The Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners Campaign

Hand in hand- Egypt without torture

Cairo: 4/7/2004

In the consequences of a prisoner escape from Al-Mansoura prison, the investigation officers of Al-Saff and Atfih district broke into the houses of the prisoner’s folks and detained and tortured more than 23 of them three days ago, as an attempt to arrest the escapee prisoner 

In the consequences of the prisoner Mohamed Saleh Abdel-Mohsen escape from Al-Mansoura in June 30, 2004, who lives in Arab Al-Shurafa, Al-Saff, Giza, the police forces did not stop breaking into his folks and relatives houses but they pursued them in farms and arrested and then led them to Al-Saff and Atfih police station. They detained also children, women and elderly people. The information asserted that the detainees, they are about 23 citizen including the escapee’s wife, exposed to torture with beating on legs and suspension that resulted in hurts to some of them including a small child that her arm was broken as a result of beating. It is worth mentioning that the aim of detaining and torturing those citizens is to get information about the place of the escapee prisoner and then they can arrest him.

Immediately after the association had received this information, it sent lawyers delegation to be sure of the accuracy of the incident as some lawyers from this district assured that, however they could not meet anyone of the detainees, who are out of arrest as they escaped for fear of detaining them like their folks. The association’s lawyers submitted a report No. 454 in July 3, 2004 to  the prosecution of Al-Saff police station and many other complaints regarding this incident to the Attorney General, the Minister of Interior and the first General Lawyer of prosecution offices of Giza, No. 11 in July 3, 2004. The association claimed these bodies to open an investigation into the incident of detaining those citizens, from June 30, 2004 till the date of this report, at the hand of the investigation officers of Al-Saff and Atfih district as hostages without a legal reason, in addition to investigating into the incidents of torture and referring the injured people to the legal medicine to prove their wounds.

  The Human rights association for the assistance of prisoners