Dr Mona Imam said her son Gehad El-Haddad, jailed spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, was thrown into a "disciplinary cell" in harsh junta Aqrab Prison after an article he wrote secretly was published by the New York Times. Dr Mona Imam held the prison administration, the prison service and the Interior Ministry fully responsible for the deterioration of her son's health, demanding her right to visit him in detention.
Dr Mona Imam said in a statement she posted on Facebook: "My son Gehad El-Haddad has been languishing in a disciplinary cell in the Aqrab 'cemetery' since authorities saw his name in an article published by a US newspaper... Disciplinary cells are known to all detainees of the dreaded Aqrab Prison. They are dark graves without toilets, windows or lights. With walls painted black, and the room is without electricity, a detainee lives in pitch-black darkness 24 hours a day. He never leaves the confines of his very tiny discipline cell for any reason at all. Thus they force him to stay in the dark for days or weeks until they destroy him physically and psychologically!
"These graves have only two buckets: one for throwing food in (for the detainee), and the other to be used instead of the missing toilet. These grave-like cells are smaller than 'isolation' cells, a detainee cannot lie down in them to sleep; he must sleep sitting up!"
Mona continued: "In these cells, everything is banned. The little prison canteen (where detainees may shop) is forbidden for those thrown in these 'disciplinary' cells. Those unfortunate inmates have nothing to eat but whatever little horrid food they are issued: at best, only half a loaf of simple Egyptian bread a day (hardly enough for a little child). They may well be deprived completely of any food for days, depending on the mood of the prison administration... Even prescription drugs are prohibited, as well as bed covers and blankets.
"Aqrab Prison is the farthest and most extremely harsh at the Tora Prison Complex. Surrounded by wide barren spaces separating it from the remote prison walls, in this bitter cold of the winter, especially at night, a detainee cannot sleep because of the intensity of the cold, especially since all Aqrab detainees are not allowed to wear except tattered flimsy prison clothes. They are not allowed to receive or wear any winter clothes."
She also pointed that: "This tomb does not even have a bar of soap, nor a toilet of any kind! A detainee is not given any water for days on end, at the whim of the prison administration. Visits are also banned for detainees in discipline cells. Those detainees also suffer all forms of torture and beatings, as well as insults and extremely humiliating treatment.
"Some detainees from every cell in Aqrab Prison suffered stays at those 'discipline' dungeons, and so everyone knows the extremely bad treatment and extremely squalid conditions there. Many rights organizations have documented multiple reports about these solitary punishment cells and the brutal atrocities detainees suffer there.
"My son Gehad has been languishing in one of these dark cells for a few days already. He suffers severe anemia that reached serious stages, as well as general weakness. I do not know how he will endure all this after three and a half years in solitary confinement at the Aqrab 'cemetery'. The last visit – when he saw his children – was five whole months ago. The prison administration refuses to give the reasons for banning his visits for incredibly long periods... May God exact prompt retribution from every single one of those responsible for atrocities."
On Wednesday - February 22 (2017), the New York Times published a letter by Gehad El-Haddad leaked from the heavily guarded notorious security jail Tora Prison. He was the official spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The letter had the title: "I Am a Member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Not a Terrorist".
(Ikhwanweb)
(Ikhwanweb)
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