The Egyptian authorities are holding state critics and political opponents in cruel and inhuman conditions in Badr 3 Prison, Amnesty International said today, as Egypt prepares to host COP27, the annual UN Climate Change Conference, in Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

Supporters of prominent Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah gathered in London on Tuesday to mark his 200 days on hunger strike, calling on the UK government to do more to secure his release.

The Egyptian authorities released 25 pre-trial detainees on Sunday, Anadolu has reported. The release was announced by two members of the country’s Presidential Pardon Committee.

Egyptian prisons and detention facilities have seen 161 violations, including four deaths and 30 cases of deliberate medical negligence in September alone, an Egyptian non-governmental rights group said in a statement yesterday.

The UN is concerned about the fact that the Egyptian government has failed to open a proper investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of prominent economist Ayman Hadhoud.

The Presidential Pardon Committee in Egypt yesterday announced the release of a new batch of political prisoners who are being held in “pretrial detention”.

In light of the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April, Egyptian rights group Belady has called for releasing 145 women and 89 children imprisoned on political grounds, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Friday.

Detainees that have been transferred to the new Badr prison complex in Egypt have complained about the conditions there, reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Prominent opposition figure Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh has written his will and included it in a letter to his family as his health continues to deteriorate with no adequate medical care from prison authorities.

Egypt has received more communications from the United Nations on enforced disappearances than any other country, according to the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights defenders.