CAIRO: Al-Marg prison has become synonymous with the Muslim Brotherhood and the struggle to survive. On October 23, the fight for life came to a head after 44-year-old Brotherhood member Ayman Ibrahim el-Desouki struggle to receive medical attention after his blood pressure rose dramatically and he entered a coma-like state, sources have told Bikya Masr. Prison conditions in Egypt are widely known for their poor conditions and brutality. Human rights organizations have often demanded better treatment of prisoners. The al-Marg prison is where a vast number of political prisoners are sent, including many Brotherhood leaders. For Desouki, it took a number of prisoners, who are doctors, to bang and shout at prison guards before attention to his situation was taken into account. According to a statement sent to Bikya Masr by someone close to the situation, Desouki – who suffers from diabetes – was in a comatose state as his fellow inmates began knocking on the doors of their cell, shouting and “calling for help for at least 45 minutes and nobody answered their pleas and screams.” When the prison guards finally took notice, the on duty prison doctor was nowhere to be found. According to the statement, corroborated by the Karama Party, there were doctors on the prison premises at the time and the prison's hospital was completely empty. Detained doctors from the Brotherhood managed to help Desouki despite a lack of instruments and in an unhygienic atmosphere, the statement read. If Desouki's condition had not been taken care of, doctors have said the man could have gone into cerebral hemorrhage, which would certainly resulted in his death. Following the incident, detainees protested the closure of the cells and the fact that no doctor was present to help Desouki through the ordeal. “This person [Desouki] might have be dead by now because of negligence and this is a violation of all prison conditions and standards,” read the statement. Desouki was arrested on August 17, by Egyptian State Security forces while he was at the home of Brotherhood member Yasser Ibrahim. He is one of 33 detainees accused of belonging to a banned movement, the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood, in a statement, said that this is a form of torture, which they say is “systematic” inside the country's prisons. A report issued by the Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) revealed that cases of torture in Egypt has reached an “unbearable†point and has become a “method practiced†at the highest level. The rights organization said that torture includes all segments of Egyptian society including that of women, children, youth and the elderly “without regard to any social status.†(see also “AOHR: Human rights situation in Egypt worsens”) The organization says torture in Egypt has become a “policy and a systematic behavior, which is widely approved of by the state, meaning that the highest authorities either approves or encourages this†behavior by its security personnel, supporting the Brotherhoods assertions. Another report, published in early October by the Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners said the outlook in Egypt on prisons does not look promising. The report said that Egyptian prisons are suffering from the “primitive†idea that sees “prisons as places of a collection of outlaws and that prisoners get ill-treatment.†(see also “You don't want to know … Egyptian prisons”) The report said that the use violence against prisoners to deter others is widespread and that this type of action was buttressed by the Prison Law itself in the country. The report said that the violence is in violation of all international conventions and minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. For the Brotherhood detainees and other political prisoners, going to prison is life-threatening, as these reports indicate. BM
