Beatings, Electric Shocks, Stress Positions Routinely Used Against Dissidents
September 6, 2017
Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s
regular police and National Security officers routinely torture
political detainees with techniques including beatings, electric shocks,
stress positions, and sometimes rape, Human Rights Watch said in a new
report released today.
Prosecutors typically ignore complaints from detainees about
ill-treatment and sometimes threaten them with torture, creating an
environment of almost total impunity, Human Rights Watch said.
Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s regular police and
National Security officers routinely torture political detainees with
techniques including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, and
sometimes rape.
“President al-Sisi has effectively given police and National
Security officers a green light to use torture whenever they please,”
said Joe Stork,
deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Impunity for the
systematic use of torture has left citizens with no hope for justice.”
The report documents how security forces, particularly officers of
the Interior Ministry’s National Security Agency, use torture to force
suspects to confess or divulge information, or to punish them.
Allegations of torture have been widespread since then-Defense Minister
al-Sisi ousted former President Mohamed Morsy in 2013, beginning a
widespread crackdown on basic rights. Torture has long been endemic in
Egypt’s law enforcement system, and rampant abuses by security forces
helped spark the nationwide revolt in 2011 that unseated longtime leader
Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 19 former detainees and the family of a 20th detainee who were tortured between 2014 and 2016, as well as Egyptian defense and human rights lawyers. Human Rights Watch also reviewed dozens of reports about torture produced by Egyptian human rights groups and media outlets.
The techniques of torture
documented by Human Rights Watch have been practiced in police stations
and National Security offices throughout the country, using nearly
identical methods, for many years.
Under international law, torture is a crime of universal
jurisdiction that can be prosecuted in any country. States are required
to arrest and investigate anyone on their territory credibly suspected
of involvement in torture and to prosecute them or extradite them to
face justice.
Since the 2013 military coup, Egyptian authorities have arrested or charged probably at least 60,000 people, forcibly disappeared hundreds for months at a time, handed down preliminary death sentences to hundreds more, tried thousands of civilians in military courts,
and created at least 19 new prisons or jails to hold this influx. The
primary target of this repression has been the Muslim Brotherhood, the
country’s largest opposition movement.
Human Rights Watch found that the Interior Ministry has developed an
assembly line of serious abuse to collect information about suspected
dissidents and prepare often fabricated cases against them. This begins
at the point of arbitrary arrest, progresses to torture and
interrogation during periods of enforced disappearance, and concludes
with presentation before prosecutors, who often pressure suspects to
confirm their confessions and almost never investigate abuses.
The former detainees said that torture sessions begin with security
officers using electric shocks on a blindfolded, stripped, and
handcuffed suspect while slapping and punching him or beating him with
sticks and metal bars. If the suspect fails to give the officers the
answers they want, the officers increase the power and duration of the
electric shocks and almost always shock the suspect’s genitals.
Officers then employ two types of stress positions to inflict severe
pain on suspects, the detainees said. In one, they hang suspects above
the floor with their arms raised backwards behind them, an unnatural
position that causes excruciating pain in the back and shoulders and
sometimes dislocates their shoulders.
In a second, called the “chicken”
or “grill,” officers place suspects’ knees and arms on opposite sides of
a bar so that the bar lies between the crook of their elbows and the
back of their knees and tie their hands together above their shins. When
the officers lift the bar and suspend the suspects in the air, like a
chicken on a spit, they suffer excruciating pain in shoulders, knees,
and arms.
Security officers hold detainees in these stress positions for hours
at a time and continue to beat, electrocute, and interrogate them.
“Khaled,” a 29-year-old accountant, told Human Rights Watch that in
January 2015, National Security officers in Alexandria arrested him and
took him to the city’s Interior Ministry headquarters.
They told him to
admit to participating in arson attacks on police cars the previous
year. When Khaled denied knowing anything about the attacks, an officer
stripped off his clothing and began shocking him with electrified wires.
The torture and interrogations, involving severe electric shocks and
stress positions, continued for nearly six days, during which Khaled was
allowed no contact with relatives or lawyers. Officers forced him to
read a prepared confession, which they filmed, stating he had burned
police cars on the orders of the Muslim Brotherhood.
After 10 days, a team of prosecutors questioned Khaled and fellow
detainees. When Khaled told one prosecutor that he had been tortured,
the prosecutor replied it was none of his business and ordered Khaled to
restate the videotaped confession, or else he would send him back to be
tortured again.
“You’re at their mercy, ‘Whatever we say, you’re gonna do.’ They
electrocuted me in my head, testicles, under my armpits. They used to
heat water and throw it on you. Every time I lose consciousness, they
would throw it on me,” Khaled recalled.
Egypt’s history of torture stretches back more than three decades,
and Human Rights Watch first recorded the practices documented in this
report as early as 1992.
Egypt is also the only country to be the subject of two public
inquiries by the United Nations Committee against Torture, which wrote
in June 2017 that that the facts gathered by the committee “lead to the
inescapable conclusion that torture is a systematic practice in Egypt.”
Since the military unseated former president Morsy in 2013, the
authorities have reconstituted and expanded the repressive instruments
that defined Mubarak’s rule. The regularity of torture and the impunity
for its practice since 2013 has created a climate in which those who are
abused see no chance to hold their abusers to account and often do not
bother even filing complaints to prosecutors.
Between July 2013 and December 2016, prosecutors officially
investigated at least 40 torture cases, a fraction of the hundreds of
allegations made, yet Human Rights Watch found only six cases in which
prosecutors won guilty verdicts against Interior Ministry officers. All
these verdicts remain on appeal and only one involved the National
Security Agency.
Al-Sisi should direct the Justice Ministry to create an independent
special prosecutor empowered to inspect detention sites, investigate and
prosecute abuse by the security services, and publish a record of
action taken, Human Rights Watch said. Failing a serious effort by the
Sisi administration to confront the torture epidemic, UN member states
should investigate and prosecute Egyptian officials accused of
committing, ordering, or assisting torture.
“Past impunity for torture caused great harm to hundreds of
Egyptians and laid the conditions for the 2011 revolt,” Stork said.
“Allowing the security services to commit this heinous crime across the
country invites another cycle of unrest.”
*Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany, courtesy of Reuters
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation. -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation. -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed
Sex
scandal controversy embroils Egyptian judiciary - See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
Sex
scandal controversy embroils Egyptian judiciary - See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
A sex scandal involving an Egyptian judge has exposed corruption within Egypt's controversial judicial system
July 30, 2015
An Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend, and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a criminal act, it can be dismissed in return for the judge's resignation.
Abdel Hady first denied the allegations and refused to resign. However, he was forced to resign on Tuesday after Judge Mahmoud Kamel el-Rashidi - who was behind the acquittal of ousted President Hosni Mubarak in what was often referred to as the 'Trial of the Century' - banned him from entering the court.
Abdel Hady came to be known for ruling in a number of high profile political cases.
Last month, he ruled in favour of TV presenter Ahmed Moussa, who is considered by many to be a government propagandist. Moussa had allegedly defamed Osama al-Ghazali Harb, head of the Democratic Front party, accusing him while on air of "working against the state."
In another case, Abdel Hady sentenced five girls - who were accused of violating the anti-protest law - to five years in prison and a 100,000 Egyptian Pounds ($US 12,767) fine each.
The case is only a few days old, but it has already sparked controversy all over local and social media, renewing the debate on the corruption of Egypt's judiciary.
"There are serious questions on the independence and partiality of the Egyptian judiciary", Nicholas Piachaud, a London-based Egypt researcher at Amnesty International, told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
"The Egyptian judiciary has become a weapon in the crackdown on dissent", he added.
"Egypt's judges are not taking on the security forces, who have near total impunity for their human rights violations. Instead, they hand down heavily politicised verdicts against opposition members, journalists, and protesters."
Earlier this year, mass death sentences were passed against hundreds of alleged Muslim Brotherhood supporters, and were condemned by multiple rights groups.
In contrast, charges against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution were dropped last year.
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation. -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation. -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
An
Egyptian judge was forced to resign from his position as head of a
Cairo court after being accused of demanding a sexual bribe from a woman
in return for ruling in her favour, sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed.
Judge
Ramy Abdel Hady was confronted by the Administrative Control authority
and the public prosecution after the woman involved gave them recorded
phone conversations where Abdel Hady asked her for sexual favours in
return for ruling in her favour.
The authorities then opened an
investigation before Egypt's public prosecution issued a gag order in
the case, banning local media from publishing any related details until
further notice.
On social media, Egyptians defied the gag order by circulating information about the case and making sarcastic remarks about it.
Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed that there is an unspoken agreement between the Justice Ministry, currently headed by Ahmed el-Zend,
and different judiciary bodies that if any judge is involved in a
criminal case, it can be closed in return for the judge's resignation. -
See more at:
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/politics/2015/7/30/sex-scandal-controversy-embroils-egyptian-judiciary#sthash.y5Xvw1HE.dpuf
Since the military
takeover in July 2013, there has been a surge in sexual violence
perpetrated by the security forces in Egypt, asserts a report released today by FIDH.
“The scale of sexual violence occurring during arrests and
in detention, the similarities in the methods used and the general
impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators point to a cynical political
strategy aimed at stifling civil society and silencing all opposition,” said Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.
Based on interviews with victims, lawyers and members of human rights
NGOs, the report reveals the involvement of police, National Security
Intelligence officers and the military in sexual violence, including
rape, sexual assault, rape with objects, electrocution of genitalia,
sex-based defamation and blackmail.
“We were attacked in a raid led by the chief of the
Alexandria Criminal Intelligence (Mabahith)... They made us kneel down
with our hands behind our heads. Then they took the young women to one
side and frisked us with our faces towards the wall, sexually harassing
us and insulting us. I tried to remove the hand of one of the Central
Security soldiers from my trousers, so then they beat me with their
weapons until I could no longer resist.” K., an activist from an Egyptian human rights NGO.
Such violence is perpetrated on a massive scale by state security
forces, making a mockery of government commitments to make combating
sexual violence in Egyptian society a priority.
Piecemeal and token
measures, including partial legislative reforms and the establishment of
a unit within the Ministry of Interior dedicated to fighting violence
against women, have had little impact on the spread of this epidemic.
The FIDH report shows that such violence is widely tolerated, with
perpetrators, whether state actors or civilians, rarely having to answer
for their crimes. Since the July 2014 trial of seven men accused of
participating in mob-sexual assaults in Tahrir Square during the
inauguration of President el-Sisi in June 2014, there have been no
further trials for mob sexual violence. As for the security forces,
despite complaints, no officers have been tried for crimes of sexual
violence.
The role of the security forces in perpetrating sexual harassment and
assault, including during body searches, security checks and in police
stations, constitutes a further deterrent to victims filing complaints.
The general climate of impunity fosters and fuels further violence by
state actors and civilians.
“The Egyptian government must immediately put an end to
these crimes, committed by actors under their direct authority. They
must ensure serious investigations into all allegations and the
prosecution and punishment of those responsible in accordance with
international standards,” said Amina Bouayach, FIDH Secretary General.
While tolerating these crimes, el-Sisi’s regime has also hijacked the
fight against sexual violence as a pretext to tighten state security.
Since autumn 2013, the government has orchestrated a campaign of
repression against LGBT persons.
Security forces raided bath houses and
detained LGBT persons based on information gathered through internet
surveillance and accused them of “debauchery” and
“sexual indecency.” The government justified the arbitrary detention of
these individuals, during which many suffered sexual violence, by
invoking protection of Egypt’s moral and religious order.
Women and girls in Egypt face violence on a disturbing scale both at
home and in public, including sexual mob attacks as well as torture in
state custody, according to a new briefing by Amnesty International.
“The
reality is that women and girls in Egypt face the ever-present, lurking
spectre of physical and sexual violence in all facets of life. At home
many are subjected to vicious beatings, aggression and abuse from
spouses and relatives. In public they face incessant sexual harassment
and the risk of mob attacks, when not falling prey to state officials’
violence,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle
East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
The
Egyptian authorities have announced some token initiatives in recent
months, including the introduction of a law criminalizing sexual
harassment, however President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s public commitments
to tackle the issue have not yet translated into a cohesive and
sustained strategy.
The authorities are still refusing to acknowledge
the scale of the problem and dodging key reforms needed to effectively
start tackling violence and engrained discriminatory attitudes towards
women.
“For years, successive Egyptian governments have either
trumpeted women’s rights as a PR-exercise or else used violence against
women to score cheap political points against their opponents. The
authorities have blamed their opponents for endemic sexual violence and
promised reforms, but never delivered,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
“Violence
and discrimination affects all women, across Egypt’s political divide.
Token gestures and unfulfilled promises will not suffice. The Egyptian
authorities must seize the opportunity of upcoming parliamentary
elections in March to place this issue at the heart of the political
agenda. There must be no ‘ifs’, no ‘buts’ about ending abuses and
ensuring women can take part in public life.”
More than 99 per
cent of women and girls in Egypt interviewed for a survey published by
UN Women in 2013 reported that they had experienced some form of sexual
harassment.
There have been a handful of convictions since a new law
making sexual harassment a crime punishable by a minimum of one year in
prison was introduced last year. However, the vast majority of women are
still waiting for justice. Even when they seek help many have found
themselves ignored or treated with contempt by police and the justice
system.
Amnesty International is calling for the authorities to
deliver a long-promised, long-delayed strategy on addressing violence
against women.
“The authorities have made big promises, but
actually delivered very little of the root and branch reform that’s
sorely needed,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
“Women are a
fundamental part of the solution to the problems that Egypt faces. It’s
now time for the authorities to come up with a plan to end the long
years of violence and discrimination.”
SEXUAL MOB ATTACKS
Sexual
assaults in public, particularly in the context of demonstrations
around Cairo’s Tahrir Square, have soared in recent years. Sexual
assaults and rapes have been carried out repeatedly in which women have
been groped, stripped naked and dragged through the streets or beaten
with sticks, knives and belts by violent mobs. The authorities have not
shown due diligence to prevent the attacks, or to protect women from
violence.
Egyptian legislation criminalizing rape and other sexual
assault continues to fall short of international human rights
standards. While courts have jailed a small number of men in connection
with the attacks in Tahrir Square, many survivors are still waiting for
justice.
WOMEN IN STATE CUSTODY
The
briefing also documents the deplorable treatment of female prisoners
while in state custody or upon arrest. Several women and girls said they
were tortured or ill-treated by security forces on arrest, including
being subjected to sexual violence.
In prison, female detainees
are subjected to torture and ill-treatment with impunity. One prisoner
was forced to lie in front of other prisoners before being whipped on
her feet. Even pregnant women were found to have been treated in a
degrading or inhuman manner, including being handcuffed during labour.
“While
a lot of the attention is on the situation of prominent male detainees,
true horror stories have emerged from Egypt’s prisons about the inhuman
and cruel treatment female prisoners have endured. All women in police
custody or in prison must be protected from violence, torture and
ill-treatment, including rape, and corporal punishment,” said Hassiba
Hadj Sahraoui.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATORY DIVORCE LAWS
Nearly
half of all women surveyed for the Ministry of Health said that they
had experienced some form of domestic violence, in the last official
figures on the issue. Survivors interviewed by Amnesty International
described brutal physical and psychological abuse, saying that their
spouses had beaten, whipped and burned them and in some cases locked
them up inside the house against their will. They also spoke about how
the legal system is failing them.
Many problems stem from
prejudiced attitudes and are exacerbated by the discriminatory Egyptian
personal status law and other provisions which put up unsurmountable
obstacles for women to prove that their spouses have harmed them.
Support
for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence is quasi-inexistent.
Women who choose to report it are confronted with several obstacles,
including a lack of interest by the security forces or prosecution, as
well as inadequate criminal laws, with domestic violence and marital
rape not explicitly criminalized. This leads many women subjected to
domestic violence to suffer in silence.
A deeply discriminatory
divorce system also often leaves women trapped in abusive relationships.
While men may unilaterally divorce their wives without providing any
justification, women must either forfeit their financial rights by
accepting a “no-fault” khol’ divorce, or be prepared to fight a long and
costly court battle to prove that their husband “harmed” them.
“Recent
measures to protect women taken have been largely symbolic. The
authorities must prove that these are more than cosmetic changes by
making sustained efforts to implement changes and challenge deeply
entrenched attitudes prevalent in Egyptian society,” said Hassiba Hadj
Sahraoui.
____
At a glance - Violence against women in numbers
Sexual harassment
99%: Women and girls interviewed for UN Women survey in 2013 who reported some form of sexual harassment
Domestic violence
47.4%:
Married, divorced, separated or widowed women who reported some form of
physical domestic violence in the last official survey on the issue
39%
of women interviewed in the last official survey on domestic violence
who agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife in certain
circumstances
Female genital mutilation (FGM)
91%: Women (ages 15-49) subjected to FGM in the last official survey
1: Known prosecutions for female genital mutilation since the 2011 uprising
Public life
30-42: Approximate number of women judges, many directly appointed by Hosni Mubarak
2%: Women holding seats in the last People’s Assembly (lower house of parliament)
10%: Women appointed to the 50-member committee that drafted Egypt’s 2014 constitution
Employment
24.2 % / 9.8%: Unemployed women versus men
Illiteracy
37.3%: Egyptian women and girls over the age of 10 who are illiterate
(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should act quickly to combat all forms of
violence and harassment against women, Human Rights Watch said today.
After a spate of sexual assaults during post-election celebrations,
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi told the prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab on
June 11, 2014, to form a committee to address harassment. The committee
is a positive step, but effective, comprehensive action needs to follow,
Human Rights Watch said.
Egyptian rights groups documented
at least nine incidents of mob sexual assaults and harassment in
Cairo’s Tahrir Square between June 3 and 8 during celebrations of
President Sisi’s election and inauguration. There had been other attacks
in the square during post-election celebrations.
“This level of attention to sexual harassment from an Egyptian president needs to be judged by what actually results,” said Rothna Begum,
women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “A comprehensive
national strategy would be a vital step toward stopping attacks on
women, if implemented.”
President Sisi’s office said in a statement that the ministerial
committee should include participation by the Muslim and Christian
religious establishments to “identify the reasons for the spread of the
phenomena of harassment and determine a national strategy to address
it.”
On June 9, 2014, 25 Egyptian rights groups called for a comprehensive law on violence against women and a national strategy to implement such legislation.
Law reform should be central to the national strategy, Human Rights Watch said. Egypt
has major gaps in its laws on violence against women. There is no
specific law on domestic violence. The Penal Code has an outdated,
narrow definition of rape. Even recent amendments on sexual harassment
need improvement.
The reform should include provisions for victim assistance, protocols
and guidelines for all government officials responding to violence
against women, adequate funding for agencies carrying out the reforms
and for monitoring their prevention and enforcement activities. The
authorities should consult with Egyptian women’s rights groups and
survivors when drafting the strategy and any new legislation.
In response to the recent attacks, the Interior Ministry reported
arrests of seven men, and the public prosecution opened an investigation
into three other men. On June 10, President Sisi told the interior
minister to “take all necessary measures to combat sexual harassment.”
The following day, he paid a visit
to a hospitalized victim of a sexual attack, accompanied by television
cameras, during which he apologized to her and promised to hold the
attackers accountable.
On June 9, Egyptian rights groups reported
that at least 500 women had been sexually assaulted by mobs in Egypt
between February 2011 and January 2014, and that thousands of women
had been subjected to sexual harassment. In 2013, Human Rights Watch documented
epidemic sexual violence in Egypt, including at least 91 attacks
between June 30 and July 3, during demonstrations, and the weak
government response.
On June 5, 2014, outgoing President Adly Mansour’s Decree No.50 of 2014
came into force, with two narrow amendments to the Penal Code. One
broadened the definition of harassment and sexual harassment. Offenders
can be sentenced to at least 6 months in prison or a fine of 5,000 to
10,000 Egyptian pounds (US$700-$1,400).
The second change increased
penalties to between two and five years in prison and a fine of
20,000-50,000 Egyptian pounds (US$2,800-$7,000) when the offender is in a
position of authority over the victim, if the crime is committed by two
or more people, or one of the offenders is armed with a weapon.
The Egyptian authorities are required to act both under binding
international law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, and Egypt’s new constitution to
protect “women against all forms of violence.” This requires enacting
and enforcing comprehensive legislation for which the authorities should
look to the United Nations Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women for guidance.
“Gruesome sexual attacks on women marred President Sisi’s election and
inauguration,” Begum said. “Egypt’s women, and the world, are watching
to see what President Sisi will do to put a halt to the sexual attacks
and harassment.”
In a move that has sparked concern among Egyptian secularists, the
country’s censorship committee this week banned 20 music videos
allegedly containing “heavy sexual connotations” and featuring
“scantily-dressed female singers and models.”
The decision to ban the video clips deemed “inappropriate” and
“indecent” by members of the state censorship committee, comes two
months after a new constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression and
opinion was approved by 98 per cent of voters in a national referendum.
The new charter replaced the 2012 constitution, widely criticized by
rights organizations and revolutionary activists as an “Islamist-tinged”
document.
The majority of Egypt’s secularists who celebrated the ouster of
Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in Tahrir Square in July had feared
that the Muslim Brotherhood –the Islamist group from which he hails –was
seeking to alter Egypt’s ‘moderate’ identity. The Islamist group has
since been outlawed and designated a terrorist organization by the
military-backed authorities that replaced the toppled president.
The banning of the video clips comes amid heated debate on “raunchy”
music videos broadcast on some of the Arab satellite channels. In
recent years, an increasing number of popular Arab female singing-stars
have challenged social norms and broken cultural taboos by revealing
more flesh in their video clips. The trend has stirred controversy in
Egypt’s deeply conservative Muslim society with many Egyptians rejecting
what they describe as “the pornification of pop music”. They insist
that the “graphic, semi-porn sexual scenes featured in some of the music
videos are not in line with Islamic tradition and culture”.
“Some of these video clips are more porn than music. We can hardly
understand the lyrics; They are an insult to Arabic music and culture,”
said Amina Mansour , a Western educated 30 year- old Egyptian freelance
photographer.
It is no surprise that some liberal, westernised Egyptians agree
with ultra-conservative Muslims in their society that the videos should
be banned. Egyptian society–once a melting pot of different cultures has
grown more conservative in the last 30 years.
In his book Whatever
Happened to the Egyptians, Economist Galal Amin blames the growing
conservatism in the country on the introduction of Wahhabism –a more
rigid form of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia and adopted by the
millions of Egyptian migrants who travelled to Gulf countries after the
oil boom in the seventies, seeking higher-paid jobs.
The gradual
transformation from a diverse, open and tolerant society into today’s
conservative and far less tolerant Egypt is evident in the style of
dress, behaviour and speech of many Egyptians. An estimated 90 per cent
of women wear the hijab-the head covering worn by Muslim women -while
the niqab, a veil covering the face , has become more prevalent in
recent years.
Some analysts believe the trend of conservatism, which had steadily
grown in Egypt recent decades, now appears to be regressing. A growing
number of women and girls are removing their Islamic headscarf —once
adopted as a political statement against the authoritarian regime of
Hosni Mubarak and against Western-style values imposed on the society.
Leila el Shentenawy, a 31 year old lawyer told Index she removed her
veil after Morsi’s ouster to express her disappointment with Islamist
rule.
“Morsi failed to deliver on promised reforms,” she said, adding that
she and other liberal Egyptians were alarmed by the calls made by some
hardline Islamists to bring back female genital mutilation and lower the
age of marriage for girls.
“We were becoming a backward society instead of moving forward,” she said.
Shentenawi however, supports the ban on the video clips, arguing
that such videos are “commercialization of women’s bodies and a
downright insult to women.”
Other Egyptians have meanwhile expressed disappointment over the
banning of the video clips, perceiving the move as “a reversal of the
democratic gains of the January 25, 2011 Revolution” that toppled
autocratic president Hosni Mubarak and the subsequent uprising against
Islamist rule in June 2013.
“We had two uprisings for freedom and a modern, democratic society,”
lamented 26 year-old graphic designer Amr El Sherif. “The video clips
are popular with young Egyptians and the latest ban can only be
considered as a means of stifling free artistic expression.”
In January, Egyptian TV imposed a ban on several video clips
reportedly containing “seductive scenes”, deciding they
were”inappropriate for viewers”. The ban on the music videos featuring
Middle Eastern pop idols Haifa Wahby, Alissa, Nancy Agram and Ruby among
others, came in response to complaints by some viewers that the “hot
scenes” depicted in the videos were “provocative” and “went against the
morals of Muslim society.”
While modest by Western standards, “the gyrations and revealing
costumes featured in the videos were too sexy for Arab audiences”, the
censors decided. The ban is a continuation of the ultra-conservative
trend started by Islamists during their one year rule when some of their
lawmakers had complained to Parliament (then dominated by Islamists)
that “Egyptian performer Ruby’s pelvic thrust dance moves and bare
midriff were too much,” warning that the “obscene scenes” depicted in
the music videos would “trash the taste of Egyptians.”
The ban of the videos meanwhile, coincided with the sexual assault
of a female student by a mob on Cairo University’s main campus on
Monday–the first violence of its kind on an Egyptian university campus.
While condemning the assault incident in a telephone interview broadcast
on the private ONTV channel later that evening, University President
Gaber Nassar implied the victim was to blame, saying her “immodest
attire” had invited the assault. He urged students to dress modestly,
adding that those who do not follow the university’s regulation would be
barred from entering the university campus by security guards.
Some Egyptians believe that the “suggestive” and “explicit” music
videos are partly to blame for a surge in incidents of sexual harassment
and violence against women in the country since the January 2011
uprising.
“Sexual frustrations of youth –many of whom are unemployed and
unable to afford the cost of marriage– are being fuelled in part by sexy
music videos and other pornograhic material on the internet, causing
unruly behaviour by some youth,” Said Sadek, a Cairo-based Political
Sociologist and activist, told Index.
The recent ban on the video clips also comes hot on the heels of an
International Women’s Day protest-rally staged by nude Arab and Iranian
women in the Louvre Art Museum’s Square in Paris, calling for “equal
rights” and “secularism” in their respective countries.
Egyptian
internet activist Alia Al Mahdi was among the participants in the Paris
nudist rally which organizers said, was held to “highlight the many
legal and cultural restrictions imposed on women in the Arab World”. El
Mahdi had also protested naked outside the Egyptian Embassy in the
Swedish capital Stockholm in December 2012 to express her opposition to
what she called Morsi’s “Sharia Constitution.” Raising the Egyptian
flag, she had the words ” No to Sharia” written in bold print on her
naked body.
Many of the revolutionary youth-activists who led the uprisings in
Tahrir Square in January 2011 and June 2013 had hoped the downfall of
two authoritarian regimes would usher in a new era of greater freedoms
including freedom of expression and opinion.But their hopes are fading
fast amid increased restrictions and a climate of growing
repression.
Despite the challenges, they vow to continue to push for
“reforms” and “a more liberal Egypt”. While many of the revolutionaries
say they oppose Alia Al Mahdi’s method of protest, perceiving it as ”
extreme”, they insist ” there is no going back to repression and
censorship by the authorities.”
“We’ve had our first taste of freedom with the revolution three
years ago and once you’ve had that, you can only move forward and never
look back, ” said Mohamed Fawaz, an activist and member of the April 6
Movement, one of the two main groups that mobilized protesters for the
January 11 mass uprising. Meanwhile, the battle between secularists and
conservatives for the soul of the “new Egypt” continues.
A case of mass sexual assault on a female student at Cairo University
on Monday has led to a storm of accusations on TV channels and social
networking sites.
This alarming incident has also raised questions and concerns regarding
Egyptian society’s toleration of sexual harassment and its apparent
acceptance of physical assaults on women nationwide.
On Tuesday, women’s rights activists and anti-harassment volunteer
groups began preparations for a protest outside Cairo University on
Thursday, while the (state-controlled) National Council for Women called
on the government to enforce stricter legislation criminalizing sexual
harassment and assault.
A female law student was mobbed by a group of male students, groped and
sexually assaulted, shortly after she entered the campus on Monday. The
victim sought to escape from her attackers by hiding in the women’s
bathroom, yet even then a gang of students surrounded her inside,
awaiting her exit.
It was only after she was trapped inside the bathroom, apparently
crying and in a state of great distress, that university security guards
moved to disperse the assailants from around the bathroom and escorted
the girl off campus.
Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University, spoke with privately owned
ONtv satellite channel on Monday, and claimed that such an incident of
sexual “harassment” at the University is atypical and “exceptional.” He
added that Cairo University is a respectable institution that upholds a
respectable dress code.
Nassar contradicted himself, saying, “there is no justification for
harassment,” yet he went on to imply that the student had brought this
assault upon herself as a result of the tight clothing she was wearing.
He added that the student in question was wearing a black robe covering
her body, but took it off after entering the campus. Amateur video
footage shows the victim dressed in a long-sleeved pink sweater and
black pants.
The incident was captured on camera and Nassar claimed the male
students involved would be investigated. However, it isn't clear what
legal measures have actually been taken, as he added that lawyers were
scrutinizing video footage to ascertain if a crime had taken place.
Originally, the University denied the incident had occurred.
On Tuesday, TV presenter Tamer Amin went even further in his
justification of the assault. His program “Min al-Akher” on the Rotana
Egypt satellite channel came under fire following comments he made.
The renowned TV presenter criticized Cairo University’s statement regarding “the personal freedom of attire.”
Amin said, “Clothing is not a personal freedom unless it is worn at
home or in private; not in places like public universities or schools.
An employee cannot go to work dressed in their shorts, for example.”
The TV presenter went on to blame the victim even further by claiming
that the female student in question was “dressed like a belly dancer.”
Amin asked, “How was it that university guards allowed her to enter
campus in such garb, which exposed more than it covered?”
Amin further justified the mob’s sexual assault by claiming that the
“student was dressed like a slut,” and thus it was her attire which
aroused, encouraged and instigated the assault against her.
On social networking site, Twitter, user Mohamed al-Khateeb wrote that
harassment is not only a crime that happens in dark alleyways at night,
it also happens on university campuses during the daytime.
A host of female Twitter users denounced Amin as “an animal,” while
many others called on the Rotana Channel to sack him from his job for
his sexist comments condoning harassment and assaults against women.
Many other Twitter users commented that harassment is rampant in Egypt
because of unemployment, lack of affordable apartments and the general
inability to afford marriage expenses.
Other users pointed out that sexual harassment and assaults are
perpetrated by prepubescent boys and married men even though they do not
suffer from the aforementioned problems.
Sexual harassment and assaults continue to plague Egypt’s streets on a
daily basis — and, as mentioned on social networking sites — do not
appear to be based solely on womens’ attire. Women wearing the head veil
(hijab) or full face-veil (niqab) are often subjected to the same
mistreatment and assaults as those who don’t.
According to a 2013 report by UN Women, 99.3 percent of women have said
they have experienced sexual harassment or assault at some point in
their lives.
