CagePrisoners has written to the Egyptian Government calling on it to act swiftly to intercede in the case of Adel Abdel Bary who has been held without charge fighting extradition the the US from inside a prison cell for the past thirteen years. We ask all our supporters to follow suit and urge the Egyptian authorities to act now in Adel's case, before his ordeal restarts once more, instead of ending.

You can write to the Egyptian Embassy in the UK or the various ministries listed below:

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

SAMPLE LETTER:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt

26 South Street

London

W1K 1DW

UK                                    

30 September 2012

Dear Ambassador,

بركاته و الله رحمة و عليكم السلام

RE: Adel Abdel Bary

 CagePrisoners, a British Human Rights NGO, is writing to you in concern for Adel Abdel Bary, an Egyptian citizen and Human Rights lawyer who has been detained in British prisons without trial since 1999. He is one of the longest serving prisoners held without charge in the history of this country. 

 For the past thirteen years Abdel Bary has been fighting extradition to the US where he is wanted in connection with the East Africa US embassy bombings of 1998.  We have learned from Abdel Bary’s lawyers that the US authorities have failed to present the exact evidence against him but the suggestion that links Adel to any of these accusations is based on two unsubstantiated points: 

1. The testimony of one man who cost US Government millions of dollars and is in a US witness-protection programme after giving unverified testimony about Abdel Bary, which his lawyers say, is “moulded and manipulated”.
   
2. The contention that Abdel Bary was in possession of a fax that announced the embassy bombings, despite the fact that such communiqués were readily available at the largest mosques in Britain at the time. 

Adel Abdel Bary was allegedly associated with groups and individuals who were concerned with one thing: the overthrow of the Mubarak regime. As a result he was convicted in absentia and given a life sentence, after which he was granted political asylum in the UK.

 By the grace of Allah and through the sacrifice of the Egyptian people over the years the revolution changed everything. Many of Abdel Bary’s former colleagues who had been imprisoned are now involved in various ways in trying to rebuild the country through alliances and dialogue.

Abdel Bary is himself a former prisoner in Egypt, like many post-revolution politicians, and he was a source of information about human rights violations in Egypt for organisations like Amnesty International before his imprisonment in the United Kingdom.

 It is hard to envisage, based on the treatment of numerous Arab Muslim prisoners, both within the prison system as well as the judicial one, in the current anti-Islamic climate that exists in the US - which President Morsi correctly identified at the United Nations - that Abdel Bary would receive just treatment and fair trial.

 Based on testimony from former prisoners and human rights groups, we believe Abdul Bary would be subjected to abusive and tortuous conditions in solitary confinement in the ADX Florence ‘Supermax ‘prison.

 Further, we believe that even if Abdel Bary had been convicted in the UK of the offences of which the US accuses him, he would have more than served his time by now. His years spent in prison are tantamount the equivalent of a twenty-six year sentence. He has more than served his time.

 In fact, just this year, several British Members of Parliament (MPs) signed the following motion in recognition of Abdel Bary’s plight:

 ...this House considers the imprisonment without conviction of Mr Adel Abdel Bary since 1999, separating him from his wife and children, whilst he contests his extradition to the United States, is inhumane and unjust, given that he is a respected human rights lawyer, previously imprisoned and tortured for his principled opposition to the barbaric Mubarak regime in Egypt and that no credible evidence has been levelled against him; and calls on the Government to reject the US request for extradition and to release Mr Adel Abdel Bary to allow him to return to his family.

 

 Sadly, although the British Government has never charged Abdel Bary with any wrongdoing, the prospect of being reunited with his family is now very thin.

 The effects of these years in prison on anyone’s family would be devastating but for Abdel Bary, if he is extradited, the ordeal will start again and it is hard to imagine how his wife and six children will even be able to visit him properly.

 Thus, we call upon the newly elected Egyptian Government to come to the aid of Abdel Bary by requesting that he is repatriated to his homeland and become part of the process that many of his former colleagues have so that he can help rebuild his country as well as his own life.

 We look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.

Yours sincerely,