Sexual assault of detainee Omar Mohamed Ali in the notorious Badr Prison has been denounced by six Egyptian human rights organizations.
The Aassociation for Freedom of Thought and Expression, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Nadim Center, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, the Committee for Justice, and the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms signed a joint statement to condemn the sexual assault of Omar Mohamed Ali
The above Egyptian human rights organisations today condemned the sexual assault of the young man Omar Mohamed Ali while in detention on 2 October by members of the police and in the presence of the prison investigations inspector.
In a joint statement, the human rights organisations called on the Public Prosecution “to open a serious and transparent investigation into the incident, to seize the camera recordings inside the prison, and to bring those responsible to trial.”
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression submitted a report to the General Attorney about the incident, no. 237018, which is under examination at New Cairo Administrative Prosecution Authority.
Omar Ali was transported from Tora Farms Prison and transferred to Badr Prison; the incident took place immediately after Ali’s arrival to Badr Prison. The police officers started searching Ali, and before he was asked to undress, three security personnel stripped him of his clothes by force while he was handcuffed, and repeatedly harassed him in the presence of a detective inspector and in a place where there are many surveillance cameras.
“The sexual assault of Omar Ali is a serious indicator of the severity of the violations to which detainees are subjected inside prisons throughout Egypt. The escalation of violations inside Badr Prison, the subject of complaints and allegations from many political prisoners, indicates that there have been no changes in the policy of the security services inside prisons,” the statement read.
Mona Seif, sister of Alaa Abdel Fattah, commented on this in a tweet, saying: “Sexual harassment of a young political prisoner, Omar Mohamed, in Badr Prison, where terrifying testimonies about this prison escalate. We hope that the Public Prosecution will move seriously to investigate this matter in order to truly protect prisoners and their families, and not to ignore their pleas this time.”
An investigation has now been opened at New Cairo Administrative Prosecution Authority after the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression submitted a report to the General Attorney about the incident.
Sara Mohamed, an Egyptian human rights defender and advocate, also commented on Omar’s issue on her Twitter account, saing: “Our friend Omar Mohamed Ali got sexually harassed by prison Guards in #BadrPrison 1. they forcibly stripped him naked and groped his genitals in the presence of the Prison inspector!”
Ali was arrested in June 2015 along with two of his friends in front of a restaurant in Maadi. He was then disappeared for nearly two weeks, during which he was tortured inside the headquarters of the National Security Agency.
Weeks later, on 16 June, he was accused of revealing a military defense secret. The military court sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Also, ICJ MENA tweeted saying: “Egypt: The ICJ calls on Egyptian authorities to open a prompt, independent investigation into allegations of sexual assault of Omar Mohamed Ali on 2 October 2022 by police officers inside Badr Prison, and ensure that all those responsible are held accountable.”
The incident took place immediately after Omar Ali was transferred from Tora Prison to Badr Prison. While searching him, police officers asked him to undress, then three security personnel stripped him of his clothes by force while he was handcuffed, and repeatedly harassed him in the presence of a detective inspector and in a place where there are many surveillance cameras, the rights groups said.
Egyptian Commission for rights and Freedom (ECRF) added a link to the joint statement signed by the rights organizations, and tweeted, saying: “The undersigned organizations express their condemnation of the sexual harassment of prisoner “Omar Mohamed Ali” inside the place of his detention by police officers and in the presence of the prison investigations inspector. The rights organizations call on the Public Prosecution to open a serious and transparent investigation into the incident.”
The incidents targeting Omar Ali date back to 2015, after he was arrested with two of his friends in front of a restaurant in Maadi on 2 June 2015. He was then disappeared for nearly two weeks, during which he was tortured inside the headquarters of the National Security Agency. Ali was brought before the Military Prosecution on 16 June 2015, accused pending investigations in Case no. 174 of 2015, for revealing a military defense secret.
Ali was alleged to have provided one of the defendants with information that the court deemed incorrect about a security officers in the military factory where he works. Despite the apparent triviality of this ‘defense secret’, the military court sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Omar Ali continues to suffer from poor detention conditions and repeated violations of the right to due process. He has been tortured to coerce false confessions and was refused access to forensic medicine to prove his allegations of torture. He is being tried before a military court, not his natural civilian judge.
After expressing condemnation of the sexual assault of detainee in front of a prison security official and demanding the opening of a serious and transparent investigation into the incident and the processing of all prison cameras, the rights organizations called on the Presidential Pardon Committee to include Omar Ali on the amnesty lists.
