News briefing
By: Committee for Justice (CFJ)
Geneva: September 11, 2023
The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented two new deaths in custody Egypt in less than 24 hours, as a result of deliberate medical neglect and poor detention conditions.
Death at the Gamasa Prison:
The first case is of political detainee, Ahmed Moselhi Abdel-Bar Al-Najjar (41 years old), who passed away on Wednesday, September 6th, inside his cell at Gamsa Prison in Dakahlia Governorate, due to poor detention conditions and deliberate medical negligence.
Death after forced disappearance in Suez:
Another political detainee named Adel Qassem Ahmed Mustafa, from Suez Governorate, also died after less than a month of detention due to deliberate medical neglect. Mustafa was arrested in August last year and was forcibly disappeared at the National Security headquarters in Suez. He was later interrogated by the State Security Prosecution, and on Thursday, September 7th, he he suffered severe fatigue, after which he was transferred to the prison hospital, where he took his last breath.
Demands for investigations:
CFJ holds the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the Prisons Authority fully responsible for these two deaths and calls for transparent and impartial investigations into the circumstances and causes of the deaths, as well as the identification of those responsible and preventing them from impunity. CFJ also urges the Egyptian authorities to respect and implement international agreements and treaties, including the Nelson Mandela Rules for the protection of persons deprived of their liberty, and relevant international conventions and covenants.
27 deaths in 2023:
With these incidents, the death toll documented by the CFJ in Egyptian detention centers since the beginning of 2023 has risen to 27. The most recent was Sohaib Saad Amara, who died in his cell at Al Wadi Al Gadid (the New Valley) prison located in the heart of Egypt’s Western Desert. He is the son of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and former parliamentarian from Damietta, Dr. Saad Amara. He was one among four detained sons in addition to the former MP father. His body was handed over to the family and buried on August 30.
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.
