(AFP File Photo)
By Fatma Khaled
Warakom Bel Takrir, a human rights campaign, stated on Tuesday that the Ministry of Interior was guilty of excessive use of force under the former Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi governments.
The campaign released its statement in response to the Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim’s comments regarding the Nasr Road’s clashes last Saturday, when Ibrahim said police never used live ammunition against protesters.
They cited findings of an investigation by the Prosecutor General against Mubarak and previous minister of interior Habib Al-Adly, which was authorised in 2012 to look into the former regime’s role in killing protesters. It detailed incidents of excessive force by police, special operations forces, central security, and sniper teams in January 2011.
In the report, General Mostafa Khairy testified that combat forces are only used to combat terrorist groups and safe-guard strategic areas, and should not have been used against protesters.
The campaign reported that all state institutions were given orders to suppress protesters, including transferring ammunition in ambulance cars, cutting off all communication means and shutting down certain underground metro stations.
The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) released another report condemning police practices such as the torturing of detainees to obtain confessions or information.
EOHR reported 1051 cases of tortures that occurred in the period between 2000 and 2011, and 2011 ranked the highest number of torture cases.
The report stated 165 torture cases were reported during Morsi’s presidency, and blamed his administration for not working to change the legal structure to fight police brutality and end impunity.
