In what rights organizations and lawyers describe as a protest once morest human rights violations and torture, dozens of prisoners in Egypt’s newly established “Badr 3” prison have attempted suicide in the past few weeks. Despite being denied visits, families have learned of the situation through letters leaked by colleagues. Asmaa, a wife of one of the prisoners, states that this is not her husband’s first attempted suicide and fears that future attempts may be successful. Badr 3 is one of many correction and rehabilitation centers that the authorities opened in the past two years as a replacement for the old prisons which have been criticized for their deteriorated conditions. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi praised the new centers’ human rights, but human rights advocates have expressed concern over widespread violations in Badr 3. Prisoners have complained regarding the 24-hour camera surveillance and the almost continuous lighting. Families told BBC News Arabic that prisoners were denied visits for no apparent reasons, and some were even beaten. While the Egyptian authorities deny these accusations, some prisoners’ lives are at risk as they are denied visits and, in some cases, urgent medical care.
Some families complain that their relatives were beaten in Badr 3 prison, as punishment for covering the surveillance cameras
“This is not his first attempt at suicide. It will not pass peacefully every time, because at one time the attempt may fail, and we will wake up to the news of his death,” says Asmaa, a pseudonym, the wife of a prisoner in Egypt.
Her husband is one of dozens of prisoners who human rights organizations and lawyers said have attempted suicide in the past weeks, protesting their exposure to “torture and a number of violations” in a newly established prison, known as “Badr 3” prison, while the Egyptian authorities deny these charges.
Asma learned of the news through letters leaked by his colleagues regarding three weeks ago, and says that she has not been allowed to visit him since then, despite obtaining permission from the Public Prosecution.
Over the past two years, the Egyptian authorities have opened a number of what they called “correction and rehabilitation centers” to replace the old prisons, which have long been criticized as dilapidated and whose cells are unfit for living.
One of these centers is the Badr Center, which is located east of the capital, Cairo, near the city of Suez, overlooking the Suez Canal, the well-known international shipping lane.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi described this step months ago as taking into account the human rights of prisoners, and said that the authorities, “even if a person commits a sin, we will not punish him twice. We will punish him once with imprisonment, but he will live there in a humane and humane manner.”
And the Egyptian Ministry of Interior issued a statement on Sunday, in which it denied the validity of what was circulated regarding the existence of violations in a reform and rehabilitation center in Egypt.
BBC News Arabic interviewed some of the families of these prisoners, and concealed their identities for their safety.
“almost interrupted communication”
Asmaa’s husband is serving a rigorous prison sentence, accused of joining a banned group. Since his arrest a few years ago, she has not been allowed to visit him. I barely caught a glimpse of him inside the court cage, which was covered with thick glass.
She says that he may have attempted suicide, because of what she describes as increasing restrictions on his communication with the family, contrary to what he expected. “When they were transferred to Badr, he was optimistic that their transfer to a modern prison would be accompanied by more tolerant practices, but they were shocked by reality, until they reached this stage.”
For years, the couple’s communication was limited to written messages, which they exchanged surreptitiously during his journey between prison and court, as is the case with dozens of families who are prevented from visiting.
After the husband’s trial sessions ended months ago, his ability to send messages diminished little by little.
Sending messages with his colleagues who attend court sessions has become an almost impossible task following their transfer to Badr, as most trials are held in dedicated halls, inside the “Correction and Rehabilitation Center” or via video technology.
“Most of the messages we received in the past years were verbal, or one-line messages saying that he was fine, without further details. Despite that, we were reassured regarding him. At least we knew he was alive, but we don’t know how he lives. Sometimes we don’t know if he is.” Dead or alive,” Asmaa said.
“broken families”
When the husband was imprisoned, he left an infant to be cared for by Asma. The father and the child have only seen each other once since then, in a courtroom.
Asma told the BBC: “There are many events that happened in the family. If my husband knew regarding it, he would be shocked. Our appearance has changed, and we no longer know what he looks like.”
And she continues, “We know that his release is impossible, but at least allow us to visit him.”
“Pressure practices”
Over the past months, prisoners have repeatedly complained that some cells are lit and monitored with cameras all night long, even while they are sleeping or changing their clothes.
Jurists say that the lighting has been reduced in some wards in Badr 1 and Badr 2 prisons, while this did not happen in the third prison.
Some families complain that their relatives were beaten in Badr 3 prison, as punishment for some prisoners covering the surveillance cameras inside their prison.
According to lawyers, the inmates of Badr 3 prison have been completely denied visits since they were transferred there months ago, for no apparent reason, while the authorities allowed visits to most of the prisoners of the other two prisons inside the Badr Center for Correction and Rehabilitation.
These conditions create harsh pressures on the prisoners, according to Marianne Sidhom, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal and Social Rights. “Prisoners feel like they are in a mental hospital, and they have to be under observation all the time,” she says.
Marianne criticizes what she describes as the different treatment of prisoners, saying: “Some have the same legal status and are imprisoned in the same place, yet each of them obtains his rights in a different way, each according to his security file, and the security approvals for each individual right, as if the prison is without law and without regulation.” .
“justified” actions
In turn, the Ministry of Interior denied, in two separate statements within a week, what it described as allegations and lies regarding a reform and rehabilitation center, without naming Badr Prison.
The official page of the Ministry of Interior quoted statements attributed to an unnamed security source, during which he denied the validity of what was reported by some channels, which he described as supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which is classified as a terrorist group banned in Egypt, regarding the existence of violations or torture inside one of these centers.
The source indicated that this is a continuation of what he described as the falsification of facts pursued by those in charge of those channels who cooperate with the “terrorist” group in a desperate attempt to win sympathy following losing their credibility among public opinion, according to what was stated in the statement.
The authorities often denied that prisoners were ill-treated. She justified preventing some from visiting due to what she says is related to their security danger.
The former head of the Prisons Authority, Major General Muhammad Najeeb, says that the law grants prisoners two visits per month, but “the extent of the danger of the prisoner determines the form of his visit, or his communication with his family. If he was a dangerous person, he would definitely be prevented from visiting.”
According to Naguib, the prison authorities have the right to prevent some visits, even if the prosecutor allows them, provided that the authorities respond to the prosecution with the reasons for this ban.
The former head of the Prison Service, Major General Muhammad Najeeb, ruled out the occurrence of these practices, saying, “The lights are not turned on 24 hours a day. This is not like Guantanamo prison.”
He also justifies the monitoring of prisons with cameras as a necessary measure, to prevent them from trying to escape.
‘Forbidden health care’
Even if some prisoners did not commit suicide, the lives of a number of them are in danger because they are denied visits, according to their families and lawyers.
Mustafa, for example, who is a pseudonym, says that his father was prevented from performing urgent surgery, despite the approval of the Public Prosecution.
His father spent five years in pretrial detention, in maximum security prisons. According to Mustafa, the period his father spent in Badr was more difficult than his prison experience in other prisons.
The family has not been able to visit the father since he was transferred to Badr Prison last year. Mustafa fears for his father’s life if this situation continues. He adds, “If he does not have this surgery, he may get cancer. His disease may kill him at any time.”
The release of the father is a distant dream for this family, so all they demand is to allow them the right to visit and receive treatment. Mustafa says, “It is inconceivable for him to be denied these rights in the new prison, while he used to get them better in Scorpion Prison.”
The conditions of imprisonment in the high-security Scorpion prison have been described as the worst over the past years, before the authorities closed it and transferred its inmates to new prisons.
Mustafa added, “Sometimes we try to send medicine through the prison authorities, but we are surprised by the prisoner’s complaint that it has not arrived for two months, for example. This means that they are deliberately preventing him from receiving treatment.”
This is not the case of Mustafa’s father alone. Dozens of prisoners do not receive adequate care, according to Marianne Sidhom, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative, who says: “If some face all this intransigence, in addition to being denied visits and many rights over the years, it is very natural that they are attempting suicide, or are at risk of chronic or terminal illnesses.
During the last quarter of last year, independent human rights organizations recorded the deaths of five prisoners in Badr Prison. Marianne considers these incidents worrying, and says: “Most of those who died were on hunger strike for long periods, and their strike was not documented in official papers, or they were sick whose access to medical service was delayed, or their health conditions were not dealt with seriously enough.”
Advanced medical centers
On the other hand, Major General Muhammad Naguib denies the occurrence of these deaths due to negligence, and says: “Prisons are a society like any society, it is normal for a death rate to occur in it. The prosecution also investigates any suspicion of death due to negligence.”
He also denies that some prisoners are denied their right to health care, and says that the Public Prosecution’s decisions in this regard are implemented obligatory.
Najeeb praises what he describes as the high level of medical service provided in prisons, and says that some surgeries are now being performed in prison hospitals, and for free.
It also confirms that prisoners have the right to perform surgeries at their own expense in hospitals outside the prison, subject to the approval of the Public Prosecution.
A new human rights strategy
Over the past months, the authorities have released hundreds of pretrial detainees and pardoned others, as part of what it describes as implementing a new strategy to respect human rights.
The Egyptian Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for managing penal institutions in Egypt, also announced that it is regarding to start the trial operation of a number of other “correction and rehabilitation centers” in some Egyptian cities, as an alternative to a number of existing prisons.
Although these steps are welcome, the government and its opponents agree that more efforts are needed to improve the human rights situation.
Shortly following we met Asmaa, she received a reassuring message from her husband, telling her that his condition had become stable, and that he had been transferred to another of the new prisons, and he was allowed to receive some food from his family periodically, but he remained prohibited from visiting.
As for Mustafa, he is still waiting for any improvement, even a slight one, in his father’s situation.
The situation in Badr 3 prison raises serious concerns regarding the human rights of prisoners in Egypt. Dozens of prisoners have attempted suicide in protest once morest alleged torture and violations, yet the authorities deny these charges. Families of prisoners are desperate to visit their loved ones, who are serving time in the newly established “correction and rehabilitation center.” However, some have been denied visits for no apparent reason, creating harsh pressures on the prisoners. The situation is alarming, and human rights organizations are calling on the authorities to investigate and take action to ensure the safety and well-being of prisoners in Badr 3 and other prisons in Egypt.
