Ever since the outbreak of the revolution until now, during which time the lives of many young people have been claimed in violent clashes with the police, families of the dead have had problems with the forensic medicine department. The complaints are mainly related to the kind of report handed over explaining reasons for the death. They have been, in most cases, devoid of reference to gun shooting or signs of torture. To avoid scenes or delay in funerary procedures, some families of martyrs had to accept whatever autopsy were given. However, the commotion made about the death of young activist Mohamed el-Guindi did stir up the hornet's nest. While the forensic medicine report affirmed a story about a car accident, el-Guindi's mother, friends and members of the Popular Current of which he was member turned it into a public opinion case. They stuck to their guns insisting that he was tortured to death at a security camp. The prosecution investigating the case ordered the formation of a tripartite committee of senior medicine practitioners to write a second report. The big surprise was that the report excluded the car accident version and substantiated claims of el-Guindi being cruelly beaten. Investigations are still going on, but what has to be emphasised is that forensic medicine needs to be an independent entity away from its current affiliation to the Ministry of Justice. Performance shortcomings of the forensic medicine department whether under the former Mubarak regime or the current one are no secret. The notorious case of Khaled Saeed (who was beaten to death by police in Alexandra), which was an instigating factor in January 25 Revolution, provided a stark example of how politics interferes in the nature of the forensic teamwork. Bloodshed was never intended to be part of the peaceful revolution, so at least these martyrs and citizens owned by official institutions are the drive and the will to reveal facts.
