A message sparked controversy .. Young detainees for Sisi: open us a channel of communication and returned "to hug the homeland"

Abdul Rahman Mohammed - Al Jazeera Net

In a third letter, a number of young people detained in Egypt went to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, demanding to open channels of communication with them inside the detention centers, and to put them a way out "to return to the bosom of the homeland," a content that has sparked controversy and questioned the possibility The existence of a security body behind that move.

Former detainees say that "the messages, as they are true, do not necessarily reflect a trend among Brotherhood youth in prisons, where the number of members of the group does not exceed 20% of the number of detainees," while the group's sources confirmed that none of its youth responsible.

Two letters were issued in the previous two months by young detainees; the first addressed to the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, and called on them to take a step back and move to resolve the crisis with the Authority, while the second went to Sheikh Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Tayeb to ask him to mediate with the regime to end their crisis, but the letters They did not achieve a tangible effect that would trigger the case.

The latest message, which reached the correspondent of Al Jazeera Net and was unable to fully verify the scenes and circumstances, called on the Egyptian President and his security services to open a channel for communication within the prisons with young people, and to put them a way out seeking to return to the lap of the homeland.

She criticized the failure of intellectuals and media to submit a proposal during the six years of the crisis, which includes holding awareness sessions and debates of ideas inside the prisons, but opted for "blowing in the flames to increase the fire of the crisis flares," as they put it. Noting, in this context, that the period (six years) would have allowed at least 140 meetings, an estimated session every 15 days, and that those sessions were "enough to correct many and many."

Courteous tone
In his speech to the Egyptian President and the security leaders, the message avoided the use of any critical expressions to them or their policies, and adopted a calm and friendly tone in the conversation. They called on him to put aside his differences with the Muslim Brotherhood to allow their words to reach his heart. They also expressed their conviction that the "Egyptian leadership" It will not accept to its children and its citizens what the Brotherhood leadership has accepted the conditions of its members inside the prisons.

The message went on to talk about the suffering of the detainees, the "shameful situation" in the prisons, and what the youth have become "a state of despair, boredom and a loss of hope in a new life," warning of the impact of prolonging this, and what can lead to the widening rivalry between them And between their home.

In their letter, the detainees estimated the number of people affected by the crisis, more than two million people, pointing out that each detainee is surrounded by a circle of about a hundred family and close friends, living a great congestion between loss and absence.

Detainees implicitly acknowledged in their letter of wrongdoing that requires punishment, in the context of the need for any mistaken or guilty to have a way of repentance and return, and blamed in this context, the security services, not to draw a way for them to return and a map of exit, while continuing their abuse.

Settlement is necessary
The authors concluded that the file of the young prisoners should be settled, including the healing of the wounds and the withdrawal of the rug from under the feet of lurks.

They stressed their rejection of the insistence of some that the state will refuse dialogue with them, because they do not have strengths to strengthen their position, justifying that they do not consider themselves a party to a conflict, but they are the sons of a country seeking to return to its embrace, as they put it.

The last letter did not address the affiliations of the sponsors, but the previous two letters stressed that they represent the various segments of the youth inside the prison, led by young members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the frequency of statements by former detainees, including intermediate leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood for Al-Jazeera Net, the percentage of Brotherhood members inside the detention centers is in the range of 20%, and they do not represent a majority, although they constitute the majority as the largest organized entities, and the hard core of political detainees in Egyptian prisons.

While some do not rule out the possibility of security pressures behind these letters, a number of former detainees (some of whom are newly released) argue that the latest series of messages cannot be likened to the pattern of reconciliation (the document of non-violence) that began to emerge in late 2014 and extended its impact and controversy until the end of 2014. 2017, where these reconciliations were directed, encouraged, and supervised by security, unlike in these letters.

Sources confirm that the positions of the wider sector of the detainees were rejecting the previous method of reconciliation, while expanding the circle of supporters of recent messages that do not show direct security pressure.

On the other hand, the real criticism directed at them is their feasibility in the absence of real pressure cards on the regime.

Extensive discussions
Former detainees say that such messages echo wider in less stringent prisons, such as Tora central prisons (excluding Scorpion), Minya, Fayoum and Borg al-Arab prisons, where prisoners follow the echoes of these messages through their relatives on visits.

Former detainees point out that Brotherhood leaders in prisons, unlike those abroad, offer more space for young people to discuss the feasibility of any idea, contributing to the breadth, depth and sometimes unity of the debate.

Salem Abu Rabie (a pseudonym), a former detainee who recently went out after spending five years in a number of Egyptian prisons, confirms the existence of a wide range of young detainees who see the need to adopt all means and means in seeking to end the crisis, including addressing public officials directly .

Abu Rabie, who asked not to be identified because he was subject to precautionary measures, points out that the desperation and a sense of incapacity of all opposition forces to change their situation is natural to lead to this result.

The spokesman explains the detainees' recent letter to al-Sisi and the security leaders that they have been dealing for years only with individuals and security entities, and then no longer see others in his hand to end their crisis, but does not expect these messages to change the way the security dealings in prisons positively or negatively, starting in As a result of the previous two letters, where prison administrations ignored their handling or show any position based on them.

He justified that security would prefer to deal with these initiatives only in terms of classification and sorting, which was the case in the form of previous reconciliations, which supported and worked on the distribution of forms, where they are signed individually, showing supporter of the opposition, unlike the case with these letters That demand public policy with everyone.

Intelligence message
For his part, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Sudan, questioned the source of the message, stressing that the authors do not belong to the group.

He continued in an interview with the island Net "writer of this letter regrets the crimes committed by their hands against Mr. President, the Muslim Brotherhood or any person who tasted the bitterness of injustice and torture inside the prisons of Sisi and the military will never qualify him the sovereignty of the President."

"I have tried Mubarak's prisons, solitary confinement and denial of visits. I know how bitter all this is about the prisoner, but at the same time I know the manliness of the Muslim Brotherhood members, their hardness and their tolerance for the oppressors for the sake of Allah."

He pointed out that prisons that do not witness intransigence and restriction on visits and periods of exercise such as prisoners of Scorpio, can be seen on the attractiveness and interactions in such a context, but there is no full mechanism to know the reality at home accurately.

The Brotherhood leader did not deny the existence of anger and revenge on the leaders of the Brotherhood among its youth inside the prisons, considering that the different ages and previous experience and the "degree of faith and tolerance of everyone" has a role in this.