Court rules police officers not Interior Ministry responsible for compensating torture victims

Alexandria Administrative Court ruled that individual police officers are responsible for compensating victims of torture rather than the Interior Ministry, the privately owned Al-Wafd newspaper reported.

Such compensation is to come from police officers’ personal funds, with the Interior Ministry taking a more disciplinary role for incidents of torture, according to the privately owned Al-Shorouk newspaper.

The court ruled that torture is a constitutional violation and a crime with no statute of limitations, basing its determination on the UN statute for human rights, which Egypt is party to, which states that no one should be subjected to torture or inhumane treatment.

The onus should be on defendants to provide strong evidence of torture, the court asserted, as such allegations could seriously damage a police officer’s career.

The rulings followed Abu al-Kheir al-Zam’s allegations that the head of a police station in Alexandria, Mohamed Ahmed Ziad, tortured him in detention. The case was dismissed based on lack of evidence, as the defendant was unable to obtain medical records proving he was tortured.  

The ruling will allow the Interior Ministry to distance itself from accountability for the practice of torture in detention, a trend that was prevalent throughout 2015 and the ministry maintained does not indicate a systemic issue, but is rather reflective of individual police violations.

Protests broke out against the Interior Ministry multiple times in 2015 after several detainees died, allegedly after being tortured to death by police officers.

In November, thousands protested after Afify Hosny was tortured to death by police while in detention in Ismailia. The same month, Luxor citizen Talaat Shabeeb died in detention and his family and friends alleged he was tortured by police, as a video circulated widely showing heavy bruising around his neck.

Contrary to the Interior Ministry’s statements, the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence recently released a report stating that over 600 people were tortured in 2015.

In a statement accompanying the report, the Nadeem center asserted, “We cannot talk about individual cases, given the amount of murder, torture and disregard for human life — this year is unmatched in terms of violations, with the exception of the mass killings in 2013,” in reference to the violent Rabea al-Adaweya dispersals.