Media release
By: Committee for Justice
Geneva: January 14, 2024
The Committee for Justice has documented the fourth death since the beginning of 2024, inside detention facilities and prisons in Egypt, of a young man detained in connection with a political case since 2019 in “Badr 1” prison.
– Struggle with cancer and medical neglect:
CFJ reported the death of Taha Ahmed Haiba (32 years old) from the village of Ramle, in Banha, Qalyubia Governorate, after he passed away after a struggle with the disease, on Friday, January 12, 2024.
“Heiba” contracted cancer while in detention. The prison administration was unable to provide him with appropriate treatment due to his lack of availability at the Badr Prison Complex Hospital, which led to a severe deterioration in his health condition in recent months amid efforts by his family to release him by submitting petitions and appeals to the Egyptian authorities. However, there was little response until his death.
– Immediate cessation of the policy of deliberate medical neglect:
CFJ holds the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the IPS fully responsible for the death and calls for transparent and impartial investigations into their circumstances, identifying those responsible for the medical negligence that led to the detainee’s death.
CFJ also calls on the Egyptian authorities to respect and implement international conventions and treaties, the most important of which is the “Mandela Rules” for protecting persons deprived of liberty and The international covenants signed in this regard and to stop the policy of deliberate health negligence against political detainees inside detention facilities and prisons, calling on the authorities to stop ignoring the demand to improve the standard of living of detainees in their custody and to apply alternatives to pretrial detention to the elderly and sick or release them.
– 4 deaths in 2024:
With the above case, the number of deaths documented by CFJ within Egyptian prisons and detention facilities since the beginning of 2023 has risen to 4 cases. The most recent case was of lawyer Mohamed El-Sherbiny Ali Al-Sayed (58 years old), who was declared dead on Saturday, January 6, 2024, inside the Badr Prison Complex Hospital, to which he was transferred for an atomic survey due to his infection with several diseases inside his prison, including some tumors.
Accurate information about death cases during detention in Egypt can be obtained through the Justice Watch Archive service provided by CFJ, which contains information about more than 14,000 victims and over 30,000 violations. It also monitors violations inside more than 500 places of detention in Egypt.
