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Prisons or Gas Chambers? How do detainees withstand extreme heat waves in Egypt?

“I felt like it’s a period of time in prison where we die. People have been sentenced to remain in this tomb. Especially with the rotation of detention orders for political prisoners, the spread of COVID-19, and the visits ban. There, nothing gives us hope.”

   -These are the words of the Egyptian journalist and former detainee, Solafa Magdy, describing her feelings during the heat waves she experienced while imprisoned in El Qanater Women’s Prison.

Introduction

Currently, Egypt faces an energy crisis that has led to prolonged power outages, causing severe suffering, particularly with the soaring temperatures. If Egyptians struggle with heat waves, what would be the conditions inside prisons? .. unimaginable!

This piece aims to shed light once again on the conditions of detention within Egyptian prisons through a series of interviews with former prisoners of conscience. They provide personal testimonies about the prisons and detention centers where they were held, focusing on two main aspects: how extreme heat waves exacerbate prisoners’ suffering and what tools are available to help them cope with the harsh detention conditions during the Summer.

The following lines provide a partial view of the summer conditions within Egyptian prisons, raising questions about whether some of the security restrictions and the dire living conditions are part of a deliberate pattern by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior to aggravate prisoners, inflict physical harm, and destroy them psychologically.

 

Background: Do the Egyptian government’s policies exacerbate environmental crises?

In recent weeks, Egypt has experienced extreme heat waves amid criticism of the government’s handling of environmental crises and continued tree-cutting for new roads, national projects, or urban development. This has led to a significant reduction in green spaces. Some link these policies to the exacerbation of heat waves. The living conditions of political detainees and their daily suffering have not been forgotten, renewing discussions about prisons’ conditions , especially with the heat waves that could pose additional burdens on detainees and potentially threaten their lives in certain circumstances.

According to the Annual Bulletin of Public Utilities Statistics at the councils of cities and neighborhoods for 2020, issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the average green space per capita in Egyptian governorates is 17 centimeters, dropping to just two centimeters in some governorates. The State Information Service in Egypt states on its website that the green space per capita is approximately 1.2 square meters, while the World Health Organization recommends that the green space per capita should not be less than 9 square meters.

 

The Global Forest Watch reports that Egypt lost over five million square meters of green spaces and tree cover from 2013 to 2023, a 0.33% decrease in tree cover since 2000. The Egyptian government has continued cutting trees since 2014, especially in Cairo and Giza governorates, under the pretext of road expansion and urban development. However, there have been recent activities of tree cutting without clear reasons or explanations from responsible authorities, leaving unanswered questions about the destination of the cut wood.

Article N.45 of the Egyptian Constitution guarantees the protection and development of green spaces in urban areas. Article N.367 of the Penal Code criminalizes the cutting of plants and trees.

 

Badr 1 Prison: Punitive Measures Including Extreme Heat

In late June 2024, a leaked message from Badr 1 Prison indicated that inmates had initiated an open-ended hunger strike to protest against insults, mistreatment, and harassment, as well as the restrictions on family visits and inhumane living conditions, including being denied outdoor exercise during extreme heat. The prisoners’ strike was met with increased exemplary punishment and threats by the responsible National Security officer, Walid El-Dahshan, known as Ahmed Fekry. This included stricter visitation protocols, arbitrary room searches, and the transfer of dozens of prisoners to distant prisons as a form of punishment and intimidation, as reported by the Badr Prison Families Association and documented by the Egyptian Front for Human Rights.

National Security Officer Ahmed Fekry has a long history of hostility and mistreatment of political prisoners in the prisons he has overseen. In 2021, the family of detained political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor against him regarding incidents of torture in Tora Prison and threats against Alaa Abdel Fattah. He also consistently harassed political activist and journalist Ahmed Douma during his detention in Tora Prison before his release. These incidents indicate the dangers of continuing such punitive practices against political prisoners, particularly with the onset of Summer and rising temperatures.

 

Summer as an Additional Punishment and a Potential Crime of Murder

When discussing Summer and the impact of high temperatures, I recall four scenes from my experience as a former political prisoner, which can be corroborated by testimonies. The first scene was in the summer of 2019 when we woke up in the cell to the news of the death of our fellow inmate Omar Adel (30 years old) a few days after he was placed in solitary confinement despite suffering from respiratory distress and various health and psychological issues. Omar Adel suffocated in solitary confinement and died due to medical negligence.

The second scene was in the Summer of 2018, inside the  Habsakhana of the Supreme State Security Prosecution in New Cairo’s Fifth Settlement. The waiting detention room was nearly square, paved with concrete tiles, and had no windows or ventilation openings. With the high temperatures that day and the overcrowding of more than 150 detainees, the room became unbearably hot, making it difficult to breathe and obtain oxygen. Everyone in the room was sweating profusely, and the detainees took turns fanning each other using prayer mats, towels, or personal shirts.

The third scene occurred in the summer of 2020 in the Ziraa Prison ward, where I stayed in a cell with 50 to 70 other detainees. To cope with the extreme heat, most detainees wore only their underwear for most of the day.

The fourth scene was in the transfer vehicle, a metal van transporting prisoners from prisons to the prosecution or court sessions and vice versa. The heat was intense, and the vehicle was overcrowded with detainees while the sun beat down on us during the entire trip. Everyone inside was sweating profusely, but we endured until we reached the court. However, on that day, the vehicle stopped for over an hour at noon in front of the court, with us locked inside trying to call for help without any response. What came to mind was the incident in the summer of 2013, where 37 prisoners died during their transfer to Abu Zaabal Prison.

 

How is the Heat in the Cell?

Speaking of Abu Zaabal Prison, Egyptian journalist Islam Deif recounted his detention experience in Abu Zaabal 2 Prison in April 2021 during a heatwave. Despite the cramped cell size meant for ten or twelve inmates, the number of prisoners reached 25, with no ventilation except for a small window high on the wall and no fans in the cells. Water was often cut off for most of the day, and electricity outages were frequent.

During that period, the prisoners tried to negotiate with the prison administration to allow them to purchase fans, but the administration consistently delayed their requests. Deif stated that they were not allowed to bring a fan into the cell until his release. Consequently, water was the only means for Abu Zaabal prisoners to cool down. Given the frequent water shortages, particularly during the day, they resorted to filling available buckets and containers to last until the next day, which was often insufficient due to the large number of prisoners in the cell and the presence of a single toilet.

Dief believes that the conditions in Abu Zaabal were generally harsher than most other prisons, not only during heatwaves. There were complications in receiving visits, and prisoners faced consistently poor treatment, including frequent inspections by the investigations team, who would ransack their belongings, force them to cut their hair and shave their heads regularly, and physically assault them as a form of humiliation and harassment.

Due to these harsh living conditions and the extreme heat, some prisoners suffered from skin diseases, while others experienced psychological effects, including nervous breakdowns and symptoms resembling epileptic seizures. Deif recounted, “Some people would wake up frightened in the middle of the night and cry, while others tried to harm themselves by banging their heads against the cell’s iron door.”

From Abu Zaabal Prison in Qalyubia Governorate, northeast of Cairo, we move to Port Said Prison on the north-eastern coast of Egypt, where Ahmed Abdel Halim, an Egyptian researcher in sociology and body studies, spent part of his detention. He recounts the summer of 2015, specifically June, which coincided with Ramadan, exacerbating the suffering of fasting prisoners.

The rooms were small and cramped, approximately 2 meters by 3 meters, housing 8 prisoners; five on beds and three on the remaining floor space. The only source of ventilation was a small window above one of the beds, which the bed’s occupant occasionally allowed his cellmates to use at night to breathe some fresh air.

Abdel Halim describes the hardships he endured in these conditions, especially since the room had neither a fan nor a toilet. The prison administration was adamant about not allowing fans, leaving no way to alleviate the heat other than staying almost naked and using any piece of paper or object for fanning. To stay hydrated and avoid dehydration, they drank the warm water kept in the room, but in the high temperatures, drinking water only increased their sweating and need to use the non-existent toilet, forcing them to relieve themselves in plastic bags to be disposed of in the morning.

The only way to cope the heat was to use the brief outdoor time (exercise time) for bathing, despite the fact that this time was limited to about half an hour for forty prisoners and there were only five bathrooms available. Sometimes, there wasn’t enough time for all prisoners to bathe, let alone fill bottles to store water, wash clothes, or maintain personal hygiene.

Moreover, Abdel Halim notes that heatwaves lead to the appearance of insects, ants, and cockroaches. These poor conditions negatively impact the physical and mental health of the prisoners, evidenced by increased anxiety and tension and higher rates of quarrels among inmates. Sometimes prisoners would fight if someone used the electric heater coil in the room to prepare food or heat water, as it would further increase the room’s temperature.

 

Women’s Prisons Are No Better

Journalist and human rights researcher Shaimaa Sami was arrested on May 20, 2020, during a heatwave in Egypt. She spent the first ten days of her detention in enforced disappearance at the State Security premises in Alexandria. Shaimaa recounts being held in a solitary cell with a surveillance camera and lighting around the clock. The cell had a fan for ventilation, but it was taken away on the second day as a form of punishment.

Shaimaa wore a relatively thick blouse given the heat, and on the third or fourth day, she decided to change it due to developing skin rashes and irritations. She opted for a short-sleeved shirt, but a security officer ordered her to wear the thick blouse again, citing the presence of male security personnel as the reason she couldn’t wear light clothing.

Shaimaa couldn’t maintain her personal hygiene or keep her body cool under these harsh conditions. When she requested to bathe, the bathroom had a window with metal wires exposing half of her body to the outside, where security guards stood. To make matters worse, her menstrual period began.

Shaimaa Sami appeared at the State Security Prosecution after 10 days of enforced disappearance in case no. 535 of 2020. She was then transferred from the National Security premises to the Alexandria Security Directorate, where she was placed in a small room approximately 1.5 meters by 2 meters. Although it was supposed to be a solitary cell, she shared this cramped space with three other political prisoners, one of whom had asthma, making it difficult for her to breathe properly in the room, especially since it was underground. The administration did not allow a fan until mid-July, about a month and a half after repeated requests.

Shaimaa Sami says, “I completely surrendered to the idea of extreme heat and stopped complaining. I was extremely exhausted. There was no way I could do anything. I am 172 cm tall, and the room was 1.5 meters wide. At one point, I was just dreaming of being able to stretch my legs because of the rashes and inflammations I developed from sweating and the heat.”

Shaimaa remained in detention until the following summer of 2021, which she spent in Qanater Women’s Prison, where she faced different forms of tightness and harsh living conditions, including being placed in a large ward with criminal prisoners. Her movement was restricted within the ward, and she was prohibited from talking to any other inmate except for two specific ones assigned by the security to facilitate her needs while also monitoring her.

The inmates attempted to fill buckets with water due to the frequent low water pressure. The only solution to cope with the heat was to bathe, but the ward was infested with insects, cockroaches, and rats, which “seemed to be the real owners of the place,” according to Shaimaa. Due to these conditions, lice spread, and some inmates fainted and developed skin diseases like scabies.

Despite these conditions and the extreme heat, Shaimaa was forced to wear full clothing, avoiding any light clothing, due to the presence of inmates with homosexual tendencies who sometimes harassed other prisoners. “That’s why I made sure even inside the cell to wear full clothing so that I wouldn’t be sexually harassed”.

Egyptian journalist Solafa Magdy recounts her experience with the heatwaves in Qanater Women’s Prison from her exile in France. She was arrested in November 2019 and spent 18 months in pre-trial detention in a cell housing between 150 and 160 inmates. There were some ventilation windows high on the walls, but during the winter, rainwater entered the cell through these windows and mixed with some electrical outlets, posing a significant danger to the inmates. The prison administration chose to close the windows, the only source of ventilation, rather than addressing the problem.

As Summer approached, the situation worsened due to poor ventilation, high temperatures, and frequent water cuts in the cell. The inmates tried various methods to mitigate the situation, requesting the prison administration to allow them to buy fans. The administration eventually relented under pressure, but the number of fans remained insufficient for a large number of inmates, so the fans were used in rotation.

 

“For some political prisoners, the fans were allowed in with permission from the National Security officer. I didn’t get a fan until my second year in prison. Criminal prisoners were allowed them easily, but political prisoners were treated differently.” – Solafa Says

Solafa says, “For some political prisoners, the fans were allowed in with permission from the National Security officer. I didn’t get a fan until my second year in prison. Criminal prisoners were allowed them easily, but political prisoners were treated differently.”

Due to the frequent water cuts, the cell leader connected a hose to the water tank near the cell and sprayed water on the inmates to cool them down. They also purchased ice blocks from the prison canteen to cool the water and juices.

These conditions led to negative health effects, especially for inmates with blood pressure issues and respiratory problems. Solafa suffered from breathing difficulties throughout the summer and frequently had to go to the hospital for oxygen therapy sessions. The inmates also struggled to sleep due to overcrowding, high temperatures, increased anxiety, and stress. The prison administration made no effort to help or alleviate the suffering in any way or to reduce the number of inmates. On the contrary, the number of inmates increased, reaching over 300 in one room at one point, making the situation catastrophic with the outbreak of COVID-19. “People were being carried out of the ward,” Solafa describes.

She recounts her method of resistance: “I always thought about those outside. I have a son I need to get out for, and a mother in her fifties who comes from far away to visit. They can’t be stronger than us… we have to endure to get out to them.”

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