42,000 prisoners start hunger strike in Egypt

Some 42,000 Egyptians went on hunger strike inside 76 Egyptian prisons yesterday, Al-Mesryoon newspaper reported.

About 12,000 Egyptian families announced their participation in the action which was called the third wave of hunger strikes to protest the “slow death facing more than 40,000” Egyptians.

Egyptian Revolutionary Council (ERC) described the military authorities, which are ruling Egypt, as the illegal coup power that deteriorated the rights of the Egyptian people. It also said that they regressed on the “Islamic” and “humanitarian” values.

The ERC, which was established by Egyptians in exile, issued a statement today in which they said: “Thousands of prisoners and kidnapped Egyptians have been inside prisons since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. Ninety of them were martyred under torture or because of poor healthcare.”

These prisoners, the statement said, “teach the whole world the meaning of steadfastness, revolution and defiance of oppression in order to achieve dignity and freedom for themselves, their country and their nation.”

In support of the prisoners, the statement said: “Your sacrifices will not go in vain, but it will be the fuel for our steadfastness and revolution.”

ERC called the current Egyptian authorities “fascist” and accused them of “dividing Egyptians and spreading fear, terrorism and dictatorship along the whole country after a revolutionary experience that taught the whole world the meaning of freedom, dignity and glory.”

The Egyptian revolution, ERC said, “almost made applicable the dream of building a constitutional state that respects the rights, freedoms, democracy and authority transition.” However, the “fascists” carried out a coup against this dream, turning it into a “nightmare”.

The Supreme Committee for the Prisons Intifada said in a statement issued yesterday that the third wave of hunger strike is an “escalation measure” that came after two previous waves.

The demands for this wave are: “Stopping politicised trials, immediate release of all prisoners, who have not been tried, stopping all forms of torture and physical and incorporeal violations, affording proper healthcare and a complete halt of violations against minors.”

Since Morsi’s ouster, the statement said, 42,000 Egyptians were arrested, including 60 women who are now in prison and 92 other who died in prison. The number of children now in prisons is 734.