Report: Egyptian Military Tortured Protesters
CAIRO - Amnesty International has published the testimonies of two detainees who allege the Egyptian military tortured them while they were in custody in the days before the ousting of Hosni Mubarak.
London-based Amnesty urged the military Thursday to end the abuses of detainees that took place during the 18-day uprising against Mubarak's regime.
The detainees say they were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, stripped, and dropped in barrels of water. Amnesty said some protesters are still in detention, but it did not say how many.
The military was deployed in Egypt on Jan. 28 to try to restore security as police disappeared from the streets amid the mass protests. Torture by police and other security agents has been widespread for years.
On Wednesday, an anonymous source in Saudi Arabia's government reportedly in the resort city he fled to last week.
Mubarak reportedly left Cairo for the luxurious city of Sharm el-Sheikh sometime after addressing Egyptians on state television a week ago, telling them he had transferred his authority to his recently appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman. On Friday, after protesters rallied in anger against the leader's refusal to step down, Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned.
Reports have since surfaced that Mubarak is in ailing health.
"He is not dead but is not doing well at all and refuses to leave," the Saudi official told the Reuters news agency about Mubarak. "Basically, he has given up and wants to die in Sharm."
It's another twist in the mysterious tale of what the 30-year ruler has been up to after being chased from power. So far, Mubarak has been reported to be in a coma and on his deathbed in a German hospital.
