Ahmed Amasha

Dr Ahmed Shawky Amasha is a veterinarian, environmental and human rights defender, a member of the Kefaya opposition group, and a trade unionist.

He is a former president of the Egyptian Veterinarians Syndicate and has been active in advocating for environmental and human rights. He campaigned against enforced disappearance and co-founded the League for the Families of the Disappeared which provides legal support and organises media campaigns. He was also outspoken on pushing for the closure of Tora (Scorpion) prison where detainees were frequently tortured.

On 10 March 2017, he was arrested and held in an undisclosed location before appearing before the prosecution on 1 April 2017. He was later charged with “belonging to a banned group”, listed as a terrorist by a court decision designating over 1500 individuals as terrorists, and he was imprisoned at the infamous Tora Prison. He was reportedly tortured and failed to receive adequate medical care. Several UN Special Procedures mandate holders sent appeals to the Egyptian authorities on his behalf. He was released on bail on 4 October 2019, despite receiving a release order in September 2019.

On 17 June 2020, he was arrested from his home after his wife was threatened into revealing his whereabouts, and forcibly disappeared. His son posted about the arrest on Facebook the following day, stating that they did not know where he had been taken. After 25 days of enforced disappearance, he appeared before the supreme state security prosecution on 12 July and was investigated in state security case 1360/2019, on the charge of joining a terrorist group.

The European Parliament called for his immediate and unconditional release in its urgency resolution on the deteriorating situation of human rights in Egypt of December 2020, and in its resolution on the human rights situation in Egypt of November 2022. Despite the numerous calls and campaigns for his release, he continues to be detained without trial and is kept on the terrorist list.