El Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence documented 52 incidents of torture and abuse by Egyptian security apparatuses in September.
The report, which was published on Sunday night, mentioned numerous other violations by the state against civilians, ranging from forced detention, extra-judicial killing, medical negligence, and death in detention.
The 28-page report heavily relies on journalistic material and documents that surfaced from political parties and solidarity groups. For example, to document mass punishment in prison, which usually happens to prisoners involved in political cases, the report relies on testimonies of the detainees’ families in Port Said prison.
The centre, however, did not issue comments or clarifications from the police, the main accused entity in the report.
The ministry’s media office told Daily News Egypt: “such reports are misleading, inaccurate, and full of propaganda.” The representative refused to comment on specific incidents and violations the report highlighted, such as the death of Mohamed Abdel Rahman at the hands of a police officer in Sharqeya, saying that the matter is being looked into and investigated by the prosecution.
Abdel Rahman’s case was among two killings by police officers documented in the report.
As for deaths in detention, the report claimed that five individuals died in detention due to various reasons, ranging from medical negligence to torture.
Further, the report highlighted 113 incidents of forced disappearances and 13 cases of defendants appearing in security headquarters after they had gone missing.
The disappearance of six labour leaders in the Public Transportation Authority (PTA) was also mentioned in the report. The Ministry of Interior’s representative rejected the term “disappearance”, saying that the prosecution had issued arrest warrants against the defendants. The six workers, in addition to another who was arrested later, are accused of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood and inciting colleagues to strike.
Forced disappearance is not a new phenomenon in Egypt, as it has been practised by previous regimes against opposition groups for decades. However, the phenomenon receded for a while until the 25 January Revolution and 30 June uprisings, after which more cases were reported than ever before.
Despite ongoing threats and receiving a closure order last February, El Nadeem has maintained its activities. The centre was founded in 1993, and is licensed by the Doctors Syndicate and the Health Ministry.
