Egypt 'torturing, severely beating' critically-ill daughter of Brotherhood leader: Amnesty

Amnesty International on Thursday urged Egypt to immediately release the daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood leader amid heightened fears for her well-being.

Aisha el-Shater, who has been detained since November 2018, has allegedly been subjected to severe beatings, electric shocks and mental torture since being forcibly disappeared by Egyptian authorities.

El-Shater, who is the daughter of jailed Islamist activist Khairat el-Shater, is currently being held in solitary confinement in Egypt's Al-Qanater Women's Prison.

According to medical sources cited by Amnesty International, Al-Shater suffers from aplastic anaemia, a rare and serious condition affecting the blood.

Her condition has rapidly deteriorated and she currently requires specialist and intensive treatment in a properly equipped medical facility, which is not being provided to her.

"The inhumane conditions to which the Egyptian authorities are subjecting Aisha put her life at serious risk. We are deeply concerned about her deteriorating health and the alarming and abusive conditions in which she is being held,” said Najia Bounaim, North Africa Campaigns Director at Amnesty International.

"The Egyptian authorities must immediately ensure that Aisha is transferred to a hospital with the necessary facilities to provide her with adequate medical care. They should also end her solitary confinement and allow her to receive regular family visits."

El-Shater was arrested, along with her husband, lawyer Mohammed Abu Horayra, last November. 

Hoda Abdelmoneim, a 60-year-old lawyer and former spokesperson for the Egypt's Women Revolutionary Coalition - a group allegedly close to the Muslim Brotherhood - was also among those detained.

The Muslim Brotherhood - which won Egypt's first democratic elections in 2012 - was overthrown by the military a year later with a bloody crackdown following.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has outlawed the group and branded it a "terrorist" organisation, with thousands linked to the Muslim Brotherhood detained by the regime.

Egyptian authorities massacred over 1,000 people who protested against the coup in August 2013.

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