Tora Prison (Egyptian Arabic: سجن طره Segn Tora; Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [seɡn tˤurˤɑ]) is an Egyptian prison complex for criminal and political detainees, located in Tora, Egypt. The complex is situated in front of the Tora El Balad metro station. The main buildings in the Tora Prison complex are Tora Agricultural Prison, Tora Liman (maximum security), Tora Istiqbal (reception), Tora El Mahkoum and Tora Supermax prison, also known as Scorpion Prison (Arabic: سجن العقرب Segn El ʿAqrab).[1]
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| Location | Tura, Egypt |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Supermax, Maximum Security, General, Light |
| Opened | 1908 |
| Managed by | Ministry of Interior |
History
editTora Agricultural Prison was established in 1928 by Wafdist Interior Minister Mostafa El-Nahas while he was the interior minister,[2] in an effort to ease overcrowding at Abu Zaabal Prison.[3]
On 1 June 1957, security guards at Tora Prison killed 21 Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt prisoners.[4][5]
Architecture
editTora prison consists of seven blocks each holding approximately 350 prisoners, and are divided into sections such as political prisoners and criminals according to the severity of their crimes. There is a block for police officers and judges imprisoned on bribery charges, and a disciplinary block consisting of seven solitary confinement cells, two meters squared in size and some without light or ventilation. The prison walls are seven metres tall and are monitored by CCTV. The different sections of the prison are walled off from each other. After three prisoners from the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization implicated in the assassination of Anwar Sadat escaped in 1988, 2.5 meters were added to walls. Tora Prison has a small hospital overlooking a garden which is the block where businessmen and members of the Mubarak regime are held for corruption cases. The hospital is next to a football pitch and to a tennis court where the prisoners exercise. The prison has held some of Egypt's most high-profile prisoners. Some cells for long-term inmates are reminiscent of typical, if cramped, apartments (i.e. including a kitchenette, etc.).[6]
In 2014, a maximum security wing was built to hold political prisoners, whose numbers had started increasing since the July 2013 removal of Mohamed Morsi from office.[7]
Torture
editWelcome parades, a technique used in Egyptian prisons in which new prisoners are physically and psychologically abused while crawling between two lines of policemen,[8][9] was used in Tora Prison in September 2019 during the 2019 Egyptian protests, when blogger Alaa Abd el-Fattah and his lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer of the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms were subjected to welcome parades following their 29 September arrests.[7][10]
There have been allegations that the prison was used for other forms of torture and that there was Mukhabarat (Egyptian intelligence services) complicity with CIA extraordinary rendition practices during the Mubarak presidency. Tora Prison may have operated in this capacity since 1995/96 [citation needed] (being the most accessible of the few liman, i.e. maximum security prisons), making it one of the first of the black sites of George W. Bush's War on Terror.[11]
Notable inmates
edit- Maajid Nawaz, an Islamist-radical turned counter-extremist from the UK. He was visited in Tora by his lawyer, the future London Mayor, Sadiq Khan.[12]
- † Shukri Mustafa (1965–1967), executed by hanging.
- Wolfgang Lotz (The Champagne Spy) (1965–1968)
- Abd al-Hamid Kishk (1981–1982)
- Mustafa Amin
- Abbud al-Zumar (1981–2011)
- Kamal Khalil
- Muhammad Abdelrahim al-Sharqawi (3 years in the late 1980s)
- Azzam Azzam (1997–2004)
- Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggar (1999/2000 previous to his execution elsewhere)
- Muhammad al-Zawahiri (1999–?2011, tortured and beaten)
- Ashraf Shahin (early 2000s, reportedly tortured)
- Ihab Saqr (2002–2006 Istiqbal Tura, 2006–2008 Liman Tura, 2008-? Istiqbal Tura)
- Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (2003–?2007, reportedly tortured by electric shocks, beating and rape; see Abu Omar case)
- Ayman Nour (2005–2009)
- Hisham Talaat Moustafa (2008–present)
- Blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah and dozens of other civil-rights activists (2006, presumably Istiqbal Tura)
- also in 2019 together with his lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer[7]
- Alaa Mubarak and Gamal Mubarak (2011)
- Adel al-Gazzar (2011–?)
- Safwat El-Sherif
- Khairat el-Shater
- Zakaria Azmi
- Ahmed Ezz
- Ahmed Nazif
- Ahmed El Maghrabi
- Anas el-Fiqqi
- Habib el-Adly
- Tito Momen (sentenced for 15 years because he became a Mormon, released in 2006, went on to write a book titled "My name used to be Muhammad.")
- Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif (2004–present)
- Hosni Mubarak (2011–2013) incarcerated in April 2011, sentenced for life imprisonment in June 2012, but released in August 2013 after a court found that there were no legal grounds for his continued detention.[13]
- Tarek Loubani and John Greyson, two Canadian citizens arrested in the 2013 Egyptian protests and held for 50 days without charges
- Mahmoud Abu Zeid, an Egyptian freelance photographer arrested during the August 2013 Rabaa massacre, detained for over two years and then charged[14][15]
- Mohamed Soltan, human rights activist and civilian journalist, shot during a pro-democracy protest and then arrested without a warrant in his home 10 days later in August 2013. Mohamed is still imprisoned (as of March 28, 2015) in Tora Limon maximum security prison without charge or evidence presented against him. Much of his detention has been spent in solitary confinement, likely a punishment for his international popularity and a hunger strike which he began on January 26, 2014 to protest the inhumane conditions of the prison and the torture and unjustified detention of himself and hundreds of other human rights activists and journalists[16]
- Mustafa Ahmed Hassan Hamza (2014–present)[17]
- † Mohamed Morsi (2013–2019), deposed President of Egypt.[18] Died in prison of a heart attack.[19]
- † Essam el-Erian (2013–2020) Died in prison of a heart attack.
- Essam El-Haddad (2013–present)[20]
- Gehad El-Haddad (2013–present)[21][22][23][24]
- Mohamed Fahmy (2013[25] - 2015)[26]
- Husam Abu al-Bukhari (2013–present)
- Ayman Nour (2013–present)
- Khaled al-Qazzaz (2014–2015)[27]
- Ezzat Ghoniem (2018[28]-present), whose release has been requested by European Parliament[29]
- † Shady Habash (2018-2020)[30][31]
- Patrick Zaki (2020-2021, reportedly tortured)
Unconfirmed:
- Ahmad Salama Mabruk (1999 – early 2000s?)
- Essam Marzouk (1999–?, reportedly tortured)
- Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1999–?, based on claim of Mamdouh Ismail and conflicts other reports)
- Mamdouh Habib (2001/02, reportedly tortured by electric shocks, hanging)
- Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery (2002−2004, reportedly tortured and beaten)
- Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (2002−?2006, reportedly tortured by confinement in a tiny space and beatings)
- Mustafa Ali Hassanien (February 2020, film-maker studying at CUNY College of Staten Island in the US)[32][33]
References
edit- ^ Middle East Watch (Organization) (1993). Prison Conditions in Egypt. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9781564320902.
- ^ Ghoneim, Haitham (2015-12-20). "The graveyard: An inside look into Scorpion Prison". Retrieved 2021-03-31.
- ^ "Egypt's interior ministry sends medical mission to Tora Prison". 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
- ^ Toth, James (11 April 2013). Sayyid Qutb: The Life and Legacy of a Radical Islamic Intellectual. ISBN 978-0-19-979088-3.
- ^ Sagiv, David (17 June 2013). Fundamentalism and Intellectuals in Egypt, 1973-1993. ISBN 9781135239541.
- ^ Wright, Lawrence (2008-05-23). "The Rebellion Within". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ a b c "Alaa Abd El Fattah and his lawyer recount humiliation and beatings in maximum-security prison". Mada Masr. 2019-10-10. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
- ^ El-Fattah, Alaa Abd (2019-09-23). "A personal introduction to viciousness in enmity". Mada Masr. Archived from the original on 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
- ^ Yee, Vivian (2022-08-08). "'A Slow Death': Egypt's Political Prisoners Recount Horrific Conditions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ "Egypt: Torture of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah illustrates use of extreme brutality to crush dissent". Amnesty International. 2019-10-10. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
- ^ Mayer, Jane (2005-02-14). "Outsourcing Torture: The secret history of America's 'extraordinary rendition' program". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
- ^ Nawaz, Maajid (2016-05-08). "The Secret Life of Sadiq Khan, London's First Muslim Mayor". Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ Alandete, David (August 22, 2013). "El exdictador egipcio Hosni Mubarak sale de la prisión de Tora". El País – via elpais.com.
- ^ Trafford, Robert (October 28, 2015). "Shawkan: top Egyptian news photographer in prison for over 800 days without trial". The Independent.
- ^ "Egyptian photojournalist at risk of death penalty". Amnesty International. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "freesoltan". freesoltan. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ "Glyphosate : le débat empoisonné / Luxor…l'enquête bâclée / Chacun sa croix / Une bonne assiette d'insectes - Vidéo". Play RTS (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ "Detention Review Panel". Detention Review Panel. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ "UN calls for 'prompt and thorough' probe into Morsi's death". www.aljazeera.com.
- ^ Elsayed Gamal Eldeen (2013-12-21). "Senior Morsi aides transferred to Cairo prison charges yet to be filed". Ahram English. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
- ^ "Jailed Brotherhood spokesman disciplined for New York Times article". Middle East Monitor. February 28, 2017.
- ^ "Egypt: End Gehad el-Haddad's solitary confinement and denial of medical care". Amnesty International Canada. May 28, 2018.
- ^ "Gehad transferred to Scorpion Prison". FreeHaddad.org. August 19, 2020.
- ^ "Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad held in Egypt". BBC News. September 17, 2013.
- ^ Abdel Kouddous, Sherif. "Canadian journalist held in notorious Egypt jail in crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood". Toronto Star.
- ^ "Mohamed Fahmy, Canadian journalist, pardoned by Egyptian president". CBC.
- ^ "Stephen Harper, Khaled Al-Qazzaz needs your help". Toronto Star. July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- ^ Amnesty International (April 2, 2018). "Egyptian defenders and journalists deteined" (PDF). Retrieved December 30, 2020.
- ^ "European Parliament resolution on the deteriorating situation of human rights in Egypt". Europarl portal. December 16, 2020.
- ^ Michaelson, Ruth (2 May 2020). "Egyptian film-maker who worked on video mocking president dies in jail". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-03 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Egypt: Shady Habash, filmmaker who mocked el-Sisi, dies in prison". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
- ^ Staff, The New Arab (29 September 2020). "US-based Egyptian filmmaker detained in Egypt in 'outrageous' crackdown on artistic freedom". alaraby. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
- ^ "Mustafa Ali Hassanien, Student at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Arrested in Egypt, Accused of Membership in Terrorist Organization, Spreading False News and Disturbing Public Security". Committee of Concerned Scientists. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2020-11-19.