Prisons and harsh conditions of prisoners…Between the real and tragic truth and the fake image presented by the media… A new report by ANHRI

Cairo: 11 April 2021

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said, in a report released today, that the massive expansion of prison construction in Egypt- as the number of prisons established since the January 2011 Revolution has reached 35- hasn’t contributed to improving the prisoners’ conditions. This is because the state recruits mainstream media, which has become under its control, to convey a fake and polished image about the situation in prisons, while, in fact, they are rife with brutal violations and extremely harsh conditions.

The report, entitled “Waiting for you; 78 prisons, including 35 built after the January Revolution: On the difficult conditions of prisoners and prisons in Egypt“, introduces a list of the new prisons (17 prisons) which were established during the period from September 2016 to March 2021, in addition to: 18 prisons established since the January revolution till the release of ANHRI’s previous report on prisons, published in September 2016 under the title “There is Room for Everyone” ,which included a list of 19 prisons that had been built. The Ministry of Interior withdrew from building Al-Obour prison (among this list), so the number became 18, bringing the total number of new prisons that have been established in Egypt during the decade that followed the January Revolution to 35.

The report entails examples of the violations practiced against prisoners, especially those who are calling for democracy and belong to the January Revolution, as well as the encroachments on their legally granted rights, such as: using pretrial detention as a punishment, preventing the entry of food for prisoners, solitary confinement, rotation/recycling of defendants (extending their detention over new cases), deprivation of the right to make a phone call, and financially profiting from prisoners.

The report also involves ANHRI’s estimates of the number of prisoners and detainees held in Egypt; as it estimated the number amounted to about 120,000 prisoners and pretrial detainees, which is fair close to the estimate announced by one of the security services-backed media professionals regarding the number of pretrial detainees and political prisoners.

Gamal Eid, ANHRI’s director, said: “While the Ministry of the Interior provides (through the Prison Administration) care, entertainment and services to convicted prisoners who are affiliated with the former regime or those accused of financial and corruption cases, political opposition prisoners and dissidents who belong to the January Revolution are subjected to abuse, repression and denial of many rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the law, such as: visiting, receiving food, the right to make phone calls or receive health care, and even the deprivation of their right to attend their detention renewal sessions. ”