Egypt’s FM slams HRW torture allegations

CAIRO – 7 September 2017: Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid commented on the Human Rights Watch report published Wednesday accusing police of torturing political detainees, where he described it as a deliberate distortion.

Abu Zeid said that HRW works for the countries funding it and expresses what goes along with their interests. “The organization is infamous for its biased policy,” he stated.
The report wandered off objectivity, trying to prove that human rights currently suffer the same violations witnessed before the January 25 Revolution. “This just shows a planned attempt to encourage violence,” said Abu Zeid.

“Spreading rumors, provoking feelings and relying on unreferenced witnesses are all actions that shouldn’t be adopted by such an organization, which pretends it defends human rights. The report used twenty-year-old files or even older to express the current situation in Egypt,” Abu Zeid said.

“Careful reading makes it clear that the report is biased. Selection of information sources that are known to be antagonizing to the Egyptian authorities, besides unknown sources prove the bias. The report tried to make facts up, including attaching police torture claims to the case of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni’s torture and murder, although the investigation is still ongoing,” Abu Zeid added.

Abu Zeid also said that the report neglected Egypt’s recent procedures to protect human rights, including a high-level commitment to punish anyone committing such violations if proven guilty. The Egyptian judiciary has already sentenced tens of them, he added.

“Complaints of human rights violations are received and dealt with, according to the Egyptian Constitution, where they go through independent and unbiased investigation. Media and civil society organizations also play a role to spot such violations,” said Abu Zeid.

Earlier on Wednesday, HRW published a report accusing the Egyptian authorities of torturing prisoners, and calling on the United Nations, in case the police did not stop it, to punish those who commit such violations. The report interviewed a number of detainees who were tortured by police in the period from 2014 to 2016, according to the report.