Egypt attacks Amnesty report on detainee abuse

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Egypt hit back at Amnesty International on Thursday, saying that its report on detainee abuse was both inaccurate and unfair. The London-based Amnesty had published a 51-page report on Wednesday that said Egypt systematically abused detainees, torturing them and holding them for years without trial. It said 18,000 people were currently in jail without having stood trial. An Amnesty official told a press conference in Cairo that the abuse was likely to worsen because the constitutional amendments approved last month had undermined the safeguards against torture. "The Egyptian government is offended by the latest report which included inaccurate and biased information about the state of human rights in Egypt," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Egypt has witnessed lately real and continuous achievements in the field of human rights, the most important of which is the establishment of the National Council of Human Rights, which is actively pursuing its role," the statement added.