Human Rights: Egypt imposes collective punishment on inmates in Scorpion Prison

Egyptian authorities are imposing collective punishment on inmates in the notorious Scorpion prison in the capital Cairo, Human Rights Watch said today, Thursday.

This non-governmental human rights organization based in New York, in the United States, documented in a report that the security services made changes since mid-November last year to Scorpion Detention Center, which is the name given to a high-security prison located within the Tora prison complex and where most of the cadres and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood are located. And other opponents of the current power.

The report stated that prisoners are almost completely deprived of ventilation, electricity and hot water, in addition to previous decisions banning visits since March 2018, and the denial of exercise, since 2019. It added that the inmates in Scorpion prison, numbering between 700 to 800 prisoners, are subjected to violations. Grave amounting to collective punishment.

The Watch explained in its report that due to the lack of lighting, the absence of humane arrangements for sleeping, sanitation and observance of the weather, as well as the lack of space and lack of ventilation, Scorpion Prison violates the rights of inmates.

Torture facility

In turn, the report quoted Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division of the organization, as saying: It appears that the Egyptian authorities impose collective punishment on hundreds of prisoners in Scorpion Prison, after isolating them from the world for nearly 3 years, adding that conditions in this prison are completely inconsistent with the rights of prisoners This makes it a torture facility.

Stork called on the Egyptian authorities to seriously address the conditions of inmates in prison, to ensure that they are not deprived of their basic rights.

Cairo did not comment on what was reported by the international organization until this afternoon, but it usually denies committing human rights violations regarding the detainees, but rather affirms the observance of rights and health care for them and its commitment to the law, the constitution and international conventions in this regard.