A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 calls on the Government to undertake effective measures to protect the rights and freedoms of all persons, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and to prevent the recurrence of such acts. (e) JUA 25/11/2013 Case No. EGY 15/2013 State reply: None to date Alleged arbitrary detention, torture and denial of medical treatment for Mr. Ahmed Hassan Al-Din. 51. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Egypt has not responded to this communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council. The communication refers to the alleged arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, torture and denial of medical care of Mr. Ahmed Hassan Al-Din who, at the time the communication was sent, remained detained in unhygienic conditions in Tora prison in Aqrab. The Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern about the mental and physical integrity of Mr. Al-Din in view of allegations that he continues to remain held in an unhygienic condition and has been threatened with more beatings as a consequence of his hunger strike and refusal to take liquids. In this context, and with respect to the allegations according to which Mr. Al-Din was subjected to beating and humiliation while in detention, the Special Rapporteur draws the attention of Government to paragraph 1 of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23 which “Condemns all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including through intimidation, which are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever and can thus never be justified, and calls upon all States to implement fully the absolute and nonderogable prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” In view of the allegations according to which Mr. Al-Din was placed in an isolated cell, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to paragraph 6 of General Comment 20 of the Human Rights Committee. It states that prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person may amount to acts prohibited by article 7 [on the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment] of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted at the 44th session of the Human Rights Committee, 1992). In this regard, he recalls that article 7 of the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners provides that “efforts addressed to the abolition of solitary confinement as a punishment, or to the restriction of its use, should be undertaken and encouraged.” (Adopted by the General Assembly by resolution 45/111 of 14 December 1990). The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the Committee against Torture and the Human Rights Committee have consistently found that conditions of detention can amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur reminds the Government that Rule 22(2) of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners provides that “Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Where hospital facilities are provided in an institution, their equipment, furnishings and pharmaceutical supplies shall be proper for the medical care and treatment of sick prisoners, and there shall be a staff of suitable trained officers.” Furthermore, Rule 25(1) provides that “The medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.” (Approved by the Economic and Social Council by resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977) No evidence having been provided to the contrary, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that the rights of Mr. Ahmed Hassan Al-Din have been violated. The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government to undertake a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation of the alleged acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators, and to provide redress to Mr. Ahmed Hassan Al-Din. 35