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Egypt’s Ministry of Interior Refutes Reports Alleging Police Rape of Detained Child

December 17, 2015
Archive photograph of a police officer outside a courthouse. Photo credit: AP

Egypt’s Ministry of Interior released a statement denying reports “circulating on some websites” that a 14-year-old boy was tortured and raped while in police custody. According to the statement, after receiving a warrant from the public prosecution, security forces arrested 14-year-old Mazen Mohamed Abdallah on October 7 for planning a variety of attacks against for the Muslim Brotherhood, including burning police trucks and attacking state institutions. The statement goes on to say that Abdallah was referred to the Forensic Authority to be medically examined, in response to his lawyers’ claims that he was raped with a wooden stick. The Forensic Authority’s report dismissed these claims as false and “confirmed” Abdallah had not been subjected to torture, the statement says. This case gained significant traction when Amnesty International released a report on December 11 calling for Abdallah’s release from prison and for those responsible for his alleged torture to be held responsible. According to the report, Abdallah was “seized by heavily armed security forces from his family’s Cairo home on 30 September 2015,” which is several days earlier than the date cited by the Ministry of Interior. Amnesty International also says that…


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