National Council for Human Rights Conducts Visit to the 10th of Ramadan Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre

 As part of its constitutional and legal mandate to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt, the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) conducted a field visit to the 10th of Ramadan Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre. The delegation comprised NCHR Board Members Mr. Alaa Shalaby, Dr. Ayman Abdel Wahab, Dr. Howaida Adly, Dr. Sherine Farag, Dr. Ayman Zohry,  Mr. Ahmed Badawy, and Dr. Wafaa Benjamin, along with a number of members of the NCHR’s Technical Secretariat.

The delegation conducted an inspection tour of the Centre, including its medical centre and various departments, as well as a number of production and vocational training facilities, including a ready made garments factory, a cooking oil packing facility, and agricultural and livestock production units. The delegation also reviewed the vocational training and work opportunities available to inmates, including the provision of materials and supplies for handicrafts and other activities, as well as the arrangements for providing inmates with financial compensation for the work they undertake. The tour also covered the Centre’s education and literacy programmes, including arrangements for inmates to continue their education and obtain officially recognized certificates, as well as its libraries, kitchen and food service facilities, including meals provided for inmates with specific medical needs. The delegation also inspected recreational areas, sports facilities, and departments dedicated to educational and awareness activities and the promotion of positive values.

The delegation also held a number of meetings with inmates and listened to their observations and concerns, as part of the NCHR's efforts to monitor their conditions and assess the extent to which their legally guaranteed rights and safeguards are being upheld.

The visit forms part of NCHR’s efforts to directly monitor the conditions of inmates in correctional and rehabilitation centres and other places of detention, and to assess the extent to which their conditions of detention and the services provided to them comply with the Constitution, the law, and relevant international human rights standards, particularly the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules).

NCHR is currently preparing a detailed report on the findings of the visit, which will include the delegation’s observations and its assessment of the conditions at the Centre, including accommodation and services provided to inmates, as well as any recommendations and proposals that NCHR may consider appropriate in light of its findings.

NCHR affirms that visits to correctional and rehabilitation centres constitute one of its principal tools for monitoring human rights conditions, strengthening dialogue with relevant authorities, and contributing to the development of the correctional system, in a manner that supports the protection of inmates’ rights and safeguards their human dignity.