Witness reports suggest torture at pro-Morsi sit-ins: Amnesty
Amnesty International said it has collected
evidence that points at torture carried out
at sit-ins by deposed president Mohamed
Morsi's supporters.
The international organisation said in a
report released on Friday that "anti-Morsi
protesters" have recounted how they
were "captured, beaten, subjected to
electric shocks or stabbed."
Mastour Mohamed Sayed, 21, told
Amnesty that he and a group of 20 others
were attacked by a group of Morsi
supporters near the pro-Morsi sit-in at
Rabaa Al-Adawiya in Cairo's Nasr City
district on 5 July.
According to the report, his attackers
wore balaclavas and some were armed
with knives or machine guns.
"We were eventually held under a podium
[in the sit-in]...I was beaten with bars,
and given electric shocks. I lost
consciousness a few times," he said.
Sayed also told Amnesty he believed he
heard a woman being sexually assaulted.
"My hands were tied behind my back, and
I was blindfolded, but I could see a bit
from underneath the blindfold... I could
hear the girl screaming when she was
given electric shocks. I could also hear a
woman ordering her to take off her
clothes. At that stage, I said that this was
haram (forbidden), and was hit on the
head. I then saw two bearded men go into
the room and heard the girl screaming
more..."
Sayed said his captors asked why he and
other detainees supported General Abdel
Fattah El-Sisi, who led the army's move to
remove Morsi amid mass nationwide
protests on 3 July. Sayed was then
reportedly allowed to leave the sit-in, but
his identity card was not returned to him.
According to the report, eight bodies have
arrived at the morgue in Cairo bearing
signs of torture. Five of them were found
near areas where pro-Morsi sit-ins were
being held.
Egypt's interior minister also stated cases
of the alleged torture in a press
conference last Saturday, saying nine were
found dead and ten still receiving
treatment.
"Six people were found dead in Al-Nahda
Square [in Giza] and three others are in
critical condition in the hospital, while
three were killed in Rabaa Al-Adawiya [in
Nasr City] and seven remain hospitalised,"
he said.
According to Amnesty's report, witnesses
near Al-Nahda sit-in reported seeing
people murdered.
Hassan Sabry, 20, said that he was
dragged by armed assailants into Oumran
Garden, near Cairo University in Giza.
"They used plastic wires to handcuff me...
They started to beat us with sticks all over
the body. At least two of us were
bleeding," he said.
Sabry then watched a bloodied protester
have his throat slit and another being
stabbed to death, according to the report.
The organisation called for an immediate
investigation into the issue.
"Allegations that torture is being carried
out by individuals are extremely serious
and must be investigated as a matter of
urgency," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui,
Deputy Director for the Middle East and
North Africa at Amnesty.
