Latest news with #CFJ
Middle East Eye
15-07-2025
- Middle East Eye
Egypt: Fifteen detainees attempt suicide within two weeks at notorious prison
Rights groups have reported a spike in suicide attempts by detainees at Egypt's notorious Badr 3 prison complex. The complex is renowned for its rights violations against detainees, with prisoners subjected to solitary confinement and denied visits and medical treatment, prompting detainees to launch a hunger strike in June last year. But in recent weeks, rights monitor Committee For Justice (CFJ) warned that the situation has "deteriorated dangerously,' with 15 prisoners attempting suicide in just two weeks. On 4 July alone, three detainees attempted suicide, including a doctor who tried to take his life in front of surveillance cameras, but was stopped at the last minute. The CFJ also reported that some prisoners had raised their suicide attempts in court and even attempted to kill themselves in court, and had been met with indifference by the presiding judge. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters On 12 July, a detainee who was facing life imprisonment tried to kill himself inside the courtroom cage during a pleading session. 'The court did not react when it saw the detainee bleeding inside the cage,' Usame Mehmetoglu, UN and Regional Communications Officer at the Committee for Justice, told Middle East Eye. 'Those present made primitive attempts to stop the bleeding without any immediate medical intervention'. They added that the presiding judge Hamada El-Sawy simply rescheduled the trial, issuing no order to transfer the detainee to a hospital or to investigate the incident. 'It was as if the incident were merely a passing scene in a routine hearing and not a glaring alarm signaling a grave humanitarian and legal disaster,' Mehmetoglu said. On 5 July, several detainees attempted to inform the Criminal Court of their suicide attempts, but according to CFJ, the court 'refused to listen, in a manner that flagrantly contradicts its legal and constitutional responsibilities'. A systematic policy CFJ emphasised that the suicides are not isolated incidents but the result of a 'systematic policy to dehumanise and psychologically and physically break detainees'. While abuse and rights violations of detainees are rife across the Egyptian prison system, Badr prison has seen successive waves of hunger strikes by prisoners over its poor conditions and escalating abuses. Rights groups have documented a slew of prisoner deaths and suicide attempts at the facility, detailing abuses such as visitation bans, 24-hour exposure to fluorescent lights, medical negligence and torture, including by electrocution and being chained to walls. In May 2024, the prison suffered an eight-day-long power outage, knocking out ventilation systems amid soaring temperatures. Egypt prison deaths a 'warning sign' as conditions deteriorate sharply Read More » In April MEE reported that at least 13 detainees had died in Egyptian prisons in 2025 - most of them were held at Badr. According to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) "medical negligence" is cited as the cause of death in the majority of cases. The group notes that 86 percent of the detainees who died this year were political prisoners. Since then, the situation seems to have only worsened, with several political detainees launching a fresh hunger strike in June over rapidly deteriorating conditions. The CFJ reported 'an increase in fainting episodes and diabetic comas' among detainees, who tend to be older and more vulnerable given the lack of medical care. Ten full years of isolation Mehmetoglu explained that the situation is particularly dire at Badr, as many of the detainees are former leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, some of them former ministers, members of parliament and advisors to former President Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed in 2013 by the military coup that swept current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power. Ahmed Amin's father is a Badr prison detainee who has spent the last decade in solitary confinement. Amin Elserafy served as former President Mohamed Morsi's secretary and was arrested alongside him on 3 July 2013, and sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of espionage for Qatar, despite the court finding him not guilty. He has been held at Badr prison for three years - before that, he was detained at the high-security Al-Aqrab, "Scorpion" prison. Amin described his father's cell as 'a narrow, dark space with no sunlight, no fresh air, and completely lacking the basic conditions for a dignified life'. He has not seen his father for ten years or even heard his voice, as Elsafry has been denied visitation rights and any communication with the outside world. He had managed to see him four times during the early period of his detention, but since then all communication has been completely barred. Egypt: Six detainees die in one week at detention centre Read More » Even during court sessions, he said that he was placed in a soundproof glass cage 'to prevent anyone from hearing his voice'. 'We know nothing about him except for the news that appears on television screens or on social media. Ten full years of isolation,' Amin told MEE. Amin said his father had once objected to his treatment, but was beaten by the prison authorities, leaving him with wounds and fractures. 'Instead of being taken to a hospital for urgent treatment, he was transferred to a disciplinary cell - while still injured and bleeding. He was left to suffer alone, without medical care, and without being seen by a doctor,' Amin said.
Gulf Today
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Unjust retaliation
The Trump administration could declare a US travel ban on widely acclaimed rights lawyer Amal Clooney for her role in advising the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor who issued arrest warrants against Israeli leaders. The warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were made public in November 2024 after the US imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutor Karim Khan. Donald Trump warned at that time he could instigate measures against 'those responsible' for building the case. In a May 2024 statement published on the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) website, Clooney said she served on the panel recommending the warrants 'because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives.' She added, 'As a human rights lawyer, I will never accept that one child's life has less value than another's.' In 2016, she and her husband, US actor George Clooney, co-founded the CFJ which provides legal support for victims of abuse and injustice and 'fight systematic injustice against vulnerable communities,' such as journalists, women and girls, democracy defenders, individual dissenters and monitories. Since its establishment, the CFJ has expanded its reach to 40 countries, representing victims in court cases, getting journalists out of prison, triggering trials of genocide perpetrators, and helping girls to access school and jobs when under pressure to marry. The potential threat against Amal Clooney coincided with George Clooney's Broadway production of 'Good Night and Good Luck.' The play is a historical drama about CBS television journalist Edward R. Murrow who, in the 1950's, battled Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign against people he accused of being Communists or Communist sympathisers. By compelling accused persons to defend themselves in Senate hearings, McCarthy caused many to lose their jobs and others to flee the US. When Murrow exposed his terror tactics and lies, McCarthy accused Murrow of being a Communist. After Murrow denied the charge and one of the accused committed suicide, the tide turned against McCarthy. The Broadway play, an adaptation of a 2005 film written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, coincides with Trump's crusade against liberal media and educational institutions, especially Harvard University, the oldest and most prestigious in the US. Amal Alamuddin Clooney is a British citizen of Lebanese descent. Her father is a Druze businessman from the village of Baakleen in the Chouf mountains overlooking Beirut and her mother a Sunni rights activist from Tripoli. The family emigrated to London during the Lebanese civil war (1975-90) when Amal was two. She attended St. Hugh's College, Oxford, and graduated in 2000 with a degree in jurisprudence. She proceeded to the New York School of Law where she received a Master of Laws degree. She is qualified to practice law in England, Wales, and the US. After clerking for high profile US judges and engaging in key cases, she became involved in prosecutions for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon trying suspects for the 2005 assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. As well as Khan, Trump has imposed sanctions on four ICC female judges investigating possible war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan and Israel in occupied Palestine. ICC Second Vice-President Reine Alapini-Gansou (Benin), Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda), Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza (Peru) and Beti Hohler (Slovenia) have been targeted. The European Union promptly extended bloc support for the ICC, calling it 'a cornerstone of international justice whose independence and integrity must be protected.' In a post on X, European Council President Antonio Costa wrote: 'The ICC does not stand against nations, it stands against impunity. The rule of law most prevail over the rule of power.' The governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Slovenia have denounced the sanctions as an effort to halt the work of the ICC. Neither the US nor Israel are signatories of the 2002 Rome Statute which established the ICC which has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. As non-signatories, the US and Israel argue they cannot be compelled to submit to ICC jurisdiction. However, their citizens can be prosecuted of they commit crimes in countries – such as Afghanistan and Palestine – which have joined the Rome Statute. While the International Court of Justice deals with crimes committed by states, the ICC investigates and prosecutes war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by individuals if their home countries fail to deal with accountability. The US argues that joining the ICC would undermine US sovereignty, infringe on national security and the independent of the government and target US personnel for political reasons. The latest round of sanctions is nothing new. In April 2019, the US revoked the US visa of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a prominent Gambian lawyer, who prepared to investigate possible war crimes committed by US servicemen during the war in Afghanistan. After the investigation began, Trump authorised the imposition of sanctions against her and Phakiso Mochochoko who served as head of the court's jurisdiction division. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged the ICC with being a 'kangaroo court.' Shortly after taking office in 2021, US President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions against ICC personnel although Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed Washington's objection to ICC efforts to assert jurisdiction of citizens of non-ICC members such as the US and Israel. As usual, 'double standards' have come into play. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Biden welcomed the ICC arrest warrant issued for President Vladimir Putin on charges of transporting Russian children into Russia from Ukraine. However, once the ICC began considering warrants over Gaza for Netanyahu and Gallant, Biden – a fervent Zionist – denounced the ICC's action as 'outrageous' and vowed 'ironclad' backing for Israel. Photo: TNS
Middle East Eye
22-04-2025
- Middle East Eye
Egypt prison deaths a 'warning sign' as conditions deteriorate sharply
At least a dozen detainees have died in Egyptian prisons this year amid deteriorating conditions, rights groups have reported. According to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), 13 people have died in prison due to medical negligence, ill treatment and suicide in the first few months of 2025, while the Committee for Justice (CFJ) puts the number at 11. Rights activists and journalists have reported that four detainees have died due to medical negligence, while two other men - a detainee and a former detainee - attempted suicide in April alone. Most of them were being held at Badr 3 prison near Cairo, a facility that has become notorious for its prisoner abuses. On 12 April, 26-year-old detainee Mahmoud Asaad died in custody at al-Khalifa Police Station in Cairo, days after his arrest. A relative reported that the police initially denied his death, but then claimed he had died due to injuries sustained in a fight with other detainees. The relative added that video recordings of Asaad's body revealed visible signs of torture. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The authorities instructed the family to promptly collect his body, but they refused, demanding an autopsy. According to Asaad's mother, he was placed in solitary confinement and denied food and family visits due to his alleged involvement in the fight. His death shortly followed that of Mohamed Hassan Hilal on 8 April. A 33-year-old engineering student, Hilal, died in custody at Badr 3 prison after suffering a fatal brain haemorrhage reportedly due to medical negligence. 'Even if it's one person who died because of struggling to access the right medicine and treatment, it's a crime' - Ahmed Attar, Egyptian Network for Human Rights According to Egyptian journalist Mosad Al-Barbary, Hilal arrived at the intensive care unit at Qasr al-Aini hospital in Cairo 'unconscious and in critical condition'. Medical reports stated that he had suffered a fractured skull and underwent brain surgery to stop the bleeding. Hilal's relatives said that, despite his condition, he remained shackled to the hospital bed. CFJ reported that Hilal's injuries are 'suspected to have resulted from severe torture or systematic physical assault'. However, according to Barbary, sources familiar with Hilal's case said that while there is no evidence of torture or assault during Hilal's detention, he had been subjected to 'severe psychological distress'. Prior to his transfer to the hospital, Hilal reportedly suffered a severe headache, believed to be linked to a spike in blood pressure. A warning sign CFJ documented the death of another Badr 3 detainee, Yasser Mohamed el-Kheshab, on 11 April. Kheshab reportedly died while undergoing open heart surgery at the prison hospital. According to Ahmed Attar, director of the Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR), the exact causes of detainee deaths are hard to determine. 'We can't always tell if it's medical negligence. But even if it's one person who died because of struggling to access the right medicine and treatment, it's a crime,' Attar told Middle East Eye. What's clear, Attar said, is that detention conditions across Egyptian prisons are sharply deteriorating. He explained, too, that as prison populations age and are systematically denied treatment, the situation is set to worsen. Dissidents shocked after EU labels Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia 'safe countries' Read More » Ahmed Attalla, director of the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, told MEE: "Especially for detainees who are in their 60s or 70s, they don't get enough medical treatment to live long lives.' Rights groups have documented surging abuses in Egyptian prisons since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power in 2014. While official figures are cloaked in secrecy, under Sisi, Egypt's prison population is estimated to have swelled to around 120,000 as of 2022, despite the prison system's capacity being at 55,000 in 2020. The surge has resulted in dangerous overcrowding, crumbling infrastructure and further exacerbated poor detention conditions. Campaigners say that the latest spate of detainee deaths stands as a 'warning sign indicating the deepening rights crisis in the country' and evidence of the systematic nature of detainee abuse. According to ECRF, "medical negligence" is cited as the cause of death in the majority of cases. The group notes that 86 percent of the detainees who died this year were political prisoners. 'Psychologically devastated' In addition to the deaths, two young men - a detainee and a former detainee - attempted suicide in recent weeks. On 9 April, recently released prisoner Sameh Saudi was hospitalised after slashing his wrists in a live stream online. Egyptian rights activist and journalist Haytham Abokhalil reported that Saudi was 'psychologically devastated' following his release. At Badr 3, shortly after Hilal's death, 29-year-old Alaa Gamal was found hanging in his cell. According to El Shehab Center for Human Rights (SHR), Gamal, who had been serving a 15-year sentence, was subjected to 'abuse, a ban on visits and the confiscation of his belongings' prior to the suicide attempt. Egypt: EU overlooked rights violations to speed up €1bn payment, say activists Read More » The rights group said that Gamal had recently been granted a long-awaited visit from his family, but a state security officer, identified as Marwan Hammad, did not let his family members come in with the items that they had brought. After threatening to take his own life in protest, Gamal was placed in solitary confinement. He was later found hanging in his cell on 14 April. Sources familiar with the case told MEE that Gamal survived and is currently receiving treatment in a hospital. MEE understands that detainees at Badr 3 launched a partial hunger strike at the beginning of April to protest visitation bans. However, following Hilal's death and Gamal's suicide attempt, they escalated to a full hunger strike, with some disabling surveillance cameras and igniting fires inside their cells. In a statement, the SHR highlighted 'the significant increase in violations at the Badr 3 Prison' and a corresponding 'spike' in detainee deaths. Waves of hunger strikes The Badr prison complex, which was opened in 2021 and touted by Sisi as evidence of Egypt's prison reform, has seen successive waves of hunger strikes by detainees over its poor conditions and escalating abuses. Rights groups have documented a slew of prisoner deaths and suicide attempts at the facility, detailing abuses such as visitation bans, 24-hour exposure to fluorescent lights, medical negligence and torture, including by electrocution and being chained to walls. In May 2024, the prison suffered an eight-day-long power outage, knocking out ventilation systems amid soaring temperatures. Egypt: Harsh prison life pushes inmates' wives to divorce husbands in despair Read More » Throughout the blackout, surveillance cameras continued to operate and prisoners continued to be exposed to round-the-clock fluorescent lighting. When detainees responded with a hunger strike, prison authorities carried out the forced transfer of around 50 prisoners who participated in the strike. Those who remained were handcuffed whenever they left their cells and subjected to increased cell inspections and night searches. On 9 July, a detainee attempted suicide during a visit from his mother after the prison authorities rejected his request to allow her to bring his books for his medical exams. His mother died two days later. 'Safe country of origin' For one researcher at ENHR, who could not be named for security reasons, medical negligence in Egypt's prisons stems from a systematic contempt by the authorities towards political prisoners. "When it comes to medical issues, if you are a patient suffering from serious medical conditions, no one cares. You deserve it because you're a criminal," they said. "Since mid-2024, we have seen a rise in detention, overcrowding, poor detainee health and serious violence inside police stations and detention centres," Sara Hamza, legal researcher and data manager at ECRF, told MEE. In recent months, Egypt has enjoyed reduced international scrutiny over its rights abuses due to its role in Israel's war on Gaza and its strategic importance in the region for the US and the EU. 'Since [President Donald] Trump came to power, there have been no questions from the US regarding human rights,' Attalla said. 'There are no statements that make any mention of human rights'. On Wednesday, the European Commission issued new guidelines, which listed Egypt alongside six other 'safe countries of origin'. Egypt signs $8bn deal with EU to stem immigration from North Africa Read More » In January this year, the EU signed off on a payment of €1bn ($8.6bn) to Cairo - part of an unprecedented payout of €7.5bn - intended to boost Egypt's struggling economy and stymie migration to Europe. The aid package was based on an assessment conducted last October, which found that Cairo had taken 'credible steps' to address human rights violations relating to pre-trial detention and criminal procedures law. However, rights activists said the assessment was 'deliberately misleading' and that the EU made 'one concession after another' to expedite the payment in its bid to curb migration. 'We shouldn't expect to see change,' Attalla said. 'People are getting older and older, and with negligence and mistreatment, maybe the numbers of deaths will increase.'
