Human rights delegation visits Morsi’s detention facility

Deposed President Mohamed Morsi and his aides do not know where they are being detained, human rights lawyer Nasser Amin told privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on Tuesday.

Amin, who heads the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, visited Morsi as part of a human rights delegation to ensure that the conditions of his detention comply with human rights standards. Accompanying Amin was Mohamed Fayeq, the former deputy head of the National Council for Human Rights.

Nasser told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Refaa al-Tahtawy, Morsi’s former chief of staff who is also in detention with him, asked the delegation upon their arrival, “where are we?”

Nasser explained that their visit, which they had requested from the Armed Forces, was highly scrutinized.

Special forces guarded the site of Morsi’s detention, which Nasser speculates is a military camp on the peripheries of Cairo or outside the city. Nasser and Fayeq were taken by helicopter and were not allowed to take any electronic devices with them during the visit.

As Morsi refused to meet with them, the delegation met only with Tahtawy who explained that they are isolated from the world, although they have access to television that broadcasts local channels.

However, Morsi had sat in a two-hour meeting on Monday with Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, who said she engaged in a deep conversation with the deposed president. Ashton has been brokering negotiations between Morsi, the government and the Armed Forces who ousted the president on July 3.

Meanwhile, Nasser told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the conditions of the place where Morsi and his aides are detained appear to be acceptable.

France's foreign minister demanded on Tuesday that Morsi be repeated, the AFP reported, adding that he condemned the unrest in Cairo.