On Monday the State Information Service (SIS) published a report detailing a visit made by journalists, reporters and public figures to Tora Prison. The visit was organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the SIS. The visit was part of a campaign initiated in response to criticism of human rights in Egypt. Two days earlier, Egyptian officials travelled to Geneva to participate in the third Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

A UN report was released last week about conditions inside Egyptian prisons, detailing the negligence and poor detention conditions which have put the lives of thousands of prisoners in danger.         

The report mentioned detention conditions of the late president Mohamed Morsi and confirmed that he was detained in brutal conditions that led to his death, where he was deprived of medical treatment and visits and forced to sleep on a concrete floor.  

The report also warned that the lives of thousands of detainees who are exposed to the same violations are also in danger. They are kept in overcrowded cells with poor ventilation and prevented from going outside. They are not given sufficient food.                    

The pictures published by the SIS depicted staff grilling food for the prisoners, providing top medical care and entertainment. These pictures have been slammed on social media.

Tweeters posted under the hashtag #معتقل_سابق (a previous prisoner) recounting their personal experiences of torture and the humiliating conditions of detention.