News briefing
By: CFJ
Geneva: June 15, 2023
The Committee for Justice’s monitoring team has reported a new death case of a detainee inside a detention center in Egypt . The deceased political prisoner Mustafa Helwa (43 years old), fell down from high stairs, Wadi Al Natroun prison, hit his head and died as soon as he arrived at the intensive care unit at the University Hospital in Alexandria on June 12.
According to CFJ, the deceased detainee, Helwa (43 years old), is from Bahtim district, in Shubra Al-Khaima in Al-Qalyubia Governorate, a father of three children, and he had been sentenced to life imprisonment since 2015.
15th death in 2023:
With Helwa’s death, the number of deaths in custody in Egypt, as documented by CFJ, since the beginning of 2023, has risen to 15 cases, the latest of which was the case of the former deputy in the Shura Council, Khaled Sayed Naji, who died in in Al-Minya prison; due to medical neglect and poor prison conditions.
Demands for an investigation:
CFJ holds the Egyptian authorities, specifically the Ministry of Interior and the Prisons Authority, responsible for these death cases. The organisation demands a transparent, effective, and impartial investigation into the incident, identifying those responsible and holding them accountable with appropriate punishment.
CFJ also urges the Egyptian authorities to adhere to international standards regarding detention conditions, ensuring immediate and regular access to any medical assistance the detainees may require.
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.
