Rights Organizations: Conclusion of the “I Want to Breathe” Campaign to Protect Detainees’ Lives from Overcrowding and Extreme Heat and to Safeguard Their Right to Humane Detention Conditions
The undersigned human rights organizations announce the conclusion of the humanitarian and advocacy campaign “I Want to Breathe”, which sought to shed light on the catastrophic conditions faced by detainees in prisons and places of detention amid soaring temperatures, deteriorating detention conditions, restrictions on ventilation, and severe overcrowding inside cells. The organizations express their profound concern over the grave threat these conditions pose to the lives of thousands of detainees, particularly older persons, those with chronic illnesses, and other medically vulnerable individuals.
Documented reports and testimonies collected throughout the campaign confirmed that many detention facilities have become suffocating environments that fail to meet even the minimum standards of health and safety, contributing to numerous deaths linked to suffocation and heat-related illnesses.
Throughout the campaign, the participating organizations published a series of statements, infographics, and awareness videos documenting the humanitarian and health conditions inside prisons and calling for immediate measures to protect detainees’ lives and preserve their dignity.
At the conclusion of the campaign, the undersigned organizations call on the Egyptian authorities to take the following urgent measures:
• Ensure continuous and adequate ventilation inside detention cells, permit the entry of electric fans, and maintain and operate exhaust and cooling systems without interruption.
• Guarantee access to sufficient, safe, and cool drinking water, allow regular bathing, and provide essential hygiene and sanitation supplies.
• Respond immediately to cases of heat exhaustion and heatstroke, and ensure the prompt transfer of critically ill detainees to hospitals in accordance with appropriate medical protocols.
• Reduce overcrowding inside detention facilities, implement medical release procedures for elderly and critically ill detainees, and end the excessive use of prolonged pretrial detention.
• Enable detainees to exercise regularly in open, well-ventilated spaces.
• Paint concrete prison buildings with heat-insulating materials to reduce heat absorption.
• Grant independent human rights organizations and specialized monitoring bodies access to prisons and police stations to document health conditions, monitor violations, hold those responsible for negligence accountable, and make the findings of such visits public.
• Conduct independent, transparent investigations into deaths in custody, medical negligence, and suicide attempts inside detention facilities, and hold all responsible individuals accountable.
• Ensure that detainees can submit complaints and emergency appeals without fear of punishment or retaliation.
• Guarantee regular family visits, remove glass barriers separating detainees from their relatives during visits, and allow physical contact in accordance with prison regulations and the Egyptian Constitution.
• Implement Article 60 of the Internal Regulations of Reform and Rehabilitation Centers (Regulation No. 79 of 1961), which guarantees four visits per month for pretrial detainees and two visits per month for convicted prisoners.
• End the use of solitary confinement as a punitive measure against detainees in violation of the internal prison regulations.
• Establish an electronic appointment system for family visits to reduce the hardship endured by relatives who are often forced to wait for long hours under extreme heat.
The undersigned organizations emphasize that the rights to life, physical integrity, and humane treatment are fundamental rights guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights standards, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). Violations of these rights constitute clear breaches of Egypt’s Law Regulating Reform and Rehabilitation Centers and its implementing regulations, transforming detention from a lawful measure into an inhumane and degrading form of punishment.
The organizations further reaffirm that ensuring humane detention conditions is both a legal obligation and a moral imperative that must be upheld under all circumstances.
Signatory Organizations:
El Shehab Center for Human Rights – London
Najda Organization for Human Rights – London
Human Rights Monitor – London
Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms – Cairo
Arab Observatory for Media Freedom – London
Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies
Arab Foundation for Supporting Civil Society and Human Rights
• Human Rights Egypt – London
