Today, LCHR has presented summary proceedings (lawsuit) for 150 farmers from Northern Ter’at El Nasr area – Borg El Arab City – Alexandria to stop the governor of Alexandria, the minister of housing and the body chief of Borg El Arab City from molesting the farmers, their plantations and homes. It has presented another suit before the state council court in Alexandria demanding to cancel the decision of the public body for the civilizational societies to substitute their lands with alternative lands outside Borg El Arab City, claiming to build an amusement park on these lands.
As stated in the Center’s suits, this area is estimated with 1500 acres of land, and farmers have different possession areas in it, starting with one acre to 10 acres, these areas are registered on the agrarian possession card in Sakra Agrarian Association – Borg El Arab.
Farmers have reclaimed, farmed and built their houses on these lands, they have made every effort to grow vegetables and trees after holing canals and digging wells to irrigate these lands. Although farmers have the right to have possession of these areas according to the text of clause no. 970 of the civil law modified with law no. 147 for the year1957, law no. 55 for the year 1970, law no. 124 for the year 1958, law no. 100 for the year 1964 and its’ executive panel and law no. 143 for the year1981 and its’ executive panel. These lands are owned to the farmers according to the contract registered with no. 23752 for the year1904, 85392 for the year 1905 land registration office in Alexandria, and the decision issued in the suit no. 1102 for the year1965 civil general Alexandria, in addition to that, farmer’s possession over these lands is calm and stable for more than 70 years.
In 1995, the body of Borg El Arab City has decided to codify the position of the people who put their hands on these lands and assigning these lands to them after estimating the price of the acre with 4000 pounds, and 20% of that sum must be paid in advance, and as a respect to the law and constitution, farmers rushed to make all the legal steps and procedures to codify their position.
They went to the body of Borg El Arab City to assign the area that everyone of them put his hands on and 20% of the price was paid in advance with receipts from the body, the area maps of these lands were examined and they have extracted an agrarian possession card from Sakra Agrarian Association – Borg El Arab City.
Despite all of these legal deeds and documents, but the farmers were surprised with the body of civilizational societies refusing to complete the ownership procedures of these agrarian lands to the farmers, more strangely, the farmers were surprised with the body warning them, stating that it will evict them from the lands and give them alternative lands outside Borg El Arab City, these lands are much more different than the ones agreed on that 20% of its’ price was paid for, the unfortunate thing, is that other farmers put their hands and have possession over these alternative lands that they have reclaimed for a long time.
The clauses of the landed panel issued with a decision made by the administrative board of the defendant corporation no. 14 for the year 1994 and the modified landed panel for the year 2000 issued with a decision made by the ministry of housing and civilizational societies no. 3 for the year 2001 that came into force from 7/6/2001 acknowledge that the new civilizational societies corporation have the authority of disposal in (the green belt), which is bind with the decisions of its’ landed panel, the LCHR confirms the necessity of canceling the corporation decisions of evicting the farmers or giving them alternative lands other than theirs, to protect farmers rights in safe land possession, and the corporation must complete the selling procedures of these lands to the farmers and sop threatening them with eviction and tearing down their homes, as this is considered a violation of the Egyptian law and constitution and the international covenants for human rights.
And the LCHR demands the Prosecutor General and the Minister of the Interior to stop threatening the farmers with imprisonment and ruining their plantations, keep the corporation under obligation of withdrawing the bulldozers and equipments from the farmer’s lands and not force them to leave their lands or evict them from their homes or demolish them as a respect to the supremacy of law and guarantee their rights in safe land possession, housing, social safety and a decent life.
For more information, please contact the Center.
Address: 122 el Gala’a st-Ramsis Tower-Cairo
Tel/Fax: 02-5750470
E-mail: lchr@thewayout.net; lchr@lchr-eg.org
Website: www.lchr-eg.org
