Prison Conditions in Egypt Essay

Almost a year ago, Egypt broke into civil unrest when protesters flooded Tahrir Square, demanding the end of Hosnia Mubarak’s regime. Although Mubarak stepped down within two weeks, Egypt is worse off today than it was last January. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), which played a vital role in the January revolution, has now become a violent and oppressive force. On the twenty-ninth of December 2011, the SCAF raided seventeen Egyptian, German, and US run NGOs in search of proof of illegal foreign funding.1 In a statement (A/HRC/18/NGO/77) submitted by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), and the Center for Egyptian Women’s

The corruption after the re-election was devastating. “You can say I never knew or experienced any other regime, I can summarize it in one word CORRUPTION in everything in our life,” said Hanan. The government has a tight grip on the people. Hanan explained the difficulty,“I know I can't do any legal governmental paper work without paying a bribe. If not it will take longer or might not [get] done.” Many opposing political figures and young activists became imprisoned without trials. The State Security Intelligence (SSI) kept the Egyptians locked in fear for years. The Emergency law allowed the SSI to violate human rights of the accused without a trial. The government maintained control over many of Egypt's primary economic levers such as banking, tourism oil, the Suez Canal, manufacturing, media, etc. These government employees are underpaid wreaking havoc on Egypt's economy, rapidly dissolving the middle class.

Throughout the years the way prisons are run has changed. Changes include social roles, informal behavior norms, and social solidarity. Prison history has three major eras the Big House, the correctional institution, and the contemporary prison.

Prisons systems have changed after the first penitentiary was opened known as the Eastern Penitentiary. The theory of penitentiary was that by keeping criminals locked in their cell with not outside influences so that they can reflect on their past as well as become more religious is a way that the person will change their lives for the better and in return this would reform the person so upon release they were God fearing people that could function in society. These prisoners were locked in their cell 23 hours a day and had 30 minutes twice a day for yard time that was no just outside their cell. The inmates worked along in their cell, doing what they were told to do. They ate in their cell and only were

Shane Bauer is a reporter. He has reported on solitary confinement, police militarization, and the Middle East. He went undercover as a prison guard in one of Louisiana’s corporate-run prisons. He worked there for 4 months and documented his experiences. For this report he has won many awards. This article is found on the website/magazine of Mother Jones. Mother Jones is a magazine that won the American Society of Magazine Editors’ 2017 Magazine of the Year Award. The intended readers are for those who are civil rights activists and care about other human beings. The author is exploring what the conditions are in a medium level prison for all involved. It argues that the prison isn’t well funded, nor does it properly take care of its inmates. He is working in the prison and experiencing these things first hand, while recording it.

In the United States of America, civilians who commit crimes against the law are placed in prison and are no longer granted the respect of society members. Although they are not walking the streets, prisoners are still supposed to be given human rights within the prison grounds. Many statistics and cases show that prisoners are being abused, where prisoner’s rights might as well be useless. Some Americans do not think twice about prisoners since the prisoners have broken the law; and at times are not aware of the surreal events and living environment prisoners go through each day. The life prisoners go through is hostile, and the rights that prisoners should receive are being ignored. This neglect leaves traumatic mental and physical states outside and inside the prison. While in prison, human rights are being ignored as prisoners are sexually assaulted by other inmates, prison guards are abusing convicts, and outside of prison, prisoners experience employment problems.

There are many reasons a person would not want to go to prison. One of the main reasons is the violence, and this violence occurs in every prison around the world. Violence can be attributed to rape, overcrowding, gangs and to the particular justice systems. These justice systems include such countries as Brazil where violent episodes that include beheadings have occurred. Much of the prison crisis has been blamed on delays in the country’s legal system. This is because of how inmates receive extended sentences and poor prison management. (Romero, 2014) Thailand has extreme violence in their prisons especially Bang Kwang prison. Due to much of the rules within the prison culture, not only violence becomes prevalent but also the

There are many research studies discussing prison overcrowding and its affects on the prisoners, but it is also important to know how and why overcrowding occurring. To start with a summary, a growing increase in arrests, a lack of opportunity for parole, and longer sentences being given to offenders (Chung 2000) are three main reasons that prison overcrowding is occurring. Since the war on drugs, prison systems have been shipped inmates to stay elongated sentences in their prisons. Inmates who have committed non-violent crimes are also hauled to the prisons, filling the cells and any space that the prisoners had. It is an epidemic that needs to be discussed and fixed in order to ensure a better rehabilitation for prisoners and a better quality of life.

Prisons have not always been used the way we use them today. On the contrary, the punishment for a criminal were public events. The punisher would be put to shame in front of others. For instance, the punisher would be lace on a ducking stool, pillory, or whipped. If the offense was beyond the communities’ forgiveness then the punishment would be death. Unlike today, prisons tended to be a place to hold people before their trial or their awaiting punishment. According to Ferguson, in his book Inferno he states that “no matter what the crime and no matter how deserved the sentence, prison means oppression to those confined within its walls” (Ferguson 164). Prisons today are used to punish the criminal and sometimes they are kept in prison

Torture is arguably one of the worst things you can do to a human being. Not only is it physically harmful, it is also mentally degrading. As we have seen, torture is an obvious problem in Egypt. We also learned that it is extremely difficult to determine the right course of action as a foreign onlooker. We can read all the articles and documents we want, but we will never truly know the whole story. No amount of foreign aid will be enough to stop the abhorrent crimes happening throughout the country. Until the Egyptian government stands up for its citizens, torture will continue to be a means to get false confessions.

There are many different ways of holding criminals all around the world, but in some places the jails are feared for their roughness. These places offer punishments and living conditions that make them a dreaded place to be. The punishments at these prisons can range from getting beaten to being full on tortured. In some places the punishment ranges from how bad the crime is, in others all the punishments are the same for each.

Allowing prisoners to have a chance to learn and obtain education is of the utmost importance. If we don't provide an opportunity for them, they will not become properly rehabilitated and will most likely be stuck helpless when they finally return to society. Books can give them a chance to learn a new skill and have a different view on life and human potential with the right books in their hands. To give them a chance to keep their mind busy, while learning valuable information, can be the difference a prisoner needs in the prison, and back in society. Prison life can make a person feel depressed and useless. Giving a prisoner a book, may just help them get through the day, and know they still have a chance when they get out. You have the

Under that ‘state of emergency’, the government has the right to imprison individuals for any period of time, and for virtually no reason, thus keeping them in prisons without trials for any period. The political police may use intimidation, arbitrary arrest, torture and execution. It infiltrates other coercive agencies of the state, such as the regular police and the armed forces, to ensure their compliance. ” this state of emergency causing strong dissatisfaction of Egyptian, the citizens live under monitoring and political terror, human rights and political rights could not be gained.

This documentary follows the events that have occurred in Egypt’s government and civilian lives since the beginning of year 2011 and the documentary ends in the summer of 2013. Protests erupt and occur for almost three weeks. The President at the time, President Mubarak, stepped down, handed over power to military, suspended the constitution, and disbanded the parliament. “The army and the people, hand in hand” became a hopeful chant that the military had no interest in, showing the people this when they crushed another protest. Not too long after this, civilians were taken to the Egyptian Museum. There they were tortured, some taken too military courts and prisons. A few months later, a Christian protest was broken up by armored vehicles

The emergency powers fail to meet the standards of an ‘islamic’ and ‘democratic’ state in the following ways. Firstly, arbitrary detention is used actively and threatened against pressure groups to prevent them expressing their views thereby blocking the second standard, the use of individual reason in the public sphere. For instance, after the adoption of a critical resolution on Egypt by the European Parliament in early 2008, Egyptian officials made aggressive statements against Egyptian rights activists who had provided substantial input (S.Abed Kotob, 1995: 333). Secondly, articles in the Penal Code have been used to prosecute both pressure groups and rights activists on the grounds of national security. Saad Eddin Ibrahim himself was prosecuted in 2008 for “threatening national security and spreading misleading information about Egypt abroad” (Zubaida: 11). Indeed, President Mubarak has promised to end the permanent state of emergency, yet none of these promises have materialized.