The British Middle East Eye website published a report stating that prisons and places of detention in Egypt systematically used sexual violence against detainees and their relatives as a means to extract confessions and spread terror.
He said that a recent report issued by the "Freedom Initiative and the Egyptian Front for Human Rights" documents more than 650 cases of sexual violence against detainees and their relatives between 2015 and 2022, "in a widespread violation of human rights."
He explained that since the moment of arrest, no one is safe from sexual violence in the Egyptian prison.
Amr Ahmed, director of research at the Freedom Initiative, was quoted as saying that all detainees, as well as their families and relatives, are subjected to horrific sexual violence at the hands of the state, “It is unfortunate that security personnel and prison staff are willing to use sexual violence to humiliate and torture. Abuses are rampant in police stations. ".
The report notes that police stations are "full" of sexual violence targeting detainees who face a variety of allegations or pretexts for arrests, whether political or criminal.
Among the documented incidents, 80% of them were committed at the sites of the National Security Agency in Abbasiya and Lazoghli in Cairo, and in Abis in Alexandria.
The report indicated that sexual violence in police stations takes various forms, purposes and objectives.
In some cases, guards exploit detainees for sexual gratification and to project their personal power;
In other cases, sexual violence is used as a punitive measure, often with electric shocks to the genitals (for both men and women).
He said that the violations were often carried out in conjunction with periods of enforced disappearance in which detainees did not have access to lawyers or the ability to report or document the violations they had suffered.
He pointed out that during disappearances, detainees are excluded from even the limited laws and procedures that exist to help victims report violations, and are denied access to their lawyers, which leads to either under-reporting of cases of sexual violence or mentioning them before the Public Prosecution.
Sexual violence during interrogation often occurs in National Security Agency sites, where detainees are subjected to rape, harassment, electric shocks to their genitals, or threats of sexual violence against themselves or their family members to extract confessions.
The report adds: "These confessions were often used as evidence against them in subsequent trials."
Inspection in hollows!
Family members of detainees are also subjected to sexual violence during prison visits, often under the guise of "cavities searches".
The report stresses that sexual assaults against detainees do not end with their release from prison, as monitoring procedures often require a return to police stations, where violations are renewed.
He noted that it is also difficult for detainees to speak out about abuse or seek accountability, due to "stigmas related to detention, sexual assault, and, in some cases, their gender or gender identity."
"Victims face enormous challenges in speaking out. In the absence of independent investigations, it is likely that the cases we document represent only a small part of the full number," said Karim Taha, deputy director of the Egyptian Front for Human Rights.
The report also says that in order to pursue a complaint, victims will need to identify the perpetrator, provide evidence of their abuse, and even provide the location and date of the abuse, but this is difficult for victims to provide because they are often blindfolded when they are being abused.
Even when abuses have been documented by government officials, perpetrators are often never held accountable.
The report referred to the execution of at least 3 prisoners who were subjected to sexual violence as a form of torture, and many are still detained or forcibly disappeared.
Taha said sexual violence at the hands of the state is widespread and is just another tool the authorities use to control the bodies and lives of those they consider their subjects.
Alison McManus, director of research at the Freedom Initiative, called on the United States to take a stand against such abuses in Egypt, saying that since America is a key security partner for Egypt, American officials have a responsibility to condemn sexual violence that occurs in Egyptian prisons and have a duty to ensure that no intelligence participation is based. On information obtained through torture.
McManus also said that America should know that those who bravely told their stories despite unimaginable stigma and oppression did not do so in vain.