Politicians, Jurists, Syndicates Members and Parliament Members agreed on establishing a National Campaign for Defending the Detainees' Rights. The core of these rights, is acknowledging their right in political participation, abiding the government to enroll their names in the voters' lists and specializing polling stations for them. The participants stressed on the need of including pressure mechanisms that leads to the Egyptian Government exposition of the number of detainees, their health and living conditions and their fate. Participants have already started listing the number of detainees who were prosecuted and served their sentence but yet not released from prison to raise a law suit on behalf of them and present who is responsible for violating their rights to Courts. These issues were encountered in a seminar held yesterday, 9/6/2006, by Maat Center for Juridical and Constitutional Studies at the Lawyers' Syndicate in Cairo under the banner "Detainees Political Participation: Restraining Legislations, Wasted Rights". The seminar was part of Maat's campaign "Freedom for All" defending detainees' and their Families rights as part of their rehabilitation and fusion in the society. Dr. Amr El Shobaky, Political Expert at Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, Dr. Mohamed El Beltagy, Moslem Brotherhood representative for the Brotherhood Parliament Members, Mr. Montaser El Zayat, Lawyers' Syndicate Liberties Committee Rapporteur, Mr. Mohsen El Bahnasy the Legal Aid Association for Human Rights Board Member and Mr. Ayman Okail Maat Center Director. The seminar was also attended by a large number of civil society activists, lawyers and media representatives in addition to detainees' families.

The Participants emphasized that the Egyptian detainees' file is a national security case and its responsibility falls on every body from political parties, syndicates, and civil society. "Detainees and their families are like a timed bomb that will explode at anytime in the society" said the participants.

The participants accused the Egyptian government of intentionally violating the rights of its citizens and widening the circle of suspension to reason the arrestment of thousands of Egyptians who have done no guilt. They also said that the government vulnerably pursuant to continue working under the state emergency law that permits wider range of authorities that restrain citizens' liberties and allows their arrestment without reasonable justification. Further more, participants accused the government of wasting the law and judicial verdicts sovereignty and said that the Ministry of Interiors intentionally follows an obscurantist policy in the when it comes to detainees and ignores the demands of the different political trends and juridical organizations of revealing their numbers and place of detention, not to mention their health and living conditions. Participant witnessed that detainees confronted a huge number of violations in the last twenty five years that never occurred before in history of Egypt.

"The idea of detainees taking part in the political life is a kind of luxury, putting in mind that millions of Egyptians free citizens are reluctant to participate and lack trust in the whole political and partisan process. Defending detainees will not change much in the electoral process nor its results but will only act as a window in the wall built by the government around the detainees and a tool to be used to force the regime to acknowledge them as citizens who have the right in an honorable life and fair prosecution" said Dr. Amr El Shobaky.

Dr. Mohamed El Beltagy pointed out the impossibility of conducting an accurate survey to the number of detainees due to the governmental obscurantism; he added that continuing to hold them imprisoned is evidence on the continuation of a suppressive, corrupt regime, that holds more than twenty thousand members of the Moslem Brotherhood in prisons since 1995 parliamentary elections that prisoners in Damanhoor prison are demanding immediate interference threatening to end their lives if not rescued from such deteriorating conditions.

In his word, Montaser El Zayat stressed that the Egyptian government deals with detainees as if they have no rights, not only detainees are forbidden to practice their political right but also those who has been released, demanding the right of detainees in political participation and specializing polling stations for them.
Mohsen El Bahnasy held the Egyptian government responsible for the aggravation of the detainees' crisis and said that the Ministry of Interiors is used to outlaw their rights and not implementing thousands of judicial provisions.

From his side, Ayman Okail, Maat Center director said that detainees political participation right is one that is accredited by the constitution, article 62;" the citizen has the right to ballot, get elected and give his opinion in referendums and participate in public life according to the provisions of law as a national duty" and that detainees are not included in the segment banned from practicing their civil and political rights mentioned in the law as their arrestment is an administrative procedure taken by the executive authority which in turn holds the Ministry of interiors accountable of proscribing their political rights which is a felony that does not fall by prescription according to article 57 of the constitution. Article 57: "every violation of a personal liberty or life or any other rights of citizens that is sustained by the constitution and law a crime that does not fall by prescription and the state is responsible for compensating who falls under such misjudgment". This made a number of detainees to sue the Minister of Interiors and the Head of the Penitentiary.

Okail pointed the Ministry of Interiors overdo stressing that not only it does not release those who were declared innocent. But refuse to pay compensations ruled to them by the courts for the time they spent in prison and for their rights that has been violated. The Seminar witnessed testimonials given by some of the detainees' families concerning violations to their rights and demanding the release of their relatives but at the same time not hiding their fear from attending such seminars.

Aqeel pointed to the Ministry of Interior's persistence in its transgressions, stressing that it refrains not only from releasing those to whom release rulings are issued, but also from paying compensation for the period of detention and the violations they were subjected to. The symposium witnessed testimonies of the families of some detainees of what the detainees were subjected to. Violations demanding the release of their relatives, expressing their fear and fear of attending such meetings.