Egypt: Bloggers open the door to police brutality debate

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Posted: Dec 9 06

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Witnessed: 44224 times

Detention, Police brutality, Torture/ill treatment

Cyber-Activism, egypt, Freedom of Speech, impunity, police, police brutality, slapping, torture, wael abbas

Human rights organisations have reported for many years that torture and abuse are rife in Egypt's police stations. But it wasn't until videos emerged showing the nature of these violations that the spotlight truly fell on the conduct of Egypt's police.

For over a year now, bloggers such as Wael Abbas, Demagh Mak and Hossam El-Hamalawy have aimed to strike a blow against police torture by publicising these videos - which were presumed shot by police officers, and show their colleagues beating - and in one case, sodomising - suspects.

Articles in the independent Egyptian press and protests by civil society organisations followed, as did international pressure and scrutiny.

It's videos like this one - originally uploaded to YouTube by Wael Abbas - that appear to be shifting the debate.

At the time, blogger and activist Hossam el-Hamalawy reported that an investigation has been launched into the conduct of the officer shown slapping the suspect in this video, although it later emerged that the officer in question was not suspended from duty.

In the case where police officers sodomised a suspect with a stick, two of the officers involved - as you can see from the links below - received 3-year sentences, but this is still the exception rather than the rule.

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