The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
PRESS
RELEASE
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) welcomes the decree of the ministry of interiors to refer two police officers to the public prosecution because they tortured citizens in the police Station of Nasr City (2) |
Cairo: 9/3/2002
EOHR welcomes the decree of the Major General Mr. Habeeb El Adli – the ministry of interiors to refer both Major Hazem El Derbi and Major Ashraf Gouhar , the investigations officers in the police station of Nasr City (2) as well as a security officer in the same police station.
The Inspection Unit in the Ministry of Interiors have received a complaint from the citizen Mostafa Helm Abd El Azeez . Mostafa said that he and Sayed Khalefa Eisa were assaulted in the police station of Nasr City (2) during investigation in a robbery case, which led to the death of Sayed Khalefa Eisa. Thus as soon as the Minster of Interiors has received this complaint, he notified the public prosecution to take the necessary legal procedures.
EOHR welcomes the decree of the Minister of Interiors. It believes that taking the urgent and immediate procedures in the cases of assaults on the citizen in the police stations might be an important step towards emphasizing that these breaches might be of individuals not of the whole body. It is also emphasizing that these breaches might not be a criteria used to violate the right of freedom and the personal safety of the citizens in the police stations. The decree of the Minister of Interiors reflects a positive step which EOHR calls for because the reasons of the spread of torture in Egypt is that the perpetrators feel that they are away from being punished. In this regard EOHR hopes that all appeals, complaints and reports of EOHR concerning the infringements of the citizens' rights in the police stations will be regarded and reviewed. It is clear that these infringements are a crime against the right of freedom and the personal safety, which are guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitutions and the International Covenants on Human Rights.
