Rights groups claim police forces sexually assaulted Alexandrian activists

Police forces sexually assaulted a group of female activists while storming the Alexandria office of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECSER) on Thursday, rights groups claimed in a joint statement released Friday.

Police forces stormed the office following a protest and a press conference in solidarity with jailed Alexandrian activist Mahienour al-Massry.

Some members of the task-force that stormed the office sexually harassed female activists, “by touching them in sensitive places, insulting them and calling them whores.”

The statement considered the harassment as an “attempt to frighten women off from engaging with public space.”

Police forces also confiscated documents from the office, arrested 15 citizens and allegedly beat them, before releasing them all.

Officials at the Ministry of Interior were not available for comment.

“Rights organizations express their deep anger at the acts committed by police forces four days before presidential elections, a time that should be characterized by freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. Such practices reflect the repressive atmosphere in which the elections are held. [These acts] also reflect a direct threat to civil society organizations, preventing them from carrying on with their roles during this time,” the statement said.

Massry was taken into custody after an appeals court upheld a two-year sentence against her and eight others on Tuesday for breaking the Protest Law.

Activist Mohamed Gabr told Mada Masr earlier that security forces stormed the headquarters of the ECSER during a press conference, which was part of a campaign to free Massry and the eight jailed activists.

“We held the press conference and organized a protest in front of the center following the presser. Police forces attacked protesters after the demonstration had finished and headed to the center’s headquarters, storming it and arresting many of the employees inside,” Gabr said.

Massry’s case dates back to a protest held on December 2, 2013, outside the trial for police officers accused of murdering Khaled Saeed in 2010. Arrest warrants were issued to five protesters based on charges of inciting violence and destroying a police car, privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.