Journalists and human rights activists demand elimination of torture

Egyptian journalists and human rights activists marked international day for the elimination of torture on Sunday by denouncing inhumane practices against prisoners. Muhammad Abdel Koddous, head of the Egyptian press syndicate's liberties committee, speaking at a conference at the Egyptian press syndicate in the capital, Cairo, described Egypt as using torture extensively as a means of interrogation. “Torture is a widespread phenomenon in all detention centres and police stations in Egypt and it has led to many deaths,” he said. “This is a symptom of an authoritarian regime which is supported by the state of emergency in Egypt,” he added. The syndicate has a history of fighting for civil liberties. It has constantly opened its headquarters for human rights activists to gather. The conference was organised by several human rights organisations, including the El-Nadim centre for the management and rehabilitation of victims of violence, Hesham Mubarak centre, and the Egyptian Association Against Torture (EAAT). The EAAT took the opportunity to announce its most recent report published under the title of, ‘Torture: the cultivation of a year of reform’. The report covers the period June 2004 to May 2005. “In this period, the report has monitored 31 death cases as a result of torture in prisons, detention centres and police stations,” the EAAT’s Dr Ragia al-Garzawy said. “This is approximately the same number of cases that were monitored in the three years before the process of reform started,” she added. The government’s reform process entails a gradual transformation to a more representative democracy, opening up the political system to allow pluralism, meaningful elections and transparency. The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has responded to several statements made by human rights organisations. According to official accounts, victims either commit suicide themselves, fight with others until they die, or die of exhaustion one or two days after being taken into the custody of the Egyptian police. “Ministry of Interior officials confirmed to Human Rights Watch (HRW) in February 2004 that there had not been a single criminal investigation of SSI officials for torture or ill-treatment in the past 18 years and no internal disciplinary measures were imposed, despite numerous credible allegations of serious abuse,” HRW’s 2005 report said. The conference was interrupted by a group of women and children whose male relatives have been imprisoned and tortured. Other victims of torture attended the conference and gave graphic accounts of their experiences. Ahmed Ibrahim was arrested in mid-June 2005 but was not charged. “I was taken to a police station and they started putting out cigarettes on my body,” he said. The mother of Saddam Hussein Hafez, aged 17, said her son died in December 2004 as a result of torture. “When I saw my son four days after his arrest I found torture marks all over his body,” she said. “He told me that he was being exposed to extreme torture in an attempt to force him to become a police informer,” she added. Hafez died a week after his detention. The prosecutor informed his family that other inmates 'fell over him while he was sleeping',resulting in his death. Gamal Abdel Aziz, director of the Arab Human Rights Information Network (AHRIN), held the Egyptian general prosecutor responsible for the continuation of torture in the country. “The general prosecutor hardly accepts any torture cases and when he does, the investigation takes many years,” he said. “I strongly believe that the main obstacle between the people and the judges is the general prosecutor, who does not move to help eliminate torture in Egypt,” he added. According to Abdel Azziz, none of the state security officers who have supervised the practice of torture against prisoners have been put on trial. “Every now and then a police officer is put on trial. This not because torture is not a systematic practice but simply because his practices have been revealed,” he said, adding that this was only a cosmetic improvement in the appearance of the system and was not a reflection of serious action to eliminate systematic torture. At the end of the conference Ahmed Seif el-Islam of the Hesham Mubarak Centre announced the launch of a programme for the elimination of torture, demanding the president, Hosni Mubarak, denounce torture and officially apologise to the Egyptian people for the practice and to take steps to eliminate it.