A 15-year-old boy from Arish, in the North Sinai region of Egypt, has attempted suicide following years of imprisonment by the Egyptian regime.
Abdullah Boumediene reportedly attempted to take his own life through an overdose of medication, having been detained and kept away from his family since he was just 12 years old.
The child was arrested in December 2017, and was “disappeared” into the National Security Force’s headquarters in Arish. In July the following year, he was accused of joining an illegal group and planting explosives, but was not allowed legal representation. Following this, he was tortured and kept in solitary confinement.
Despite a Children’s Court in Abbasiya ruling in December 2018 that he should be released, Boumediene was then detained at Arish police station and transferred to the National Security headquarters again and faced more torture.
His family have also suffered at the hands of the regime. His father disappeared in 2019, and his older brother, Abdulrahman, was extrajudicially executed, according to human rights activists.
While children officially have special rights in Egypt, the regime rarely abides by the rules. They are often kept in crowded cells, face torture and are kept away from their families.
The North Sinai region of Egypt has become a focus for what the Egyptian regime calls a “war on terror”. It neighbours Gaza, and Israel puts pressure on Egypt to operate draconian policies in the area. It also hosts Islamic State affiliate Sinai Province group – which is used as an excuse for mass arrests, house demolitions, military targeting of civilians and what many human rights groups consider to be war crimes by the regime.
Rather than target the militants directly while protecting North Sinai residents, Egypt has enacted collective punishment on the region – even attacking civilians with air and land based military forces.
It is estimated that 12,000 residents of North Sinai were arrested between July 2013 until December 2018. The region has just half a million residents.
Some 40,000 Egyptian troops have targetted North Sinai in its so-called war on terror, and Israel has also conducted assaults on the region, with the support of the Egyptian regime.
