Human Rights Watch: Torture a widespread practice under Sisi

Torture is standardized practice under president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to a report issued by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday morning. The investigation is based on interviews with people who were subjected to torture between 2014 and 2016.In a statement also issued on Wednesday, HRW writes that the 63-page report “documents how security forces, particularly officers of the Interior Ministry’s National Security Agency, use torture to force suspects to confess or divulge information, or to punish them”. It notes that the practice has become more widespread since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. According to HRW, torture techniques included beatings, electrocution, stress positions and sometimes rape. According to the interviewees, torture sessions usually begin with electric shocks and slapping, while the detainee is blindfolded, handcuffed and stripped naked. If detainees refuse to cooperate, the strength and duration of the electric shocks increase, and hot water is thrown on them if they lose consciousness.