I received the following press release from the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession:
Public Prosecution Asks for Nasser Amin’s Testimony Concerning His Complaints against the Interior Minister
The South Cairo Prosecution on 23 November 2006 requested that lawyer Nasser Amin, Director of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession present himself at 10 am on Saturday, 25 November 2006 before the South Cairo Prosecution to give his testimony concerning the complaint he had filed against Egypt’s Interior Minister.
The mentioned complaint was filed regarding police officers subjecting citizens to torture in some police stations.
The complaint dates back to 17 November when Lawyer Nasser Amin filed a complaint to Egypt’s Prosecutor General calling for urgent and immediate action to put an end to impunity in torture crimes.
The mentioned complaint resulted from the monitoring of torture cases committed by policemen against citizens. One of the monitored incidents which took place at the Haram (Pyramids) police station was committed by an officer called Moustafa under the supervision of another officer called Hani where one officer photographs the other successively slapping a citizen on the face.
Another incident involved sexual assault against a citizen in a police station. The citizen was thrown on the floor and stripped naked while he was handcuffed.
One officer inserted what seemed like a wooden stick in the victims anus while the victim screamed: “Sorry, Pasha! Sorry, Pasha!” These are common phrases in Egyptian police stations.
The complaints was based on Article 64 of the Criminal Procedures Law which urges citizens who learn of a crime to inform public prosecution.
The complaint also pointed out that it is the responsibility of Egypt’s prosecutor general to take serious action to change Egypt’s image reflected in the accusation made by a number of international human rights organizations, as well as the United Nations, that Egypt and Egyptian policemen systematically commit torture during interrogations or otherwise.
It is the responsibility of the prosecutor general to pursue the perpetrators of torture crimes and take legal action against them in order to assure society and to prevent any public authority official from violating the Constitution and State laws, as well as ensure that they respect Egypt’s international obligations.
The complaint was accompanied by a CD containing the mentioned crimes.
UPDATE: Blogger Sharqawi is saying that a senior interior ministry official confirmed to Wael Abdel Fattah of the weekly Al-Fagr that the officer in one of the leaked videos (the one where an officer is slapping a citizen) is indeed part of the police force in one of the stations that follow the Giza Security Directorate.
UPDATE: Here’s Al-Fagr article:
المجهود بتاعنا يا حسام بداء يجيب نتيجة اول ما الكل اتكلم
لو مكنتش انا نشرت الفيديو ماكنش حد هايكلم الكلاب اللي عملت كدة
و لو ماكنش وائل نشر الفيديو و غيره نشر اي معلومة و لو صغيرة كانت حقوق كتير هاتضيع
احنا كده ماشيين في الطريق الصح
احنا مش قصدنا نشوه سمعة حد
قصدنا كل واحد ياخد حقه
شكرا ليك يا حسام كتييييييييييير
التحية لك يا ماك، لان بفضلك يستطيع العالم بأسره مشاهدة احدى جرائم زبانية الداخلية. أرجو أن التحقيق يجيب نتيجة، ولكن طبعا أنا وانت عارفين كويس ان تلك الفظائع لن تنتهي إلا بزوال النظام القمعي الحالي كله على بعضه
فعلا المجهود بان اثرو على الفور لان نشر الفيديو الحمد لله وصل بطريقة سريعة
ايها السادة لاتصدقوا ان فى مصر عدل
مجهودات عظيمة جدا ياحسام بهنيك عليها من كل قلبى وفعلا المدونة بتاعتك فخر لكل الاعلام المصرى وياريت تكون مدونتك قلم لكل القنوات الفضائية علشان تسبها من قواضى الدعارةوالمشاكل اللى مش جايبة همها بحجةسمعة مصر وينشروا حقائق تهم العالم كله والمواطن وهى دى بجد سمعة مصر لان اهنة المصريين فى اقسام الشرطة هو اللى يهين سمعة مصر وتصنيف القاهرة على انها اقذر مدينة من عشر مدن بسبب تلوث البيئة دى كارثة وبصراحة انا هحطلها تصنيفكمان اعذرونى بصنفها على انها اقذر دولة فى تعاملات الشرطة واقذر دولة فى الديكتاتورية فى كل شىء
للمرة التانية بهنيك ياحسام على فكرة انا فعلا سعيد بيك جدا
اخوك
كريم البحيرى