Bribes, crowds and human stories .. Press impressions from within the largest prison for women in Egypt

After an hour in which the car moved through several neighborhoods on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, we finally stopped in front of the main door, which it advertises in bold in a sign that read in Arabic "The Qanater Prisons Area" and the Egyptian flag fluttered over it in its three colors.

With this introduction, an article begins on the "Journalists House" blog on the French Media Part website, in which the author, who chose not to be named, describes a visit she made with a group of journalists to the Qanater prison for women in Egypt.

The blog says, "This complex includes the only large prison for women in Egypt, in addition to a section for foreign and Egyptian detainees, and in the women's section of this prison - according to a permanent visitor - there are about two thousand detainees currently among them two hundred foreigners, although it is designed for about 1200 people At most, there are 250 male prisoners, including 160 Egyptians and 90 foreigners. "

The blog noted that Ponce - who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo - carefully follows the main rules applied in the prison, as there are no phones, electronic equipment and mandatory personal identity, knowing that he has been visiting prisoners here for 23 years, along with some members of the Maadi Community Church, and that To provide support to foreign detainees through regular visits and consultations with lawyers and embassies, and the delivery of food and general supplies.

After describing the queues, people exchanging views and talking about them, and describing what they carry, the blog turns to the emergence of a human atmosphere in a confined space where diverse people, women, men and children, mix from different regions, social and geographical groups, educational levels and various ages.

The blog said that she could only notice the exchange of cash (tipping) at the front door, although the issued in the "Code of Conduct by the International Prisons Ministry" which Ponce sent to her prior to the visit warns against giving any tips to any member of the prison staff.

The blog describes comprehensive police searches, limps into the internal corridors of the prison, and the long wait again to find a place in the cars drawn by the tractors leading to the women's section of the prison.

Deteriorating conditions for prisoners
After exceeding the strict security measures in front of the building designated for the detention of women, foreigners, and Egyptians, the blog entered a square in the middle of which a large picture of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi accompanied by the pyramids and the Mohamed Ali Mosque is surrounded by slogans and an advertisement in English that identifies Egypt as the best country ever.

The blogger interviewed a Sudanese female prisoner, Nada, who said that "her health deteriorated physically and psychologically", and her physical and mental condition appeared to be getting worse, like most other detainees.

The blog said that the reasons for arrest may be varied and sometimes contradicting with the declared official condemnation, noting that among the group of foreign detainees visited by the Maadi National Church regularly, some people have been convicted of murder, drugs, theft, fraud, prostitution, kidnapping and immigration, and they come from many countries.

Although she accurately described everything she was going through, the image of the Qanater Women Prison would not be complete - as the blog says - without mentioning another type of detainee, where it is possible to find political prisoners, whose crime is that they opposed the official story of the state.

This is the case of a 21-year-old girl from a village in Menoufia Governorate. The blogger said that she did not meet her personally because she was not from the group of people assigned to her, but that she knew her story through her family while waiting before the start of the visit.

Quoting this girl's mother, the blog says, "She was detained for 45 days, after she was kidnapped from her home after she posted words on Facebook condemning the arrest of many innocent people in Egypt." Ironically, according to her mother, she "has now become one of these detainees." This is what is happening in Egypt. "

Because of this girl's need for medication regularly, the family comes every week carrying medicine and food, but her mother, whose face suggests deep internal suffering, has no information about her trial or release, and she is waiting, with the support of her sister and other girls, in the hope that it will end This nightmare is coming soon.

The blog concludes that it left the Qanater prison, bearing in mind in its mind the pictures of many prison officers and the loud voices heard throughout, and in the heart of the stories of some prisoners with many ideas about the value of the word "freedom".