EGYPT SEES TRAGIC DECLINE IN HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY

Kairo, 7 Ramadan 1435/5 July 2014 (MINA) –  Amnesty International has warned of a catastrophic decline in the human rights situation in Egypt on every level since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi.

In a statement released on Thursday, the London-based rights group said that Egypt has been “failing at every level in terms of human rights” in the post-Morsi era, Press Tv quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Saturday.

Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, was toppled in July 2013 in a military coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s current president and the then commander-in-chief of the army.

The statement cited a surge in arrests, detentions and “harrowing incidents of torture and deaths in police custody.”

It noted that thousands of Morsi’s supporters have been detained or have faced trial on a variety of charges.

The group said the evidence it has gathered shows that torture is routine in police stations and unofficial places of detention, and specifically targets supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

“Egypt’s notorious state security forces are back and operating at full capacity, employing the same methods of torture and other ill-treatment used during the darkest hours of the (former Egyptian dictator Hosni) Mubarak era,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Amnesty International.

The rights group further urged the new government of Sisi to open independent and impartial investigations into all alleged crimes.

Egypt has been the scene of anti-government protests with continuous clashes between security forces and Morsi’s supporters since his ouster.

Following the ouster, Sisi announced his candidacy for the nation’s presidency and was sworn in as president after winning an election in which less that 50 percent of eligible voters participated.

Sisi is accused of leading the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

Rights groups say the army’s crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has left over 1,400 people dead and 22,000 arrested. (T/P012/P04).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)