CAIRO: A video posted on social networking websites Facebook and Twitter sparked massive anger on Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning, culminating in the families of prisoners being held at the Mahala el-Kobra police station attacking and clashing with police. According to witnesses near the scene, family members used stones and sticks in a failed attempt to free the prisoners. Security forces build a security barricade outside and inside the police station, headed by the director of Gharbiya security Mostafa el-Baz to convince the families what the rumors they heard were false claims and the prisoners are treated according to legal rules and regulations. They were angry over rumors that torture has returned to Egypt's prisons and military institutions as a result of the viral video. The new video shows military police beating up and electrocuting two suspects sparked anger among activists and human rights groups in Egypt after the clip was shared on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The video shows a dozen military officers kicking, slapping and using a taser on two men to force a confession out of them. The men were allegedly arrested and weapons were found on them. The video shows the two men abused badly by the officers who rotated taking turns beating them up while others in the room took pictures and videos of the violence. Activists who shared the video identified the police station as el-Kordy police station in the governrate of Daqahliya, in the Delta region, north of Cairo. Torture was widespread in Egypt during ousted president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule where police officers accused of torture were rarely brought to justice. However, cases like Khaled Said, the Alexandrian blogger who was beaten to death outside an Internet cafe by police officers, were a major driving force behind the January 25 uprising that toppled the former regime. The uprising itself began on January 25, police day in Egypt. Yet, torture seems to be making a come back after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forcs (SCAF) took over power in the country following Mubarak's departure in February. Rights groups say they have documented dozens of cases involving military police involved in practices that defy human rights. “Torture reappeared a day after January 25 and we have documented cases from very early on,” Mona Hamed, head of al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence told Bikyamasr.com. The Nadeem Center say they have been busy investigating numerous cases of torture. “Now it is growing and increasing in number because the doers walk free without consequences and it will continue until perpetrators are brought to justice,” Hamed added. “It doesn't matter who is on both ends, the torturer and the person who is being tortured, whether it was military police or other kinds of authority, if someone committed a crime of torture while in his post, they must pay the price,” Hamed continued. ** Manar Ammar contributed to this report. BM
