Egyptian Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik has decided to establish 8 new central prisons in 4 governorates: Fayoum, Aswan, Kafr El-Sheikh and Gharbia.
The first decree No. 1120 of 2021 stipulated the establishment of two central prisons in the Fayoum Security Directorate, namely: Tamiya Police Station Central Prison, and Shawashna Central Police Station Prison.
The second decree No. 1121 of 2021 also stipulated the establishment of two central prisons in the Aswan Security Directorate, namely, the Central Prison of the New Aswan Police Department, where its jurisdiction includes police departments (First Aswan, Second Aswan, New Aswan) and Daraw Police Station prison.
The third decree No. 1122 of 2021, stipulated the establishment of the Zefta Central Police Department Prison in the Gharbia Security Directorate, provided that its jurisdiction includes the Zefta Police Department.
The fourth decree No. 1123 of 2021, it provided for the establishment of 3 central prisons in the Kafr El-Sheikh Security Directorate: namely, the Kafr El-Sheikh First Central Police Department Prison, the Kafr El-Sheikh Second Central Police Department Prison, and the Bella Central Police Department Prison.
A report issued by the Arab Network for Human Rights Information under the title “Waiting for You: 78 Prisons, Including 35 After the January Revolution.. About the Difficult Conditions of Prisoners and Prisons in Egypt”, revealed the increase in the number of prisons and prisoners since the January 2011 Revolution.
The report, which was issued last April, indicated that the number of new prisons whose establishment decrees were issued after the January Revolution so far has reached 35, in addition to the 43 main prisons before the January Revolution; thus, the number of basic prisons is now 78.
The human rights organization estimated the number of prisoners, remand prisoners and detainees in Egypt until the beginning of March 2021 at about 120 thousand prisoners, including about 65 thousand political detainees, and about 54 thousand criminal prisoners, and about a thousand detainees that never knew the reasons for their detention.
