Concerns for the life of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail after reports of an unusual throat operation while in detention

Concerns for the life of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail after reports of an unusual throat operation while in detention

Concerns for the safety of lawyer and former presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who has been detained since 5 July 2013, following reports that he underwent an unusual procedure in his throat. It is feared that this may have affected his ability to speak and deliver speeches, amid warnings that his life may be at risk inside Egyptian prisons.

Since 2016, Abu Ismail’s family has been unable to obtain reliable information about his health, in light of being denied visits, and reports that he has been held in solitary confinement for long periods and subjected to ill-treatment, as well as a deterioration in his physical condition—without any possibility for independent verification of his current health status.

Abu Ismail, who is held—according to information available inside Badr prisons—remains in detention despite the completion of all sentences issued against him, according to the statement published in July 2026.

Al-Shehab Human Rights Center expresses its deep concern over this information, and calls on the Egyptian authorities to immediately disclose his health condition and place of detention, allow his family and an independent lawyer to visit him, and conduct an urgent medical examination by an independent medical body, while providing him with the necessary healthcare. It also calls for an investigation into reports of violations to which he may have been subjected inside his place of detention, and for his release if there is no legal basis for the continuation of his detention.

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