Egypt Accused of Torturing Political Foes

Thousands of political opponents of the Egyptian government have been detained under sweeping emergency powers, and some have been tortured with beatings, electric shocks and psychological harassment, Amnesty International said today.

The London-based human rights organization said that 8,000 opponents of President Hosni Mubarak’s government were reportedly detained in 1989, and detentions, although fewer, were continuing this year.

Ali Rahmy, press counselor at the Egyptian Embassy in London, called the report “completely false.”

Amnesty International attacked emergency laws that let the government hold people without trial or charge for many months or even years if the Interior Ministry deems them a “threat to national security.”

In some cases, family members were rounded up to force them to divulge a wanted person’s whereabouts, it said.

It charged that most victims had been members and sympathizers of Islamic groups and that security personnel could “detain and torture with apparent impunity.”

Although Egypt was one of the first nations to ratify the U.N. Convention Against Torture, it has not investigated countless complaints of torture, Amnesty International said.

“Victims have been suspended by their wrists from barred windows or doors,” it said. “Many more have been beaten or given electric shocks, including some this year.”