Human Rights Watch called on the Egyptian authorities to open a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the death of 4 detainees within 3 days in prisons.
This came according to a statement by the international organization on Thursday evening.
The statement stated, "The death of the detainee Ahmed Abdel Nabi Mahmoud (64 years), on Wednesday, after two years of his detention without trial in Scorpion Prison (high security) in Cairo."
The statement stated that “the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (local human rights) announced the death of 3 other detainees within two days. They are Subhi al-Saqqa in Burj al-Arab prison (north) and Shaaban Hussein Khaled in al-Fayyum prison (center), and Abdel-Rahman Youssef Zawal in Tora investigation prison (south). Cairo)".
"When the Egyptian authorities detain a person, they become responsible for his safety," said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East division at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should open a thorough investigation into the causes of death of Egyptian detainees."
"Detainees and prisoners are still dying in Egyptian prisons, despite persistent appeals to provide adequate health care," Stork added. "This reflects an unacceptable negligence on the part of the Egyptian prison authorities," according to the same statement.
Egypt usually faces criticism that opposition journalists and politicians have been harmed by the extension of pretrial detention in cases of opinion and expression, but Cairo repeatedly affirms that all legal guarantees and rights are provided to prisoners without discrimination.