Egypt: E-Campaign for Families of Detainees in Scorpion Prison to Expose Their Suffering

Today, Monday, families of detainees of the Scorpion prison in Cairo launched a campaign on social media to save their families and publicise the violations they are subjected to inside the prison. The campaign comes days after the death of former parliamentarian Hamdi Hassan in the same prison, after 8-years of detention.

The Association of Families of Scorpion Prison Detainees added that the death of former parliamentarian Hamdi Hassan in his prison cell in Scorpion Prison in Cairo, 3 days ago, shocked the families, and they called for the fulfilment of 7 demands; These are the right to visit, daily exercise, study, entry of books and papers, entry of food from families, the right to send and receive messages, the right to receive the necessary medical care, and access to appropriate blankets and clothing.

The campaign was initiated by the Association of Families of Scorpion Prison Detainees, which demanded the application of prison law, which includes the right to visit, daily exercise, receiving the necessary medical care, and receiving appropriate clothing and blankets from their families.

Hundreds are languishing inside the notorious “Scorpion Prison”, and dozens have been infected with the Corona virus over the past 10 days, however, the authorities refrained from providing them with health care.

Sarah Saqr, daughter of one of the detainees in Scorpion Prison, tweeted, “The prison organisation law rejects solitary confinement except for a month as a punishment, and for the prisoner not to be over sixty years old. My father is 61-year-old, and he spent 8 years in Solitary confinement, and he has been denied visitations for 5 years.

Duaa Sobhi, daughter of another detainee tweeted: “The detainees of Scorpion Prison are infected with Coronavirus, there is no treatment, no blankets or heavy clothes, sleeping on the floor, no visits for 5 for years, and we have the right to check on them.”

In our organisation, we call on the Egyptian authorities to release all political detainees, close the file of political detention, stop torturing the current detainees, and abide by international laws. We also call on the international community to pressure the Egyptian government to release the detainees and not expose them to further humiliation and ill-treatment.