Groups urge probe of jail conditions of US citizen in Egypt

CAIRO – Two leading rights groups are demanding an independent probe into detention conditions of an Egyptian-American citizen held in Egypt on terrorism charges.

Human Rights Watch and The Freedom Initiative said in a joint statement on Friday that Khaled Hassan had attempted to take his own life while in detention. They say conditions under which he’s being held are deplorable.

Hassan has been jailed since January 2018 on charges of belonging to the Islamic State group but has not been brought to trial.

The rights groups say Hassan had previously alleged he was being tortured and raped while in custody.

HRW’s Michael Page, deputy director for Mideast and North Africa, says the “Egyptian authorities have sadly earned their miserable reputation for mistreating prisoners, including denying them safe and sanitary prison conditions.”