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3/10/1999
Murder in an Alexandria police station:
Death of a citizen as a result of torture in Al-Muntazah police station Press release by the (former) Center for Human Rights Legal Aid The Center for Human Rights Legal Aid expresses its deep concern for the increasing rate of deaths of citizens as a result of torture inside police stations. These practices indicate the total indifference of security forces to citizens' lives and integrity. The absence of the most elementary measures to suppress such practices provides protection for the policemen implicated in torture crimes. In this context, the Center's lawyers received a complaint by citizen Shawky Ahmed Abdel Aal, whose son Farid died inside the Al Muntazah police station in Alexandria. On Thursday, 23rd of September 1999, police forces stormed the family's house and took Farid under the pretext that he was needed to provide a statement against a person charged of stealing a car. All his father's attempts to communicate with his arrested son went in vain. On Friday the father was summoned to the police station, where officers informed him his son had died after beating his head against a wall. They claimed this had been self-inflicted. Farid's father requested to receive his son's corpse in order to hold a funeral, but his request was rejected, and he was terrorized and threatened into accepting the burial of his son by the police without any of his family in attendance. The claim made was that, with the upcoming presidential referendum, any postponement of Farid's burial would constitute a threat to state security. After the burial of the body, Farid's father complained to the public prosecution, which accepted his request and brought his son's body to the medical examiner. Signs of torture (including injuries on the head, black and blue bruises on the body, thighs and legs, and burns and wounds on the genitals) were found. As usual in such cases, the police officers composed fabricated stories and summoned fake witnesses claiming that the victim committed suicide. It is worth noting that in its ruling in October 1999, the Alexandria Court of Felonies brought 13 officers from the same police station (Al-Muntazah) for investigation before the public prosecution under charges of torture, fabrication of legal suits against citizens, and detention without legal foundation. The court's ruling also included a strong condemnation of the behavior of the police, and the fabrication of charges brought against innocent citizens, in violation of all principles of justice and humanity. The Center would like to bring these facts to public attention, insisting that confrontation of torture crimes and all kinds of maltreatment and human rights violations require that the public prosecution fulfill its duties of regular inspection of police stations to prevent and expose the daily violation of human rights inside these stations. The public prosecution should seriously investigate the citizens' complaints about police crimes and immediately refer the victims of torture to a medical examiner before the healing of their injuries and the disappearance of the signs of torture inflicted upon them. The prosecution also should take the necessary legal procedures against the implicated police officers. The Center therefore appeals for the annulment of all restrictions and legal obstacles in the Law of Criminal Procedures, which prevent ordinary citizens from directly prosecuting police officers. The struggle against torture on the legal and political levels must be given utmost priority. It should be recognized that torture is a crime against humanity, which must be combated. It is a shameful violation of human dignity, which spreads insecurity among citizens. Without a systematic confrontation of torture, whatever its motives and justifications, and regardless of the identity of both victim and culprit, these crimes will continue to threaten the very existence of our society. |