Source: Middle East Times
Date: 2009-04-16
Date: 2009-04-16
CAIRO -- One of Egypt's leading activists and social documenters was attacked in his home last week in what he and other activists are calling the continued systematic abuse of police power. Wael Abbas, who came to notoriety in 2006 after publishing video and images of massive sexual assaults near a downtown Cairo cinema, reported that his neighbor and a police officer ransacked his home and beat him and his mother up.
The evidence highlights the continued struggle many Egyptians face with police and what many activists refer to as "abuse of power."
"My mother and I have been assaulted by a neighbor and his police officer brother. My tooth was broken and I am suffering a head injury and police corruption has arrived to my house," Abbas wrote on his Facebook Web page shortly after the incident.
Almost immediately following his report, activists and journalists began a torrid campaign to uncover the details. The most detailed reporting on the incident came from 3arabawy.com – a leading blog run by Hossam Al-Hamalawy – which confirmed Abbas' story.
"There are similar cases that happened before and it is an abuse of police power and it has to be investigated," Hamalawy wrote. "This is a major violation of human rights, a police officer has broken into an Egyptian citizen's home, breaking the door, going inside and assaulting him."
An Egyptian reporter told Middle East Times that the government is attempting to silence Abbas. She said that she had heard reports that officials of the ruling National Democratic Party have put forward a legal claim of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,750) that argues Abbas fabricated the story.
Middle East Times could not confirm these details.
Ironically, the violence perpetrated against Abbas last week was followed by the resumption of police activities of two officers convicted of torture, rape and unlawful detention of a bus driver in 2006. Islam Nabih and Reda Fathy were released from prison after their sentences were reduced by a judge, and this week they have resumed their work as police officers, raising fears that torture and police violence will continue.
Local and international human rights organizations have lambasted the Interior Ministry's decision to allow Nabih and Fathy to return to duty.
"The reinstatement of these two policemen would send a negative signal about the Egyptian authorities' commitment to the fight against torture of prisoners, as allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in Egypt's police stations and detention centers remain rife," said Malcom Smart, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
"It would be wholly inappropriate for either of these two men to be reinstated in the police or appointed to other official bodies, as well as law enforcement or security forces branches," he added.
Abbas, a strident supporter of the documentation of police abuse, was one of the bloggers who initially distributed the video showing the rape of Emad Al-Kabir on a mobile phone camera. The public circulation of the film sparked massive public outcry and began serious reporting on police violations.
The head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) Hafez Abu Saeda says that these actions are "a major problem" for Egypt.
"If this country is going to move forward there needs to be put in place rules and a means for police officers to be taken to court and held accountable for their horrific actions. This just isn't happening," he added.
With Abbas now recuperating at home nursing his injuries, it is unlikely that for one of the country's leading activists police violence will deter him from continuing his work as a leading force in the continued efforts to bring an end to torture and violence in Egypt.
The EOHR has documented dozens of incidents of police torture and abuse of power in recent years. Middle East Times confirmed these claims in December and January through personal interviews with the victims of such violence, where the horrific details were made public.
The evidence highlights the continued struggle many Egyptians face with police and what many activists refer to as "abuse of power."
"My mother and I have been assaulted by a neighbor and his police officer brother. My tooth was broken and I am suffering a head injury and police corruption has arrived to my house," Abbas wrote on his Facebook Web page shortly after the incident.
Almost immediately following his report, activists and journalists began a torrid campaign to uncover the details. The most detailed reporting on the incident came from 3arabawy.com – a leading blog run by Hossam Al-Hamalawy – which confirmed Abbas' story.
"There are similar cases that happened before and it is an abuse of police power and it has to be investigated," Hamalawy wrote. "This is a major violation of human rights, a police officer has broken into an Egyptian citizen's home, breaking the door, going inside and assaulting him."
An Egyptian reporter told Middle East Times that the government is attempting to silence Abbas. She said that she had heard reports that officials of the ruling National Democratic Party have put forward a legal claim of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,750) that argues Abbas fabricated the story.
Middle East Times could not confirm these details.
Ironically, the violence perpetrated against Abbas last week was followed by the resumption of police activities of two officers convicted of torture, rape and unlawful detention of a bus driver in 2006. Islam Nabih and Reda Fathy were released from prison after their sentences were reduced by a judge, and this week they have resumed their work as police officers, raising fears that torture and police violence will continue.
Local and international human rights organizations have lambasted the Interior Ministry's decision to allow Nabih and Fathy to return to duty.
"The reinstatement of these two policemen would send a negative signal about the Egyptian authorities' commitment to the fight against torture of prisoners, as allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in Egypt's police stations and detention centers remain rife," said Malcom Smart, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
"It would be wholly inappropriate for either of these two men to be reinstated in the police or appointed to other official bodies, as well as law enforcement or security forces branches," he added.
Abbas, a strident supporter of the documentation of police abuse, was one of the bloggers who initially distributed the video showing the rape of Emad Al-Kabir on a mobile phone camera. The public circulation of the film sparked massive public outcry and began serious reporting on police violations.
The head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) Hafez Abu Saeda says that these actions are "a major problem" for Egypt.
"If this country is going to move forward there needs to be put in place rules and a means for police officers to be taken to court and held accountable for their horrific actions. This just isn't happening," he added.
With Abbas now recuperating at home nursing his injuries, it is unlikely that for one of the country's leading activists police violence will deter him from continuing his work as a leading force in the continued efforts to bring an end to torture and violence in Egypt.
The EOHR has documented dozens of incidents of police torture and abuse of power in recent years. Middle East Times confirmed these claims in December and January through personal interviews with the victims of such violence, where the horrific details were made public.
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