Young Man Dies in Cairo Police Custody Amid Torture Allegations
Rights group reports 26-year-old Mahmoud was tortured to death inside Al-Khalifa Police Station, as calls grow for accountability in Egypt’s detention system.
Watan-The Egyptian Network for Human Rights reported on Sunday the death of a young man named Mahmoud, 26, inside Al-Khalifa Police Station in Cairo, just days after his arrest, amid accusations that police officers tortured him to death. A widely circulated video shows signs of torture on various parts of his body, reinforcing suspicions that he was subjected to abuse in custody which led to his death.
A relative of Mahmoud said in an audio testimony that he was “picked up off the street by police officers without any reason and taken to Al-Khalifa Station, where a fabricated report was filed against him. Since Thursday, he was denied visits and food under the pretext that he was involved in a fight in detention. He was then placed in solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure.”
She added that the family had learned there was supposed to be a hearing before the prosecution that Mahmoud was meant to attend, but he never showed up. When the family inquired at the station, officials denied any order for him to appear. Later, an officer from the station contacted the family, asking his parents to come, claiming Mahmoud wanted to see them—only for them to be informed of his death upon arrival.
Family Rejects Cover-Up After Detainee Dies in Custody
The relative confirmed that the police station initially denied the death before admitting it, then asked the family to sign off on receiving the body under the pretense of a religious obligation to “honor the dead by burying them.” The family refused and demanded an autopsy, which later revealed clear signs of torture according to witnesses from the family.
According to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights, this is not the first such incident at Al-Khalifa Police Station this month. Similar cases have been reported, including claims that detainees and their families were threatened to prevent them from testifying before the prosecution, which had called for witness statements from inmates.
The network previously documented numerous deaths in Egyptian prisons and police stations in recent years, often without proper investigations or accountability. It condemned the Public Prosecutor’s complicity and failure to oversee detention facilities, saying this has fueled a culture of impunity.
