Press Release
Written by: CFJ
Geneva, August 31, 2023
The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented a new death case of a political detainee inside Egyptian detention centers: 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.
CFJ clarified that Sohaib 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.
Sohaib was arrested on August 17, 2013, from Al-Fath Mosque in Ramses, downtown Cairo, and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years of probation. Notably, his sentence had concluded a few days prior without his subsequent release.
Calls for Investigation and Transparency:
The CFJ urges the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the Prisons Service to investigate the circumstances of the death, and to release a forensic report detailing the cause of death, especially given the lack of available information.
CFJ also appeals to Egyptian authorities to better the prison conditions of detainees, especially the political ones subjected to violations and deprived of their basic human rights due to their opposition to the current regime. CFJ also emphasizes the necessity to comply with the Nelson Mandela Rules to safeguard those deprived of freedom, as well as the international treaties Egypt is a signatory to.
25 Deaths in 2023:
This death raises the number of cases documented by CFJ since the start of 2023 inside Egyptian detention centers to 25. The most recent one was of a citizen named Mahmoud Abd al-Rahim,, sentenced to three years in prison in case 345/135 of 2014, known as the “Ismailia Courts Complex” case, in the Gamasa maximum security prison, in the Dakahlia Governorate.
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.