Amnesty International: ‘Egypt uses torture to quell dissent’

Egyptian authorities have been accused of using abductions, torture and other shocking tactics as a tool to stifle dissent.

Amnesty International urged the Egyptian president to acknowledge and investigate serious human rights violations.

But Egypt’s Foreign Ministry hit back at Amnesty, saying the group was “biased” and that it seeks to “tarnish Egypt’s image”.

The exchange came as Amnesty released a new report that says there has been an “unprecedented spike” in enforced disappearances since early 2015 in Egypt under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

International human rights law defines enforced disappearance as the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person, followed by the state’s refusal to acknowledge that person’s fate.

Amnesty’s report entitled Egypt: ‘Officially, You Do Not Exist’ documents 17 cases that the London-based group says reveal “the shocking and ruthless tactics” of the Egyptian authorities to crack down on government opponents.

Rape, electric shocks and arrests of other family members were also used to force victims to give false confessions, it said.