CAIRO: A man in Qalubyia is accusing three police officers of torturing and sodomizing him in June of last year. This comes only a week after two police officers were sentenced to three-year prison terms for torturing and sodomizing microbus driver Emad Al-Kabir. Police officers Mohammed Ashour, Sherif Abdel Salam and Ahmed Sayed from the Cairo suburb of Al-Qanater Khaireya, were reportedly indicted on Sunday on charges of "resorting to violence. The case is to be heard this week. The victim, 27-year-old Ahmed Sayed Hassanein, claims that he was arrested by Lieutenant Mohamed Ashour on June 1, 2006 on charges of drug possession and subsequently transferred to the police station where officers Sherif Abdel-Salam and Ahmed Sayed Abul-Fotouh allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted him with a stick. When Hassanein shortly thereafter appeared in court to face accusations of drug trafficking, he accused the police officers of torturing and sodomizing him. A coroner's report confirmed signs of torture and sexual abuse on the victim's body, according to the Associated Press. In another twist in the case, a relative of Hassanein alleged that a group of police officers paid a visit to Hassanein's family home hoping to reach a bargain. If Hassanein dropped the torture charges, the charges of drug possession against him would be waived, the officers allegedly offered. But the family declined, according to a report by Al-Masry Al-Youm. Tarek Zaghloul, head of the fieldwork unit at the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights told Daily News Egypt that the organization is drafting a full report on Hassanein's case. Despite Egypt's ratification of several international treaties which prohibits any form of torture or ill-treatment - including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - the country has continuously been accused by rights groups of torture practices.
