• EGYPT
  • August 1, 2017
  • 5 minutes read

More Crimes by Egypt’s Junta Against Political Prisoners in Aqrab Prison

More Crimes by Egypt’s Junta Against Political Prisoners in Aqrab Prison

A major crime is committed by Egypt’s State Security apparatus and the Interior Ministry’s Prison Service in the high-security Aqrab Prison, that is: subjecting many prisoners to illegal and cancer-causing searches by X-Ray machines originally intended for luggage. A suitcase is supposed to be placed on a conveyor-belt, and then exposed to direct X-rays to reveal what is inside via a television screen monitored by a security officer.


In Aqrab, though, a prisoner is forcibly bound and placed on the belt, taking the place of a suitcase, and then exposed to direct radiation from the X-Ray machine. This is a crime by all standards. All of this is carried out on direct orders from Colonel Ahmed Saif, Aqrab’s national security officer, under the supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Abu Al-Wafa, head of the Investigation Department.


"All those who refuse to sign the Sisi support initiative paper will be heading straight to the cemetery, dead of cancer, on release from this prison", Abu Al-Wafa said to protesting inmates, clearly referring to the radiation damage to human health.


Now, mass strikes are widespread across Aqrab Prison. In one of those, a large number of prisoners in the H4 Block have stopped eating or taking essential medicines. Those inmates include:


– Tarek Abu-Al-Azm: A former air force officer; previously tortured in Aqrab Prison as recorded by the prosecution at the time.


– Nabil Abdel-Moneim Al-Shahat: Suffers from a heart condition; his condition is very serious.


– Tariq El-Sayed: Suffers from a heart valve disease. 


– Yousry Nofal: Suffers from diabetes; his condition is very serious.


– Mohamed Abdel-Tawab: Suffers from Hepatitis; his condition is very serious.


Striking inmates object to physical assaults as well as extreme psychological pressures from the prison administration, which is run by the State Security apparatus, and which is attempting to force prisoners to sign the Sisi Support Initiative document.


Another striking inmate is Walid Rifaat, who suffers from heart disease, diabetes and asthma, and his condition is serious.


We call upon all brave, fair-thinking writers and human rights organizations to do their best to enter Aqrab Prison and see the Interior Ministry’s crimes and atrocities there, and to witness the extent of the reprehensible crime against prisoners, who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and other political currents, for refusing to support the Sisi initiative.


We call on everyone to take prompt action before it is too late.


Tora Prison Complex Inmates


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