Reports
Cairo: April 2003

Introduction    Section one   Section two: Part One  Section Two: Part two  Part three      

EOHR’s Campaign Against Torture

“Torture Should Be Stopped”

Section two:

Part One:Cases of Torture and Death In Police Stations and Detention Centres Whose Investigations Are Still Pending

Cases of Death in the Tanta Security Directorate:

Name:              Shibl Bayoumi Mohammed Ibrahim

Age:                 32

Address:           41 Abdo Shemla Street, Kafr El Shee, Tanta

At 12 p.m., on 12 September 2002, Mr. Ibrahim was arrested by the Virtue Police and taken to the Tanta Security Directorate where he was detained without any reason.  His family was left unaware of his whereabouts until police stations one and two of Tanta notified them of his death inside the security directorate. 

The family appealed to the Attorney General so they could obtain his corpse for forensic examination; they wanted to know the exact cause and date his death.  They complained to the Ministry of the Interior and public prosecutor, as well as the assistant to the Ministry of Interior in Tanta.  EOHR also filed a complaint to appropriate authorities (Number 562, dated 5 November 2002). 

Mr. Ibrahim’s case is still pending investigation at the Office of the Public Prosecutor and awaits a final forensic report.   

Cases of Death in El Gomrook Police Station:

Name:              Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim

Age:                 35

Address:           3 Hafez Pasha Street, El Gomrook, Alexandria

On 1 October 2002, Mr. Ibrahim was stopped by undercover officers from the El Gomrook police station while coming home from work.  On 4 October 2002, he was arrested and detained at the police station.  An ordinary officer, as well as one from intelligence, told his family he was accused of crime whose type he did not specify.  They then asked for Mr. Ibrahim’s older brother who accompanied them to the police station’s investigation unit; there they notified him of his younger brother’s death.  He was being kept at the Kom El Diqka Morgue.  He saw his deceased brother and the many injuries he sustained, and recounted four in particular.  They were:

v     Abrasions along his hands;

v     Bruises along one of his armpits and elbows;

v     Bruises along the back of one of his knees;

v     Abrasions along his feet

His family complained to the public prosecutor and asked that they investigate his cause of death.  They also accused the undercover officers (who were a part of the police investigation unit) of murdering their son.  EOHR also complained to authorities (Number 560, dated 5 November 2002). 

Mr. Ibrahim’s case is still pending investigation. 

Cases of Death in the Shoubra Police Station:

Name:              Mostafa Labib Hamdan Abo Zeid

Age:                 25

Address:           45 El Sheikh Edrees Alley, Ahmed Bedawy, Shoubra

Mr. Abo Zeid had just completed a prison sentence when was transferred to the Shoubra police station where he was to be released from their custody.  While at the police station, it was discovered that he received a three year prison sentence for a case in which he was sentenced in absentia.  Authorities determined he would have a hearing on 23 June 2002.  Ultimately, he received a final verdict of a one year prison sentence and a fine of LE 100.  On 3 July 2002, while awaiting their son to transfer prisons to serve his sentence, his parents and other family members were surprised to learn that he died at the Shoubra police station.  Mr. Abo Zeid was transferred to a public hospital in Shoubra where doctors wrote a report detailing the injuries they found upon his arrival.  Those injuries included:

v     Bruises along the chest, abdomen and back;

v     Abrasions on one of his wrists and his back;

v     Bleeding from his two ears and lips

His family filed an administrative complaint (Number 2867 for 2002) with the Shoubra public prosecutor’s office.  EOHR complained to authorities (Number 420 dated 11 July 2002). 

The case is still pending. 

Cases of Death In Masr El Edeema Police Station

Name:              Mohammad Mahmoud Mohammed Osman

Age:                 25

Address:           13 Abdeid Kandeen Alley, El Faransewee, Masr El Edeema

On 27 May 2002, at 8:30 pm Mr. Osman was stopped and assaulted while walking along the Nile River in Masr El Edeema by an on-duty officer making regular rounds.  The officer handcuffed and beat him with a stick continually for ten minutes.  The victim was then taken in car number 21213 to Dar El Salem public hospital because of the injuries he sustained as a result.  Doctors there refused to take him because of his increasingly grave condition and their lack of resources. 

Officers then took him to a Masr El Edeema police station.  On 28 May 2002 at 6 a.m., Mr. Osman’s family was shocked to learn a man designated as a dangerous person had come to their house with the corpse of their son on his shoulder telling them he had been found dead at the Masr El Edeema police station.  An officer had ordered him to deliver the body, he said.  The injuries were as follows:

v     Cut along the lower lip, left shoulder, between his neck (along his lymph nodes) and the back of his head where his spinal cord begins;

v     Long lash marks along his abdomen;

v     Blue marks along the left side of his chest;

v     Swelling of his left eye;

v     Continuous bleeding from his nose

His family complained to the attorney general responsible for south Cairo prosecutions and the head of prosecutors for Masr El Edeema and filed a report at the police station (Number 5978 of 2002).  EOHR also complained (Number 372 dated 2 June 2002). 

The case is still pending. 

Cases of Death in the Giza Police Station:

Name:              Omar Ibrahim Mustafa

Age:                 29

Address:           25 Hosni El Maymooney Street (From 6 October Street)

In August, 2002, Mr. Mustafa was detained at the Giza police station to realize a verdict issued against him (a prison sentence of three years because he escaped monitoring).  On 9 August 2002 his father went to the police station to visit his son; he was met with opposition from authorities.  On 10 August 2002 his father again went to the police station at 11 p.m.; this time he was met with authorities who delivered to him his son’s clothing.  He was told his son died while trying to install a light fixture in a police bathroom.  When his father went to the Om El Musreyeen Morgue he found the following injuries on his son:

v     Marks of internal bleeding in one of his knees;

v     Marks of electrocution along his fingers;

His family complained to the public prosecutor.  EOHR filed, too, a complaint to authorities (Number 564 dated 5 November 2002). 

The case is still pending.    

Cases of Torture in Police Stations and Detention Centres

Cases of Torture by Officers Making Rounds at the Sahel Police Station

Name:              Gamal Said Gaber Ahmed

Age:                 41

Address:           130 El Batal Street, Sahel, Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt. 

Profession:        Contractor

On 17 Mar 2002, at 9 p.m. while walking with his friend on Ahmed Bedawee Street in Shoubra, a police officer making rounds asked for their identification cards.  Afterward, he asked them both to go to the car.  When Mr. Ahmed refused, the officer beat him with his handcuffs along his left eye, causing him severe pain.  He then took them to the car where they signed a report indicating that the officer had checked his identification.  Then they were released. 

His family complained (Number 46/2002) to the Shoubra prosecution. 

This complaint was referred to prosecutors for the North Cairo court (complaint 808/ 2002).  The officer was detained for four days upon which his detention was renewed on 21 Mar 2002 for 45 more days.  EOHR sent a fact finding mission and filed complaints to both the public prosecutor and Ministry of the Interior. 

Cases of Torture in Giza Police Stations

There are four men whose story constitutes one case.  They are:

v     Nabil Farahat Mochtar (37); Parking Attendant;

v     Omar Farahat Mochtar (24); Driver;

v     Nasser Moosa Mohammad Ibrahim (17); Chicken Seller;

v     Ahmed Omar Ibrahim Omar (22); Butcher. 

Collective Address: Saqyet Meqi, El Serafi Street, Number 57

On 10 December 2002, a police force from El Giza police station broke into their home to arrest Mr. Mochtar so he could serve a sentence for a verdict issued against him.  When they did not find him they arrested the other three in order to get him to appear.  When the three of them initially refused to go, they were assaulted and shot at at their feet.  They were taken to Kasr El Ainy hospital but the same officers came to arrest them so as to prevent them from being treated; they were taken to El Giza police station. 

Their families established that they were beaten with sticks, handcuffed, kicked and punched.  They sent telegraphs to the Minsitry of Interior and attorney general (Number 4174/2002).  Their complaints were referred to El Giza prosecution (Number 3225/2002).  EOHR complained to the attorney general for Giza, the public prosecutor and the Ministry of Interior. 

Case of Torture Committed By Officers At the El Talibeya Checkpoint

(Note:  This check point lies near the El Omraneya Police Station) 

Name:              Hussein Fouad Mahmoud

Age:                 23

Address:           16 Saad Imam Street, Osman Moharum

Education:        B.A., Education

On 26 November 2002, the victim was working at a fruit shop rearranging his food when he saw two persons beating someone outside.  He went outside to inquire as to what was happening and asked them to leave alone the person being beaten.    In response, they insulted him and punched him in the face.  He ran back to the shop for cover but one of the two followed him inside and continued beating him.  Two more came along and beat him even more.  They then dragged him to the street and began striking him with a thick stick on his head and eyes; he lost consciousness.  Even after, he was allegedly beaten.  Then they put him in a police car to take him to the checkpoint where he was then detained from 1:30 to 8 p.m. without receiving any medical treatment.  His injuries included:

v     Internal bleeding in the brain;

v     Skull fracture;

v     Swelling along his eyes;

v     Unconsciousness;

v     Bruises covering his entire body

One of his relatives came to the police station to take him to Kasr El Ainy hospital where he was examined and determined to have the above-mentioned injuries.  His family complained to the Ministry of Interior and filed a report (Number 33568/2002) with the El Omraneya police station.  The case was sent to prosecutors who continued the detention of the three defendants.  EOHR sent a fact finding mission and again complained to the public prosecutor and Ministry of Interior.    

Case of Torture and Detention in El Haram Police Station.

Name:              Ahmed Fouad Abd El Latif Ala’am

Age:                 16

Address:           50 El Sheemee Street, Navy College, El Melek Faisal, Giza. 

Education:        Student, Third Preparatory School

On 2 November 2002, the victim was standing in front of his home when a police force from El Haram Police Station arrested him.  They wrote a report detailing his possession of drugs.  At the police station he was subject to many forms of torture, all leaving him with the following injuries:

v     Internal bleeding (from being kicked and beaten with a gun on his head);

v     Burns along his eyes (from being burned with a cigarette)

He was also kicked on his back in order to force him to sign the report and detained at the police station for four days before being presented before prosecutors who released him.  After a week, another police force from the El Haram police station broke into his home, insulted his mother and re-arrested him.  At the police station, they filed a report (Number 4246/2002).  The type of report filed was for Emergency State Security Misdemeanors.  Later, he was presented before prosecutors who released him.  Eventually he was returned to the station but was detained once more for three days because he refused to work as a police informant.  His family sent telegraphs to the Ministry of Interior; EOHR complained to the public prosecutor and Ministry of Interior as well. 

Torture Cases in El Khalifa Police Stations

Name:              Mohammad El Sayid Gurweesh

Age:                 21

Address:           El Sharabeya, Block Number 4, Entrance 4, Flat 2.

Education:        Student, Third Secondary Industrial School (A Professional Training Centre in the El Zawya District)

On 8 May 2002, while walking along Sophi Hussein Street, police from El Khalifa arrested and took the victim first to the El Mokutum and then El Khalifa police stations where he was detained for two days and tortured by the head of the investigation unit.   There he was blindfolded, disrobed (his shirt was cut off),

beaten with a gun and kicked in different parts of his body.  OF course, this led to the following injuries documented by forensic scientists:

v     Facial swelling;

v     Jaw pain;

v     Jaw fracture

EOHR complained to the public prosecutor, the Ministry of Interior and the Cairo Security Directorate. 

Torture Cases in Bolaq Police Stations

Name:              Ahmed Mohammed Sayid Abd El Hafez. 

Address:           64 El Felakee El Tonsee Street, El Khalifa

Education:        First year, Commercial Technical Institute 

On 1 May 2002, while walking on Nahya Street in Bolaq El Dakroor, two officers beat, insulted and took into custody Mr. Abd El Hafez.  Inside the car they struck him with a gun and kicked him until he lost consciousness.  They then took him to Bolaq El Dakroor police station where another officer and six assistants kicked him to the ground.  One stepped on one of his ears and kicked him all over.  Another beat him with a stick, handcuffed him, and suspended him from a door.  He suffered the following injuries:

v     Bruises along his back;

v     Swelling along his face and legs;

v     Cuts along his lips;

v     Bruises along his stomach

His family complained to the Public Unit for Inspection and Monitoring, (Number 4175) and Ministry of Interior (Number 5060, dated 27 May 2002).  EOHR sent a fact finding mission and complained to the public prosecutor, the head of the security department in El Giza, the Ministry of Interior and the head of the Public Unit for Inspection and Monitoring.

Cases of Torture in State Security Directorate in El Giza by Police

Name:              Atef Hassan Mohammed Abdullah 

Age:                 31 

Address:           8 Abd El Sumud Mohaarrum (From Selem Street El Ketkat, Imbaba, Giza)

On 16 July 2002, while in his home district, the victim was surprised to find

people in plain clothes insulting and beating him.  According to the complaint, he said a police officer from El Giza Security Directorate took out from his pocket a dagger and hit him with the back of it on his eyes.  The officer took him to a hospital (which refused to take him because of their limited resources and his deteriorating state).  He was taken to another and again refused (this time by El Agooza hospital).  Last, he was taken to Kasr El Ainy hospital where he had emergency surgery because of the retinal split (and internal bleeding) he suffered.  His family filed a complaint with the Imbaba prosecution and EOHR complained to the public prosecutor, Ministry of Interior and El Giza Security Directorate. 

Case of Torture in State Security Offices In Kerdessa

Name:              Ahmed Said Ibrahim El Dooh

Profession:        Teacher

Address:           Kerdassa, Imbaba, Giza. 

On 15 Jan 2002, police from the Kerdessa State Security Office broke into the victim’s home to search it.  They kicked, insulted and took him to the office where he was detained for two days and tortured.  He was insulted, blindfolded, handcuffed, beaten with sticks all over his body, hanged on a door and electrocuted along his genitals.  He was disrobed and had cold water poured all over him for three hours.  An officer there threatened to bring in his wife and rape her in front of him while handcuffed.  He sustained the following injuries:

v     Bruises (blue and red) along his bloated stomach;

v     Bruises (blue) on the right part of his stomach;

v     Wounds on his skull;

v     Wounds (appearing as though they were beginning to heal) on his legs;

v     Cuts on both of his wrists (most of which appeared as though they, too, were healing)

EOHR complained to the head of the prosecutors in Imbaba, the public prosecution and Ministry of Interior. 

Torture Case in El Mahala Police Station One

Name:              Khaled Mohammed Ahmed El Nuggar

Address:           El Maha’al El Kobra, Entag Street, Mansheyit Omar Ibn Abd El Aziz, 13 Mohammad Zehir Street. 

On 18 December 2001, Mr. Nuggar was arrested by El Mahal Police Station

One officer.  There the head of the investigation unit and his assistant tortured him by electrocuting him on his ears and chest (breasts) and hanging him from a door.  When his wife complained they arrested her as well on 22 December 2001 (to prevent her from presenting it to authorities).  She, too, was tortured; she was electrocuted on her genitals.  In addition, she was forcibly disrobed and ill-treated with her husband for an additional 13 days. 

Mr. Nuggar’s family complained to the head of security in El Gerbeya and the attorney general.  They also filed a report against the head of the investigation unit (Number 8920/2002).  Their complaint was filed with prosecutors from El Mahala police station one.  EOHR complained to the public prosecutor, the Ministry of Interior and the Security Directorate in El Gerbeya.

Cases of Torture in El Menzela Police Station

Name:              Mohammad Ali Hassan Hegezy

Age:                 28

Address:           El Bisrat El Menzela Dekuhleya 

Profession:        Merchant

On 9 February 2002, Mr. Hegezy was arrested by police from El Menzela police station.  They disrobed him, ordered him to walk in the street naked and beat him.  More specifically, they forcibly inserted a stick into his anus causing him to lose blood and burned him with cigarettes all over.  The assault continued as they hit him on his face, causing him to bleed heavily from his mouth and nose. 

He was taken to the public hospital in El Menzela after he continued to bleed but he was not registered so as to prevent knowledge of his whereabouts.  When the hospital doctor told the officers to take him to the emergency unit at El Mansoura hospital, they refused and instead took him to the station.  After receiving medication to stop the bleeding, the victim was detained there until 21 July 2002.  His family sent telegraphs to the public prosecutor and Ministry of Interior.  EOHR complained to the Ministry of Interior and the head of the security office in El Dukleya.

Cases of Torture at the Mensheyit Nasser Police Station

Name:              Hesham El Shezlee Ahmed. 

Address:           El Duwaykah, Ahmed Rizk Buildings, Block Number 41, Flat Number 8 

On 8 June 2002, someone stabbed the victim with a dagger, causing him to

bleed excessively in his stomach and left arm.  He went to the El Herafeyeen police station to file a report; there he was told to go to the investigation unit at the Mensheyit Nasser Police Station.  At the station, an officer asked him where he was going.  He replied he was going to the investigation unit to file a report but the officer insulted him and harassingly asked him: “Why, you don’t like me?” At this point, Hesham told him he would not file a report but the officer punched him in the face and hit him on different parts of his body anyway.  He brought in one of his officer-assistants who he ordered to beat Mr. Ahmed continuously.  They also prevented him from going to the hospital to get treated afterward. 

His family filed one complaint against the officer in the Cairo Security Directorate and one with the Mensheyit Nasser Prosecution.  EOHR complained to the Cairo Security Directorate and the head of the Public Unit for Inspection and Monitoring at the Ministry of Interior.   The head of the public relations and media unit in the Ministry of Interior, the Minister of the Interior himself and the public prosecutor also received a complaint.    

Cases of Being Assaulted While Being Arrested

Name:              Seyid Mohammad Moustafa Ibrahim

Age:                 34

Address:           Abd El Genee El Gimsee Street, Mansheyit Abd El Minaim Ryad.  Shoubra El Kheima Police Station One, Kaloubeya

The officer/defendant, Mohammad Fawzy, an assistant in the

investigation unit in Shoubra El Kheima Police Station One, broke into the home of Mr. Ibrahim’s father by force, beat and kicked him and everyone else at the home.        Subsequently, Mr. Ibrahim was taken to the police station where he was beaten, handcuffed and suspended from a door.  The torture he experienced resulted from his refusal to work as a police informant.  According to a complaint reviewed by the victim, officers there charged him with the following: possessing marijuana (in one large package and three small packages); shooting a gun in a populated area; illegally possessing a gun and resisting arrest.  His family sent telegraphs to the Ministry of Interior and EOHR complained to the public prosecutor, Ministry of Interior and head of the Kulubeya Security Office. 

Cases of Beatings in El Giza Police Station

Name:              Semah Moustafa Sadeq

Age:                 23

Address:           El Giza Sherah El Fetah Ferris Alley, Number 3

In January, 2001, Mr. Sadeq was arrested and detained for one and a half years in Wadi El Natroun Prison for criminal charges.  He was then transferred to El Giza police station and beaten there by Officer Semah Derweesh and his assistant.  He was sexually molested, suspended from a wall, handcuffed, electrocuted and beaten with a stick for three days leading to the following injuries:

v     Swelling of the hands;

v     Fractures of his teeth;

v     Bruises on his feet and below his eyes

His family sent telegraphs to the Ministry of Interior and public prosecutor.  EOHR complained to the Ministry of Interior and public prosecutor as well, in addition to the head of Security Office in El Giza.

Cases of Torture by the Office of Combating Fraud at El Giza Security Office and Being Arrested Without Reason.

Name:              Samir Ahmed Moustafa Mabrook

Age:                 40

National ID:      101075

Address:           10 Mohammad Karim Street El Khalifa, Cairo. 

On 23 December 2002, while getting out of a friend’s car in front of the Conrad Hotel, Mr. Mabrook was surprised to find 20 persons wearing plain clothing approach him and his friend.  They beat and handcuffed the victim and took him to the Security Directorate in El Giza to the Office of Combating Fraud.  There he was tied down, insulted and beaten.  They tried strangling him to force him to confess that his friend Hesham stole goods from a company. 

After insisting he knew nothing, they continued to beat and torture him several times.  They threw him to the ground and ordered him to lie on his back.  Then they brought an iron chair and put it on his chest and sat on it to add more weight.  One officer kicked him in his face and cleaned his shoes in his face while he sat on the chair that lay atop him.  He was left naked and tortured, especially on his genitals.  The victim said he was taken to Officer Mohammad Hassan who apologized to him and told him he was not the intended recipient of the torture.  The officer asked him not to tell of his experience, but would not return to him his identification or other papers identifying who he was.  Other officers were instructed to take him home; the next day he had his documents returned to him. 

The victim decided to testify anyway; he went to the Six October Prosecution to complain (Number 10688/2002).  It was a misdemeanor for the 6^th October district.  EOHR complained to the head of public prosecutor and to the Ministry of Interior.  

Cases of Beatings in El Merg Police Station

Name:              Khalil Abdullah Khalil

Address:           Hassan Hagag Street, Kafr El Sharuf, El Merg, Cairo

According to the complaint submitted by the victim, he said that Officer Mohammad Dewedar from the investigation unit of El Merg police station detained him for two days from 20 to 22 December 2002 without reason and beat him.  As soon as he was released, he complained to El Merg prosecution (Number 320/2000) on 23 December 2002. 

On the early morning of 13 January 2003, an officer broke into his home and took him to El Merg police station.  His family complained to the head of El Merg prosecution on 23 December 2002 (Number 320/2000). They sent a telegraph to the attorney general, the prosecution for west Cairo, the public prosecutor and the Ministry of Interior on 13 January 2003. 

Cases of Torture and Sexual Harassment in Belqas Police Station

Name:              Noha Saad Ahmed

Age:                 20

Address:           30 El Hussein Street El Maqsura. 

On 28 August 2002, police from Belqas police station broke into the home of Ms. Ahmed, tried to arrest her father and beat everyone in the home.  When they asked why he was being arrested they fired their guns to terrify them.  They took Ms. Ahmed in a microbus to the station.  In the car, the officers beat her until she lost consciousness.  When they arrived to the station, they dragged her to the second floor and put her in a room with a man she did not know.  When he asked her what happened, she told him the officers beat her.  In response, he insulted her and proceeded to beat her with sticks and the back of a gun until she bled.  In addition, investigation assistant Mohammad Amr Sherief ordered her to wash her clothes.  When she went to the washroom to disrobe and clean them, a number of officers opened the door and harassed her naked. 

They also threatened to rape her. 

Physical injuries she sustained from the assault were:

v     Cuts on the head one centimeter long (which became infected and were covered with pus);

v     Bruises below her left eye;

v     Abrasions on her left shoulder and left part of her back, in addition to the middle of her back;

v     Bruises along her left arm and leg;

Her family complained to Belqas prosecutors (Number 31749/2002).  (It was designated a misdemeanor crime.)  EOHR, too, filed a complaint with the Ministry of Interior.