Families of Egyptian detainees live in fear of deteriorating condition

Middle East Eye reported on the 27th August that imprisoned Egyptian political dissidents are enduring particularly brutal detention conditions at a notorious facility.

This has left families fearing for the lives of their inmate relatives, with a spike in suicide attempts and the deaths of detainees continuing to worry Egyptians and international watchdogs.

Egyptian President El-Sisi has largely suppressed any opposition since he came to power in a coup in 2013. El-Sisi, who came to power in a power vacuum following the usurpation of Dictator Hosni Mubarak, has brutally suppressed any opposition since he came to power. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood government of Sisi’s predecessor, late President Mohamed Morsi, have been at the receiving end of the worst crackdown of his repression. Other dissidents, including human rights lawyer Mahienour El-Massry, have also been detained by El-Sisi’s predecessor.

Families of current detainees have been barred from maintaining any contact, with all information coming via news reports or contacts who have been inside the prisons.

‘They need to visit them, just visit them,’ one source close to the family of a detainee said. ‘It’s not impossible, it’s easy for the authorities. ‘

‘Imagine–you haven’t seen your father, brother, or son for 12 years?’

The Badr Prison complex, located some 70 kilometers Northeast of Cairo, opened in December 2021. It is officially named the Badr Correctional and Rehabilitation Center.

The Complex is made up of three prisons, with Badr 3 being noteworthy for the proportion of high-profile political prisoners being held there, many of whom have been transferred from the notorious Tora Prison complex.

A second source close to the family of another detainee reiterated that they had been barred from seeing them for over a decade, with the family fearing for their detainee relative’s life due to his need for medical treatment.

Rights groups have long raised the alarm surrounding the rapidly deteriorating conditions at Badr 3, which have prompted detainees to launch multiple hunger strikes over numerous abuses. The situation is particularly stark for political prisoners, including Brotherhood members, who, unlike regular inmates, are routinely denied medical care and visitation rights.

Although Egypt does not tally the number of political prisoners, international watchdogs have estimated a total of up to 120,000 prisoners, with over 50% of these being political prisoners.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.Org