The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) noted the Public Prosecution’s statement, published on September 2, announcing that Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawqi had personally led a delegation on an inspection visit to the Wadi El Natrun Correctional and Rehabilitation Center complex. 

According to the statement, the delegation visited two of the six correctional centers within the complex, and Shawqi reviewed the complaints registry, listened to inmates who had previously filed grievances, and directed the prison administration to take necessary action. The statement ultimately concluded that “the Public Prosecutor praised the level of care provided to the inmates.”

EIPR had particularly hoped that young detainee Mohamed Walid would be among the inmates the Public Prosecutor met and whose complaints were heard. Walid has been held at Wadi El Natrun for over two years, during which he has been denied several urgent surgeries to correct his spine, jaw, and nose. In addition to severe dwarfism with skeletal deformities, he suffers from a complete nasal obstruction that forces him to breathe through his mouth and requires regular procedures to drain excess fluid from his brain. Walid faces immense daily hardships, confined in a cell entirely unequipped for his medical needs. Moreover, since his arrest, he has been denied access to his psychiatrist and the medications required to manage his chronic depression, anxiety, and severe social phobia, drastically exacerbating his suffering in prison.

The prosecution statement marks the Public Prosecutor’s second such visit since taking office in 2023. Exercising his authority under the Law on Organizing Correctional and Community Rehabilitation Centers (formerly the Prison Organization Law), he conducted a similar inspection of the Badr Correctional and Rehabilitation complex in September 2024. At that time, the prosecution did not specify which of the complex’s centers were inspected. Much like the recent Wadi El Natrun visit, the prosecution's statement at the time noted that the delegation reviewed the complaints registry, listened to inmates who had filed grievances, and directed the administration to address them.

However, the Public Prosecutor has not repeated his visit to the Badr complex, and it is evident that the initial inspection failed to meaningfully resolve the inmates' grievances. The prosecution merely listened to select complaints without ever publishing the inspection outcomes or enforcing accountability measures. Furthermore, no updates were provided regarding the complaints it had ostensibly ordered the administration to “address.” 

Later, in May 2025, the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) visited the Badr complex and noted in its report that the delegation was barred from “entering the housing wards despite the presence of inmates serving long sentences.” This restriction effectively prevented the delegation from assessing actual detention conditions, prompting the NCHR to demand full future access to housing wards for human rights missions, alongside the release of transparent statistical data.

In January 2026, EIPR Director Hossam Bahgat filed Petition No. 5640 to the Public Prosecutor, calling for a criminal investigation into the living conditions and treatment of inmates at the Badr 3 Correctional and Rehabilitation Center. The petition sought accountability for officials responsible for confirmed violations, as well as redress for affected inmates in accordance with the Egyptian Constitution, the Law on Organizing Correctional and Community Rehabilitation Centers, and internal prison bylaws. Specifically, the petition urged the Public Prosecutor to inspect all sectors of Badr 3, meet directly with inmates, review their cases, and seriously investigate complaints filed by them and their families. 

The petition was based on an EIPR report published two months prior, titled “Propaganda vs. Reality: Systematic Violations of Inmates’ Rights in Badr “Model” Prison,” a copy of which was attached to the petition. The report documented testimonies from former detainees and the families of current inmates at the Badr complex, alongside interviews with defense lawyers and an analysis of official government statements regarding the facility. 

EIPR reiterates its urgent call for the Public Prosecutor to comprehensively inspect all sectors of the Badr 3 Correctional and Rehabilitation Center, to meet directly with the inmates, review their cases, and properly investigate their grievances as well as those raised by their families.

Finally, EIPR emphasizes that the primary goal of its legal petition—which has remained pending without action for approximately nine months—is to compel the Public Prosecution to fulfill its legal and constitutional mandate of investigation and oversight. The Prosecution must move beyond routine inspections and institutional praise to actively uphold the rule of law, ensuring the protection of the physical integrity and human dignity guaranteed to all citizens by the Constitution.