Global Courant 2023-05-11 21:40:15
A top United States Senate committee has said it is “deeply concerned” about the declining health of Sala Soltanan Egyptian academic and US permanent resident arbitrarily detained in a Cairo-area prison, according to rights groups.
Dozens of human rights groups warned earlier this month that Soltan, 63, was “at risk of death” and urged Egyptian authorities to release him immediately and provide “life-saving medical care”.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Democrat Bob Menendez, echoed that in a tweet from its official account on Thursday, warning that Soltan’s health was “deteriorating rapidly…due to prison neglect.”
“Egyptian authorities must release him and give him immediate access to life-saving medical care,” the Twitter post read.
Deeply concerned about Salah Soltan’s rapidly declining health due to prison neglect. The Egyptian authorities must release him and give him immediate access to life-saving medical care.
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) May 11, 2023
US President Joe Biden, who pledged to put human rights at the center of his foreign policy, has faced calls to pressure Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi over the country’s human rights record.
Rights groups have accused the government of el-Sisi, which came to power in a military coup in 2013, of imprisoning tens of thousands of dissidents and outlawing virtually all forms of political opposition. Cairo has denied holding any political prisoners.
But while the Biden administration has made some public criticism of Egypt, it continues to view the country as a key ally. Nor has it made major changes to US military aid and sales to the Egyptian government.
“The U.S. risks legitimizing Egypt’s abuses by continuing its almost full support,” said Seth Binder, director of advocacy at the Project on Middle East Democracy, in a statement May 3, urging the Biden administration to pressed to put pressure on Cairo for Soltan’s release.
The Egyptian academic lived and worked in the US for more than a decade before being arrested in Egypt in 2013, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in the same statement earlier this month.
Soltan was detained along with others who opposed the overthrow by the Egyptian army of the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to human rights groups, security forces stormed a large protest rally on Rabaa Square in the capital Cairo and shot hundreds of unarmed demonstrators dead.
Soltan was sentenced to life in prison in September 2017 as part of a mass trial criticized for violating due process rights and including foreigners and journalists.
Egyptian authorities also deported his son, the prominent Egyptian-American rights advocate, Mohamed Soltan, to the United States in May 2015. Mohamed was released from an Egyptian prison after going on hunger strike to protest his detention.
“(To be honest) I have fresh ideas about what else I can do to save my dad’s life before it’s too late!” Mohamed Soltan wrote on Twitter on May 3 about his father’s continued detention.
“He is in the world’s most notorious prisons in Egypt and reportedly had 2 minor heart complications in the past (months) and was left unattended for 8 hours! I need your help to #SaveSoltan!”
‘Deliberately abusing’
In their May 3 statement, HRW and 50 other human rights organizations warned that the deliberate denial of healthcare to Soltan could amount to torture and urged Egyptian authorities to dismiss claims of ill-treatment at Badr prison, east of Cairo. to research. being held.
The alleged abuses included “surveillance of cells with CCTV cameras 24/7, exposure to fluorescent lighting around the clock, and chaining prisoners to the walls of their cells for days without food and water,” the groups said.
Meanwhile, in a letter leaked in March, Soltan said prison authorities had denied him adequate health care “even though he suffers from life-threatening heart and liver disease and other complex medical conditions.”
His family has said that Soltan suffers from chronic and emerging conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, hepatitis C and intervertebral disc disease.
“In addition to tracking him down in an unfair trial, the Egyptian authorities are deliberately abusing Salah Soltan’s rights by not providing him with health care,” said Adam Coogle, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at HRW.
“The authorities should at least transfer him to a qualified medical facility where independent health professionals can treat him unimpeded.”
On Monday, US Congressman Don Beyer also joined calls for Egypt to release Soltan immediately. “Dr. Salah Soltan should never have been in prison, but the conditions he is facing – including denial of essential health care – now threaten his life,” he said on Twitter.
Dr. Salah Soltan should never have been imprisoned to begin with, but the conditions he faces – including denial of essential health care – now threaten his life. I call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Dr. Soltan.
— Representative Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) May 8, 2023
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