American daughter campaigns to free her Egyptian parents Ola and Hosam

We wanted to highlight this case to provide more evidence on the manner in which the current military controlled government in Egypt treats people whether Egyptian or not and whether they have any political activity or not. The case is about a middle aged couple who have been detained and imprisoned for no reason but mere profiling by the Egyptian military coup forces. 

All of the text below is taken from the campaigns website:

http://www.freeolaandhosam.org/

About Ola and Hosam: 

Ola is a 55 year old grandmother of Qatari nationality and Egyptian origin. She is born and raised in Qatar and completed her bachelor’s degree in biology from Qatar University. She completed her masters at the University of Texas-Austin in the United States. Ola is the daughter of well renowned Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and her late mother Isaad Abdelgawad Alharam. Ola has no political affiliations.

Hosam is a 58 year old grandfather of Egyptian nationality. He grew up in the US. Following completion of civil engineering at the University of Assiut in Egypt he moved back to the US where he and Ola commenced their graduate degrees at the University of Texas-Austin.

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At the end of their studies, Hosam and Ola, with their children, moved back to Egypt where he started his own construction business known for its quality work and integrity. His company continues to operate today without disruption.

Hosam was politically active in Egypt after the 2011 revolution in the Al-Wasat party, a legally registered political party. After the 2013 military coup, just like thousands of political activists were detained, he was arbitrarily detained, never charged, and eventually released by the judicial system in 2016. Since 2013 he has had no political activity.

They have 3 children, Ahmad, Aayah and Toqa, two of which are American nationals and grandparents to 3 grandchildren also of American nationality. Hosam has two siblings who are American.

Ola and Hosam’s children reside in the United States and both of them are green card holders. Ola and Hosam have always been conscientious, moral, and law-abiding citizens who value freedom, liberty and justice.

The legal part of the case:

Ola and Hosam have a legal team of lawyers in Egypt selected and hired by the family. But they have not been allowed to access their legal counsel. The lawyers have been denied visitation permits.

Under international law everyone must have equal and effective access to legal counsel to allow for remedy for violation of their rights. Not only have Ola and Hosam faced unfair and politically motivated detention they have not been provided with the reasons for that arrest or being given the opportunity to challenge this ongoing detention.

International laws guarantee individuals their right to life shall be protected by law and that nobody shall be arbitrarily deprived of life.

When Ola and Hosam were taken into custody they were denied the following rights:

1. They were not and still have not been formally informed of the nature and substance of the allegations against him;
2. They were not provided with an arrest warrant or search warrant and the time of arrest.
3. They were held in incommunicado detention for two days and the conditions of that period are unknown.
4. They have not been provided with access or privileged communication with their legal representation;
5. They have not been provided with access to their family;
6. They have been subjected to solitary confinement that is argued amounts to torture;
7. They have not been permitted to challenge the accusations or call evidence of their own.