Police assault prisoners amid wave of detainee protests

Central security forces raided the cells of Wadi al-Natrun prison on Saturday, firing teargas and brutally assaulting prisoners with batons, the “Freedom for the Brave” group announced on its official Facebook page.

There are unconfirmed reports of one death.

Muslim Brotherhood groups announced that 20,000 prisoners started a hunger strike on Friday for a week in protest over the poor treatment and torture that detainees are subjected to in Egypt’s prisons.

Mahmoud Omar, a member of the Strong Egypt student movement said, based on prison sources, that central security forces raided the cells on Saturday morning, assaulting the detainees while restraining them.

He said that a committee from the general prisons directory, affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, visited the prison this morning to monitor the situation and attempted to forcefully place food in the cells. This led to protests by some prisoners who chanted and knocked on their cell doors, prompting the prison authority to bring in anti-riot forces.

According to Omar, detainees started a protest movement on Friday, including refusal to receive prison food, take their daily one-hour break, or attend their court sessions. Some took further measures, starting a hunger strike and chanting in their cells.

Omar added that all communication with detainees in Wadi al-Natrun prison has been cut since Saturday afternoon and scheduled family visits were canceled.

A report by Wiki Thawra, an independent online portal that aims to document the events of the January 25 revolution since 2011, issued last week, revealed that 41,163 people have been detained or prosecuted since the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi in July.

According to the report, 53 have died in custody since then. Several individual cases of abuse and torture inside prisons have surfaced. Prisoners complain of overcrowded cells, deprivation of their basic rights — such as sports and family visits, as well as physical assaults.

Sources said that other punitive measures were taken against detainees today, including the cutting of water and electricity.

A hunger strike maintained for over 100 days by Al Jazeera journalist Abdullah al-Shamy and son of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Sultan has brought a lot of local and International attention to the issue of detainees, with several international organizations demanding their release.

Following the publication of pictures of Shamy allegedly breaking his hunger strike, his wife Gehad Khaled said on her Facebook page that he was taken to an undisclosed location and his family has not been allowed to visit him. She added that he has been severely pressured to break his hunger strike and force-fed in order to alleviate the pressure on the Ministry of Interior caused by his deteriorating health.