Egypt’s judiciary said Thursday it had
launched an inquiry after Human Rights Watch accused security services of
widespread torture of detainees in a probable “crime against humanity”.
The New York-based rights group said in a
September report that security services in the North African country used
torture as a “systematic practice” against suspected opponents of the
government.
The prosecutor’s office said Thursday that
counsellor Nabil Sadik had ordered the appointment of a senior judicial
official “to investigate the allegations mentioned” in the HRW report.
In a statement in English, it said the
investigation, which began in late October, aimed to “rightfully stand on the
truth and take the necessary legal measures”.
Since the army toppled Islamist president
Mohamed Morsi in 2013, rights groups have regularly denounced the regime of his
successor President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over alleged abuses.
They have been particularly critical of a
contentious law to regulate non-governmental organisations, which HRW and other
groups in June said would “crush civil society”.
The head of the state information service, Diaa
Rashwan, said Thursday the HRW report on torture was one of several
“unprofessional reports based on impressions”.
Rashwan spoke at a conference on human rights
where the government also launched a commission to create a “national strategy
for human rights”.
Ahmed Ehab, assistant foreign minister for
human rights, said Egypt needed to reach “the point of balance between the
campaign against terrorism and human rights”.
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