Torture in Egypt has reached an intolerable level and is systematically being used on all levels of Egyptian society including women, children, elderly men and youth, regardless of their social status, said a report by the London-based Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR).
Torture in Egypt has become a wide-scale systematic behavior and policy, the report revealed, adding that torture is approved of and encouraged by higher authorities. The organization submitted a complete file which includes the names of victims and their torturers to the United Nations Human Rights Council and other concerned international bodies. Through the submission, the AOHR hopes to fulfill its obligation to the thousands of detainees in Egyptian prisons, which do not meet the minimum international standards for incarceration. All previous appeals by the AOHR to improve the status of human rights in Egypt have been disregarded, the report added.
While previously restricted to detention centers, torture is now widely used at police stations and illegal detention areas, said the report, adding that it is not only being used on the political opposition, but also on criminal suspects and others who are not suspected of a crime.
The report also points out that 285 instances of torture have been recorded, resulting in 119 deaths over a nine-year period. The number of forced disappearances has also increased, with 73 people disappearing between 1992 and 2009. Of the 73 disappearances, 56 are still missing.
