Al-Dostour Party denounced on Monday alleged assaults that were carried out by police officers on a detained member of the party who is currently being held in Boulaq Al-Dakrour police station.
“The party will not stand with its hands tied. We will pursue all legal means until accountability is held for those who think they are superior to other human beings,” the statement read.
The detainee, Hamdy Qeshta, a prominent figure of the 6 April Youth Movement, was arrested during protests on 25 April. The demonstrations were in objection to the Egyptian-Saudi maritime demarcation agreement, also known as the ”Red Sea islands” protests.
A court order on Tuesday deemed the islands should remain Egyptian territory.
Addressing Qeshta, the party said: “Hold on, you have committed no crime in their eyes, except of loving this country and participating in the glorious 25 January Revolution”.
The party filed a complaint to the state-affiliated National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) regarding assaults on Qeshta, party member Mohamed Youssef told Daily News Egypt on Monday.
According to Qeshta’s testimony, which was sent out in a letter to the party, a police officer handcuffed him to the cell’s door, insulted him, and filmed the incident with his personal mobile phone, as he continued to humiliate him. “Another respectable police officer put an end to situation,” Qeshta wrote.
As Qeshta objected to his treatment and demanded that he be allowed to file an official report, he also said that he was subject to more assaults by police officers. The officers allegedly told him that, as a suspect, “he had no rights to ask for” such a demand, among other insults and phrases such as “you deserve to be shot.”
Qeshta was later transferred to the Giza central security camp. Weekly prison visits are allowed, according to Youssef.
The NCHR recently requested a visit to the detention facility in question as part of regular inspections. The Ministry of Interior has not yet responded to the request.
The ministry repeatedly denied torture claims, but there have been several cases of conviction of police personnel in torture cases inside detention facilities.
