New amendments to the prison law introduced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may further extend the powers of prison administrators to use force against prisoners, rights lawyers claim.

Published in the official Gazette on Sunday, the new amendments enable prison authorities to use force in cases of self-defense, attempts to escape prison, or if prisoners resist orders based on prison regulations.

The amendments detail penalties for those who resist orders, which include extending solitary confinement periods from 15 days to 30 days, and transferring those already in maximum security cells to solitary confinement for up to six months, which could result in them not being able to access some or all of the benefits extended to other prisoners.

The changes also stipulate the types of prisons where detainees can be held, among which are “special prisons,” which can be established by the president.

Prison administrators can now put prisoners in solitary confinement at their discretion for up to 15 days, instead of a week currently.

A lawyer in the criminal justice unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Reda Marey, told Mada Masr that the amendments are a “setback” for the rights of prisoners.

“This could lead to legalizing physical abuses against prisoners. The law also does not grant prisoners the right to defend themselves by appointing lawyers in the case of abuses,” Marey explained.

Head of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Mohamed Zarea agrees with Marey, adding that international standards in the use of force against prisoners should be implemented. “But there are no clear definitions of the exact cases in which power should be used, and how gradual this should be,” he maintained.

The law also proposed the separation of prisoners on pre-trial detention from others, permitting them to stay in “furnished cells” with a daily fee of no less than LE15.

Marey asserted that offering furnished cells at a cost is a violation of the right to fair treatment for all prisoners. “Offering better, furnished cells was part of the old legislation, the only change is that the fee has now been raised. This article of the law was always selectively applied anyways, not all prisoners willing to pay the fee were offered the service,” he said.

The ultimate aim of the prison sentence is to strip prisoners of their freedoms, not to give some the right to a more dignified stay,” Marey added.

Some of the amendments, however, could provide more rights to prisoners, as female detainees who give birth inside prison can now keep their children for up to four years, instead of two years, and death penalties for female prisoners giving birth can now be halted for up to two years after the birth of their children, instead of two months.

The new legislation also obliges prison authorities to report hunger strikes to the prosecution immediately.

Under the new amendments, prisoners can now make paid phone calls to their relatives and receive visitors twice a month, instead of once. However, prosecution or investigation judges can halt these benefits at any time.

Marey conceded that the amendments could mean some benefits for prisoners, but warned, “Real independent monitoring by civil society and the judiciary over the performance of prison administrators is the only guarantee that these reforms will be implemented.”

Zarea highlighted that none of the articles in the new legislation place any penalties on prison administration in cases where the law is not applied. “What happens if a prisoner is on a hunger strike and prison administrators decline to report this to the prosecution? he asked. Offering real guarantees that commit prison authorities to implement the law should be at the heart of such legislation, and is always absent,” he added.

There has been a focus on prison authorities since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, as mounting complaints have referenced several cases of prisoners dying while in custody, either due to maltreatment, torture or lack of proper medical services. In the last few months, many prisoners belonging to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group have died, with their families citing medical neglect.

Experts and human rights defenders have referred to a decaying prison infrastructure, outdated bylaws and the lack of political will as reasons for violations against prisoners.