Egypt's security forces have used excessive force, including torture, on demonstrators protesting against the US-led war on Iraq, claims a Human Rights Watch report.
The 40-page report, entitled "Security Forces Abuse of Anti-War Demonstrators," which was published on Friday, also urged President Muhammad Husni Mubarak's government to launch an independent investigation into the alleged rights violations.
It said the government had allowed the "excessive use of force in dispersing demonstrators and bystanders on 21 March in violation of the right to freedom of assembly; arbitrary arrest and detention, including of children; beating and mistreatment of persons in detention, in some cases amounting to torture."
The New York-based organisation also criticised Egypt for
failing to "provide medical care to seriously injured detainees." Relating a 21 March anti-war demonstration, two days after the US-led coalition had launched its offensive against Iraq, the report said "uniformed riot police and plainclothes men armed with pipes and clubs assaulted persons (marchers and bystanders) ... beating and injuring many."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A914222E-0610-4BD2-A59C-DFA3A8D33F17.htm