Amnesty International urges Egypt to investigate forced 'virginity tests'

[News_Editor]

Amnesty International urges Egypt to investigate forced 'virginity tests'

2011-03-23 22:49:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate allegations of torture, including forced "virginity tests" on women protesters arrested by the army in Tahrir Square earlier this month.

"The Egyptian authorities must halt the shocking and degrading treatment of women protesters. Women fully participated in bringing change in Egypt and should not be punished for their activism," Amnesty International said in a statement.



At least 18 women were held in military detention after army officers violently cleared the square of protesters on 9 March. The women told the London-based group that they were beaten, given electric shocks, subjected to strip searches while being photographed by male soldiers, then forced to submit to 'virginity checks' and threatened with prostitution charges.



"Forcing women to have 'virginity tests' is utterly unacceptable. Its purpose is to degrade women because they are women," the statement said. 



According to information received by the organization, one woman who said she was a virgin but whose test supposedly proved otherwise was beaten and given electric shocks.



"The army officers tried to further humiliate the women by allowing men to watch and photograph what was happening, with the implicit threat that the women could be at further risk of harm if the photographs were made public," the organization added. 



Journalist Rasha Azeb was also detained in Tahrir Square and told Amnesty International that she was handcuffed, beaten and insulted. Azeb could see and hear the other detained women being tortured by being given electric shocks throughout their detention at the Cairo museum where they were taken following the arrest.

She was released several hours later with four other men who were also journalists, but 17 other women were transferred to the military prison in Heikstep. 




All 17 women detained in the military prison were brought before a military court on 11 March and released on 13 March. Several received one-year suspended prison sentences. 


"Women and girls must be able to express their views on the future of Egypt and protest against the government without being detained, tortured, or subjected to profoundly degrading and discriminatory treatment," Amnesty International said.

The army took control of the country 18 days after the nationwide protests began on January 25. Tahrir square was the hub of protests that led president Hosny Mubarak's resignation on February 11.


-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-23

[Steely Dan]

Yes this is a disgusting invasion of privacy, humiliating and a breach of human rights, I daresay the female protesters may have represented a cross section of Egyptian society too. But...

If the Muslim brotherhood form the next government and implement Sharia law then I can't imagine women feeling liberated by democracy, unless of course they are suffering from some sort of faith induced Stockholm syndrome.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nina-burleigh/egypt-and-the-universal-r_b_819178.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by Steely Dan

[kuffki]

i think Egypt may yet find itself in a very tough situation.

Egyptian Military receives i believe around $6 billion from the US.

Should Muslim Brotherhood take over and move into opposite direction, i would not be surprised if US cuts the funding and have hard time believing that Egyptian generals would want to miss out on their chunk of change

I am though little surprised to read this kind of news line, only because all the reports said that military stayed out of it totally, so how and why would they arrest women and torture them?