211.
The Complainants aver that the random arrest and arbitrary detention of
Victims in police training camps and prisons in and around Cairo, with no
specific reasons given for the detention, being unable to contact their families
and being denied information about their whereabouts and not having access
to lawyers or a court to determine the lawfulness of their detention, amounted
to a violation of Article 6.
212.
The submissions of the State are set out under the discussion on Article 5 above,
and include that the removal was carried out to provide care to the persons
after the breakup of the protest, and that persons with legal residence permits,
women and children and Sudanese from Darfur were released on the day
following the arrest. In relation to those remaining in detention, they were
granted visits from UNHCR and were released on 11 February 2006 following
the finalization of the investigations into the occurrences by the General
Prosecution Authority. The State in addition alleges that the Regional Director
of the UNHCR made a statement in which he indicated that the protestors
included persons who do not meet the refugee criteria as well as illegal
migrants and that he was concerned about the security of his staff members.
213.
As discussed above, under international law, governments do have a right to
detain non-citizens for migration-related reasons in certain limited
circumstances, but only if the detention complies with international and
regional human rights standards related to the restriction of movement. 61 The
principles which apply in relation to the detention of asylum seekers include
the principle of national sovereignty, the right to seek and enjoy asylum and
the right to be protected against arbitrary and unlawful detention. It is within
the prerogative of the State to decide where refugees and asylum seekers may
reside, and it can confine their movement, particularly in cases where their
status has not yet been ascertained.
214.
UNHCR has further held that “[i]f necessary, detention may be resorted to only
on grounds prescribed by law to verify identity; to determine the elements on
International Detention Coalition ‘What is immigration detention? And other frequently asked questions’
https://idcoalition.org/aboutus/what-is-detention/. In its Revised Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and
Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum Seekers (1999), UNHCR defines detention as follows:
“Confinement within a narrowly bounded or restricted location, including prisons, closed camps,
detention facilities or airport transit zones, where freedom of movement is substantially curtailed, and
where the only opportunity to leave this limited area it to leave the territory.”
61
58