The Prisons’ Authority forced al-Helw to undergo a full external physical examination and inspection of her genitals, conducted by doctors at a general hospital, against her will and without medical grounds, which constitutes a clear assault on her bodily and psychological safety.
Files: Prisons and detention facilities
The EIPR condemns the Interior Ministry for holding al-Kashef in the Tora men’s prison in solitary confinement pending investigation in case no. 1739/2018. Detaining Malak, who is a transwoman, in a male prison facility makes her more vulnerable to physical and psychological violence.
On March 19, 2019, the State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of Malak El Kashef for 15 days pending investigations in case No. 1739/2018. The defendant’s lawyers filed requests to investigate the anal examination ElKashef was subjected to during her detention, which constitutes a flagrant violation of her right to bodily integrity.
8 Mar 2019
The campaign also seeks to destigmatize menstruation and present sanitary products as a basic bodily/health need for women.
The campaign also seeks to destigmatize menstruation and present sanitary products as a basic bodily/health need for women.
25 Sep 2018
Report Summary
Whether in “Aqrab” or Tora Farm, Qanater or Minya prison, there is a need to investigate and address the deepening marketization of prison life: how prisoners’ most basic needs—those that the prison authorities are required to provide by law—are instead sold at exorbitant prices for the sake of the canteen’s profit. The move towards the prison-for-profit mode, by providing prisoners’ basic needs for sale in Egyptian prisons, is the thematic umbrella of this research.
Over the past few years, prison authorities in Egypt has been increasingly selling prisoners’ most basic needs—those that the prison authorities are required to provide by law—at exorbitant prices for the sake of the prisons’ canteen’s profit.
EIPR recommends that all places of detention regulated by the Egyptian Prison authorities guarantee sentenced prisoners’ bimonthly and pretrial detainees weekly right to 60 minute visits—without a glass barrier or any other additional constraints.
The undersigned organizations condemn the use of the Aqrab facility as a place to hold and abuse its inmates, as the prison is known to be a site of collective punishment. Although it was established as a prison for dangerous offenders, numerous people detained in connection with political cases are held in the prison, and it is notorious for its systematic violation of prisoners’ rights and inhumane conditions.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls for the immediate release of Ola Qardawi and her husband Hossam Khalaf and the disclosure of the charges their arrest was premised on.
