By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt – Torture is endemic in Egypt. In less than a week, two separate incidents of Egyptian torture have surfaced on media, raising concerns over the country’s current human rights condition.
On Monday, an Egyptian court jailed two police officers for three years each for torturing a bus driver during police custody. Although a trial featuring police officers accused of torture was nothing new in Egypt, it was the first case involving a video that was circulated on the Internet.
In January 2006, Emad el-Kebir was detained for trying to stop an argument between his cousin and a policeman. Following his release, he was arrested again and was jailed for three months after a judge found him guilty of resisting arrest. El-Kabir later filed a complaint about his mistreatment during detention.
In November 2006, several Egyptian bloggers posted a video, which also later appeared on the popular video-sharing site YouTube, showing el-Kebir naked from the waist down being sodomized with a stick. As he screamed in pain, the officers ridiculed him. He was also hit with shoes, a whip, and a gun. The video was apparently filmed by the assailants on a mobile phone, and was circulated in order to intimidate others.
El-Kabir, who was in court to hear the verdicts against officers Islam Nabih and Reda Fathi, rejoiced the ruling. “God is great! Thank God!” he shouted. “I regained my right. I don’t want anything more than that.”
Torture is widespread in Egypt because suspects are often held in incommunicado for long time and police interrogations take place without restraint. A few days after el-Kebir’s victory, a man’s body was found on the street in Giza. He had been tortured by police for three days, and eventually died.
The Egyptian authorities deny all allegations of systematic torture in the country and insist that these cases are isolated incidents.
For More information, please see:
BBC News – Egyptian man dies ‘after torture’ – 7 November 2007
News 24 – Man dies after police torture – 7 November 2007
Human Rights Watch – Police officer get three years for beating, raping detainee – 7 November 2007
Associated Press – 2 cops sentenced for torture – 5 November 2007
BBC News – Egypt police jailed for torture – 5 November 2007
