By Nourhan Dakroury
Six people said on Tuesday that they were tortured by participants of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in, according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior.
Among those who filed a report was the father of Mustafa Abdel Ghani Mohamed, 10, who was shot in the arm with birdshot while holding a picture of Defence Minister Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi, according to the statement.
Mohamed was walking on Anwar Al-Mofti Street, near the Rabaa Al-Adaweya Mosque in Nasr City, when allegedly “a bearded man wearing a blue helmet”, shot at him, injuring his right arm, according to the statement.
The statement added that Kamal Shonouda, a taxi driver, was stopped by protesters at the sit-in asked him to show them his identity card, after which they started beating him, breaking his arm.
According to the statement, Ahmed Mohi El-Din Ahmed, 27, was detained in a tent and beaten; he reportedly saw around six other people who were tied up and blindfolded in the tent where he was detained.
Tarek Al-Morsi, the Freedom and Justice Party spokesman, said such reports and allegations are made-up by the “putschist regime”, adding that this regime, which dates back to Hosni Mubarak’s era, has a long history of fabricating news.
“The question which should be asked at the moment is: where are those kidnapped by the putschist regime for their political belief and where is the president?” Al-Morsi said.
Amnesty International released a statement on 2 August stating that there have been reported torture cases, in which anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters were beaten and electrocuted or stabbed at the sit-ins supporting the ousted president in Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Square.
“The Anti-Coup Alliance reiterates its clear and firm position that it rejects and condemns any violation of human rights whoever the perpetrators and whoever the victims may be, regardless of religion, sex or political orientation,” the alliance said in Sunday statement.
“The alliance is also shocked at Ms. Sahraoui’s acceptance of and reliance on testimonies of individuals who are openly hostile to the alliance and reports issued by the putschists’ Ministry of Interior,” the group added.
The alliance also invited the organisation, together with other human rights organisations, to visit the sit-ins in Rabaa and Al-Nahda to observe the behaviour of their participants, according to the statement.
Earlier in mid-July, a man reported that protesters at the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in had amputated his index finger and tortured him. Four men were arrested in this case while trying to transport the man, who chose to remain anonymous, to a remote area after they had assaulted him.
