Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concerns over a detention system in Egypt that ‘aggravates’ longstanding abusive pretrial detention practices and flagrant due process violations.
Development Diaries reports that Egypt has begun holding detention renewal sessions for pre-trial detainees remotely via videoconference, with detainees attending the sessions from prisons under police custody.
According to HRW, the move further increases the isolation of Egyptian ‘political’ prisoners, making it less likely that abuses of detainees will come to light.
Tens of thousands of people are already jailed in Egypt for no other reason than their political affiliation or peaceful expression.
Many people have had their family visits and correspondence with attorneys unfairly refused for months or years.
With this development, they may be imprisoned for as long as two years, the maximum time for pretrial detention permitted by Egyptian law, with little to no access to suitable legal representation.
It is understood that prosecutors in Egypt can unilaterally order detentions of suspects for 150 days before there is any judicial review, so the stakes of these hearings are high.
HRW, in a statement, said this system exacerbates longstanding abusive pretrial detention practices and flagrant due process violations.
Under this system, judges frequently do not allow detainees or lawyers sufficient time to speak or describe prison conditions.
Detainees are less likely to speak freely about detention abuses in the presence of prison officials who have control over their day-to-day life.
Reports have revealed that pretrial imprisonment in Egypt has evolved over the past few years from an extraordinary legal sanction to a frequent form of punishment against government critics, journalists, and others who support human rights.
Freedom House ranked Egypt ‘not free’ in its 2023 Freedom in the World Index, scoring 18 out of a possible 100.
Development Diaries calls on the Egyptian government to stop flagrant disregard for human rights and respect the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which it ratified in 1986.
Source: HRW
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