CAIRO: A man allegedly tortured by police died Tuesday in hospital, a day after he was found on a street near the Pyramids in Giza, Cairo s twin city, two judicial officials said. Ahmed Saber Saad was detained last week by police for questioning on drug possession charges, but a prosecutor later decided to release him for lack of evidence, the officials said. However, police did not immediately act on the release order but kept Saad, 22, and tortured him for three days before they dumped him bleeding in a neighborhood by the landmark Pyramids, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to make statements to media. "He was unconscious with wounds and bruises all over his body when some locals found him and took him to a hospital, one of the officials said. Prosecutor-general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud ordered an immediate inquiry into the death, the other official said. Interior ministry officials did not immediately respond to queries about the case. Saad s death came a day after a court sentenced Monday two police officers to three years in prison after convicting them of torturing a bus driver, Emad El-Kabir, 22. The bus driver s case came to light after a cell phone video showing him being beaten and sodomized appeared last November on Egyptian blogs and YouTube. Rights groups say torture, including sexual abuse, is routinely used in police stations and in the interrogation of prisoners, but the government denies it is systematic. In recent years, the Ministry of Interior, which supervises jails and prisons, has investigated many allegations of torture. Some Egyptian police officers have been indicted, convicted and sentenced of torture charges, but their punishments have not been harsh even when the victims died. Many officers also have been pardoned before the end of their sentences. Earlier this year, members of the US House of Representatives introduced legislation that would withhold $200 million in military aid from Egypt. House members said Egypt must curb its police abuse, reform its judicial system and stop arms smuggling into the neighboring Gaza Strip. Associated Press
