In the first anniversary of the death of 21 Christian workers, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms urge the Egyptian Parliament to intervene to resolve the crisis of the abductees in Libya.

In the first anniversary of the tragedy of killing 20 Christian workers by the Islamic state in Libya, ECRF reminds that there is 8 Egyptian workers still missing (7 Christian workers among them) since August and September 2014. ECRF demand the Egyptian Parliament to take all procedures to know the fate of these workers, as the Egyptian authorities failed to find any information about them for more than 17 months.

ECRF had sent requests to the President in 16 February 2015 regarding the 8 kidnapped workers who belongs to different governorates; Assuit, Alexandrian, and Sohag; and demanded to take the necessary actions to stand on the facts of their disappearance and their fate. ECRF attached to those requests the information it had about the instance, as it hold interviews with victims’ families and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform them with the latest updates.

ECRF also urge the Ministry of Social Solidarity to take the necessary procedures to support victim’s families with pensions, since their breadwinners had been absent for more than 17 months, as the state is hold accountability for their travel to search for work opportunities in Libya putting their lives in risk.

Background:

On 4 August 2014, 4 Christian workers (Gamal Mata Hakim, Raafat Mata Hakim, Romani Mata Hakim, Adel Sadki Hakim) were kidnapped while their attempting to cross the Egyptian-Libyan borders as they were stopped at checkpoint in Sirte after they left the Libyan capital Tripoli in their way to Salloum border crossing. ECRF was able to document a testimony of their Muslim colleague who managed to escape after the kidnappers were sure about his religion; he said that they had been stopped and asked about their religious beliefs and then they took them to unknown place. This instance was repeated with Mina Shehata Awad another Christian worker who has disappeared in 26 August 2014.

In 15 of September 2014 Shenouda Sami Adely Attia, Abdel Fattah Abdel Gawad El-Behari) were disappeared in the city of Misrata while they were going to their work in a car (Audi, white, 738102,5), as their disappeared along with the car. In mid-July 2015, it was announced in social media account belongs to the Islamic state in Libya that they succeeded to kidnap a Coptic worker called Bakhit Nagah Afrank from Sohaq, no information about his fate is available till now