HRW to Egypt: Hold Police Accountable for Torture

The case of Emad Ali Kabeer, the Boulaq al-Dakrour driver who was sexually abused by police officers, is drawing more public attention.

Al-Masry Al-Youm interviewed Emad, who recounted again the torture odyssey he went through, adding, “I would have given up my rights, if the video clip has not circulated the internet.”

I take this opportunity to thank once again blogger Demagh Mak who discovered and uploaded the video clip to the cyberspace, making it possible for millions around the world to watch the Interior Ministry’s systematic crimes against the Egyptian people.

Moreover, international rights watchdogs are getting involved in the case. Human Rights Watch interviewed Emad and issued a statement today, calling for the prosecution of the police officers involved in the torture video clip.

Here’s a Reuters report by Aziz El-Kaissouni…

Rights group demands prosecution of Egypt torturers
CAIRO, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Human Rights Watch called on Egypt to prosecute police officers it said videotaped themselves sexually assaulting a prisoner and then distributed copies of the tape to intimidate local bus drivers.
In a news release on Saturday, Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director, said prosecuting the officers would be “a good first step”. The government must change the culture that made torture in jails routine, she said.
The video circulated on Egyptian blogs last month and sparked uproar. It showed Imad al-Kabir, a microbus driver, lying on the floor, naked from the waist down, with his hands bound behind his back and his legs held in the air.
He screams and begs as he is sodomised with a stick while those around him, whose faces are not visible, taunt him.
Kabir’s lawyer said the torture took place in January 2006 in a police station in Bulaq al-Dakrur after Kabir was detained and beaten for intervening to stop an argument between the police officers and his brother.
An interior ministry spokesman said “investigations are continuing and we’re waiting for the prosecution to finish its work.”
Kabir’s lawyer Nasser Amin of the Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary says Kabir kept silent even after police distributed the video of the rape among other bus drivers. He finally decided to come forward in November when his brother was detained at the same police station.
After Kabir filed a complaint with the authorities, Amin said, the officers threatened him and his family, forcing him to withdraw the complaint and threaten to sue a newspaper that had published his account of the assault.
Amin subsequently persuaded Kabir to bring the case to the public prosecutor. The officers were questioned and released to resume their duties.
Amin said he planned to file a complaint demanding the arrest of the six officers who participated in torturing Kabir.