Yesterday Ola Al-Qaradawi was transported from Al Qanater Prison to the State Security Prosecutor’s Office early morning for her 7th extension. She was placed in a cell without food and water until her turn came late in the evening. While being moved to the prosecutor’s office she lost consciousness. Lawyers promptly came to her attention and insisted she be given emergency medical help, yet guards insisted she be dragged into the prosecutor’s office for processing her renewal. This is the second known incident where Ola has passed out.
Ola was not provided an opportunity to meet with her lawyer privately and refused to discuss her conditions in front of the Egyptian authorities. However, lawyers have observed that she has lost significant weight and have expressed that they are afraid for her life. To date all legal requests for medical attention, a transfer out of solitary confinement, and visitation rights have been denied.
The prosecutor extended Ola’s detention without due process, what is becoming clearly a routine punishment of the State Security. Ola even requested to see a picture of her newest grandchild but the prosecutor denied this as well.
Hosam’s extension was delayed until Wednesday October 11, 2017.
The detainment extensions are a direct violation of their human rights and both Egyptian and international law. Ola and Hosam have not been able to challenge their detainment including access to documentation, being informed of the charges and evidence against them, and lawyer client privileged communication.
A recent article by Huffington Post Politics Washington based journalist, Akbar Ahmed, stated that US officials on the hill have confirmed that they are monitoring the situation and have been asking for improved conditions.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, and Michelle Dunne, a Middle East expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, have both raised concerns about Ola and Hosam’s detainment.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) has issued a statement calling for the immediate release of Ola and Hossam and the disclosure of the charges their arrest was premised on. They also condemned Egypt’s prolonged solitary confinement and that it amounts to torture, and should be halted immediately. They concluded their statement with the following:
“It is with the state’s systematic abuse of prolonged solitary confinement and unjustified banning of legally-afforded visits, as well as the particular case of Ola and Hosam’s 90+ days in pretrial detention and solitary confinement in mind, that EIPR calls on the Egyptian State to:
(1) immediately release Ola and Hossam and issue medical reparations for medical negligence caused by their inhumane prison conditions and prolonged solitary confinement
(2) Stop its practice of prolonged solitary confinement which constitutes torture according to UN Standards
(3) End its practice of arbitrarily yet systematic banning of visits and abide by pretrial detainees legal right to one weekly visit.”
Leave a Reply