While hundreds of families are mourning the loss of their loved ones who died during the 25 January revolution and others are fighting to free their detained relatives, some Egyptians are left in the excruciating unknown as they wonder which of those categories their missing family members and friends belong to.
The Protection of Egypt’s Protesters Front has received dozens of complaints in the past few weeks from families of protesters who went missing during the demonstrations. The families remain unable to determine whether their loved ones are dead or detained.
After searching for them in morgues and hospitals, standard protocol for the front is to notify both the general and the military prosecutor to determine if a certain individual is incarcerated.
Ahmed Ragheb, head of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, says efforts to locate the missing often end up in vain because the authorities either don’t respond or offer contradictory information.
“Our main demand is for the military and the general prosecutor to release a list with the number of the detained, their names and their whereabouts,” says Ragheb.
Tarek Abdellatif, a 33-year-old architect in a multinational company, disappeared after taking part in the Friday of Anger protests, leaving his wife and two daughters in constant anguish, uncertain whether he would return.
Abdellatif wasn’t involved in politics prior to the revolution but he was motivated when he saw the huge number of people flock to the streets on 25 January.
“He went down to earn freedom for his kids, he wanted to be able to get his rights back and be proud,” says Ahmed Wahid, Abdellatif’s colleague.
Shortly after a friend saw him in Tahrir square at 10PM, Abdellatif’s phone was switched off and there has been no information available on him since.
Having exhausted all attempts to locate him, Wahid came to the conclusion that Abdellatif is detained.
“All we want is to know where he is," Wahid says. "We will be very happy if he called us, said that he’s ok and hung up again. That’s all we want."
Ziyad Mohamed Bakir, a 27-year-old graphic designer working for the Opera House, disappeared from Tahrir Square on the Friday of Anger.
Bakir’s sister Mirette says her brother is a typical artist who spends all day in his office and listens to classical music. She says he didn’t have any interest in politics or any understanding of it before 28 January.
“He participated because of the patriotic impulse that swept most Egyptians this day,” says Mirette.
After surveying all hospitals and morgues repeatedly, Mirette is pleading with those responsible for her brother's detention to release him or give his family information on him.
Mirette says that her parents are, understandably, in a horrible condition over the uncertainty of their son's fate.
“If he is detained why won’t they tell us?” asks Mirette. “If he is detained, we want to know his location and the reason for his detention."
