CAIRO: On August 1, Amgad Mukhtar Hussein was en route to vacation in Quesseir on a Gouna-bound bus with his wife Shereen Hussein and friend Dr. Mostafa Mahmoud Aboul Fotouh. Following a routine police inspection, Hussein was verbally and physically abused by one police officer and five constables.
While Minister of Interior Habib Al-Adly personally ordered the suspension of the police officer and the five non-commissioned constables, as reported by Al-Ahram newspaper on Sept. 4, it still poses questions in the larger realm of systematic police abuse and torture.
The following version of the events was told by Hussein to Adel Hammouda, editor of Al-Fagr and published in Hammouda’s editorial on Sept. 4.
When the bus was stopped at Al-Zafarana for a police inspection, a non-commissioned constable entered the bus to check the passengers’ identity cards. The constable asked Hussein where he was going and whether he was traveling for work. When Hussein answered that he was going on holiday, the constable still asked him to present a valid work-issued identity card.
Hussein explained to the police officer that his company does not issue identity cards for its employees, but the constable continued asking him to present it. Finally, the constable demanded Hussein to step out off the bus.
Hussein was taken to a simple desk located right next to the bus. He attempted to make a call on his cell phone and then had words with the officer, who snatched the phone from Hussein and shoved him in the chest.
Hussein says he smacked away the officer’s hand, who then screamed at him that he was striking a police officer. The other constables allegedly started kicking and hitting Hussein, in public, before dragging him into the police station. There, Hussein claims that the police officer ordered the constables to abuse him. They beat him, pulled down his trousers and started pulling his pubic hair.
When Hussein refused to cry out, the police officer allegedly instructed the constables to flip him over onto his stomach and said “I am not that much into women, I like men and I am going to .. you . At that point Hussein says he broke down crying and said that he would do anything. He claims the officer demanded Hussein kiss the other policemen’s shoes.
Following the abuse, the officer reportedly told one of the constables to plant drugs on Hussein.
When Hussein’s wife arrived at the police station, Hussein denied that anything had happened. He stood to be charged with several counts, among them striking a police officer, drug trafficking and spying for Hezbollah.
Shortly after his release from the police station, Hussein had spoken to his father by telephone, but had refused to tell him anything. The father, however, found out and caught the first plane to Hurghada to meet up with his son. By coincidence, he happened to be seated next to the Head of Security of Hurghada, General Ezz El-Zayat.
After hearing Hussein’s story, El-Zayat immediately faxed the office of the Minister of the Interior and a full investigation was launched. After three days of intensive questioning, the personnel at the police station where Hussein was abused confessed. The Ministry declared that such abuse could neither be tolerated nor kept quiet about. The officer in question was immediately suspended, along with five of the constables. They all face a tribunal and probable expulsion from the police force.
According to Dr. Aida Saif Al-Dawla, co-founder of the Center for Violence Victims due to Sex (NADIM) in Cairo and a member of the Egypt Democratic Opposition Coordination Council, police abuse and torture have increased significantly due to systematic practice.
“It is a system that has gone out of control, she argues. State security has the right to undertake any measures to maintain public order. Police abuse has been exacerbated by the country’s current political situation and the hunt for extremist religious fractions puts innocent people in danger. “While the target of the 1990s were the Islamists, everyone and anyone is a target today.
There has also not been a single case where a state security officer has been charged for brutality or torture, Saif Al-Dawla claims. Only cases involving the death of a person who has been subjected to torture or abuse have been processed in court.
“It is also important to remember that the prosecution has to agree that an action involving criminal activity has taken place before the case can be filed. And this does not always happen, she continues.
Moreover, Saif Al-Dawla emphasizes that Hussein’s abuse was not an individual act, but a clear demonstration of power by the police authorities. “This is not how a private crime is committed. Private crimes are committed in secrecy, behind closed doors. They are not carried out publicly.
The officer performed the abuse in a public place. The fact that he felt secure doing this act in front of everyone in broad daylight shows that he was just exercising his power and felt comfortable and content doing so.
Regarding systematic abuse carried out by the police authorities, Al-Dawla argues that it started in the 1990s when Egypt sought to rid itself of Islamic terrorists. “The public silence against police actions against suspects that constituted severe human rights violations assisted the development of the system.’
As Hossam Baghat, director for the Cairo-based organization Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights states: “Once the green light for the torture of Islamists were given in the 1990s, it became difficult to halt the abusive system. For the last 10 years, we have argued that police abuse in Egypt does not discriminate and that everyone is vulnerable and subject to it.
“However, it is important to note that this is nothing new, Baghat continues. It is the recent emergence of new media outlets that has led to increased exposure of incidents involving police abuse and torture.
At time of press, Ministry of Interior sources were not available for comment but a high-ranking police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity pointed out the following: “What happened to that boy was a crime, but you cannot blame all police officers because of one sick individual. Yes, there are police officers who abuse their power, just as there are those who have died protecting this country. The matter was not hushed up and they are being tried. Believe me, the police force does not need this kind of incident tarring its reputation and it will not protect the reputation of a few abusers at the expense of all those who are decent.
