The Egyptian interior ministry is currently constructing a new prison complex in Sinai, in the country’s northeast, which will be expected to house 20,000 convicts upon completion. Construction on the new prison complex in Sinai began in August 2021 in the al-Jafjafah area in central Sinai. It is said that the project is overseen by the Armed Forces Engineering Authority. The prison complex is expected to cover up to five kilometers and will be constructed on an area that was once owned by local olive farms.
With a total capacity of 20,064 prisoners, the new prison complex in Sinai will contain four regular prisons and two maximum-security prisons. The prison’s design will look identical to that of the Wadi el-Natrun prison complex, which President Sisi declared to be the country’s largest prison in September.
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President Sisi’s emphasis on human rights in the new prison complex in Sinai
With seven or eight more comparable projects planned across the nation, President Sisi stated that the Wadi al-Natrun jail will be a complete American-style prison. He added that the prisoner in the compound will serve his sentence in a humane manner while enjoying movement, subsistence, health care, and humanitarian, cultural, and reformatory care.
President Sisi’s remarks sparked outrage among activists who have documented the worsening human rights conditions in prisons since he took power. It is said that more than a third of the country’s currently existing prisons, estimated at 81, have been constructed under President Sisi’s administration.
Following the launch of the Wadi al-Natrun prison in January, the Badr prison complex, dubbed the Correctional and Rehabilitation Center, in Badr city, 65 kilometers east of Cairo, was inaugurated.
