Alkarama had previously submitted Mohamed Abdel Moawad's case to the Special Rapporteur on Torture as part of an urgent appeal regarding the 24 others with whom he was arrested.

Mohamed Abdel Moawad's lawyer recently informed Alkarama that his chronic bone rheumatism has been severely aggravated due to poor conditions of detention and lack of medical care inside Sarahrawi II prison. According to sources, Mohamed Abdel Moawad's prison cell has no bed and he is forced to sleep on the cold ground in make-shift bedding. In addition to this, he is malnourished and does not have access to a clean bathroom. Due to all these factors he is unable to sleep, walk or even move from his bedding and is now on the verge of death.

Mohamed Abdel Moawad, aged 50, is a teacher at Ahmed Moharama Middle School in Damanhour; he is married and the father of three. In the past months he has made numerous requests to the Ministry of the Interior for his release on the ground of his ill-health - however, all his appeals have been refused.

Due to the continual degradation of his state of health, Mohamed Abdel Moawad's life is at risk. Alkarama submitted his case to the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health on 12 December 2009, iterating the fact that Abdel Moawad requires urgent medical intervention in order to save his life.

This type of ill-treatment inside Sahrawi II prison is not uncommon - it is notorious for being one of Egypt's worst prisons, closely led by Al-Marg. The Egyptian authorities are, in each one of these cases, in blatant violation of the international conventions to which they are party and no legal argument can justify Mohamed Abdel Moawad's current situation.

Alkarama calls for the immediate release of Mohamed Abdel Moawad, or at least that he be transferred to the appropriate medical institution in order to the medical treatment he requires and to which he is entitled by law.