WJWC Report: 60,000 Political Prisoners Held Without Trial in Egypt

 

Introduction

In its latest report, the Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) sheds light on a grim reality: more than 60,000 political prisoners held without trial in Egypt, subjected to administrative detention, arbitrary detention, and prolonged detention without trial under emergency regulations. These individuals, including journalists, activists, women, and even children, are often held on vague charges with secret evidence, in violation of international human rights law and fair trial standards.

Behind the barbed wire of prisons like Scorpion and Badr 3 lies a system built on incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance, and the use of military law vs. civilian rights. Detainees endure sleep deprivation tactics, psychological torment, torture and ill-treatment, including beatings, sexual violence, and medical neglect—all within what human rights groups have called "torture camps". With hearings lasting mere minutes, often without legal representation, these individuals become casualties of a justice system stripped of transparency, credibility, and due process.

Many face indefinitely renewable orders, a practice known as recycled detention, ensuring that even if courts issue a release order, new charges are fabricated to keep them imprisoned. The pattern reveals a calculated weaponization of law, serving as a form of collective punishment that undermines civil society and silences dissent.

International organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations, have issued repeated condemnations, calling for international inquiry, monitoring by the ICRC, and accountability for crimes against humanity. Yet, the Egyptian government continues to operate with legal ambiguity, emboldened by global silence and domestic repression.

This report offers more than statistics—it uncovers a state machinery where mass detention, state‑sanctioned abuse, and institutionalized torture have become normalized. It raises a pressing question for the global community: How long can such violations continue before the world confronts Egypt’s descent into a carceral state where indefinite detention replaces justice?

https://wjwc.org/news-en/wjwc-report-60-000-political-prisoners-held-without-trial-in-egypt

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