Human rights organizations demanded the Egyptian government to immediately release all prisoners while taking all precautionary measures in accordance with the law, for fear of spreading the Corona virus between them.
In a joint statement today, Friday, human rights organizations demanded the speedy release of detainees in pretrial detention, the application of the rules for conditional release to the convicts, without excluding specific cases, the implementation of the principle of equality, and serious consideration of the conditions of sick women inside Egyptian prisons and the speed of their release.
The signatory organizations of the joint statement under the title "The danger is increasing" are: Al-Shehab Center for Human Rights, Adalah Foundation for Human Rights and Peace International for the Protection of Human Rights.
The three organizations called for stopping the decision to prevent visits to Egyptian prisons, enabling prisoners to communicate with their families, and allowing entry of masks, antiseptics, and toiletries.
It called for enabling human rights NGOs to visit prisons and detention facilities, to find out precautionary measures in them to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
The statement pointed out that the renewal of the demand for the release of prisoners comes after the World Health Organization announced that Egypt ranks second in Africa, in the spread of the new Corona epidemic, and in conjunction with information on the infection of police officers with the virus in a police department in the Eastern Province, and the announcement of the injury of six judges and prosecutors .
He added that "the danger of an outbreak of the Corona epidemic between prisoners and detainees in Egypt is very close if they are not released and the prisons, detainees and prisoners working there and protect them."
The statement pointed out that human rights organizations had previously announced the initiative "Save them and save the country" with the beginning of the spread of the Corona epidemic, due to the high risk of overcrowding in prisons, in addition to poor ventilation and low level of hygiene, with many chronic conditions inside prisons.
At the end of last April, Amnesty International called on the Egyptian authorities to reduce the number of prisoners, especially children and activists, and demanded protection for the most vulnerable prisoners, amid growing fears of an outbreak of the Corona epidemic within overcrowded Egyptian prisons.
The organization said in a statement that the conditions in many Egyptian prisons are inhuman, due to overcrowding and the lack of adequate ventilation, or clean water or cleaning materials, noting that these unsanitary conditions, and the impossibility of applying physical spacing, increase the risk of developing the new Corona virus.
Yesterday, the Egyptian Ministry of Health announced the registration of 774 new positive cases of the Corona virus, and the registration of 16 deaths, bringing the total number registered in Egypt with the Corona virus to 1,5003 cases, including 4,217 cases that had been cured and discharged from isolation and quarantine hospitals, and 696 deaths.