The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented an attempted suicide by a political detainee inside Badr 3 Prison, located in the city of Badr northeast of Egypt’s capital Cairo. The detainee attempted to hang himself on Tuesday, April 15th, following abuse by prison authorities.
The prison administration, represented by National Security Officer Marwan Hamad, confiscated personal belongings from political detainee Alaa Jamal (20 years old), from Minya Governorate, banned family visits for extended periods, and prohibited the entry of food and personal items for him.
All these violations against “Jamal” led him to threaten suicide if the ongoing abusive measures continued. In response, the prison administration placed him in solitary confinement, after which he was found hanged inside his cell. He was immediately transferred to Al-Qasr Al-Aini Hospital and remains in critical condition, with the Ministry of Interior tightly concealing details about his health status.
Upon learning of “Jamal’s” attempted suicide, other detainees erupted in anger, with some announcing a full-scale hunger strike to protest what happened to their colleague. Some burned blankets, prompting the prison administration to contact the Prisons Authority to call in rapid response forces to suppress the protesters and stop the strike.
The CFJ strongly condemns the circumstances that drove “Jamal” to attempt suicide. The committee demands an immediate halt to the gross violations against him, calls for independent, transparent, and expedient investigations into the incident, identification and accountability of those responsible, prevention of their impunity, and transparent disclosure of his medical condition along with the publication of the hospital’s report on his status.
The CFJ also denounces the security response to the protests of other detainees inside the prison and affirms its solidarity with them. The committee urges the prison administration to handle the detainees’ actions in accordance with international treaties signed and binding upon Egypt, which affirm the right to protest, and calls on Egyptian authorities to provide detention conditions consistent with international obligations, particularly the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the “Mandela Rules.”
