CAIRO -
Days after controversy over the cause of the death of a young man in a police station in Alexandria, northern Egypt, the head of the complaints office at the National Council for Human Rights (government), Walaa Gad Al-Karim, announced that the council intends to visit police stations soon.
Jad al-Karim explained that the council will coordinate with the Public Prosecution and the Ministry of Interior to visit police places of detention to find out the conditions of detainees there.
The young man, Mostafa Montaser Hamed, known as "Disha", 19, died inside the third police station, Al-Montazah, in Alexandria. The Egyptian Network for Human Rights reported that his family had been tortured before his death, before the prosecution later denied the existence of a criminal suspicion.
bad situation
In statements to Al-Manassa website, Jad Al-Karim said that the council intends to visit police stations against the background of receiving complaints about the poor conditions of detainees in police places of detention.
The head of the complaints office at the National Council for Human Rights confirmed that visiting places of detention, whether police stations or prisons, is within the council's mandate, in coordination with the Public Prosecution and the Ministry of Interior, to see the conditions there.
He pointed out that most of the complaints received by the National Council relate to ill-treatment and the deterioration of living conditions in police stations, especially since places of detention are not qualified for the large numbers of those arrested.
In turn, George Ishaq, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, said that the council calls on the concerned agencies to facilitate the procedures for visiting places of detention, which he described as intolerable, due to the severe overcrowding and the poor conditions of detainees there, especially after the death of "Disha".
Ishaq explained that the treatment in police stations is one of the worst, but he stressed at the same time that he does not question the Public Prosecution's report on the death of "Disha", but calls for the council's visit to places of detention and to see the condition of the detainees.
He denied the validity of what was circulated on some accounts of the terrorist Brotherhood on social media about the alleged death of a citizen inside a third police station, Al-Montazah, in Alexandria, as a result of being tortured.
The source explained that the truth of the incident is the arrest of the person referred to on 7/20/2022 pic.twitter.com/5FfiXL8LBS
— Ministry of Interior (@moiegy) August 2, 2022
Dishes right
Last week, the Egyptian Network for Human Rights announced the death of "Disha," a third-year secondary school student, as a result of torture while he was being held in the department.
According to the network’s account, “Disha” went with 3 of his friends to Alexandria on July 18 last, using a “tuktuk” owned by one of them, then the communication between the young people and their families was cut off after their mobile phones were turned off, and after searching for them, the families received a call from a lawyer informing them The presence of the four in the prosecution, against the background of accusing them of forming a gang and arresting them in the act of possessing drugs and ammunition.
The family of "Disha" later received a call from a third police station, Al-Montazah, informing them of the death of their son, without explaining the reason.
The statement said that his mother was able to see him after several attempts with hospital officials, and discovered multiple injuries to his body in the head, ribs and feet, before the family buried him after completing the necessary procedures.
The hashtag "Disha's right must return" was issued on social media in Egypt, amid calls for an investigation into the circumstances of the death of "Disha" for fear of a repeat of the incident of the Alexandrian youth "Khaled Saeed", whose life ended with beatings by police in 2010 after being tortured and mutilated, before turning into the spark of the January 25, 2011 revolution.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement denying the existence of any criminal suspicion behind the death of "Disha".
After days of controversy, the Egyptian Public Prosecution issued a statement last Thursday, in which it said that all the injuries in the body of "Disha" do not indicate the existence of a criminal suspicion behind his death, and that it may be the result of his loss of consciousness and falling to the ground in custody due to his illness, supporting the statement of the Ministry of Interior regarding the incident.