:PROPERTIES:
:ID:       ff736f42-910f-4921-a779-d6b46ea8ae0e
:END:
#+title: 2018-05-22

* Asylum case evidence :@personal:
:PROPERTIES:
:CREATED:  [2018-05-22 Tue 16:54]
:MODIFIED: [2018-05-30 Wed 18:36]
:IMPORTED: [2023-02-08 Wed 19:22]
:END:

** Answering paragraph 14

(2:42) Video seems to have a North East Delta accent around Port Said, which agrees with the video title. The persons are torturing the victim for apparently having previously assaulted a police informant, threating him of hanging him on a door as a form of physical torture, and verbally abusing him. Such treatment is most likely to happen in police custody pre-trial and before appearing in front of a prosecutor, and possibly after arriving in jail or other detention places to serve a sentence. Jail overcrowding leads to short sentences being typically served in police stations holding rooms.

(0:55) This video has become popular prior to the 2011 uprisings old and contributed to the public outcry against torture and police brutality. The victim is being held in what seems to be a police station. The video has one police constable (Ameen, a rank lower than a police officer and higher than recruited police soldiers) called Mostafa by apparently other members of the police filming, laughing and encouraging constable Mostafa to beat the victim. Mostafa abuses the victim and slaps him repeatedly on the face. One voice imitates a film director and says 'stop'. Unlike the video 1 where someone affiliated with the police has been assaulted and following videos where victims seem to be tortured to confess, the abuse in this video is typically more widespread and is practiced for the purpose of humiliation and control.

(4:42) Video is taken from a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated channel al-Sharq which alleges it is from Bassiun town in the Delta and names two police officers, Karim Salama and Abdelwahab, even though the names do not appear on the video itself. The violation video itself has an Egyptian accent. The voice is verbally abusing the victims who are standing on their knees, in their underwear, an facing the wall. One of the victims is begging Abdelwahab to do anything to them but not film. One voice is verbally abusing them for being supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. They are then told to lie on the floor and one foot steps on one of them.

(2:52) Video is a collage of different police violations, including the second video above. Most of the original videos in this collage have been circulated before 2011, some of the victims and perpetrators have been identified, such as the case of Emad Al-Kabir, a Cairo bus driver who was sodomised with a broom stick on camera and had the video circulated in the neighborhood for the purpose of humiliation and control. Al-Kabir himself was sentenced for three months for resisting authorities and the police officer Islam Nabih was sentenced to three years in jail in a high profile case covered by the media and monitored by local and international human rights groups, including Amnesty International (https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2007/11/egypt-sweeping-measures-against-torture-needed-20071105/). Timep's Non Resident Fellow Sherif Azer wrote on the case (https://timep.org/commentary/how-the-egyptian-government-endorses-torture/). Other segments of the video show beating up of different victims including two women, one held in suspended position on a chair and screaming 'I killed him. I killed him'. This segment was also popular around the time of Emad al-Kabir's case although more details were not discovered. All the accents heard and police uniforms showing in the video are from Egypt. The clashes with the riot police segment shot by AFP seems to be in Egypt around the time of the video upload 31 January 2011, at the height of the uprisings.

(1:00) Video popularised in 2010 indicates what could be an apparently Egyptian police officer ordering one of his subordinates named Abderrasoul to slap the victim on his face and the back of his neck while another subordinate is holding him. The speaker is heard saying the slapping 'is weak, Abderrasoul.'

Has been removed from YouTube at the time of viewing (22 May 2018 ) for violation of policy.

(3:04) Video is a fake advertisement of the Ministry of Interior's Public Relations Department telling its viewers to 'rest assured' with the MOI. The music does not allow for speech or accent analysis. The second segment shows men in the police uniform in rural Egypt slapping a victim on the back of his neck as he is standing against the wall. The third segment is the same woman confessing to murder in video 4. The fourth segment is part of video 2. The fifth segment is the iconic pictures of protests facing riot police on Kasr Al-Nil bridge on 28 January 2011, followed by another segment probably from the same date.

(1:02) Video has Egyptian accent, even though there are no speakers in the video. Title by Rassd: +18 Coup government in Egypt kill political prisoners in Abu Zaabal prison 08-18-2013. The extremely graphic video shows a number of bodies discovered by sympathizers. The bodies seem to have received extreme torture [TO NANCY: THIS IS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND NEEDS MORE VERIFICATION]

** Answering paragraph 15

In my opinion, the treatment of the persons in police custody in the videos reflect typical police treatment in pre-trial detention. Potentially, treatment in videos 2 and 5 could reflect treatment of prisoners newly arriving in an Egyptian jail or prison, although most likely all of the videos showing this kind of treatment were taken in police stations.

The uniforms of the police officers in all the videos are typical of uniforms worn by urban police except in the second secment in video 7 where the uniforms are typical of police in a rural district.

The layout and conditions of the rooms shown in the videos are typical of police holding cells and jails in Egypt.

Apart from video 8 where there seems to have been a gruesome and deadly amount of torture inflicted, the injuries and treatment shown in most other videos are typical of either interrogation or torture for the purpose of humiliation and control for people newly held under police custody or newly arrived prisoners in an Egyptian jail or prison. The techniques depicted or reenacted are typical for the purposes of interrogation and maltreatment of persons newly held by the police before appearing in front of a prosecutor, or those newly arriving in jails or prisons.

** Answering paragraph 16

(11:44) The narrative demonstrated by the guest on the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Mekammeleen channel is typical of interrogation and torture taking place at national security investigation department offices.

** Answering paragraph 17

The testimonial videos published by the Mosireen Media Collective and HRW indicate recurring police treatment in different kinds of cases: political protest and otherwise. They point to a systematic and culturally-ingrained use of torture for the purpose of humiliation and control.

A nation without torture conference 2013-02-21: The testimony of the brother of Essam Atta who was tortured to death in Tora prison South of Cairo on 25 October 2011 while serving a two year sentence by a military court for a non-political offense (starting minute 9:35). In the same video (minute 13:00) Sherif testifies about his torture in Tora prison, same with the following testimony (15:00), same with the testimony starting in minute 23:40).

Torture, Police Murder, Saad Said, Family Testimonies, Police (2012-12-03) at Mounib, Giza Police Station

Ramy Essam Testimony, Torture (2011-05-04) at Zamalek, Cairo, held and tortured in the Egyptian museum

Sexual Violence, Torture, Testimonies (2012-09-02) at Mosireen Office, Cairo: in the high court in downtown Cairo, held in anunknown location

** Answering paragraph 18

Arriving in country or being stopped at a police checkpoint and found to be a draft evader will lead to arrest by the police and consequently the military police until a military trial. It is not uncommon that evaders who passed the military draft age of 30 years present themselves to military courts and normally end up paying a fine. Until getting a military service certificate, it is impossible for them to travel, find employment and insurance, or process official papers. There is a high possibility that a person detained then imprisoned will be physical or psychological mistreatment, and if serving a sentence, it is certain that he will be under conditions similar to what is shown in the videos.

(1:55) Telegraph video showing conditions inside a prison cell. Consistent with other reports

AlJazeera video is not available to watch in the US

8774432450 ext 2 Nikki

