The Struggle to Bring Ibrahim Halawa Home

Somaia is the sister of Ibrahim Halawa, a young man from the south side of Dublin who had been held in pre-trial detention for four years between the Egyptian prisons, Tora al-Marg and Wadi el-Natrun, while his trial was postponed 28 times.

Then, on September 18, Ibrahim was found not guilty of the 15 charges against him, included among these were murder and participating in anti-military political protests. As a result, for four years, a possible death sentence hung over his head. So, as we spoke in the living room of the Halawa household in Firhouse, ten days later, Somaia's primary feeling was of relief, albeit with a certain degree of anxiety.

Knowing that he has endured an appalling, traumatic experience, Somaia voiced her concern in regards the gradual process of rehabilitation. "We are negotiating with him where he would like to go once free," she says. "Maybe somewhere close to the beach, so he isn't around too many people. It's important for him to get away. Whether Ireland, or not, he is not coming straight home here. He's not mentally ready to meet people.

"I haven't seen him in those four years", she added. "He was a child, the baby of the family, a person full of joy and happiness. He was the one who made everyone laugh, but I'm going to see a different person soon. He will be a man."

Ibrahim Halawa, moments after his acquittal. He jumped with joy, hugged fellow prisoners and had tears in his eyes. pic.twitter.com/P40IjYQLHK

— Declan Walsh (@declanwalsh) September 18, 2017

At the time of our meeting, the necessary paperwork was supposed to have been delivered in precisely the right form to the prison, in order to trigger Ibrahim's release. This however, had not been done, nor was there any hint of progress having been made as the weeks passed. The process had been delayed, according to the Egyptian authorities because his papers contained incorrect information.

"We don't know where the delay is coming from," Somaia said. "The courts told us to go to the General Prosecutor Office. They said to go to the courts. It's frustrating and ridiculous. In Ireland, if you're proven innocent, you just walk away and that's that. The moment we heard Ibrahim was proven innocent, my older sister Nosabaya went over straight away. She left her four kids with us, and none of us thought it would take long, maybe two or three days. The wait is starting to drain him. Waiting just seems to make the days longer."

A month went by, and still there was no news. Then, on the night of October 19th, Ibrahim walked free from his prison in Cairo.

Speaking on RTÉ News, Ibrahim's sister Fatima said, "Last night was the first time in four years that we were able to sleep peacefully without guilt and we felt assured that Ibrahim was sleeping on a bed and was safe."

"We don't know exactly when he is going to be back because there is some paperwork that needs to be done. There is holidays today in Egypt and tomorrow as well so we won't know exactly when these papers will be completed. We will have him on the first flight home. but it won't be before Sunday."

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney added later, "We need to get that immigration stamp. In order to do that he needs to turn up in person at the immigration ministry."

"The timing and problem with that is we are in the Egyptian weekend, which is Friday and Saturday. That office is not open on a Friday and has very limited opening on a Saturday so we are obviously working to get him home as quickly as possible but it will be either Sunday or Monday by the time he is home."

Ibrahim was just 17 years of age when he was arrested in Cairo. Somaia and their two other sisters, Omaima and Fatima, were also detained, along with 493 people. That was on August 16, 2013.

The family had travelled to Egypt for Somaia to gain work experience in teaching, while Ibrahim wanted a holiday after completing his Leaving Cert. Then, on July 3, there was a military coup d'etat in Egypt, led by army chief general, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. This resulted in the suspension of Egypt's constitution; the removal of its first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi; and the appointment of Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, to the position of Interim President.

The Halawas were among those who responded by participating in a series of anti-coup protests, including one on August 16th, which was referred to as the Day of Rage. This particular demonstration had been called by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sunni Islamic fundamentalist organisation led by the former President Morsi. And in effect, their participation meant they were treated as supporters of the Brotherhood.

For critics of the Halawa family however, this was not the sole link connecting them to the organisation. In 2011, Wikileaks published a July 2006 US Embassy cable, written by the then-US/Irish Ambassador, James Kenny, in which he discussed links between the Brotherhood and the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI) in Clonskeagh, where Ibrahim's father Hussein serves as Imam.

In the cable, Kenny pointed out that the mosque acts as headquarters for the European Council for Fatwa Research, chaired by Brotherhood leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and since its publication, Halawa has also been quoted for saying he is its "general secretary".

Responding to this, Somaia made the point that such an issue is secondary to the various human rights violations endured by her brother, including torture, an unfair trial and inhumane prison conditions. "You cannot begin to describe the place where the men were kept," she notes. "The toilet was broken and many had to go somewhere, so they all ended up with skin diseases. Men were screaming that it would be more humane to kill them. I could hear the screams of people being tortured. Every time I heard that, I would cry, because I was asking myself if it was Ibrahim."

"Whatever people want to believe, this case was about Ibrahim as an individual, and what he suffered. He is not of the Muslim Brotherhood. My father is not, and even if he is, that should not be taken into account, because what my dad follows, or believes, does not reflect upon who Ibrahim is or how he can be treated."

Somaia insists that the Halawas became involved in the protests as a reaction to the Rabaa Square massacre on August 14, where an estimated 817 protestors were killed by State forces.

"When we went, we didn't fully understand the situation immediately," she reflects. "It wasn't that we agreed or disagreed with Morsi. I felt it was important that we didn't remain silent. Being raised in Ireland, we felt the coup was not right. We believed that Egypt deserved a democracy and the right to vote. You want the best for the people and our family there. So we joined those peaceful protests."

Nevertheless, the Halawa siblings were treated as Muslim Brotherhood supporters by the current Egyptian regime. Forced to retreat into a mosque, it was there, Somaia says, that one of the anti-Ibrahim arguments was sparked, ie. the rumour that he ripped up his Irish passport, a claim which even his critics have found unverifiable.

"When we were arrested in the mosque, Ibrahim was the only person with his passport in his pocket. After we went to the prison, we were asked for any identification. Ibrahim was trying to convince police that he was only 17. They didn't believe him. He became confused, and was asking us, 'Should I show them the identification?' He was afraid that they would take it and not give it back, but he showed it anyway.

"They then took it from him, and promised that it would be given back. Day after day, they lied and promised it would be returned the next day. Then, it didn't exist anymore. He still has no idea where it is. It was shocking. The first thing he asked when it was announced that he was being released was if they could give it back to him.

"The other story," she adds, "is that there was a video on YouTube, which it is said we deleted. In the video, someone walks out of the airport and rips his passport. It doesn't even look like Ibrahim though. It's a totally different person, because Ibrahim never got to go out of Egypt. Now, Ibrahim wants to find his passport and put it in front of the people who said he ripped it, and say, 'I didn't rip my passport'. It could be in the General Prosecutor Office. Our lawyer is trying to find it. I hope they do, because Ibrahim has too much anger over those who spread this untrue rumour for four years."

Such rumours may continue, as a means of minimising the flagrant injustice of Halawa's torment at the hands of the Egyptian legal system. It is not unreasonable - and Somaia agrees - to look forensically at the case. Nor is it unacceptable to note links between the ICCI and the Muslim Brotherhood. However, these issues remain secondary to the persecution of Ibrahim as an individual. There is no justification to torture someone, or give them an unfair trial, because of possible connections in their family background to an undemocratic ideology. To deprive a person of their human rights on that basis, is to embrace an attitude as undemocratic and inhumane as the ideology one seeks to oppose in the first place.