Egyptian prisoner dies following 'medical negligence' after hunger strike as country gears up for COP27

An Egyptian prisoner has died two months after launching a hunger strike inside Badr 3 prison to protest inhumane conditions he and his fellow inmate suffered behind bars, the Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Late prisoner Alaa El-Selmy reportedly received no medical care or follow-up at the prison, which made him lose dozens of kilograms until he passed away,” the statement added.    

Sources told the rights group that Selmy had died three days earlier but his family was only informed of his death on Tuesday.

Selmy was serving life in prison after being convicted of 'terrorism' related charges in 2019  

Since he had first been apprehended in 2014, Selmy was allegedly been subjected to severe torture, which led him to launch a hunger strike in protest of the prison conditions.

ENHR had earlier monitored other violations at the same prison including a lack of communication between the prisoners and the outside world for up to six years in some cases.

The group calls on prosecutor-general Hamada El-Sawy to immediately intervene and put an end to all forms of violations.

Egypt's human rights record has regularly been condemned under the regime of president Abel-Fattah El-Sisi, with local and international rights groups saying there are currently about 60,000 political prisoners behind bars. 

Earlier this week, after 200 days into a partial hunger strike, jailed dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah's family said he will fully refrain from food as Egypt prepares to host the COP27 climate summit.

A major figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah is currently serving a five-year sentence for "broadcasting false news", having already spent much of the past decade behind bars.

The activist has only been consuming "100 calories a day in the form of a spoon of honey and a drop of milk in tea", according to his sister Mona Seif.