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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.
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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.
