Vulnerability of Palestinian Victims of Enforced Disappearance in Egypt
Abstract
This thesis studies the vulnerability of Palestinian victims of enforced disappearance in Egypt. I managed to find good literature about enforced disappearance in different countries including Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Egypt. On the other hand, I could not find specific articles or reports focused on Palestinians who are victims of enforced disappearance. However, there is a group of Palestinians who disappeared in Egypt at different periods during the last decade, but numbers are not accurate due to the lack of documentation. In addition, Egyptian Authority refuses to give information about the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared people and Palestinians in particular. Due to the absence of focused articles about Palestinians as victims of enforced disappearance in Egypt, I decided to conduct interviews with Palestinian released prisoners who were victims of enforced disappearance in Egypt. These interviews will be the primary resource of my data in this research in addition to the interviews I conducted with two Human Rights Professionals who have been working on the Enforced disappearance file in Egypt. In this research project, the main research question is: What are the experiences of Palestinian victims of enforced disappearance in Egypt regarding vulnerability?
Here are some sub-questions that I will also answer in this research project: ● How does enforced disappearance affect the Palestinian families of victims? ● How does the Egyptian legal system work regarding Palestinian victims of enforced disappearance? ● In which context enforced disappearance occurs against Palestinians in Egypt. ● Who is responsible for demanding victims’ whereabouts in the Palestinian context?
A group of themes has been presented in this research project such as the vulnerability of victims of enforced disappearance in general and Palestinian disappeared migrants in particular. Moreover, the absence of the Palestinian Authority’s role in demanding the release of Palestinian disappeared migrants in Egypt, the effectiveness of the Egyptian legal system, and the vulnerability of families are also presented in this research. Key words: Palestinian victims of enforced disappearance, vulnerability, human rights violations, degrading, policy of denial