Torture used in Egypt detention centers, Amnesty says
Egypt, Culture, 3/1/2001

In a report issued on Wednesday, the Amnesty International stressed that police and detention centers in Egypt are practicing torture and most of the time misdealing the arrested people.

A statement by Switzerland branch of the International organization in defense of human rights in Luzzane said that that most of the victims including women, elderly and teenagers are exposed to acts of violence when they arrested at police centers in the framework of judicial investigations.

This report was published before the inauguration of the annual session of the UN human rights committee on March 19 in Geneva.

The organization stressed that the most common types of tortures is "electric shocks, beatings, whipping, suspension by the wrists or ankles, suspension in contorted positions from a horizontal pole and various forms of psychological torture, including death threats and threats of rape or sexual abuse of the detainees or their female relatives."

However, the organization, on the other hand, noted the efforts made by the Egyptian government to improve the situation saying "Amnesty International welcomes some positive steps undertaken by the Egyptian authorities, such as the ban on flogging and caning in prisons announced in 2000. However, the Egyptian government continues to shirk its responsibilities under national and international legislation, which both prohibit the use of torture and ill-treatment. National and international human rights organizations, as well as UN bodies, have repeatedly submitted detailed recommendations to the government, which have largely been ignored."

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