Egypt grants exceptional visits for inmates of correctional centers on Sinai Liberation Day, Easter occasions

CAIRO – 20 April 2022: The Egyptian Ministry of Interior announced granting two exceptional visits for inmates of correctional and rehabilitation centers on the occasion of Sinai Liberation Day and Easter Sunday.

According to an official statement, the exceptional visits will be counted among the visits scheduled for them and will run from 23 to 27 April.

Sinai Liberation Day falls every year on 25 April and Easter Sunday falls this year on 24 April. Both days are taken as national holidays for public and private sector employees.

The exceptional visits decision comes “within the framework of the Ministry of Interior's keenness to uphold human rights values, implement the modern approach of the punitive policy, and provide various aspects of care for inmates,” the statement added.

Egypt’s Cabinet announced that Monday, April 25, will be an official paid holiday on the occasion of ‘Sham El-Nessim’ and the Sinai Liberation Day.

Prime Minster Moustafa Madbouly also decided that the period from Saturday, April 30, until Thursday, May 5, is an official paid holiday on the occasion of Labor Day and Eid Al Fitr.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church will celebrate Easter on April 24, which comes after the Holy Week at the end of the 55-day period of Lent.

The Orthodox Church started Last February the Great Lent, which lasts for 55 days and ends by Easter, as it held masses and prayers at various churches nationwide.

In October, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced opening Wadi El Natron Correctional and Rehabilitation Center, saying it is managed in accordance with the international human rights standards.

In a video titled “the right in life,” the ministry said the opening of the center is part of “comprehensive development for the penal system” that has been carried out to transform it to rehabilitation system.

It is one of the largest transformation and rehabilitation centers in the world that takes into account improving the conditions of detention as the managing process is based on the international standards of human rights, the ministry said.

Based on these standards, the center will deal with inmates and make a comprehensive evaluation to the psychological aspects with the aim of creating an appropriate environment to correct their course and address the causes of their crimes, the ministry added.