The family of detained minor Ibrahim Ahmed, 16, in Al-Mansoura governorate called for his immediate release and the provision of necessary medical care for him due to the severe deterioration of his health in prison.
According to a statement issued by the family, Ahmed has been complaining from a severe pain in his knees and feet due to problems in his kidneys. They also said he requires an injection every 21 days and good medical care to overcome his illness.
This is not the first time Ahmed has been subjected to violations during his detention period, according to his family; he allegedly had an inflated parotid gland in May 2015 due to the deficient imprisonment conditions, including bad ventilation and not providing necessary medical care to the detainees.
His family said they managed to transfer him to the hospital for only five days before he was detained again without the completion of his treatment, despite having a contagious disease.
Ahmed’s mother told Daily News Egypt he has been suffering from inhumane imprisonment conditions, claiming he does not even have access to clean water.
She said he used to receive medications for vitilgo (a skin disease) in a hospital in Cairo. However, ever since he was detained, the medications stopped because they cannot transfer medications from Cairo to Al-Mansoura.
According to his mother, the lawyers received a copy of the police report on Ahmed’s arrest for the first time on Thursday. “I want Ahmed’s case to receive international attention; I want human rights activists and lawyers to defend him because his detention is unfair,” she said.
Ahmed was detained on 28 January 2015 and was referred to the military judiciary on charges of protesting without prior permissions, belonging to an outlawed group, and forming a terrorist cell along with 18 other detainees.
Mazen Hamza, another detainee, aged 18, has been denied medical care when his health deteriorated in June 2015. He was detained along with Ibrahim Hamza in January 2015 on same charges.
The Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) said the prosecution allowed Hamza to be referred to a hospital, but the police officers refused.
There were several other cases of violations against junior detainees; Mahmoud Hussein is another minor who has been detained for over 700 days on charges of wearing t-shirt with the words “A nation without torture” printed on it.
Hussein was allegedly subjected to torture several times during his imprisonment period and was referred to the Supreme National Security Prosecution after having exceeded two years in remand. He was detained when he was only 16 years old.
News of the sentencing of a four-year-old boy to life imprisonment sparked major outrage earlier this month, when he was convicted with four murderers.
Lawyers and activists have argued that the judge did not even read the case, decrying the lack of justice in Egypt.
