ISTANBUL (AA) – Opposition figures in Egypt called for solidarity Monday with 10 Egyptian women detainees who have been on a hunger strike since Saturday to pressure the authorities to release them from Al-Qanater prison north of Cairo.
The calls were published through the social media accounts of opposition figures including activist Asma Shukur and legal activist Salma Ashraf.
They confirmed the women detainees went on hunger strike to highlight their unjustified conditions of detention and the inhuman treatment they face.
According to the statement of the call for solidarity, the women are subjected to unprecedented violations through procedures of extreme injustice and cruelty and are deprived of all their legitimate rights as well as the ability to care for their children.
The statement also said that among the arrested detainees are journalists, lawyers and students, one of whom holds U.S. citizenship, and all of them complain of the same violations that led them to declare the hunger strike.
The Egyptian authorities occasionally deny these claims and allege that no political prisoners are being held in their prisons.
According to human rights organizations, the number of people detained in Egypt's prisons is estimated to be over 65,000, mainly comprising members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other political opponents.
*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara
