clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Over 1,000 rights violations in Egypt in 2019, says NGO

July 18, 2019 at 12:18 pm

Relatives of those in prison speak through the bars in a court in Cairo on 9 August 2015 [Stringer/Apaimages]

More than 1,000 human rights violations have taken place in Egypt since the start of 2019, according to the Cairo-based NGO El-Nadeem.

In total El-Nadeem recorded 283 cases of individual torture, 30 deaths in custody and 111 people who have been subject to medical negligence.

The issue of medical negligence in Egyptian prisons has gained traction in recent months after former President Mohamed Morsi collapsed and died during a court session after being held in solitary confinement for years and being denied medical care for diabetes, heart and liver disease.

Two weeks later former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh suffered a double heart attack in prison which prompted his son to accuse the government of “killing” his father.

READ: Price of prison visits in Egypt goes up 500%

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights says that over 700 Egyptian prisoners have died as a result of medical negligence since 2011.

According to El-Nadeem’s report, 492 people have been forcibly disappeared by the regime since the beginning of this year. The Committee for Justice has said that between August 2017 and August 2018 1,989 cases of enforced disappearance were recorded in Egypt.

As a result of state violence, 152 people have been killed, says El-Nadeem. The Arab Organisation for Human Rights estimates that roughly 3,185 civilians have been killed extrajudicially by Egyptian security forces since July 2013.

The figures have been released amid a push by human rights experts and lawyers for the international community to condemn the Egyptian government for human rights abuses and place diplomatic and economic sanctions on the country if they continue.

The Egyptian government continues to deny that abuses take place and has recently launched a portal to promote a correct understanding of human rights.

READ: Amnesty calls for action to stop Egypt crushing opposition