RFK Human Rights welcomes the release of Mahmoud Hussein, ‘the T-Shirt detainee,’ from arbitrary detention in Egypt. We call on the Egyptian authorities to take all necessary measures to investigate the violations of Mahmoud’s rights and guarantee the full enjoyment of his rights going forward, including the right to compensation. 

Since January 25, 2014, Mahmoud suffered multiple human rights violations, including arbitrary detention for over three years, enforced disappearance, and torture as reprisal for the simple act of wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “a nation without torture.” Egyptian authorities first arbitrarily arrested Mahmoud on his way back from the peaceful demonstration to commemorate the third anniversary of the January 25 Revolution. In response to advocacy pressure, he was released on bail on March 25, 2016, but rearrested seven years later on August 30, 2023, after a judgment was entered against him in absentia. This judgment was based on unsubstantiated charges never shared with Mahmoud or his lawyers. On April 23, 2024, the Emergency State Security Court released him on bail but convicted him on the exact baseless charges on June 26, 2024, forcing him to return to prison for over two months. By his recent release from detention, Mahmoud has completed the wrongful sentence of the ESSC. 

During Mahmoud’s arbitrary detention and the decade-long repression of the Egyptian authorities, he was forcibly disappeared, threatened with death, and had multiple raids of his home. Mahmoud was tortured by beatings, electric shocks to his crouch, and blindfolding. Prison officials intentionally hit him on the recovery site of a hip replacement surgery that was completed shortly before January 25, 2024.  As a result of cruel treatment by the authorities, Mahmoud’s health deteriorated significantly – he sustained multiple injuries, underwent two other hip replacement surgeries, and developed symptoms consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, including insomnia, hypervigilance, and nightmares. 

Mahmoud’s arrest, detention, and trial before the ESSC violated domestic and international law and fair trial principles. Mahmoud and his lawyers were never presented with an official charge sheet or evidence to support the prosecution’s accusations. Egyptian authorities detained Mahmoud at the notorious Tora Prison over the two-year limit set by Egyptian law for pre-trial detention. Moreover, the prison authorities flauted the ESSC’s bail order, holding Mahmoud for four weeks after the April 23, 2024, decision for his release on bail. 

RFK Human Rights is grateful to all partners, officials of the United States Government, and members of the United States Congress, especially Senator Van Hollen, for their tireless efforts supporting the #FreeMahmoud Campaign. Mahmoud should have never been arrested or detained. However, now that he has courageously lived through this 10-year ordeal, we remain committed to ensuring that his transition back to normalcy is devoid of further repression.