CAIRO: According to a local NGO in Egypt, at least 100 prisoners were killed during the 18 days of protests that ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. The new report claims there were “atrocious crimes” committed at at least five prisons in the country. According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), “more than 100 prisoners were killed and hundreds hurt at only (five) prisons” in the weeks that followed, estimating an even higher toll across the country. The rights group said that they have uncovered records between January 20 and February 20 that reveal the killings “were deliberate and were definitely not related to escape or… mutiny.” It added that the bodies had wounds to the head and chest in what appeared to be execution style killings. The NGO did not see the bodies and based their report on testimonies of survivors and family members of the victims, photographs and videos. It continued to say that “a similar method was used in the murder of prisoners in five prisons.” Torah prison guards fired tear gas into cells, “and when the prisoners were out of the cells to escape the gas, they were shot in the yard,” the EIPR said. EIPR quoted a prisoner as saying that the gunfire was “not only to scare people; they aimed at the head, I saw with my own eyes.” The ministry of interior has not issued a statement and Bikyamasr.com queries into the matter have not been returned. The EIPR called on Egypt's government to form an independent commission of inquiry and grant compensation to the bereaved and injured. It also wants the attorney general to investigate and bring those involved to justice. BM
