The Administrative Court decides to schedule the lawsuit of halting the decision to remove the historic Cairo cemeteries for adjudication, without notification and without the presence of the plaintiffs… The Egyptian Center demands a retrial.

The lawyers of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights were surprised by setting the date of the adjudication issued by the 4th Circuit of the Administrative Court in the State Council, regarding Lawsuit No. 54318 of Judicial Year No.77, on halting the implementation of the negative decision by the rejection of providing necessary protection for cemeteries and archaeological building with distinguished architectural heritage located in Historic Cairo Cemeteries Region and defining a campus for these antiquities, to issue its ruling to rule in the session of September 21, 2023, without notifying the plaintiffs of the receipt of the report of the State Commissioners Authority and setting a session before the court, and without enabling them to view the report.

The decision surprised the Center’s lawyers, given that its violation to the State Council’s Law, especially Article No.30 which stipulates that the court clerk’s office is obligated to inform the concerned parties of the date of the session, which did not happen in this case.

The Center’s lawyers, in their capacity as attorneys of the plaintiffs, had filed the aforementioned lawsuit, including an urgent matter which indicates that according to the current system in effect within the schedule of the Administrative Judiciary Court – we do not get sessions to consider the urgent matter at the time of filing the lawsuit. In addition, we have to wait the file to be presented by the secretary of the Court’s Circuit to the Court in order to set a schedule for a session to consider the urgent matters.

By following up the procedure, the Secretary of the 4th Circuit “urgent and subject” notified the Center’s lawyers verbally that the Court rejected considering the urgent matters and decided to refer it to the Board of Commissioners for consideration.

According to the aforementioned, the Center’s lawyers went to follow up on the scheduled date of the case before the Board of Commissioners, and the Circuit’s Secretary notified them of deciding a decision on July 4, 2023 to be considered before the Board of Commissioners with the presence of the representative of the plaintiffs, so that the Board decided to schedule a date on July 12, 2023.The plaintiffs’ lawyers continued going to the Secretary of the Board of Commissioners till a month passed after setting a date for deciding a ruling on the lawsuit, while the Commissioners’ report has not been submitted.

On August 22,2023, the lawyers were surprised by the receipt of the case report and its referral to the court circuit for consideration on August 17, 2023. Then the Court decided to ‏schedule the case for adjudication on September 21, without notifying the plaintiffs or their attorneys, and without enabling them to view the outcomes of the Board of Commissioners’ report, and without giving the lawyers their right to state their defense and submitting their demands before the Court.

Accordingly, the Center’s lawyers submitted a request to a retrial before the Administrative Court, awaiting to setting a date for a hearing as soon as possible in order to be capable of reviewing the report of the Board of Commissioners, commenting on it, and presenting our defense, documents and legal memorandums.

It is worth mentioning that according to the new work regulating system in the Administrative Court, the legal representative of any plaintiff is aware of the two hearings sessions of the Board of Commissioners and the Court immediately after filing, in case of filing them without urgent matter. However, regarding the Center’s lawsuit, the attorneys of the plaintiffs weren’t aware of any scheduled hearing for the lawsuit to be considered before the Court. Moreover, we weren’t notified by the hearing according to the system in practice within the Courts of State Councils, and according to the implementation of Article No. 30 of State Council Law.

The Egyptian Center had filed an urgent proceeding before the Administrative Court in the State Council against the Prime Minister, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, the Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Cairo Governor, and the Head of the Urban Development Fund, demanding the halt of the negative decision by abstaining from providing necessary protection to cemeteries and archaeological buildings with distinguished architectural heritage located in Historic Cairo Cemeteries region, together with establishing a sacred place to these antiquities, with the consequences of that, most notably stopping the removal and demolition of all these cemeteries and buildings.

The Center had stated in the lawsuit, as an attorney of a group of professors and consultants for the preservation of urban heritage and those interested in antiquities and heritage, including Dr. Jalila Gamal El Qady, Dr. Monica Hanna, Eng. Tareq El Merry, Mrs. Sally Suleiman, Dr. Dalia Hussein, had stated in the lawsuit that the lawsuit was filed due to the removal operations that are carried out in the region of the Historic Cairo Cemeteries in Khalifa neighborhood in South Cairo, known as Al Imam Al Shafaie Cemeteries, and Al Sayyida Nafisa Cemeteries dated back to the 7th century AD, which is currently located in the North, South and East of Salah Salem Road. In the late 19th century, these areas were allocated to bury State senior officials and notables, and were established on the same models of the old cemeteries hundreds years ago of the late prominent iconic persons in thought, culture, politics, religion, and art, as well as the members of the Royal family. In addition, these cemeteries contain the remains of a large group of great people in the Egyptian national struggle, thought and history.

Recently, news, photos, appeals for aid and demands have spread regarding assaults on the region, and the removal of a number of its archaeological buildings randomly while implementing constructions in the region that aren’t appropriate to its nature and buildings, together with facing severe dangers, such as erasing part of Egypt’s history, heritage building and desecrating the remains of a significant number of its great people in all fields, as several cemeteries were removed, including the cemetery of Abdel Hamid Basha Saddiq who was the Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament from 1902 to 1909 during the reign of Khedive Abbas Helmy II, the cemetery of Abdullah Afandi Zohdi who was one of the most well-known calligraphers in Egypt’s history and he was the writer of manuscripts on the Prophet’s Mosque, Sabil Umm Abbas, Al-Rifa’i Mosque and others. In addition to the Cemetery of Hassan Afandi Al Laithi who was the painter of of the Holy Kaaba Cover, together with Eshq Berian who was a liberated handmaids of Khedive Ismail. Moreover, the news circulating about the removal of Imam Warsh Cemetery who was the owner of the second most common readings of the Holy Qur’an in the Islamic World.
The region contains a large number of cemeteries built in a distinguished architectural style, including the cemeteries of the Prince of Poets Ahmed Bey Shawky, Umm Kalthum, the graveyard of queen Farida, Mahmoud Samy El Baroudy, Sabil and cemetery of Jala Al Din Al Suyuti, Prince Fouad, Asmahan, Farid Al Atrash, the Dome and Mosque of Mahmoud Basha El Falaky, Fatima Al Zahraa Mosque, and other cemeteries of historical and Egyptian figures, together with mosques, domes and sabils.

Within a short period of time, the demolition and removal of parts of the Historic Cairo Cemeteries region have started to implement plans dedicated to establishing and expanding a number of roads and axes which resulted in demolishing or the collapse of a number of the buildings and establishments with peculiar architectural style in an absence of any governmental statements or explanations regarding the details of the plan and without any actual supervision from the competent authorities in the country to protect the aforementioned buildings or the area legally identified for protection, such as the inspectors, the Ministry of Antiquities experts, or the National Organization for Urban Harmony, except the presence of the demolition and removal teams and workers.

In its edition No.74 issued on March 29, 2023, the Egyptian Gazette published the decision of the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities No.233 of 2023, which stipulates in its 2nd Article: “Adding 86 cemeteries in Khalifa and Moqattam neighborhoods, starting with No.1 (the Cemetery of the Prince of Poets, Ahmed Bey Shawki) and ending with No.86 (Manna’a Cemetery).
At the same time, the guards of a number of cemeteries mentioned in the decision were notified with the plans to remove them, including the grave yard of Mohamed Ratib Basha Al Serdar, the Cemetery of the Syrian Al Azm family, Lieutenant General Ismail Salim Basha, Rashwan Basha, Abdullah Al Prince Yusuf Kamal, Nasha’at Del Qaden who was the wife of Khedive Ismail, Ali Basha Fahmy, Mahmoud Samy Al Baroudi, Ahmed Shafiq Basha, Ibrahim Al Helbawy, and Mohamed Mahmoud Basha. It’s noteworthy that the above cemeteries which were registered according to the aforementioned decision, and that signs were painted on the outer walls of some of these cemeteries.

ECESR asserted that the aforementioned decision to only specify 86 cemeteries in this region is considered a waste to the value of the other buildings and antiquities with peculiar architectural style, to name only a few: The cemeteries of Yehia Basha Ibrahim, Mohamed Basha Al Shafai, the graveyard of Mah Doran, Ali Basha Ibrahim, Saifu Allah Basha Yousry, Abdel Khaleq Basha Tharwat, Said Basha Zulfaqar, Bahey El Din Basha Barakat, Ismail Basha Asem, Leader Ahmed Oraby, Othman Basha Ghalib, Amin Basha Al Manastralli, and other cemeteries including miniatures, inscriptions and archaeological designs linked to different historical eras.

And between a verbal notice of the removal of a number of cemeteries and graveyards registered as buildings and establishments with peculiar architectural style, and the ignorance of registering or including others, together with the continuity of the removal and demolishing operations and expanding the roads through using heavy machinery under the control of workers untrained to work in archaeological regions, in addition to the absence of guarding or supervision to ensure avoiding any depreciations to these buildings or demolishing some of them by mistake. Moreover, that represents a disdain to the remains of several prominent figures and symbols who contributed in building the history of Egypt through years. The appellants filed several complaints, reports and appeals to stop these practices for the public interest and to save a significant part of Egypt’s history, the latest of which was sending telegraphs to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Cairo Governor, the Head of the Urban Harmony, and the Head of Urban Development Fund, “in their capacities”.

Since the appellants didn’t receive any response or explanation or letter from the appellees, in addition to not taking any necessary measures to protect these buildings, thus they decided to file their lawsuits based on the articles of the Egyptian Constitution that obligate the state to preserve the Egyptian cultural identity with its various civilizational branches. Moreover, the articles of the constitution oblige the protection of antiquities and the preservation of its regions, together with maintaining them and retrieving what was stolen, in addition to organizing excavations and supervising them, while prohibiting to be gifted or exchanged. Moreover, the Articles of the Constitution describe assaults against these buildings or trafficking in their contents as a crime that has no statute of limitations.

ECESR indicated that a large number of cemeteries, shrines and Sabils located in these regions are considered unique pieces of art due to its architectural styles or its date of construction or inscriptions or stones. Furthermore, these regions turned into a tourist site for thousands of Egyptians, Arabs and foreigners who are interested in architectural heritage, the Egyptian History to see unique pieces of art. Thus, the Center considered that the removal and demolition operations are a disdain to a part of Egypt’s history and represent danger to a significant area of its heritage and historical area. Moreover, the removal violates the Constitution, law, and the duties of preserving the Egyptian heritage and identity that were formed over thousands of years.
In its lawsuit, the Center stressed that the Appellees abstained from taking necessary procedures to protect the aforementioned buildings and cemeteries, together with abstaining from identifying an area to these places.

Moreover, the appellees abstained from completing the counting of buildings and facilities linked to the national history and related to Egyptian and foreign figures who had a clear impact on the movement of society, including Imams, writers, poets, political leaders, artists, prominent officials and members of the Royal Family, etc. Thus, all the above is considered a clear legal violation to law which harms the public interest, the history of Egypt, and the right of the coming generations to knowledge.