Parliament to take on Egypt’s notorious prisons
As allegations continue to mount against Egypt’s penal institutions, legislators plan to visit the lockups to see the conditions for themselves.
Amid accusations that Egypt’s prisons have become tombs for dissidents, members of parliament’s Human Rights Committee are preparing to investigate first-hand.
Egypt has long faced international condemnation for allegedly torturing prisoners and making people “disappear.” On July 13, Amnesty International issued yet another report — some have called it “damning” — accusing Egypt’s National Security Agency (NSA) of abducting, torturing and forcibly disappearing people “to intimidate opponents and wipe out peaceful dissent.”
The human rights organization says an average of three to four people per day are seized, usually after “heavily armed security forces led by NSA officers storm their homes.” Many of the victims are held for months and “often kept blindfolded and handcuffed for the entire period.”
Egyptian authorities were annoyed by the report and denied any instances of torture or enforced disappearances. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid slammed Amnesty International for the report and accused the group of being motivated by political efforts to defame Egypt.
