At least eight detainees have died in Egyptian prisons since the start of this year, rights group say [Getty]
An Egyptian political prisoner, 65-year-old Nabil Farfour, died in his prison cell due to alleged medical negligence, human rights organisations including the Shehab Centre for Human Rights reported on Saturday.
The death of Farfour, who worked as an agricultural engineer in Beheira before his imprisonment, marked the eighth political prisoner to die in the country as a result of medical negligence in the space of two months, The New Arab’s Arabic language sister publication, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in case number 257 by the Alexandria Military, various reports stated.
The Shehab Centre confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Farfour died on 27 February after his health deteriorated in prison.
The statement added that he was arrested around two months ago after leaving the mosque for prayers at midday, with security forces stopping him and asking him to accompany them.
The rights group further added his request to bring his medication with him was denied, causing his health to worsen behind bars, eventually leading to a stroke.
“What he was subjected to constitutes a slow killing as a result of deliberate medical negligence,” the group said, demanding an “independent investigation into the circumstances of his death,” and calling for the release of other sick detainees.
Farfour is the third political prisoner to die in Egyptian detention centres since February, while rights groups state they have recorded over 50 deaths in prisons last year, due to medical negligence and poor conditions.
Many rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns over Egyptian authorities subjecting detainees to inhumane conditions and denying them health care.
Amnesty International said that prison authorities have contributed to deaths in custody and done irreparable harm to prisoners’ health.
This comes as Laila Soueif, the mother of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd al-Fattah, was hospitalised last week after taking part in a hunger strike for over 130 days to raise the alarm over his imprisonment.
A coalition of 25 organisations including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders penned a letter to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy last week, calling on him to urge for the release of Abd al-Fattah.
In 2023, Human Rights Watch called on Egyptian authorities to be transparent with figures regarding the number of people detained amid a widespread crackdown on dissent.
“Lack of transparent figures on the prison population deprives civil society from fundamental tools to assess the effectiveness of the penal system and monitor prison conditions and other vital human rights issues,” Amr Magdi, the organisation’s senior Middle East and North Africa researcher said.
In 2022, local and international human rights groups estimated that Egypt has been holding as many as 60,000 political prisoners and detainees behind bars since president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took office.
