- EGYPT
- March 12, 2015
- 5 minutes read
Arab African Center Statement on Latest Developments, Atrocities in Egyptian Prisons
The Arab African Centre for Liberties and Human Rights (AAC) has documented many atrocities and human rights violations in Egyptian jails, especially escalating over the past few days, including persistent torture, brutal murder, fatal attacks with gas-bombs in prison cells, and attacks by guard dogs on prisoners in violation of Egypt’s Constitution and relevant laws.
AAC representatives endeavoring to monitor the Egyptian human rights situation place full responsibility on the newly-appointed interior minister for police atrocities that violate citizens’ rights, freedom or dignity.
The AAC has received numerous reports from prisoners and detainees (in Al-Aba’adeyah, Damanhur, Abu-Zaabal, Borg Al-Arab, Al-Aqrab and Meit Salseil prisons) have started hunger strikes in protest of severe ill-treatment from prison managements and total neglect of their medical problems at these prisons, as well as daily atrocities and violations of personal freedom in many unspeakable ways.
Article 40 of the Constitution states that "Every citizen arrested, or imprisoned, or whose freedom is restricted in any way, must be treated in a manner that preserves his dignity, and may not be tortured, nor intimidated, and may not be in any manner compelled, nor harmed physically or morally, and shall not be detained, or imprisoned except in so designated places which must be fit for human habitation and offer a healthy ambience. This the state must commit to providing. Failure to provide any of the above is a crime punishable in accordance with the law, with no statute of limitations".
Furthermore, the AAC has received numerous pleas, complaints and reports from families of detainees at the notorious Meit Salseil prison (also known as Egypt’s Guantanamo), where cells are flooded with dirty water and detainees are forced to sleep in it, in addition to prison staff throwing garbage and other dirt inside the cells as a form of further humiliation and inhuman punishment.
The detainees’ families also stressed that their loved ones had been tortured and electrocuted all over their bodies, including sensitive organs and teeth. Eyewitnesses saw blood on detainees’ clothes during visits.
The AAC also documents a serious and shocking development that doubles outrage against authorities, the regime the army and the police. In Borg Al-Arab prison, after the execution of Mahmoud Ramadan, officers guarding the prison fired tear gas directly at prisoners inside their locked-up cells. This caused many cases of suffocation, while many detainees suffered internal bleeding as a result of inhaling the poisonous gases. There were also many injuries as a result of stampedes. Moreover, prison managements cut both electricity and water from the cells, and release guard dogs to viciously attack detainees.
The AAC calls upon competent authorities to investigate those shockingly atrocious practices, inhuman treatment and the outrageous situations that promise an inevitable revolt.
Arab African Centre for Liberties and Human Rights
Wednesday – March 11, 2015
