Empty stomachs battle

Political prisoners in Egypt have just one weapon to confront the authorities: hunger strikes.

Thousands of Egyptians join “Empty stomachs battle” in solidarity with prisoners and detainees who are fighting this battle. Hunger strike spreads nationwide. 

People use this picture as their profile picture or cover photo in solidarity with the hunger strikers

Estimates say around 41,000 people have been arrested in Egypt since the ousting of Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. Human rights groups report at least 25,000 people have been arrested this year and many have died while in custody. Reports indicate that torture is still widely used on prisoners.

With all the political detainees in prisons, helplessness was increasing across the youth. So, people announced that they would mount peaceful political protests, expressing feelings of solidarity with 104 inmates under the slogan "Gebna akherna” (We've had it) - a phrase from a letter written by prisoner Alaa Abdel-Fattah announcing his despair and his intention to go on hunger strike. This sparked a new campaign - the so-called "empty stomachs" battle. 

 

Alaa Abdel Fattah wrote in his letter: “I urge you to continue with the struggle, dream, and hope, which I have stopped doing.”  

Recently, a number of political detainees entered an open-ended hunger strike in protest against their detention without trial for periods exceeding the legal limits. Alongside them are those who received unjust verdicts, in their opinions, under the cover of the Protest Law, which they opposed from the beginning.

A protest in Cairo in solidarity with the hunger strikers inside the prisons

Most hunger strikers have chosen to only drink water, tea without sugar, supplements to avoid permanent nerve damage and rehydration solution for the loss of electrolytes, Ahmad Mamdouh, a Cairo University medical student who serves as the medic for the hunger strikers, explained. Others allow fruit juice in addition to the water and vitamins. Many continue to smoke cigarettes.

Dr. Laila Soueif and her daughter Mona Seif in solidarity with hunger strikers

“We are not trying to send our message to the normal people,” Zizo Abdo, one of the leaders of Gebna Akherna campaign, said. “Our message is directed to the government, that we are strikers and we have demands and message to them.”

Activists and prisoners have long used hunger striking as a powerful form of protest, but it is physically draining and dangerous. Some strikers pledge limited periods of time, while others pledge to continue indefinitely.