Three Al-Doweeqa Residents Disappear After Demonstration Condemning Stopping Searching For Victims

Women Group for Human Rights confirmed on Thursday September 11, 2008 the disappearance of three of Al-Doweeqa residents, after a peaceful demonstration to condemn stopping the search for victims of the rockslide.

The disappeared residents are: Mohamed Ragab , Mohammed Fathi ,and Ashraf Fathi.

The group described what happened as a new violation of the right of housing, freedom of peaceful assembly, and the right of personal security. The group accused the Egyptian security forces of attacking the residents of Al-Doweeqa.

Sayeed Fathi, the kidnapped residents’ lawyer, expressed his worry about their disappearance, as the officials of Mansheyat Nasser police station confirmed that they are unfamiliar with these names. The group demanded the Egyptian authorities to provide alternative housing for the slum residents, whom the Government”s policies made them homeless, as well as to investigate and punish those responsible for breaking up the protest, and to release the kidnapped residents.

A security official revealed that the number of the victims of Al-Doweeqa rockslide reached 69 dead people, where the Egyptian Ministry of Health warned of the spread of epidemics due to rotting corpses, and the fear of the outbreak of plague.

The residents of Al-Doweeqa have threatened to cut off the highway of Auto-strad if the search for victims is going to be stopped.