Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) strongly condemns the ongoing human rights violations committed by Egyptian authorities in prisons and detention centers. These abuses have led to numerous deaths among detainees, primarily due to medical negligence and mistreatment.

The recent death of 70-year-old civil engineer Abdel Fattah Abdel Azim Abdel Fattah Attia on December 16, 2024, at the Badr 3 Medical Facility exemplifies this alarming trend. His case underscores the deteriorating human rights conditions within Egyptian prisons.

According to WJWC, Abdel Fattah was held in pre-trial detention for a politically charged case (case number 1934 of 2021), despite suffering from severe liver, heart, and kidney diseases, which required regular dialysis. Egyptian authorities, fully aware of his critical health condition, denied him access to necessary medical treatment, ultimately leading to his death. This constitutes a clear violation of both legal and humanitarian standards regarding the treatment of prisoners and their right to healthcare.

WJWC asserts that Abdel Fattah’s death as a result of deliberate medical neglect flagrantly violates Egypt’s constitution. Specifically, Article 18 guarantees the right to healthcare for all citizens, and Article 55 ensures human dignity and prohibits degrading treatment. Furthermore, these actions breach Egypt's international obligations, including Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which mandates humane treatment and access to adequate medical care for prisoners.

The organization has documented the deaths of 50 political detainees in Egyptian prisons in 2024 alone, all attributed to medical negligence and inhumane detention conditions. These practices starkly contradict international human rights norms. For example, on December 12, the Shehab Center for Human Rights reported the death of Fadl Selim Mahmoud in Minya Prison following torture and medical neglect, which caused paralysis and a stroke. Mahmoud, who had surrendered to authorities after threats to arrest his son and fabricate charges against him, was brutally tortured at Dair Mawas Police Station. Similarly, in November 2024, Ihab Masoud Ibrahim Juha died in Borg El Arab Prison due to the denial of necessary medical care.

Historical reports further highlight this disturbing pattern. In April 2018, the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms revealed that 39 detainees had died in Egyptian prisons between 2015 and the first quarter of 2018, with the majority of deaths occurring in 2017. Minya Prison in southern Cairo recorded the highest fatalities, followed by Cairo’s Tora Prison Complex. Cancer and kidney failure were the leading causes of death among detainees. Amnesty International has also documented at least 124 deaths in Egyptian prisons since 2014, attributing most of these fatalities to poor detention conditions, overcrowded cells, and the denial of medical treatment for chronic illnesses.

On January 25, 2021, Amnesty International published a report titled “What do I care if you die?”: Negligence and denial of healthcare in Egyptian prisons. The report exposed the deliberate medical neglect and systematic torture that characterize Egyptian prisons, creating life-threatening conditions for political prisoners. Amnesty International called for urgent reforms to improve detention conditions and ensure access to proper medical care.

Similarly, a report by Human Rights Watch titled "We Are in Tombs: Abuses in Egypt’s Scorpion Prison" emphasized that medical negligence remains a leading cause of deaths in Egyptian prisons. The report accused Egyptian authorities of intentionally using medical neglect as a punitive measure against political detainees, a practice that blatantly violates international human rights standards.

Additionally, a 2023 report by the U.S. State Department on human rights in Egypt detailed numerous illegal practices in the country’s prisons. These included denying detainees access to healthcare, subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement, and confining them to cells without sunlight or exercise. Prisoners were also unlawfully barred from family visits, deprived of personal belongings, and subjected to constant lighting in their cells, exacerbating their suffering.

WJWC stresses the urgent need for impartial and transparent investigations into the death of Abdel Fattah Abdel Azim and the numerous other fatalities in Egyptian detention facilities. These inquiries are essential to ensure accountability for medical neglect and other grave human rights violations. The organization also calls on Egyptian authorities to uphold international human rights standards by improving prison conditions and guaranteeing access to adequate medical care for all detainees.

Furthermore, WJWC advocates for the immediate release of prisoners suffering from chronic illnesses or severe health conditions. This is not only a legal obligation but also a humanitarian imperative that demands immediate action. WJWC urges the global community and United Nations human rights bodies to pressure the Egyptian government to end systemic medical neglect and protect the fundamental rights of detainees.

The deaths of more than 50 detainees this year alone serve as irrefutable evidence of the entrenched and systemic abuses within Egypt’s prisons. This grim reality underscores the urgent need for decisive action to safeguard detainees’ lives and uphold their dignity as human beings.

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Women Journalists Without Chains

December 26, 2024