Cairo: Alleged massive police abuses have brought the Egyptian government under sharp criticism amid warnings that the purported brutality revives practices of the former regime of president Hosni Mubarak.
The outcry followed three deaths in police custody in different parts of the country in a single week, allegedly resulting from torture.
A video this week that went viral online showed policemen in plain clothes storming a pharmacy in the coastal city of Esmailia and physically assaulting a doctor before leading him away to a police station.
The doctor died hours later of a heart attack, which his family claimed was caused by police torture.
Elsewhere in the country, clashes erupted between residents and police in the southern city of Luxor after a local man died shortly after his arrest, allegedly for dealing in drugs. His relatives accused police of torturing him.
The third fatality was reported in the city of Qaliubia, north of Cairo, and concerned a young man arrested on charges of theft. His family also claimed he died under torture.
The three cases have triggered concerns among human rights defenders and even the pro-government media.
“The increase in police violations in recent months proves that the police apparatus has not changed since the January revolution,” said rights advocate Mohammad Zara, referring to the 2011 uprising that forced Mubarak out of power.
“The situation has become catastrophic, fuelling citizens’ anger.”
Police abuses were seen as a major reason for the anti-Mubarak revolt.
The National Council for Human Rights, a state-appointed watchdog, has voiced worries about recent deaths in police custody.
“What happened should sound the alarm over the revival of the torture phenomenon,” the council said in a statement.
Commentators have also warned that reported wide abuses could undercut the public’s backing for police in their anti-terror campaign.
Hundreds of security forces have been killed in militant attacks since the army’s 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following enormous protests against his rule.
“I don’t underestimate police’s sacrifices while fighting terrorism,” said Amr Al Shubaki, an expert at the state-run Al Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies.
“But is there any person in his right senses who would accept police’s fight against terrorism as a justification for mistreating citizens? I can see no justification for these recurrent incidents other than a desire to revive the Mubarak police’s practices, which were based on intimidating people as a way of controlling them. This policy eventually resulted in the eruption of the January 25 [2011] demonstrations.”
The government has vowed “transparent” investigation and bringing wrongdoers to justice. It has also suspended the policemen involved in the three incidents, pending inquiries.
Interior Minister Majdy Abdul Gafar called police abuses “individual” acts. “If 10 or 15 officers erred, why should the other 40,000 police personnel be blamed for this? There are an exaggeration and a deliberate attempt to bring down the police apparatus,” Abdul Gafar said in remarks published on Tuesday in the privately-owned Al Masry Al Youm newspaper.
The police system collapsed during the 11-day revolt against Mubarak. Since Mursi’s removal, police have made a strong comeback, amid claims of rights abuses.
In June, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi made a rare public apology to the nation’s lawyers after a police officer assaulted a lawyer.