Tora Prison

Tora Prison (Arabic: سجن طرة‎‎ Segn Tora; Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [seɡn tˤurˤɑ]) is an Egyptian prison complex for criminal and political detainees, located in Tora, Egypt. The complex is situated in front of the Tora El Balad metro station. The main buildings in the Tora Prison complex are Tora Agricultural Prison, Tora Liman (maximum security), Tora Istiqbal (reception), Tora El Mahkoum and Tora Supermax prison, also known as Scorpion Prison (Arabic: سجن العقرب‎‎ Segn El ʿAqrab).^[1]

History

Tora Agricultural Prison was established in 1908 by Mustafa el-Nahhas while he was the interior minister, in an effort to ease overcrowding at Abu Zaabal Prison.

Details

Tora prison consists of seven blocks each holding approximately 350 prisoners, and are divided into sections for political prisoners and criminals according to the severity of their crimes. There is a block for police officers and judges imprisoned on bribery charges, and a disciplinary block consisting of seven solitary confinement cells, two meters squared in size and some without light or ventilation. The prison walls are seven metres tall and are monitored by CCTV, the different sections of the prison are also walled off from each other. After three prisoners from the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization implicated in the Assassination of Anwar Sadat escaped in 1988, 2.5 meters were added to walls. Tora Prison has a small hospital overlooking a garden which is the block where businessmen and members of the Mubarak regime are held for corruption cases, the hospital is next to a football pitch, and a tennis court where the prisoners exercise. The prison has held some of Egypt's most high-profile prisoners. Some cells for long-term inmates are apparently laid out like normal (if cramped) apartments with a kitchenette etc.^[2] There have been allegations that the prison was used for torture and Mukhabarat (Egyptian intelligence services) complicity with CIA extraordinary rendition practices under the Mubarak regime. It may in fact have operated in this capacity since 1995/96 (being the most accessible of the few liman), making it one of the first of the infamous "black sites".^[3]

Notable inmates

• Maajid Nawaz, a Islamist-radical turned counter-extremist from the UK. He was visited in Tora by his lawyer, the future London Mayor, Sadiq Khan.^[4]
• Shukri Mustafa (1965−1967)
• Abd al-Hamid Kishk (1981-1982)
• Mustafa Amin
• Abbud al-Zumar (1981-2011)
• Kamal Khalil
• Muhammad Abdelrahim al-Sharqawi (3 years in late 1980s)
• Azzam Azzam (1997-2004)
• Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggar (1999/2000 previous to his execution elsewhere)
• Muhammad al-Zawahiri (1999−?2011, tortured and beaten)
• Ashraf Shahin (early 2000s, reportedly tortured)
• Ihab Saqr (2002−2006 Istiqbal Tura, 2006−2008 Liman Tura, 2008-? Istiqbal Tura)
• Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (2003−?2007, reportedly tortured by electric shocks, beating and rape; see Abu Omar case)
• Ayman Nour (2005-2009)
• Hisham Talaat Moustafa (2008–present)
• Blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah and dozens of other civil-rights activists (2006, presumably Istiqbal Tura)
• Alaa Mubarak and Gamal Mubarak (2011)
• Adel al-Gazzar (2011−?)
• Safwat El-Sherif
• Khairat el-Shater
• Zakaria Azmi
• Ahmed Ezz
• Ahmed Nazif
• Ahmed El Maghrabi
• Anas el-Fiqqi
• Habib el-Adly
• Tito Momen (scentenced for 15 years because he became a Christian, released in 2006, went on to write a book titled "My name used to be Muhammad.")
• Hosni Mubarak (2012, sentenced for life, but released in 2013 after a court found that there were no legal grounds for his continued detention)
• Tarek Loubani and John Greyson, two Canadian citizens arrested in the 2013 Egyptian protests and held for 50 days without charges
• Mohamed Soltan (Human rights activist and civilian journalist, shot during a pro-democracy protest and then arrested without a warrant in his home 10 days later in August 2013. Mohamed is still imprisoned (as of March 28, 2015) in Tora Limon maximum security prison without charge or evidence presented against him. Much of his detention has been spent in solitary confinement, likely a punishment for his international popularity and a hunger strike which he began on January 26, 2014 to protest the inhumane conditions of the prison and the torture and unjustified detention of himself and hundreds of other human rights activists and journalists.)^[5]

^{[6] [7]}

Unconfirmed:

• Ahmad Salama Mabruk (1999 − early 2000s?)
• Essam Marzouk (1999−?, reportedly tortured)
• Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1999−?, based on claim of Mamdouh Ismail and conflicts other reports)
• Mamdouh Habib (2001/02, reportedly tortured by electric shocks, hanging)
• Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery (2002−2004, reportedly tortured and beaten)
• Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (2002−?2006, reportedly tortured by confinement in a tiny space and beatings)

External links

• Official website for the Egyptian Interior Ministry Prison Service

References

Coordinates: 29°57′06″N 31°16′42″E / 29.95167°N 31.27833°E / 29.95167; 31.27833