Seventeen Egyptian and international rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the death of Mahmoud Mika in police custody at the Khalifa police station in Cairo due to alleged torture marks on his body.
The groups expressed alarm at what they described as a “growing number of detainee deaths” in Egyptian prisons, many allegedly resulting from torture and ill-treatment in detention facilities.
In a joint statement, the organizations condemned what they said was the Egyptian government’s ongoing policy of “entrenchment of impunity through its policies and practices, which collectively lack any credible mechanisms of investigation, oversight, or accountability in cases of death in custody – most recently Mahmoud Mika.”
According to the statement, Mahmoud Mohamed Asaad, also known as “Mahmoud Mika,” died on April 10 while held at the Khalifa police station in Cairo. According to documented testimonies from his family, who oversaw the washing of his body during burial preparations, there were clear marks all over his body of torture, deep wounds, and severe beating. This included conspicuous lash marks on his back, apparently inflicted with a hose-like instrument.
There were also signs that Mika was bound around his neck and at his wrists and ankles.
Three police officers arrested Mika at dawn on March 6, 2025, during Ramadan, while he was shopping with his mother in Al-Khalifa neighborhood. The prosecution charged him with drug possession, though according to his lawyer, the authorities did not present any seized illicit items at the station.
The statement added that Mika had previously been arrested in December 2024 following an altercation with the same two officers who arrested him again in March.
Cellmates told rights groups that Mika was tortured and assaulted in front of them after a verbal argument with one of the officers. He reportedly died in their presence and was then transferred to a solitary cell in what the groups called “an attempt to cover up the crime.” Witnesses said they and their families faced threats to withdraw their statements to the prosecution.
Mika’s family has not yet received a copy of the official forensic report detailing the cause of death. The statement described this as part of a pattern of obfuscation and stalling by authorities.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior issued a brief statement denying torture, instead attributing Mika’s death to a fight with another detainee—a claim that contradicts detainee testimonies.
In its 2023 concluding observations on Egypt, the United Nations Committee Against Torture described torture as “widespread and systematic” in the country, urging authorities to shut down all unofficial detention centers, explicitly criminalize enforced disappearance, and investigate all such cases.
Egypt ratified the UN Convention Against Torture in 1986, obliging it to submit periodic reports every four years on its efforts to implement the convention’s provisions.
The signatories to the statement included the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, El Nadeem Center, Egyptian Front for Human Rights, the Egyptian Human Rights Forum, Foundation for Law and Democracy Support, Refugees Platform in Egypt, Committee for Justice, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, EgyptWide for Human Rights, Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, Egyptian Network for Human Rights, Human Rights Monitor, El-Shehab Center for Human Rights (London), Humena for Human Rights and Civic Participation, and RedWord for Human Rights and Freedom of Expression.
