The kidnapped, rendered, tortured cleric Abu Omar’s saga continues:
Egypt cleric lawyer says had no access to files
By Aziz El-Kaissouni
CAIRO, Jan 31 (Reuters) – A lawyer for a Muslim cleric kidnapped in a suspected CIA operation in Italy and handed to Egypt said he had been denied access to medical reports that might back his client’s allegations he was tortured in custody.
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, has complained he was tortured by Egyptian agents using electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse after he was grabbed off a Milan street in 2003 and flown to Egypt.
Lawyer Montasser al-Zayat said his client had shown him marks on his back and arms that Nasr said were burn marks.
He also said Nasr, currently held in Tora prison south of Cairo, had attempted suicide three times while in custody.
Zayat’s comments came as an Italian judge was considering whether to indict 32 suspects including Italy’s former spy chief and a group of Americans believed to be CIA agents in connection with the kidnap.
If tried, the case would be the first criminal procedure over renditions, one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. President George W. Bush’s global “war on terror”.
Zayat said officials had informed him that Nasr had been examined by forensic doctors, but state security prosecutors had ignored his requests for access to the medical reports or any other documents.
“His injuries were examined by forensic doctors. As to what the medical report said, that’s in the file at State Security Prosecution, and we’ve not been able to see the files thus far,” Zayat told Reuters.
“Keeping us from seeing (the medical reports) indicates there’s something. His attempting to commit suicide three times indicates he’s suffering abnormal treatment,” he added.
Egyptian prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
TORTURE IN EGYPT
International rights groups say that torture is systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. Egypt says it does not condone torture, and that it only occurs in isolated instances.
Washington acknowledges secret transfers of terrorism suspects to third countries, but denies torturing suspects or handing them to countries that do.
Zayat said Nasr, upon arrival in Egypt, was charged with membership in an illegal organization — charges Egypt typically uses against members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
But Zayat said those charges were ultimately dropped and Nasr was briefly released in April 2004 before being detained without charge under Egypt’s emergency laws.
He said he believes Nasr was released when Egyptian authorities decided he had no connection to militancy, and that he was later re-arrested after ignoring warnings not to speak to anyone about the kidnapping and rendition.
He said Nasr had a heart condition, diabetes and hypertension, and needed urinary tract surgery.
