Hours after hospitalization, Abdel Moneim was returned to prison without full recovery
The situation of Abdel Moneim and thousands other detainees reflects the double standards of the international community
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) held the Egyptian authorities responsible for the serious deterioration in the health of the Egyptian human rights defender, Hoda Abdel Moneim, 61, who has been detained in Al-Qanater Women’s Prison since November 2018. She suffered a health problem in prison that necessitated her transfer to Kasr Al-Aini Hospital.
The organisation quoted the lawyer and human rights defender Khaled Badawi- husband of detainee Abdel Moneim- that she suffered severe pain a week ago and was transferred to Manial University Hospital, where tests confirmed that her left kidney stopped functioning completely, and her right Kidney is regurgitating. She previously suffered venous thrombosis and high blood pressure.
Gehad Badawi, daughter of the detainee Hoda, told AOHR UK: “Since our mother’s arrest on November 01, 2018, we have not been able to follow her health conditions due to the visit ban imposed by the prison administration. However, on February 26, 2020, the family learnt through lawyers that she was transferred to Qasr al-Ayni Hospital after developing symptoms of angina and despite not having fully recovered, our mother was returned to prison on the same day”.
AOHR UK stated that the prison administration dealt with the health condition of human rights defender Abdel Moneim with extreme negligence. She was denied the adequate health care and her transfer to the hospital was also delayed.
The authorities refused to inform her family of the developments of her health condition. In addition to this, the Public Prosecution refused to allow her family to obtain medical reports diagnosing her, and refused to get her examined by a medical committee to determine her situation in accordance to the Egyptian Prisons Organisation Law.
The arrest of human rights activist Abdel Moneim was arbitrary in the first place as she faced political charges tailored to look like criminal ones. Her detention was decided by a politicised judicial system which is unable to enforce the law and is being used as repressive tool by the security services.
AOHR UK warned that the deterioration of Abdel Moneim’s health is serious and is worsening due to the poor detention conditions, medical negligence and denial of her right to get appropriate treatment outside prison, in addition to the extension of her detention despite exceeding the legal period of the pre-trial detention.
The situation of Abdel Moneim and thousands of detainees who suffer in Egyptian prisons is a direct message to Mr. Josep Borrell, representative of the European Union’s foreign policy, who stated in his meeting with the Egyptian Foreign Minister on September 03, 2020, that the European Union will be reviewing the restrictions imposed on Egypt following July 03, 2013, AOHR UK added.
AOHR UK stressed that this kind of hypocrisy by a senior European Union official indicates that the EU only cares about its own interests such as immigration and arms deals, while turning a blind eye to the blood stained Egyptian human rights file and the overcrowded prisons. It ignores the fact that the Egyptian people are living an unprecedented era of oppression. Finally, the restrictions mentioned by Borrell did not stop or deter the brutality of the Egyptian regime.
