The Egyptian government should account for all detained demonstrators and free those arbitrarily arrested during the recent anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch said today. Egyptian Human rights monitors and two internet activist groups have collected names of scores of people who have been reported missing since January 28, 2011, when the military took charge of security after police withdrew in the face of the popular demonstrations. Based on reports from released detainees and families of missing people, Egyptian human rights activists say that the military, which assumed direct governmental power in Egypt on February 11 following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, is holding most of those still missing. Human Rights Watch documented five cases in which detainees were beaten, whipped, or given electric shocks in military custody. Egyptian rights groups say they have documented more cases of abuse. On February 20, the military-led government acknowledged that the army holds protesters, but has yet to publish a list of those detained since it assumed responsibility for internal security. Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik said at a February 20 news conference that “the government is doing research into releasing” people detained since protests began on January 25. “Vague promises to release detainees are not enough,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Egypt's interim authorities should immediately publish a list of everyone they are holding, and every detainee should be brought before a judge straight away.” The military should move swiftly to release detainees or charge them with a recognizable offense, and hold accountable those responsible for abusing people in custody, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should also allow independent inspection of all detention centers, without notice. The number of people still being detained in connection with protests is difficult to determine, in part because it is uncertain that all detentions were reported and in part because families who report missing relatives do not necessarily report their release. Working from a list of 66 missing or detained people compiled by Egyptian human rights groups and from monitoring informal internet appeals posted by relatives, Human Rights Watch has been able to confirm from relatives that of those 66, eight remain missing, 17 were detained and released, two returned home after hospitalization for injuries, and four were found to have been killed when police fired on demonstrators between January 25 and January 28. Released detainees or their families who were willing to talk said that the detainees were held incommunicado, without access to families or lawyers. In these 17 cases, the authorities gave no justification for the arrests. On February 17 El Hadji Malick Sow, the chair-rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, called on the Egyptian authorities “to ensure that all persons who peacefully participated in demonstrations are promptly released or allowed to challenge the legality of their detention in accordance with domestic law.” “Arbitrary arrest and secret detentions were hallmarks of the repression of the Mubarak era,” Whitson said. “Egypt's new authorities should end these practices now.” HRW
