Rights groups expose brutal torture practices at Azouly prison

Ismailia’s Al-Azouly military prison must be investigated for its widespread practices of torture and forced disappearances, declared two human rights organizations in a joint statement issued Thursday.

Reports have only recently begun to emerge on the previously unknown Al-Azouly prison after an influx of prisoners was detained there in the aftermath of former President Mohamed Morsi's ouster, the majority of whom are accused of having Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist affiliations. According to a Financial Times report, the detention camp was initially designated for soldiers facing disciplinary measures and was run by the Second Field Army, but today it is unclear which governmental body is currently managing the facility.

According to human rights groups, Al-Azouly is one of several detention camps currently operating outside of judicial oversight.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and Al-Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims issued a statement describing a number of cases where detainees were allegedly kidnapped by plain-clothes police officers, then transferred to the prison and tortured until they confessed that they belonged to terrorist organizations that were planning violent acts against the security forces. The statement alleged that detainees habitually endured electric shocks and had boiling water poured over their bodies, and were held in rooms with extremely elevated temperatures and denied water.

Furthermore, detainees held on terrorism-related charges have disappeared within the prison for periods of up to four months, claimed the statement.

“The undersigned organizations call on the Egyptian government to immediately open an independent and impartial investigation into these allegations, and guarantee that the right to fair trial is fully upheld for all those detained in connection to charges of committing violent acts. The organizations also urge the judicial authorities including the military general attorney to visit Al-Azouly military prison to ensure that no individual is held there unlawfully,” the rights groups said.

These acts “are all reminiscent of practices during the worst years of the rule of deposed President Hosni Mubarak under the pretext of combating terrorism,” the statement argued, adding that testimonies and evidence collected by different activists reveal “a clear pattern of abuse."

The statement also condemned the prison's brutal living conditions. 

“Those abducted are held inside Al-Azouly military prison in inhumane conditions without any contact with the outside world, where they are particularly vulnerable to torture and other ill-treatment. According to the best information available to the undersigned organizations, those abducted are crammed together in small cells [23 to 25 people in cells of the size of approximately 4 by 6 m] with minimal lighting and ventilation, with no access to adequate food, health care, potable water or hygienic items. In addition to buckets inside the cells, toilet use is only permitted for a few minutes once a day,” the statement said.

In a press conference held in early May, the family of 17-year-old high school student Abdel Rahman Sayed recounted his arrest on March 15 while shopping in downtown Cairo. Sayed’s family says that he disappeared after the arrest and that they had no information about his whereabouts for a month and a half, when they learned he was detained in Al-Azouly prison.

Sayed’s mother alleged that there are several other detainees with similar stories.