They were among a group of students, both foreign and Egyptian, arrested at around the end of November. All were interrogated and allegedly tortured in connection with the activities of a terrorist cell recruiting people in Egypt to go to fight the US-led coalition in Iraq. All were detained for some weeks at the State Security Intelligence (SSI) office in Madinet Nasr, Northern Cairo, during which time they claim that they were tortured: this included being beaten and given electric shocks to sensitive parts of their bodies while blindfolded and handcuffed. They were also prevented from sleeping and forced to watch as their cellmates were tortured.