An Egyptian human rights group on Sunday urged the country's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to abandon "instigation and defamation" of political and revolutionary groups. In a statement on Sunday, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), demanded an apology from the military council for what it called frequent laspes by its members. The statement mentioned the council's denial that several youths were tortured by army forces in March, in addition to creating doubts about the April 6 Youth Movement and Kefaya (both political activism groups), as well as civil society organizations. The organization pointed to what it described as obvious slowness in prosecuting former officials implicated in murdering protesters, at a time when civilians are being tried in military tribunals. The statement said the failure to punish officials accused of torturing several Egyptian youths have apparently encouraged elements from the old regime to escalate attacks against the April 6 and Kefaya movements. On Saturday, the chief of the armed forces' central command, Hassan al-Ruwainy, accused the April 6 group and a number of presidential hopefuls of receiving foreign donations and trying to destabilize the country. The ANHRI statement said Ruwaini's remarks prompted citizens in the Cairo district of Abbasseya to react violently to Friday's peaceful march of protesters from Tahrir Square toward the Defense Ministry. The clashes left hundreds injured. The organization added that Ruwaini's claims were based on information that used to be touted by the disbanded State Security Investigation Services, which it labeled as Egypt's most notorious security agency. Translated from the Arabic Edition
