Torture in Egypt is systematic... A report marking the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The Shehab Center for Human Rights released a report on torture in Egypt to mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, recognized by the United Nations General Assembly and observed annually on June 26.
The United Nations Committee against Torture labelled the situation in Egypt as "systematic."
According to the report, victims in Egyptian detention centers and prisons face torture and various forms of abuse. The report also sheds light on cases where torture has led to death, as well as deaths due to medical negligence and other abuses.
The report sources its information from complaints received by the center from victims' families through the center's Monitoring, Documentation, and Follow-up Unit, and from the websites of human rights organizations focused on the human rights situation in Egypt.
Although the Egyptian Constitution criminalizes torture and affirms that dignity is a right of every human being that cannot be violated, and states that the government is committed to respecting and protecting it, in addition to Egypt's ratification of the International Convention against Torture in 1986, the reality in Egypt—constantly—contradicts these international and domestic laws. Several human rights organizations have documented that torture in Egypt is practiced systematically by security officials.
The report details numerous violations faced by political opponents, including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, and sometimes rape, along with deaths in detention facilities caused by deliberate medical negligence. These abuses affect not only prisoners but also their families, who endure various violations such as humiliating body searches, including sexual harassment, scattering of visit materials, and denial of many items entering the facility.
Al-Shehab concluded its report with several recommendations, urging the Egyptian authorities to immediately stop all systematic torture in prisons and detention facilities, to promptly release all political detainees and prisoners of conscience, and to fully comply with the principles and obligations outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture.
Al-Shehab also called on all lawyers, human rights defenders, media professionals, activists, politicians, and all concerned parties to confront the phenomenon of violations against the entire Egyptian people using all available means to try to stop it.