Egypt is taking action to assess the situation in Cairo’s notorious Tora Maximum Security Prison, also known as Al-Aqrab (Scorpion) prison, and determine its suitability to host inmates.

The decision came after complaints filed by prisoners’ families and nongovernmental organizations called on the government to shut down the prison. The State Commissioners’ Committee, which is part of the country’s administrative courts, approved the complaints and assigned Cairo University to set up a tripartite committee comprising specialized experts in the fields of medicine, engineering and human rights in order to prepare a report about the prison.

The report, the committee said, should include the capability of the prison’s buildings and its annexes, especially the hospital, to receive inmates and whether the prison provides suitable living conditions, including clean water, healthy food and proper health care, for prisoners.

Human rights activists have praised the committee’s decision, saying that it gives hope to the prison’s inmates and highlights the state’s willingness to improve its human rights record.