Torture Common in Egyptian Prison, Amnesty Int’l Says
The
Advocate, November 22, 2003
Torture and abuse are systematic in jails in Egypt, and
at least seven people died in police custody there last year, Amnesty
International said Thursday. The London-based human rights group said police
and state security officials have subjected inmates to electric shock,
beatings, whippings, and other forms of abuse. The group said it had
information that at least seven people were tortured to death in 2002.
“Torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment
continue to be practiced systematically in detention centers,” Amnesty said
in a statement. The group called it “an endemic problem” in Egypt and said
refugees and people detained because of their sexual orientation are
particularly vulnerable to the abuse.
The human rights group said it has appealed to Egyptian
authorities for years to implement safeguards to prevent abuse and address the
existing cases. The group acknowledged that Egypt’s prosecutor general has
tried some police officers allegedly connected to some of the deaths, but most
of those have involved inmates being held in criminal cases, not political
ones.
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