Amnesty condemns brutality used in Egypt unrest

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has accused ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s regime of using repression and brutality to try to crush the popular uprising in January during which 840 people were killed, 6,467 wounded and thousands detained.

In a 123-page document, the human rights group reports: “The uprising was driven by anger and despair at police brutality, poverty, unemployment and the relentless suppression of basic freedoms, and inspired by the success of the revolt in Tunisia in ousting a ruler who for decades had also seemed untouchable.

“The vast majority of victims come from underprivileged backgrounds – mostly youths who were unemployed or underemployed.”

Many had “tasted endemic corruption and police brutality and suffered injustices at the hands of public officials.”

Amnesty interviewed the families of the dead, injured people and witnesses who testified that the security forces used “tear gas, water cannon, shotguns, rubber bullets and live ammunition against protesters” who were posing little threat.

Security agents in armoured vehicles drove into demonstrators, beat them with batons or sticks and kicked them. Security agents “used force disproportionately and resorted to firearms when it was not strictly necessary”.

The report says that “waves of arrests” were conducted in Cairo, notably from January 25th to February 3rd. While the reasons for “some arrests remain unclear”, security agents targeted “protesters and people seen as supporting, spreading or reporting on the protest movement”, including human rights and online activists, journalists, people bringing supplies to Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the uprising, and doctors treating injured protesters.

Detentions peaked on February 2nd-3rd during the raid on the square staged by plain-clothes security agents and thugs hired by the former ruling National Democratic Party.

Amnesty writes: “Some of those arrested were held only briefly; others were held for days and tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

“The most frequently reported torture methods were beatings all over the body with sticks, whips or other objects; electric shocks; the contortion of the body in stress positions for long periods; verbal abuse; and threats of rape. In all cases known to Amnesty International, detainees were held incommunicado and their families, friends and lawyers did not know where they were or even if they were alive.”

Amnesty says the “vast majority” suffered abuse by the military police, raising concerns that “unless all suspected perpetrators are brought to justice, torture will remain an endemic feature of Egypt’s law enforcement apparatus”.

The findings counter the impression – fostered by the military – that torture was carried out by elements of the internal security forces rather than army personnel. The report has raised the possibility that the armed forces – generally trusted by Egyptians – may need to be investigated for human rights abuses.

This is all the more important because many arrests were made by the army after February 3rd, the cut-off date of the rights group’s investigation.

Amnesty argues that “the machinery of repression” in Egypt must be “completely overhauled, and that guarantees of non-repetition [should be] consolidated in law and practice”.