" Sale of surveillance equipment to Egypt: Paris Prosecutor opens a judicial investigation ", 22 Dec 2017

Following a request by FIDH and the LDH, with the support of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), that an investigation be opened into the sale of surveillance equipment by a French company to Egypt, the Crimes Against Humanity Division of the Paris Prosecutor’s office...opened a formal judicial investigation [on 22 December 2017]. By shedding light on the contract concluded between the authoritarian Al Sissi regime and Nexa Technologies (ex Amesys), and its consequences, the investigation could lead to charges being brought for complicity to torture and enforced disappearances. A step which sends a powerful signal for surveillance and weapons companies, as well as for the French authorities.

...By opening a judicial investigation, the Paris Prosecutor acknowledges the gravity of the allegations, giving Egyptian victims the opportunity to become civil parties to the case and testify in France as well as enabling FIDH and the LDH to become civil parties. 

...This new investigation should shed light on the nature of the contract signed between Nexa Technologies and the Al Sissi regime, its execution and its consequences for Egyptian human rights defenders and civil society activists. Today, the country counts tens of thousands of political prisoners in detention, who are habitually exposed to torture, inhumane detention conditions and unfair trials.