Article 55 Coalition organizations have reported that within Badr 3 prison in Egypt, the most heinous forms of abuse and human rights violations are being committed against political detainees. These detainees have suffered for years from deadly isolation and inhumane detention conditions, including denial of visits, outdoor exercise, medical treatment, and human contact — with some individuals enduring complete solitary confinement for over a decade.
The situation has recently deteriorated dangerously, with 15 suicide attempts recorded in less than two weeks, including three incidents on July 4th, 2024. On that day, Dr. Abdel Rahim Mohamed, a cardiologist, attempted to slit his throat in front of surveillance cameras. Reda Abu El Geith attempted to cut his veins using his teeth, while internationally renowned economist Dr. Abdullah Sha3bata attempted to hang himself. These are not isolated cases; they represent a collective cry for help from inside a prison that has become a furnace consuming life and dignity.
Badr 3 prison is located in a remote area within the Badr prison complex east of Giza Governorate. It is considered one of the most isolated and brutal detention centers in the country. The prison consists of extremely narrow cells devoid of even the most basic standards of humane living. They lack any conditions suitable for dignified human existence. This facility was never designed for ordinary detention; rather, it serves as a place where detainees are punished merely for existing. Inmates are completely cut off from the outside world—no visits, no communication, and not even exposure to sunlight or fresh air.
In Egypt’s security landscape, the function of Badr 3 prison is not merely to detain political prisoners, but to subject them to a systematic punitive regime aimed at breaking their wills. Detainees are denied visits, recreation, education, and even adequate medical care, despite the fact that most suffer from chronic illnesses and many are over the age of 65. Under these conditions, the prison has become a trap of slow death, where diseases turn into silent death sentences, and suicide attempts become the only means of expressing pain and resistance.
Since June 20, 2024, several political detainees at Badr 3 prison have been engaged in an open-ended hunger strike protesting ongoing isolation and deprivation, and rejecting authorities’ disregard for their fundamental human demands, including access to outdoor exercise, family visits, necessary medical care, and an end to deliberate neglect by prison administration.
Among the most prominent hunger strikers are: Dr. Mohamed El Beltagy, Dr. Abdel Rahman Al Bar, lawyer Osama Morsi, former minister Khaled El Azhary, Professor Amin El Seifawi, engineer Essad Al Sheikhha, Professor Yaser Enbar, engineer Amr Zaki, and Professor Sobhi Saleh. Their main demands include ending psychological and physical torture, improving detention conditions, and respecting human rights.
Amid the hunger strike, there has been an increase in fainting episodes and diabetic comas among detainees, especially given their advanced ages, weakened immunity, food shortages, lack of medication, and absence of real medical intervention. During a controversial court session held on Saturday, July 5, 2024, before Judge Mohamed El Sayed El Sherbiny in case number 2121/2021, some detainees, such as Professor Khaled El Azhary and Dr. Hassan Al Brins, requested that their health conditions be documented through blood pressure and sugar level tests. However, the judge ignored these requests and insisted on renewing detention orders without considering the alarming health conditions—a stance that reflects the judiciary’s indifference to the suffering of these detainees.
Likewise, the prison administration, led by National Security Officer Marwan Hamad, has shown no empathy toward the detainees’ demands or suffering. Instead, officials responded to protests with mockery and indifference, claiming “no one remembers or cares about them outside prison.” This official rhetoric reflects a systematic policy adopted by Egyptian authorities towards political detainees, particularly in places like Badr 3 prison, where they are treated as if they are outside history and memory.
The Article 55 Coalition believes that, given all these recurring reports of atrocities and violations, Badr 3 prison is no longer just a detention site—it has become a center of continuous abuses amounting to crimes against humanity. These include psychological torture, deliberate medical neglect, lethal isolation, and total denial of basic human rights. All these practices contradict provisions of the Egyptian Constitution and international treaties ratified by Egypt, particularly the Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other agreements protecting human rights in detention facilities.
The organizations stress that local and international silence in the face of what is happening in Badr 3 prison is not simply negligence—it constitutes indirect encouragement for the continuation of these abuses, and possibly an implicit directive to continue the punitive policies. The coalition warns that allowing this situation to persist could lead to a major humanitarian disaster, whether through the death of a detainee due to medical neglect or through mass suicide attempts—an outcome that may be imminent if international and global indifference continues.
Accordingly, the Article 55 Coalition strongly condemns the systematic violations committed by Egyptian authorities against political detainees at Badr 3 prison, holding them fully responsible for the detainees’ lives, physical integrity, and mental well-being. The coalition calls upon domestic authorities—including the Ministry of Interior, National Security Agency, and the Office of the Public Prosecutor—to launch an immediate and independent investigation into detention conditions inside the prison, transfer sick detainees to civilian hospitals, allow immediate and regular family visits, provide appropriate medical care, and put an end to the deadly policy of isolation.
The coalition also urgently appeals to international and UN mechanisms to take immediate action and exert pressure on Egyptian authorities to stop the ongoing violations inside Badr 3 prison, visit the detainees immediately, and investigate the documented serious abuses. A world that speaks about democracy and human rights cannot remain silent in the face of what is happening in Egyptian prisons, nor can political detainees be left to die silently behind bars.
For more information: https: https://www.facebook.com/Article55egypt
Coalition Organizations:
(The Committee for Justice (CFJ) – Al-Shehab for Human Rights – Egyptian Network for Human Rights – Jawar– Najda for Human Rights)