Complaint against the traffickers of the Sinai

Complaint by EveryOne Group and Facebook Group “Save African refugees in the northern Sinai” against the traffickers of the Sinai for crimes of murder, kidnapping, extortion, torture, and rape.

EveryOne Group, an international human rights organization based in Italy, and Facebook Group “Save African refugees in the northern Sinai” have filed a complaint with the Egyptian authorities for the murder of two young Eritrean men. Their names were Goytom and Asmerom. The two boys were killed in Rafah, in northern Sinai, on December 11th, 2010 at 16:30. The traffickers shot them in front of many Eritrean, Ethiopian, Somali and Sudanese witnesses. We have not disclosed the surnames of the victims to ensure the safety of their families back in Eritrea. These families are already the victims of the humanitarian crisis in their country and the heavy extortion by the traffickers. Their full names, however, are known to the migrants who have lived in the same detention camp in Rafah. The murderers have subjected migrants to continued violence, torture, and extortion. The tragedy took place in a fruit orchard south of Rafah, near a government building and a former Christian church that has now been converted into a school. There is also a mosque nearby. The fruit orchard is already known to police for the presence of human beings who are being illegally held in ten metal shipping containers. The shipping containers are buried below ground and the migrants are forced to remain there until their relatives have paid their ransom.

The Palestinian Bedouin, Abu Khaled, (or Khalid) ordered his men to kill the two Eritrean refugees. Abu Khaled is known by the police for his trafficking in human beings, weapons and drugs. He has been charged with the formation of armed gangs and committing violent crimes. Khaled works in collusion with the terrorist organizations Hamas and Al Qaeda. The gang is part of the organized crime network that operates in northern Sinai (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/6817385/Egypts-Gaza-smugglers-shrug-off-reports-of-border -barrier.html, http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/roads-to-riches-run-deep-in-rafah?pageCount=3, http://www.twnside.org .sg/title2/resurgence/2009/221-222/cover8.htm). The gang uses about 20 armed criminals to watch over, using torture and blackmail, the African migrants in the detention camp. According to our information, part of the group of African migrants is being held in the district of al-Mahdeyya, south of Rafah. There was a police operation in the village of al-Mahdeyya in September 2010. Unfortunately, some police officers fired on a small group of refugees who had fled from the traffickers. EveryOne Group also reports the murder of other six young Africans. They were assassinated in front of the group we are following. We have also reported to the authorities the connection between the drug traffickers and organized crime, which runs the black market for human organs. Four young Eritreans were taken to an illegal clinic, where they had a kidney removed. The four boys have not returned and may well have been murdered.

We were able to communicate to the Egyptian authorities that one of the criminals who cooperates with Abu Khaled is the Ethiopian Fatawi Mahari. Mahari is already well-known for trafficking and other criminal activities. His name is known by the North Sinai police and Israeli intelligence (http://www.haaretz.com/news/netanyahu-migrant-workers-risk-israel-s-jewish-character-1.261840). The criminal was investigated by Israeli police in September 2009 on charges of trafficking in Egypt. Mahari was also investigated for kidnapping and extortion. Investigations have linked him to the Bedouin Rashaida and Sawarqa tribes. Fatawi Mahari is also known for his links with Hamas and the smugglers who are in control of the Rafah tunnels. He keeps contacts with the international Mafia. The Israeli authorities, however, released him and he is now on the loose.

In our report we supplied the phone numbers being used by the traffickers (removed for security reasons). The numbers have been used to receive calls from the hostages' families, outside Egypt.

Investigators are able to check the flow of ransom money, by controlling transfers received by the Western Union local agencies. There is also a current account in an Egyptian bank which is being used by the traffickers to receive money from the migrants' families. The released refugees, in Egypt and Israel, can confirm the existence of the account and provide the authorities with the account number.

We fully understand the difficulties the Egyptian police face in tackling the traffickers. The Camp David agreements in 1978 between Egypt and Israel prevents the border police using heavy weapons and armoured vehicles. The traffickers, on the other hand, are in the possession of modern, powerful weapons. We know, however, that in recent years Israel has already granted exemptions to the agreements for reasons of national security or important crises. And trafficking in human beings and the presence of organized crime is a serious national emergency. That is why we are appealing to the authorities to set up a task force to free the immigrants and prosecute the criminals. The task force must be suitably armed and equipped.

After filing this complaint EveryOne Group and Facebook Group “Save African refugees in the northern Sinai “ ask the Egyptian police force to intervene immediately at the traffickers' property. It is of the utmost importance to free the refugees still being held in the shipping containers and prosecute those responsible for the abductions, killings, tortures, cases of rape and extortion. We have also received reports about other groups of migrants being detained in northern Sinai by criminal gangs belonging to the Rashaida and Sawarqa tribes, and the families of Abu Khaled, Abu Ahmed, Sawarqa, Hussein Abu Mohammed, and others.

We beg you to act immediately, it is a matter of life or death. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

Kind Regards,

Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro, Dario Picciau

EveryOne Group co-presidents

Cornelia Isabel Toelgyes-Solla

Facebook Group “Save African refugees in the northern Sinai”

In the photo, Mr. Ahmed Mahmoud Mohamed Nazif, Prime Minister of Arab Republic of Egypt