July 04, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Aya Hijazi
Founding Director- Belady- an Island for Humanity

The journey from El Qanater Prison to the Egypt Prison Atlas.

Sometimes people call me the ‘lucky prisoner’, because I was saved after three years of illegal detention on fabricated charges that were preceded by a beating.

The truth is, despite this suffering, I was indeed lucky, for I am out of prison, while tens of thousands of people, just like me, remain detained inside.

While we do not even know the total number, we do know, thanks to the Egypt Prison Atlas, that at least 611 women, and individuals arrested as children remain inside.  

We know who these people are, we know their numbers, and we have documented it. And when we document, we do not forget. 

I know what it feels like to be forgotten in prison. It feels as though we live in the most heinous place called the “graveyard of the living”. 

Knowing that we are remembered, and that our stories are told, brings us back to life.

That’s one more thing the Egypt Prison Atlas does. It makes sure to tell the storyies behind the numbers. For we, former and current political prisoners, are not numbers. 

For this purpose, the EPA will eventually display observational data that have been collected and documented in this regard over years.

Through this website, we raise our voices, so we can document, lest we forget.

Aya Hijazi