CAIRO: The lawyers of imprisoned cyber dissident and now alleged torture victim Kareem Amer posed strong criticism to the general prosecutor on Sunday for not launching an immediate investigation into the abuse of the jailed blogger. Amer s lawyers from the Cairo-based rights group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) filed a complaint with the general prosecutor on Nov. 14 demanding an investigation into the case. They have yet to receive a response to their demand. Eleven days have passed since a communiqué was sent regarding the torture of Kareem Amer. This matter raises concerns and doubts about justice and leaves the door open for impunity from punishment in Egypt, stated HRInfo in a press release on Sunday. The incident supposedly took place in late October in Borg Al Arab prison outside Alexandria where Amer is serving a four-year sentence for "insulting President Mubarak and Islam on his Internet blog. The case marks the first time Egypt jails a blogger for "tarnishing online writings. The lawyers claim that the torture was ordered and carried out by a fellow inmate and prison investigation officer Medhat Sameer, which supposedly resulted in Amer breaking his tooth. During a recent visit to Amer in his Alexandria prison cell, the lawyers claim to have documented signs of torture and ill-treatment on his body. He had fading bruises and scratches on his neck. But the broken tooth is going nowhere, lawyer Gamal Eid told Daily News Egypt. Eid further reiterated that the legal representation does not have photographic evidence of the reported torture marks due to the fact that cameras and mobile phones are not allowed inside the prison. Eid stressed that while there is no official reason for the lack of an investigation into the case. "They tend to wait until marks and signs of the torture and abuse disappear from the victim s body. On that claim, Eid compares the case of Amer with that of blogger Mohamed El-Sharkawy in 2006 in which the general prosecutor supposedly waited a long time to launch the investigation. Eid added that while the prosecutor is reluctant to investigate cases of alleged torture, "it hurries into probing any communiqué against outspoken opposition figures.
