Dozens of prisoners in Egypt’s Badr 3 have continued their hunger strike over the last week, in a protest against the abuses they have been subjected to.
The strike began with prisoners refusing meals in protest against the conditions of their detention, including the lack of visits, the denial of their own clothes and other personal possessions, constant CCTV monitoring, and being disturbed with flashlights at night.
The hunger strikers have demanded visits, improved food, and access to their own clothes and books.
In late December 2021, Egyptian Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik appeared in a video celebrating the opening of Badr 3 prison, which serves as an annex to a larger, 85-acre facility near the city of Badr.
Badr 3 is a so-called ‘reform and rehabilitation center.’
In the 2021 video, the prison’s health, education, and visitation facilities were lauded – though inmates reports have cast further doubt on the video’s claims.
Since 2013, the Egyptian authorities have made 1000s of politically-motivated arrests. Many of those arrested have suffered unfair trials; many others have been held without trial for years.
Conditions of detention in Egypt are widely-acknowledged to be generally very poor.
