Report: Egyptian army tortures protestors

The Egyptian army secretly arrested hundreds and possibly thousands of anti-government protestors over the past two weeks and tortured some of them, The Guardian reported Thursday.

The military announced it will remain neutral after the protests erupted and said it will not open fire at protestors under any circumstance. However, human rights activists claim that the army has chosen to side with the Egyptian government and was involved in the disappearance and torture of many anti-regime protestors. Such abuses have for years been associated with the notorious state security intelligence (SSI) but not the army, the Guardian noted.

Human rights groups told the newspaper that electric shocks were used against some of the detainees, which included journalists, human rights activists and lawyers. Some were held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and others in secret locations. The detainees said they have suffered extensive beatings and other abuses at the hands of the military. They also said they were accused of working for such foreign elements as Israel and Hamas.

Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Cairo, told the Guardian that hundreds, and possibly thousands, of ordinary people had "disappeared" into military custody across the country for no more than carrying a political flyer, attending the demonstrations or even the way they look.

Egyptian soldiers in Cairo. On government's side? (Photo: AFP) 

Ashraf, 23, told the newspaper he was arrested by the army him last Friday near the Tahrir Square as he was carrying a box full of medical supplies intended for clinic treating protestors attacked by Mubarak's supporters. "I was on a sidestreet and a soldier stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him and he accused me of working for foreign enemies and other soldiers rushed over and they all started hitting me with their guns," he said.

According to the report, Ashraf was hauled off to a makeshift army post where his hands were bound behind his back and he was beaten some more before being moved to an area under military control at the back of the museum.

"An officer came and asked me who was paying me to be against the government. When I said I wanted a better government he hit me across the head and I fell to the floor," he said.

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