Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghaffar ordered to investigate more complaints presented by the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) on alleged enforced disappearances.
In an official statement on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said that it has examined 12 new cases in which families claim their relatives have gone missing and were suspected to have been arrested under the practice of enforced disappearance.
The total number of cases examined so far is now 272, according to ministry figures. By late March, the ministry said it examined 260 cases of alleged enforced disappearances.
The ministry further announced it is willing to cooperate with the NCHR to examine additional cases or complaints.
Cases of enforced disappearances in Egypt have increased over the past year. Yet, there is not a definitive number for the total cases of disappearances. Local rights groups said there are at least 1,000 cases that disappeared whereas the Interior Ministry has announced only 272 of them.
