The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to conduct an immediate inspection of the 10th of Ramadan prison 6, speak to the detainees and prisoners in the facility and investigate their complaints. The Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP), the First Terrorism Circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court, and the prison authority refused to listen to the detainees or document their complaints during  detention renewal sessions held last week. EIPR learned that a number of detainees went on a hunger strike, while others refused to receive the meals disbursed to them by the prison administration, in protest against the continued pretrial detention of a number of them without legal basis or justification, in addition to the deterioration of their detention conditions, in violation of the Prisons Organization Law No. 396 of 1956.

According to testimonies received by EIPR, a number of detainees at the prison informed their families that they began a hunger strike on 4 January, while others began to join them gradually. Most recently, a number of elderly and sick detainees joined the strike on 9 January, while others announced on 11 January their refusal to receive the meals distributed to them. They demanded legitimate rights guaranteed by the constitution and the law, including:

1. Releasing those who have been in pretrial detention for more than six months

2. Reinstating the 60-minute-long visits, which were reduced during the pandemic and never restored, in accordance with the prison regulations

3. Conducting prisoner searches in a humane and non-humiliating manner before and after visits

4. Allowing the prisoners to go out daily to exercise in the sun

5. Dismissing the National Security officer appointed in the prison

6. Allowing inmates to watch a news TV channel in their cells

7. Improving the quality of food distributed to the inmates

During a hearing to consider the renewal of remand detention of the defendants before the First Anti-terrorism Circuit at the criminal court, held at the Badr Court via video conference on 8 January; a number of those detained in the 10th of Ramadan prison 6 refused to attend.  Others turned their backs to the camera, in protest against the continued renewal of their detention in connection with political cases without legal basis or justification. Judge Gharib Mohamed, a member of the judiciary panel, refused to record the incident or investigate the reasons for the detainees' refusal to attend the session, which ended with the renewal of the detention of all the defendants involved, whether they attended the hearing or not.

During another session held via videoconference on the same day before the State Security Prosecution, which is in charge of renewing the detention of hundreds of defendants who have been detained for less than 150 days, one of the detainees (a 67 years old man) held in the 10th of Ramadan prison informed prosecutor Mohamed Awad of his intention to go on hunger strike starting from 9 January, in protest against his detention without legal basis, as well as the poor conditions of detention.

The families of some detainees in the 10th of Ramadan prison 6 told EIPR that their relatives complained about the short duration of the visits, which typically last for 20 minutes only. They also complained that detainees are allowed one visit per month, in violation of the Prisons Organization Law, which provides for an hour-long visit once a week for pretrial detainees and twice a month for convicted inmates. Detainees also told their families that they were subjected to humiliating searches before and after the visits under the watch of the prison's National Security officer, who insists on preventing some detainees from handing their families written letters. Detainees further complained about the reduction of the duration of exercise, as they remain inside their cells for 23 hours a day, and that they are deprived of exposure to the sun, in addition to the poor quality and inadequacy of the food provided by the prison administration. A number of detainees also complained about the lack of hot water in the prison, and that the prison administration bans them most of the time from bringing tools such as water kettles or food containers from outside, claiming that they can be purchased from the prison at the prescribed prices, which are often significantly higher than the market price.

EIPR had previously published a study titled “For sale in the prison canteen” on the commodification of prison life, documenting how the various older prison administrations, especially that of Tora maximum security prison, made significant profits by exploiting the needs of detainees and forcing them to buy basic items at exorbitant prices, which depleted their families financial resources. This practice continues to exist through arbitrary restrictions on visits for detainees, and forcing them to buy from the prison canteens in the newly built “correctional and rehabilitation centres” which were promoted as being improved places of detention devoid of such violations.

EIPR had previously submitted a number of requests to the Ministry of Interior’s Community Protection Sector to provide healthcare to a number of its clients detained in the same prison who exceeded the legal maximum limit for pretrial detention, but it received no response.

EIPR recalls Article 56 of the constitution, which stipulates that prisons and detention facilities shall be subject to judicial oversight, and that any practice violating human dignity in prison is forbidden. It also recalls Article 42 of the Criminal Procedures Law, which provides that public prosecutors and the presiding and deputy judges of courts of first instance or courts of appeal may visit prisons within their jurisdictions to ensure that no one is being held illegally, and communicate with prisoners to hear their complaints. EIPR also recalls Article 1747 of the general guidelines for prosecution offices, which stipulates that prosecutors, chief prosecutors presiding over prosecutorial districts and their deputies shall inspect public prisons within their respective jurisdictions.  It also stipulates that the heads or directors of sub-district prosecutions shall inspect the central prison facilities and affiliated places of detention at least once a month without advance notification. Since the incumbent Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky took office 16 months ago, the prosecution has not announced a single visit to the 10th of Ramadan prison 6. It has announced inspection  visits to only two – out of six – prisons in the 10th of Ramadan complex, namely the "Correctional and rehabilitation center" for women in October 2023 and prison 3 in October 2024.

EIPR expresses its deep concern about the detainees in the 10th of Ramadan prison 6 and holds the Ministry of Interior fully responsible for their health and safety. It calls on the Community Protection Sector (formerly the Prisons Authority) not to transfer them to other prisons, as had happened previously to other detainees who complained or resorted to striking to demand their legal rights. EIPR also calls on Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik to intervene and enforce the law, record the detainees' strike, and respond to their legitimate demands.