• EGYPT
  • September 26, 2018
  • 4 minutes read

AOHR: Nine Detainees Die of Medical Negligence in Egyptian Prisons in 3 Months

AOHR: Nine Detainees Die of Medical Negligence in Egyptian Prisons in 3 Months

The London-based Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) said on Monday that "Egyptian authorities continue to take the lives of detainees in Egyptian prisons and detention centers in the absence of appropriate facilities for the use of human beings in accordance with the Egyptians laws, in addition to deliberately depriving detainees of their right to receive medical care."


"The Egyptian detention centers suffer from pollution, lack of cleanliness, poor ventilation and Inhumane overcrowding of detainees. This has compounded the negative effects on the detainees and turned them to a fertile environment for the spread of diseases and epidemics," the organization said in a statement obtained by "Ikhwanweb". 


AOHR added that "the last victim of these violations is Hosni Mohamed Saleh Ayyad, 54, who died recently in Port Said public prison after his health deteriorated from liver disease and high blood sugar."


In its testimony to the organization, the family Hosni Ayyad said that the prison administration refused to provide any special medical attention to him, refused to allow him access to medicines necessary for his condition, and refused his transfer to the hospital. In addition, the Egyptian authorities refused to release him on health grounds according to the Egyptian constitution and the regulations governing prisons. As a result of negligence in providing any medical care for him, his health worsened until he suffered a severe bleeding on the last day before his death.


AOHR added that: "nine detainees have died in the past three months to add to the total number of people killed in detention centers, which has reached 718 detainees since July 3, 2013, till now, including 331 detainees died as a result of denial of appropriate medical care under the inhumane conditions of detention."


In addition, three criminal detainees have been killed in Egyptian detention centers in the past three months. The Interior Ministry has declared that they have committed suicide by various means. It has also announced the death of a prisoner who was stabbed following a fight between him and another prisoner. However, the prison administration did not initiate any judicial investigation with respect to these cases to verify the integrity of such claims. Also, the prison administration is responsible for the life and physical and psychological safety of detainees according to the law," the organization said.


The organization holds "the Egyptian regime fully responsible for the loss of the lives of hundreds of detainees by depriving them of the fundamental rights of detainees stipulated in the Egyptian Constitution and the Regulation of Prisons, as well as the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which obliges the administration of detention centers to provide each detainee with adequate physical and psychological care according to the detainee’s condition.


And the organization called on the international community and the UN Secretary-General to pressure the Egyptian authorities to protect the lives of thousands of detainees, stressing that keeping the status of the detention centers as it is, can take more lives in its estimation.