By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Detainee abuse is so systematic in Egypt that people are held for years without trial and are liable to torture by electric shocks, beating and being suspended by the wrists or ankles, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
In a new report titled "Egypt - Systematic abuse in the name of security," the London-based rights group urged the Egyptian government to end what it called "grossly unfair" military court trials and instead pledge to investigate torture allegations and repeal legislation that allows for human rights violations.
The group said about 18,000 people are "languishing" in Egypt's jails without being charged or brought to trial. Some have been held for more than a decade and many are detained in degrading and inhumane conditions, it said.
Several forms of torture are used, Amnesty said, including suspension in contorted positions from a horizontal pole and various forms of psychological torture, including threats to kill and threats to rape the detainees or their female relatives.