NGO: Dozens of Egyptian dissidents died in prison in August

Sunday, 13 September 2015 8:47 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 13 September 2015 9:36 PM ]

Egyptian defendants wait behind bars for the verdict in their retrial over a 2012 stadium riot in the canal city of Port Said at a police academy on the outskirts of the capital, Cairo, on August 23, 2015. AFP photo

Dozens of dissidents have died across prisons in Egypt in the month of August alone, according to a non-governmental organization.

The Arab African Center for Freedoms and Human Rights documented deaths of 42 detainees.

According to the Cairo-based NGO, the captives mainly died due to medical negligence on the part of Egyptian authorities.

Human rights activists in the Egyptian capital have repeatedly said that many of those who die behind bars are usually in very critical condition due to torture upon arrest by Egyptian authorities.

Nearly 300 political prisoners have died in Egyptian detention facilities since 2013, according to activists.

The current military-backed government has harshly cracked down on dissent since the downfall of former President Mohamed Morsi in a military coup in July 2013.

Large numbers of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have been jailed since the rise of former military commander and current President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

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