Black Hole: The Life of Captured Islamists

Bloggers and Islamist fear the day when the battle is over and they end up hanging from their feet in a murky cell. When the alleged leader of the suspected terrorist group currently being hunted in Sinai called authorities and claimed his innocence and offered to hand himself in, I thought: poor weapon smuggling criminal sod, your days are over and you’ll be lucky if you even make it to a cell and if you do you’ll never come out, guilty or not. Yes, I pray for him too. Less for the security apparatus; I respect their effectiveness and force, but much has to be said about their methods. Follow me:

Torture in Egypt is practiced routinely and systemically when it comes to suspected Islamist militants. It is “normal investigative practice.”

Methods of torture include beatings with fists, feet, leather straps, sticks, and electric cables; suspension in contorted and painful positions accompanied by beatings; sexual intimidation and violence. Last year, 22 people died by torture in police stations. Mass punishment also increased, including the arrest of wanted individuals’ relatives and random firing on citizens.

HRW and Egyptian human rights groups found credible evidence that SSI routinely used torture during interrogations following the October 2004 bomb attacks against the Taba Hilton hotel and other tourist sites, when thousands of persons were taken into custody and held without charge in incommunicado detention.

An estimated 15,000 persons, including scores of lawyers, are still in detention under Emergency Law provisions.

Reminder: foreign governments are sending scores of suspected terrorists to Egypt. Says former CIA official Robert Baer: “If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear—never to see them again—you send them to Egypt.”

Previously: Without Gloves, Police Torture 22 to Death, Also: Technorati search results, Human Rights Watch.