A microbus driver has won his case against the policemen who tortured and sexually assaulted him. It could, writes Gamal Nkrumah, mark the beginning of the end of such abuses in police stations Prison sentences of three years with hard labour were passed against Captain Islam Nabih and Corporal Reda Fathi, officers at Bulaq Al-Dakrur Police Station in Giza, on Tuesday, after 22-year-old microbus driver Emad Mohamed Ali, nicknamed Emad El-Kebir [the Mighty], filed criminal charges against the two officers for sexually assaulting and torturing him while in police custody. The trial has held the public enthralled for over a year. The officers themselves provided much of the prosecution's evidence. In an attempt to humiliate Emad El-Kebir they took mobile phone footage of fellow officers sodomising Emad with a stick. They then distributed the film to other bus drivers, presumably to intimidate them into paying the "fines" routinely extracted by the police. The grizzly footage soon came to the attention of bloggers and was splashed all over the Internet. Overnight, the case of Emad El-Kebir became a cause celebre. Human rights groups rushed to his defence, warning that the case was the tip of the iceberg and that torture in custody is commonplace. The weekly Al-Fagr publicised the case and Wael Abdel-Fattah, its then deputy editor-in-chief, along with El-Kebir's defence lawyer Nasser Amin, persuaded the initially terrified and traumatised bus driver to file criminal charges against the two officers. He took his case to the minister of interior one of whose security officers, it turned out, encouraged El-Kebir to press charges. He did, and a tortuously long trial ensued. Court officials disclose that the officers have appealed against the verdict. They have no public sympathy, however, and it seems unlikely that the sentences will be quashed. For once government officials and human rights activists concur that this was no show trial. "This is proof that the Egyptian government is serious about bringing police officers who commit acts of torture and human rights violations to book," Ambassador Ahmed Haggag, head of the Human Rights Capacity Building Project (BENAA), told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The Egyptian authorities have never condoned acts of torture by police officers. There have, however, been individual cases where police officers have tortured people in detention. The Egyptian government's position is that the perpetrators of such crimes, no matter what their rank, must be brought to justice," says Ambassador Haggag. So is this a new beginning? "Not at all," he insists. "On the contrary, this is a continuation of a policy upheld by the Egyptian government for several years now. This is not the first time that police officers have been sentenced for human rights violations." Article 42 of the Egyptian constitution bans torture. Egypt is also a signatory to the International Convention against Torture, a treaty it ratified in 1986. The sentencing of the two policemen has been welcomed by local and international human rights groups. "Their conviction is a welcome and positive step but it must herald more concerted action by the Egyptian authorities to ensure that all torture allegations are thoroughly investigated and that those responsible for torturing and ill-treating detainees are held to account," says Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa project at the London-based Amnesty International. "The Egyptian authorities must make it clear by their actions, not merely words, that torture will not be tolerated." Human rights activists allege that cases of torture by regular and plain-clothes policemen are widespread. "In 2004 alone there were 22 incidents of death in detention," Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organisation of Human Rights (EOHR) and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) Hossam Bahgat told the Weekly. "We have to bring laws concerning torture in line with international conventions and we must establish an independent judicial body to investigate allegations of torture," he said. He recommends the confiscation of all torture equipment from police stations. The case of Emad El-Kebir highlights the menace of undercover officers as well. "This case has already had unprecedented repercussions. Emad El-Kebir stood against the powers that be. He withstood threats and resisted bribes," Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary, told the Weekly. "The state did not interfere in the trial. The security forces and the prosecution treated us with uncharacteristic seriousness. It proves that the police can be prosecuted and brought to book," he adds, particularly when the case in question has such a high public profile. "The centre recently released a report that shows that the percentage of those charged with petty theft and burglary prosecuted without first being tortured increased from 20 to 60 per cent. This is a direct result of the El-Kebir case," says Amin, who believes he can date the process that led to such a change precisely. "The turning point was 1 November, 2006, the day on which Wael Abdel-Fattah and I convinced El-Kebir to press charges. I told him that I would personally defend him in court. He was hesitant at first. He was terrified the police would retaliate but we convinced him that he had to stand up for his rights." "I am convinced that his winning the case will change the face of the judiciary and legal procedures in Egypt. We do not want to see suspects held incommunicado and tortured during interrogations. El-Kebir's case will help create a more conscientious atmosphere."
