It happens suddenly. One day, without warning, someone goes out to run an errand or go to class, and they don't come home.

Forced disappearances by Egypt's security forces aren't a new tactic in Egypt, but they're on the rise, human rights groups and activists say. And a cross section of activists, human rights defenders and journalists are being targeted.

One of them is Esraa el-Taweel, 23. She's a student and photographer who was still recovering from being shot last year while taking pictures on the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled the former president, Hosni Mubarak.

Duaa el-Taweel, her sister, explains what happened. When she speaks, she takes deep ragged breaths and her eyes flutter open and closed.

Esraa el-Taweel went missing on June 1. Today, nearly two weeks later, her sister says she still hasn't heard from her.

"I keep having dreams that she's been released," she says.

Taweel first checked hospitals and called her sister's phone incessantly, but it was off. Then she started being told about sightings of her sister in different detention facilities.

But when Taweel goes with lawyers to police stations, they're always told her sister is not there. The family knows she left the house with two male friends.

One showed up three days ago in a maximum-security prison. The other is still missing.

"We don't know what to do or who to call," she says. "We don't know if she's eating, if she's being treated well, if she's taking her medicine."

No Word From Authorities

The family has sent letters to the president's office and the Ministry of Interior. They've filed a police report and reached out to the general prosecutor and the Ministry of Justice. But they've heard nothing.

They've resorted to calls on social media. Esraa el-Taweel's friends made a video of her. It shows her riding a bike, taking pictures and later in a wheelchair following her injury from last year. It asks, "Where is Esraa el-Taweel?"

By law, arrests are supposed to be done with warrants, and detainees are supposed to go to the prosecutor within 24 hours.

But Taweel is one of many people who are simply vanishing. Human rights groups say accounts by witnesses or people who've been taken and released say they were grabbed by security men in civilian clothes and held illegally.

This month at least 10 people have disappeared, but some groups are tracking several more. A Facebook page called Freedom of the Brave, maintained by activists, lists 163 people missing in Egypt since April.

Taweel's father resorted to calling in to a popular local television show to ask about his daughter this week.

The presenter got a ranking official at the Ministry of Interior on the line.

"This isn't a regular kidnapping," the father yells. "This was state security."

The ministry official says that when security forces take people, they do it with legal procedures. He said he'd check and get back to him.

NPR's calls to the ministry went unanswered.

Return Of An Old Problem

Sherif Mohy el-Deen, who works for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, says the the disappearances are increasing by the day.

He says forced disappearances didn't start under current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It's a tactic that has been used for decades to stifle dissent. Last year it happened to his teenage brother. He was taken, beaten and then thrown in the desert near Alexandria.

But in the past couple of months it's rapidly growing. And that puzzles Mohy el-Deen when the state has so much power to arrest people under the law.

"They could make all of this by the law," he says. "The question is why are you doing this out of law, out of your own law, your full-of-injustice law?"

Meanwhile, a government-backed human rights council has met with some of the families and promised to take the complaints to the general prosecutor.

The most extreme example happened last month. A student named Islam Attito was taking a humanities exam at his university. A man in civilian clothes came into the room with a university employee; they told Attito they needed to see him after the exam.

Activists say that the next day he showed up dead in the desert with bullet wounds and broken bones.

In a video posted online, his mother cries. His body is broken; his arm is broken.

A statement from the Ministry of Interior claimed that Attito was killed after he fired on police from a desert hideout. They accuse him of murdering a police officer.

Marwan Selim, a fellow student, is investigating the case. He asks how he could be in a desert hideout when everyone saw him taking his exam?

He says he and other students spoke to witnesses who saw Attito leaving the classroom with the unknown man and later saw him being chased by men with walkie-talkies. The students have sent their findings to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

One of the students looking into Islam Attito's case was briefly arrested this week. Others have received threats.

But that hasn't stopped Selim.

"If Islam's case passed with no actions from our side, tomorrow it's going to be a friend of mine, a close one," he says. "The day after it's going to be me."

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Activists in Egypt say there's been an increase in forced disappearances and they blame security forces. The government has already jailed thousands of political opponents, but their locations are usually known. NPR's Leila Fadel reports that now many families are looking for any trace of their loved ones.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: It happened suddenly. One day, without warning, a loved one goes out to run an errand or go to class and they don't come home.

DUAA EL-TAWEEL: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: Duaa el-Taweel is 22. When she speaks, she takes deep, ragged breaths and her eyes flutter open and closed.

EL-TAWEEL: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: Her sister went missing on June 1, and today, nearly two weeks later, she hasn't heard from her.

EL-TAWEEL: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: El-Taweel first checked everywhere, including hospitals. Then she started being told about sightings of her sister in different detention facilities

EL-TAWEEL: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: But when el-Taweel goes with lawyers to police stations, they're always told Esraa, her sister, is not there The family knows she left the house with two male friends. One showed up three days ago in a maximum security prison. The other is still missing.

EL-TAWEEL: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: El-Taweel says we don't know what to do or who to call. Her missing sister, Esraa, is just 23, a student and photographer. By law in Egypt, arrests are supposed to be done with warrants and detainees are supposed to go to the prosecutor within 24 hours. But Esraa el-Taweel is one of many people who are simply vanishing. A Facebook page called Freedom of the Brave, maintained by activists, list 163 people that have gone missing in Egypt since April. Esraa el-Taweel's father resorted to calling into a popular local television show to ask about his daughter.

(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED TV SHOW)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: The presenter got a ranking official at the ministry of interior on the line.

(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED TV SHOW)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: The deputy minister says when security forces take people they do it under legal procedures. He said he'd check and get back to him. NPR's calls to the ministry went unanswered. Sherif Mohy el-Deen works for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

MOHY EL-DEEN: It's increasing day after day.

FADEL: He says forced disappearances didn't start under current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It's a tactic that's been used for decades to stifle dissent. But in the last couple of months, it's rapidly growing, and that puzzles Mohy el-Deen, when the state has so much power to arrest people under the law.

EL-DEEN: So they could make all of this by the law and the question's why you're doing this out of law, out of your own law, out of your full-of-injustice law.

FADEL: Meanwhile, a government-backed human rights counsel has met with some of the families and promised to take the complaints to the general prosecutor. The most extreme example happened last month. A student named Islam Attito was taking a humanities exam at his university. A man in civilian clothes came into the room with a university employee. They told Attito they needed to see him after the exam. Activists say the next day he showed up dead in the desert with bullet wounds and broken bones.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Foreign language spoken).

FADEL: In a video posted online, his mother cries his body is broken. His body is broken. The police said in a statement that Attito was killed after he fired on police from a hideout. They accuse him of murdering a police officer. Marwan Selim, a fellow student, is investigating the case.

MARWAN SELIM: If Islam's case passed with no actions from our side, tomorrow it's going to be a friend of mine, a close one. The day after it, it's going to be me.

FADEL: He says he and other students spoke to witnesses who saw Attito leaving the classroom with the unknown man and later saw him being chased by men with walkie-talkies. One of the fellow students looking into Islam Attito's case was briefly arrested this week. Others have received threats, but that hasn't stopped Selim. Leila Fadel, NPR News, Cairo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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