Watan-The “Sinai Foundation for Human Rights” has revealed leaked images of a prison complex built by the Egyptian army’s engineering authority, known as the “Al-Jafr Prison,” for the Ministry of Interior. The prison was constructed semi-secretly in an isolated desert area in the middle of Sinai, following the displacement of local residents and the confiscation of their farms.

The Sinai Foundation is a non-governmental human rights organization, independent and dedicated to monitoring and documenting human rights conditions in the Sinai Peninsula, highlighting violations committed by various actors on the ground.

According to the official website of the human rights organization, the Egyptian authorities have been working on establishing a massive prison complex in an isolated desert area near the village of Al-Jafr, affiliated with the city of Al-Hasana, in a semi-secretive manner.

What is the secret behind the establishment of Al-Jafr Prison in Sinai?

The new complex is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior, while its construction is overseen by the engineering authority of the armed forces, and work on it began near the end of 2021.

Official government data indicates that the population of the city of Al-Hasana, where the new prison is located, was 22,680 in 2021. However, according to the engineering drawings viewed by the foundation and the information obtained, the prisons in the Al-Jafr complex have a capacity for about 20,000 inmates, nearly equal to the population of the area.

According to a detailed video published by the Sinai Foundation and monitored by “Watan,” the prison complex is circular, surrounded by high walls from the outside. The circle is divided into sections, with several buildings in each section. Two sections on the left and right of the circle contain several identical buildings in number and shape. The other sections each contain four buildings, each in the shape of the letter “H.”

In the center of the circle, at an equal distance from all sections, there appears to be a building serving as the command and control center to monitor the entire prison.

Hospital and Courts

The hospital is located in the southern part of the circle, and at the entrance, there is a complex of courts dedicated to the prison. Since President Sisi came to power in 2014, the government has established trials, especially in political or sensitive cases, inside special halls within prisons and security directorates.

The government has solidified this by building courtrooms in the new prisons constructed in recent years, violating the principles of judicial independence. This also reinforces violations related to the difficulty of access to trials for residents, lawyers, and the media, threatening the principle of public trials continuously.

Civilian Farms Confiscation

Images obtained from satellite imagery on May 17, 2023, and others in September 2023, show that the authorities have confiscated farms owned by civilians to build the prison.

The complex covers an area of about 6 square kilometers with a length of about 3 kilometers and a width of 2 kilometers. Its design closely resembles the Wadi Al Natrun prison complex, opened by the state in 2021.

The Foundation points out the irony that the prison’s capacity reaches 20,000 inmates, equal to the population of the city of Al-Hasana where the prison is located.

The prison is located near the Burdawil Airport (military airfield) and is approximately 100 kilometers away from the nearest city, Bir al-Abd.

According to the same source, it is likely that the under-construction prison complex will host prisoners from outside the Sinai region. The prison, according to open-source maps, is situated in a mountainous desert area, making access extremely difficult.