 The United States and other countries have secretly sent scores of Islamist detainees to Egypt since the mid-1990s, where they have likely been tortured, a human rights group has said.
| I feel so sad for them... |
Human Rights Watch issued a 53-page report criticising Egypt as the world's main recipient of detainees, including suspected Islamist militants believed to offer useful intelligence for the US war on terrorism. The report, titled Black Hole: The Fate of Islamists Rendered to Egypt, identifies 61 individuals who have been transferred into Egyptian custody since 1994. Nearly all are Egyptians suspected of Islamist militancy.
| That pretty well does away with any sympathy I might have felt... |
Two others were Yemenis transferred from Egypt, one to Yemen and another to US custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Because such transfers usually occur in secret and without legal safeguards such as extradition hearings, Human Rights Watch said the number of people sent to Egypt is likely to be much higher.
The report cites estimates by Egyptian analysts, lawyers and Islamist activists who believe 150 to 200 detainees have been transferred since the September 11, 2001, attacks. "Egypt ... has been the country to which the greatest numbers of rendered suspects have been sent," the report says.
| I guess we're getting something for our money, then... |
Most of the countries transferring detainees to Egypt are Arab or South Asian, but the list also includes Sweden and the United States. The report said Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have shown a greater willingness to transfer suspects to other countries since September 11. "The person sent back to Egypt under these circumstances is almost surely going to be tortured," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for Human Rights Watch. At least 292 torture cases occurred in Egypt between January 1993 and April 2004, said the report, citing statistics from the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights. In 120 cases, the suspect or prisoner died. Mr Stork said torture and other forms of mistreatment are so prevalent in Egypt that the United States and other countries violate the international convention against torture each time they sent a terrorism suspect to the country. |