Sunday, June 27, 2010

Police Brutality in Beheira

In light of the murder of Khaled Said, independent daily newspaper Al-Shorouk is highlighting more and more examples of alarming abuses committed by the Egyptian police, here is a summary of another story:
Al-Nadeem Centre for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims published the outcomes of the fact-finding committee investigating the continuing abuses committed by security forces against El-Beheira farmers. A senior State Security officer bought their land from someone who doesn't own it, and insisted that his contract is authentic even though the farmers have authentic contracts themselves.
The farmers have been continuously terrorised since the beginning of this month. The first attack was on the 7th of June at 4 am. Armed policemen came upon the Shehab family homes, beat up their women and terrorised the whole village in an attempt to force them to give up their land.
A number of women were detained including Ilham Riad, wife of Gaber Shehab. She reports being beaten up and was hospitalised in Damanhour Hospital. She is currently suffering haemorrhage dangerous enough to make her lose her baby.
Twenty four hours later, another force trespassed the farmers' land and destroyed the corn fields in order to make it difficult for the prosecution to examine it and prove that it belongs to the farmers. The farmers are also accusing a member of parliament of conspiring with the police to destroy and steal their land, and that he previously stole a huge piece of land and sold it to the same SS officer.
The police officers performed their third raid at noon on the same day; 8th of June. They smashed the farmers' irrigators to push them further more.
Farmers bought this land in 2000, and the SS officer bought it "again" from a different contractor in 2009 and has been abusing his position and power since then to force them to give up their land.

View original (Arabic)

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