CAIRO: For the last five days, members of the Muslim Brotherhood detained in Borg El Arab prison have been on a limited hunger strike to protest what they say is mistreatment by prison wardens.
Rights activists say this is a growing trend inside the notorious Alexandria jail.
The strike began after a late-night search of their cells, during which detainees were rudely awoken by guards with snarling dogs. Sources from within the group say they were strip searched and made to stand facing the wall for several hours while their cells were ransacked.
According to Khalaf Bayoumi, a Brotherhood lawyer based in Alexandria, guards confiscated a number of items that the detainees had previously been allowed to keep with them.
Later in the week, he says, prison officials also barred their families from visiting them and confiscated supplies and gifts they were bringing.
“The guards took all of their possessions, even items that the prisoners were allowed to have like radios, books, chairs, clothing and even their medication, Bayoumi told Daily News Egypt. “When their families came to visit them over the weekend, the prison officials would not let anyone inside and confiscated all the supplies and gifts meant for the prisoners.
Bayoumi says that for the last week detainees have refused to eat any food provided by the prison and have only picked at the meager supplies left over from before the raid, which he says are running out fast.
He has also filed a complaint about the raid before the public prosecutor in Alexandria. The prosecutor referred the complaint against Borg El Arab to the administration of the same prison, which has so far not responded.
According to Mina Zekry, the program director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), this prison is known for its mistreatment of detainees.
Kareem Amer, a blogger sentenced to four years in prison for “vilifying religion and insulting the president on his blog, is also being held there.
Amer’s case originally attracted worldwide media attention as a test of Egypt’s commitment to free speech. Last week he was in the headlines again as allegations of his torture inside the prison emerged.
“In Borg El Arab prison there is a particular precedent of abuse and a history of illegal practices, for example torture or mistreatment of prisoners, Zekry told Daily News Egypt.
HRInfo and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center both called on the public prosecutor to investigate Amer’s torture claims, but no investigation has been forthcoming.
