- EGYPT
- September 4, 2014
- 5 minutes read
80 Deaths in Junta Jails; 5 Thousand Ill Inmates Face Slow Death
As the illegitimate ruling military junta in Egypt continues its vindictive systematic approach of torture and mass murder of opponents in its jails, five martyrs in as many days have joined the list of victims of torture in prisons.
The new victims are: Mahmoud Mohamed Saghir, 39, killed in Burg Al-Arab Prison on August 24, 2014; Khaled Mahmoud Mohsen, 44, killed in Khanka Prison on August 27; (Ms) Reda Mohamed Ahmed, 45, killed in Qanater Prison for Women on August 27; Amir Abdul-Rahim Abdul-Aziz, 26, killed in Shubra Al-Khaimah Police Department on August 28; and (Ms) Husneya Mohamed Ibrahim, 51, killed in Zagazig Police Department, on 27 August.
Earlier, Zeinhom morgue received in 24 hours (July 1, 2014) the bodies of three detainees from the police stations of Nasr City, Imbaba and Sixth of October. Many other cases of murder within places of detention have been reported. Karama Foundation for Human Rights documented more than 50 cases of collective torture and dozens of individual cases of torture of detainees that resulted in the death of dozens.
The number of those who died inside junta detention centers exceeds 80 deaths, according to wikithawra (Wiki Revolution – Arabic) website which confirmed that the reasons for death were brutal torture practices in prisons and police stations, as well as deliberate medical neglect of detainees who needed medical care.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said in its recent report that there are varying degrees of torture in Egyptian prisons used to hurt detainees. The worst of those cases documented were violations against members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups, as well as journalists who were actively trying to expose rights violations.
The report pointed that beatings and other physical abuse tactics are among the most regular practices through the reception torture ‘festival’, which is an integral part of the process of receiving new detainees at a prison or police station. This reception usually includes stripping new detainees naked and then beating and kicking them for hours. All ranks of police and army officers and recruits usually take part in this ‘hazing’ ceremony.
Moreover, the Egyptian Observatory for Rights and Freedoms (EORF) revealed that the number of people who have been tortured since the coup is 14,668 cases of torture inside 325 detention centers in 22 governorates across Egypt.
The EORF further reported that various methods of torture are used, such as beating detainees and hanging them by handcuffs from the tops of opened doors, and suspending detainees by the hands and legs on a raised metal bar until the detainees’ limbs go numb, then security officers begin to electrocute them.
Besides the notorious methods of torture practiced on the detainees, deliberate medical neglect represents one of the most used methods of mass murder of opponents of the coup within the prisons.
The Rights and Freedoms Monitor has uncovered the existence of more than five thousand detainees with illnesses in junta jails in Egypt who face ‘slow death’ due to medical negligence. Indeed, dozens of those have already died as a result of deliberate and ‘programmed’ medical neglect by prison administrations.
