Did the 25th January Revolution die under torture?

Egyptian lawyer and human rights activist Negad El-Borai has made some important comments about the judiciary’s attitude towards those who kill detainees deliberately. Speaking on a well-known Egyptian television channel sympathetic to the regime (the opposition has no such access to the media any more), he said that the judgement against two national security officers accused of torturing lawyer Kareem Hamdy to death is an example of how judges show “compassion” towards state officials while ordinary citizens face harsh sentences.

The law stipulates clearly, he pointed out, that if a suspect is killed while being tortured into confessing, it is deemed to be “deliberate murder”. The court, however, was “compassionate” towards the officers but did not allow those defending civil rights to challenge the ruling in the Court of Cassation. According to El-Borai, the court has sent a message to the torturers within the interior ministry that, basically, they needn’t worry about what they do; the Egyptian judiciary will treat them with compassion. “As such, torture will continue to take place in police stations,” the lawyer concluded despairingly. “A five-year prison sentence is better than nothing, I suppose. Look where we were and where we are now; these are national security officers.” He demanded that “these criminals” must be removed and dismissed from public service. “They should be forced to pay compensation for their abuse and for damaging the reputation of the police force,” he added.

“Better than nothing” sums up the story of the revolution, which may have died under torture, or may be clinically dead waiting for someone to wake it from its coma, which may take some time. Egypt is back to square one just five years after the revolution. There are those who doubt whether it was a real revolution, as revolutions should not only change the head of the regime, but also the entire regime itself. Failure to do so, as happened in Egypt, allows the counter-revolution to place a new, alternate head in place to put matters back to the way they were pre-revolution, or worse.

Kareem Hamdy was being questioned about his alleged affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood by officers from what used to be called the state security agency when he was killed. He had neck injuries, six broken ribs, a lacerated lung, a bruised heart and internal bleeding. The officers responsible were sentenced to five years in prison.

Dying under torture has become a term used widely in Egypt; it is no longer surprising to read or hear the “semi-official” Egyptian media reporting someone’s death in this way. It has become part of the miserable conditions suffered by political detainees, in stark contrast to the comfortable prison conditions enjoyed by the recently-released Israeli spy Ouda Tarabin, for example. He claimed that the conditions were similar to those of ousted President Hosni Mubarak; he had a microwave and a refrigerator, and was able to prepare his own food because the prison food was “terrible”. Such facilities were provided, he said, because he is an Israeli citizen and the Israeli Embassy put pressure on the Egyptian authorities.

Information gathered by international human rights organisations shows that the number of those killed due to torture and medical negligence in Egyptian prisons since the coup on 3 July 2013 is much higher than the official figure of 350; in any case, the statistics do not include those who have simply “disappeared” or whose death has not been recognised. The reasons given for death include electric shock, severed body parts, broken bones and the failure of the authorities to provide medical attention. Sometimes it is claimed that the prisoner has “committed suicide”, as happened on Tuesday when a member of the Muslim Brotherhood detained in Abu Hammad Prison was said to have killed himself. The number of those dying under torture has hit a record high, not only in Egypt, but also around the world. The death of even one individual under torture in any country should be a major cause for concern, so what about the death of hundreds?

The revolution in Egypt provides a dark example for others. It has cast a shadow on other Arab countries, whether they have undergone an Arab Spring experience which has gone horribly wrong, or still hope for an inspirational revolution to follow.

All or most of those who wrote about Egypt’s 25th January Revolution have admitted, in one way or another, that the country is back to square one. It is as if there was no rebellion; as if Egypt did not hear the chants of “We are all Khaled Saeed” in memory of the young man from Alexandria who died after being tortured by the police. At that time, the interior ministry said that he died as a result of swallowing a bag of hashish. This sparked-off the revolution and inspired the rebels. Today, five years later, the Egyptians do not know whose name to use instead of Khaled Saeed, there are so many candidates who have also died under torture.

I am certain, though, in the midst of such darkness, that nations do not die even if their revolutions are in a coma; there will be a sudden awakening. We do not know when, but the reasons for having a revolution in the first place still exist, on top of which there are even more. The people require a revised and intensified revolution which protects them from oppression and being seized and killed under torture.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadid, 28 January, 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.