Irishman Ibrahim Halawa Writes New ‘Graduation’ Letter From Egytian Prison
As the days get closer to Ibrahim’s hearing, so are the number of days rising to continue his suffering, For a while Ibrahim has been feeling very painful chest pain and since In the history of the family there has been serious illness from heart issues including His father, a doctor also detained with him explained that this is more likely the heart of which he is suffering, when Ibrahim demanded to see a specialist the prison refused and said they would only bring him to the prison hospital who have inexperienced medical students that have diagnosed many of Ibrahim’s cell mates before wrong and given false medication causing their death within prison, Ibrahim only wanted to see a specialist and because of this guards went in the cell to shave Ibrahim’s hair as a mean of mental torture, when Ibrahim refused he was beaten and forced to shave his hair off, Ibrahim was forced to experience the worst means of physical and mental torture..
Yet with these suffering he continues to go through he still remembers how this was supposed to be the year he would be celebrating his graduation in college. With limited sources Ibrahim was only able to talk and describe his dreams using pen and paper, he writes
” Today has finally come, my graduation day, The day i have longed for. The day my parents invested their whole lives in to see me reach. It’s the day while every graduate gets their hair done, I forcibly get my head shaved, while my rough white clothes is my uniform, my fellow graduates are dressed in their best outfits. Today while every graduate throws their graduation hat in the sky to come down with the long waiting dream, I don’t see the sky because I’m enrolled in a different college
A college i did not know I had applied for when I chose to fight for freedom, a college that kidnapped me from life to teach me the principles of really life, a college full of lessons. A lot of which I have learned in dark moments and nights where the first lesson is how I should have appreciated small lesuires in life that passed by unnoticeably. So simple as the sun burn that would reflect of my book to light my face up or the morning breeze that will find its way through its lungs. Striving with life’s toughest conditions was another lesson. Being forced to show with 30 human beings 24/7 dormitory where my sleeping area is 35cm.
In this college I’m obliged to live with a broad diversity of inmates from presidential consultants and college professors to illiterate criminals which thought me to see the real human being behind every social rank.
I have learned that absolutism is an invalid way to judge humans, humanity is all about relativism.
It is a college where the hardest subject is finding the forgiveness, as I must say as a freedom fighter I never became a revenge hunter.
Even though after all these years my oppressor is yet not convicted to let me graduate from his prison and go home while for others it’s graduation night out for me its graduation lights out. “
– Ibrahim Halawa 22/09/2016
“Ibrahim’s letter leaves no room for more to be said, however it has been 35 days since the presidential decree of law 140 was submitted for Ibrahim, after three years of campaigning for Ibrahim freedom this is our biggest hope to return Ibrahim home soon, we greatly appreciate the efforts being made with this decree however there is a limited time to when this decree can remain effective. Witnessing the Dail leaving all their political difference aside and become one hand has greatly effected this campaign and its continues support an pressure will definitely bring Ibrahim back home to fulfil his dream and finally graduate in college. It is time for the Irish government to increase the level of pressure so that decree is as effective as it should be, there was 600 people released last week from a presidential pardon yet Ibrahim was not one of them”.
