The Committee for Justice has monitored the death of Mostafa Taha, a 36-year-old employee at the Ministry of Supply, who died while in custody at El-Marg Police Station in Cairo Governorate.
According to CFJ, the incident occurred on October 5, 2025, when the station’s warden contacted the detainee’s family by phone, informing them to collect his body. Authorities claimed that Taha was beaten to death by three fellow detainees over a dispute involving money.
In a Facebook post, Taha’s brother stated that his sibling had been detained over a family dispute with his ex-wife, and had already completed the procedures for his release in that case. However, the police refused to release him, citing a separate pending case, until he died on October 5.
Taha’s brother added: “I went to the station and the warden told me that three detainees assaulted him after asking for money. Later, he said my brother died because he stepped on someone sleeping.”
He also mentioned that he was shown surveillance footage from the holding cell, but was not allowed to view the moment of death. He noted that the altercation shown in the footage involved physical assault, but not of a degree that would typically result in death.
Taha’s brother accused El-Marg Police Station officials of negligence, confirming that he had filed a formal complaint and is awaiting the results of the forensic report and prosecutorial investigation into the circumstances of his brother’s death.
CFJ has called for an independent and thorough investigation into the death of Mostafa Taha, accountability for those responsible, and improvements to detention conditions across Egypt’s custodial facilities.
With this case, the number of deaths monitored by CFJ inside Egyptian prisons and detention centers since the beginning of 2025 has risen to 47, following the documentation of 50 deaths throughout 2024.
