CAIRO: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) arrested two Egyptian nationals living in Sweden in 2001. Now, the two have revealed insights into the treatment they received at the hands of the Egyptian government and CIA interrogations, in a recent interview. Ahmed Agiza and Mohammed Al Zery were living in Sweden when the Swedish security service handed them over to the CIA as part of a United States terror suspect rendition operation. For the first time since their capture in 2001, the two men spoke out about their treatment in an interview to the Swedish television program Uppdrag Gransking, aired on Sveriges Television (SVT). “For a long time I have wanted people, especially Swedes, to know the whole truth,” Al Zery told SVT. According to their testimonies, both men were taken to a small airport near Stockholm after being arrested. At the airport, CIA agents and two Egyptian security service personnel, all dressed in civilian clothing and wearing masks, stripped the men of their clothes and were taken on to an American plane. ”They threw me down on the floor and pressed their knees in my back. They tore all our clothes off and put a diaper, a blindfold and transportation clothes on us,” Agiza said in the interview. Agiza said the local law enforcement officers and the Swedish security forces stood by while they were grossly mistreated. ”I was surprised and shocked. I had a positive image of Sweden, of Swedish politics and democracy,” Agiza told SVT. Both men have said their treatment onboard the plane was harsh. They were given muscle relaxants and Al Zery was beaten for trying to speak. ”The guard thought that I was lifting up my blindfold to see him, so he started punching me in the face,” said Al Zery. The two were also kept in isolation when they arrived, despite being in adjacent rooms. Both were held in solitary confinement and were kept blindfolded. Their cell contained a concrete slab, a water bottle and a separate bottle for urination. Once the two men had arrived in Egypt, they were isolated from each other for months, despite being kept only a few metres apart. The two men were interrogated from the evening until dawn for nights on end. The two men were systematically tortured. They were hung from the ceiling by their feet, beaten and electrocuted. ”They take your clothes off, you are blindfolded, your hands are tied behind your back and your feet are chained up. Then you are put on a wet mattress. The interrogator sits down – and then he begins,” Al Zery said. The interrogator would carry a handheld shock device, with which he would shock the men. ”He increases the strength. He gets to the more sensitive points – the penis and testicles – and starts doling out bursts of electricity,” he said. Al Zery said that after the torture he was often forced to take a cold shower in order to reduce the visible injuries. Apparently a doctor was also always present during the torture to ensure they would not die. The Egyptian interrogators would ask questions related to Egypt, asking questions like “why are you attacking the regime?” “It was all about Egyptian interests,” Agiza told SVT. “The Americans on the other hand asked about what was going on in Pakistan and what do you think of Osama bin Laden? It was obvious that the Americans were in control of the interrogations.” According to a previously secret report from the Swedish embassy in Cairo, Mubarak wanted to send a letter of appreciation to the Swedish minister for their help. In 2008, the Swedish state paid both men roughly US $435,000 ach in compensation after admitting they had erred in expelling the men. Al Zery was released from prison in 2003, but Agiza remained in prison until last Tuesday. Agiza had received a sentence of 15 years for plotting to overthrow the Egyptian government. Amnesty International has welcomed his release, saying his health had deteriorated significantly during his ten years in prison. “The handover to the CIA took place under very degrading circumstances. When they arrived in Egypt, both men were arrested and subjected to torture and other insulting behavior,” Amnesty wrote in a statement Thursday. BM
