The Egyptian army has secretly detained hundreds, possibly thousands, of suspected opponents of the regime since the outbreak of social revolt against the presidency of Hosni Mubarak, according to a report the British newspaper The Guardian based on testimonies of victims of such abuse. The military, the keys to resolving the crisis, apparently have remained neutral on the development of citizen protest in cities such as Cairo and Alexandria.
But advocacy organizations Human Rights now complain that their neutrality is only apparent and accuse them of involvement in disappearances, torture and abuse that the Egyptians have been associated for years with the intelligence services (SSI, its acronym in English) but not the Army.
The British newspaper has been able to talk to detainees who say they have suffered long sessions of beatings and beatings and other abuses by the military, in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign of intimidation. Egyptian human rights groups have documented the use of electric shock on those military custody have told the desperate search by the families of disappeared after participating in demonstrations.
Some of these detainees have been held in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, located in one of the flanks of the Liberation Square, the epicenter of the riots. Those released have reported abuses by the military, who accused them of acting for foreign powers, including Hamas and Israel. Of those arrested, according to The Guardian, there are human rights activists and journalists, most of which have already been released.
In any case, Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, explained that hundreds, possibly thousands, of ordinary people have "disappeared" around the country simply carry political propaganda, for participating in demonstrations or by their mere appearance. Some are still missing.
"The spectrum is very wide, from people who were in protest to those who broke the curfew or who simply answered the questions of any military command or that his appearance was suspicious or apparently even if they were foreigners," he said the activist. "It's something unusual and unprecedented in the Army." Beatings and threats to young Among those arrested was a 23 year old, named Ashraf.
He was arrested last Friday in the vicinity of Tahrir Square while wearing a kit to provide medical assistance to injured when demonstrators confront security forces sent there by the Mubarak government. "I was on the sidewalk and a soldier stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him and accused me of working for the foreign enemy and his peers surrounded me and started beating me with their guns, "says this young man.
Ashraf was taken to a police station with his hands tied behind his back where he received more hits before being evacuated to an area under military control next to the museum. "They put me in a room. An officer arrived and asked me who was paying me to protest against the government. When I replied that I wanted a better government he hit me in the face and fell to the ground.
Then the soldiers started kicking me. "Then came with a bayonet and threatened to rape me with that weapon. I put it between his legs and said I could die right there or disappear in a prison. "Ashraf says that the beating continued for several hours until he was moved to another room with other prisoners, also showing signs of having been tortured.
The Young was released 18 hours later with the warning not to return to the Place de la Liberation. Others have not been so lucky. So Morayef Heba tells of Human Rights Watch: "Many families are calling us and tell us: do not see my son is gone. " Among those missing is Kareem Amer, a prominent blogger critical of the government who spent four years in prison for criticizing the regime.
He was arrested Monday afternoon at a military checkpoint as he left the Tahrir Square. Bahgat has ensured that the evidence show that the military is conducting a campaign to stop the protests. "Some people, especially activists, say they are being questioned about any possible links with foreign political organizations and forces.
Those who do not have any relation with organizations also are targeted. They are shaken when they ask. Tahrir What are you doing? ' It seems that everything is part of an operation of intimidation and deterrence, "the activist complaint. The Army says its neutrality is beyond doubt while Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, have promised not to persecute activists.
But Morayef says the reality is very different. "I think it's pretty obvious that the military are not playing a neutral role. The military did not want or believe in the protests," he said. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says it has documented so far 119 arrests of civilians but suspected that many more.
Bahgat explains that it is impossible to know with certainty the number of people arrested since the army is not informed. But he believes that the way in which arrests are taking place in Cairo is being replicated in the rest of the country. "Many arrests are not reported to families or lawyers." "Those in custody are not receiving the necessary guarantees." HRW also collected arrests as an activist who says he was stopped by a soldier who searched his bag and located leaflets in favor of democracy.
"I started beating with rubber truncheons and I got shocked with a stun gun." "They took me to the Abdin police station. There, the soldiers had been informed of the arrival of a" spy "and I received a beating that lasted 30 minutes." After the activist was taken to a cell until the manager arrived to question him, he applied new electric shocks on his body, naked.
"I was shock around the body. It was not an interrogation, I did just questions. He just torturing me, twice on Friday and a third on Saturday." 
But advocacy organizations Human Rights now complain that their neutrality is only apparent and accuse them of involvement in disappearances, torture and abuse that the Egyptians have been associated for years with the intelligence services (SSI, its acronym in English) but not the Army.
The British newspaper has been able to talk to detainees who say they have suffered long sessions of beatings and beatings and other abuses by the military, in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign of intimidation. Egyptian human rights groups have documented the use of electric shock on those military custody have told the desperate search by the families of disappeared after participating in demonstrations.
Some of these detainees have been held in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, located in one of the flanks of the Liberation Square, the epicenter of the riots. Those released have reported abuses by the military, who accused them of acting for foreign powers, including Hamas and Israel. Of those arrested, according to The Guardian, there are human rights activists and journalists, most of which have already been released.
In any case, Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, explained that hundreds, possibly thousands, of ordinary people have "disappeared" around the country simply carry political propaganda, for participating in demonstrations or by their mere appearance. Some are still missing.
"The spectrum is very wide, from people who were in protest to those who broke the curfew or who simply answered the questions of any military command or that his appearance was suspicious or apparently even if they were foreigners," he said the activist. "It's something unusual and unprecedented in the Army." Beatings and threats to young Among those arrested was a 23 year old, named Ashraf.
He was arrested last Friday in the vicinity of Tahrir Square while wearing a kit to provide medical assistance to injured when demonstrators confront security forces sent there by the Mubarak government. "I was on the sidewalk and a soldier stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him and accused me of working for the foreign enemy and his peers surrounded me and started beating me with their guns, "says this young man.
Ashraf was taken to a police station with his hands tied behind his back where he received more hits before being evacuated to an area under military control next to the museum. "They put me in a room. An officer arrived and asked me who was paying me to protest against the government. When I replied that I wanted a better government he hit me in the face and fell to the ground.
Then the soldiers started kicking me. "Then came with a bayonet and threatened to rape me with that weapon. I put it between his legs and said I could die right there or disappear in a prison. "Ashraf says that the beating continued for several hours until he was moved to another room with other prisoners, also showing signs of having been tortured.
The Young was released 18 hours later with the warning not to return to the Place de la Liberation. Others have not been so lucky. So Morayef Heba tells of Human Rights Watch: "Many families are calling us and tell us: do not see my son is gone. " Among those missing is Kareem Amer, a prominent blogger critical of the government who spent four years in prison for criticizing the regime.
He was arrested Monday afternoon at a military checkpoint as he left the Tahrir Square. Bahgat has ensured that the evidence show that the military is conducting a campaign to stop the protests. "Some people, especially activists, say they are being questioned about any possible links with foreign political organizations and forces.
Those who do not have any relation with organizations also are targeted. They are shaken when they ask. Tahrir What are you doing? ' It seems that everything is part of an operation of intimidation and deterrence, "the activist complaint. The Army says its neutrality is beyond doubt while Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, have promised not to persecute activists.
But Morayef says the reality is very different. "I think it's pretty obvious that the military are not playing a neutral role. The military did not want or believe in the protests," he said. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says it has documented so far 119 arrests of civilians but suspected that many more.
Bahgat explains that it is impossible to know with certainty the number of people arrested since the army is not informed. But he believes that the way in which arrests are taking place in Cairo is being replicated in the rest of the country. "Many arrests are not reported to families or lawyers." "Those in custody are not receiving the necessary guarantees." HRW also collected arrests as an activist who says he was stopped by a soldier who searched his bag and located leaflets in favor of democracy.
"I started beating with rubber truncheons and I got shocked with a stun gun." "They took me to the Abdin police station. There, the soldiers had been informed of the arrival of a" spy "and I received a beating that lasted 30 minutes." After the activist was taken to a cell until the manager arrived to question him, he applied new electric shocks on his body, naked.
"I was shock around the body. It was not an interrogation, I did just questions. He just torturing me, twice on Friday and a third on Saturday."
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