Since 2013, nearly 1,000 prisoners have died and, by some estimates, 136 of those deaths were caused by torture.
For years, the United States has urged Egyptian officials to end torture, improve prison conditions, and release prisoners held for exercising their free speech rights, recommendations Egypt has ignored. Senior Trump administration officials also repeatedly asked the Egyptians to release Kassem, to no avail.
Egyptian authorities fabricated explanations for his death and refused to share evidence with Regeni’s family or Italian authorities that could implicate Egyptian security officials. In addition to Kassem’s death, Guilio Regeni, an Italian PhD student conducting research in Egypt, was abducted four years ago, then tortured to death.
Kassem’s death, apparently in part from complications from his hunger strike and denial of appropriate medical care, followed more than five years in pre-trial custody and then more than a year in prison, as a result of his sentencing in September 2018 to 15 years in a bogus trial.
Though Kassem suffered from diabetes, heart disease, and hypothyroidism, he received negligent medical care. He was transferred to a hospital from Egypt’s Tora prison, which is notorious for medical neglect and torture.