in front of her baby daughter and family.

Violations: Deprivation of liberty

Case/cases info

  • Marwa was forcibly disappeared for 14 days. Despite her family and lawyer’s efforts to find her whereabouts, she remained disappeared until she was brought to the State security prosecution on May 4, 2020, to be interrogated in case NO. 570/2020.  
  • Charges: The State Security Prosecution ordered the pretrial detention of Marwa Arafa based on a charge of joining a terrorist group. Since then, she has been in pretrial detention at Al Qanater prison. 
  • On May 9, 2022, The Cairo Criminal Court renewed Marwa’s detention, Although she has exceeded the maximum limit of pretrial detention (2 years) set in Egyptian law without providing reasons to justify her lengthy detention.

Detention conditions

Marwa is currently in detention at the notorious Al Qanater Prison for women, known for its harsh conditions, without a trial. In February 2021, the prison administration moved her to a different cell, where she was forced to sleep on a cold bare floor, which caused her severe back pain. In addition, Marwa is denied the right to raise her three years old daughter, which caused the child trauma that affected her movement and growth.

Social media suggested post:

Ahead of #COP27, we call on #Egypt to release Marwa Arafa, arbitrarily detained since 2020 due to her humanitarian work for detainees

@copcivicspace #COP27 #FreeThemAll

https://bit.ly/3LVsqYw

Tweet: Ahead of #COP27, we call on #Egypt to release Marwa Arafa, arbitrarily detained since 2020 due to her humanitarian work for detainees @copcivicspace #COP27 #FreeThemAll https://bit.ly/3LVsqYw

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