Torture in Egypt

Dr. Mohamed Mandour, an Egyptian medical doctor and psychiatrist, was administratively detained by the Egyptian security authorities for sixteen days in February 1991. He was brought from his home after midnight to State Security Intelligence headquarters at Lazoughly, Cairo. He was held there for ten days, from the early morning hours of February 8 until the morning of February 17. He was never charged with an offense. After his release from detention, Dr. Mandour, who has served since 1989 on the Board of Trustees of the independent Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, prepared the attached report about his torture and mistreatment at Lazoughly by State Security Intelligence officers and guards. He never saw these individuals because he was continuously blindfolded from the moment he entered the intelligence headquarters until the end of his ordeal. Dr. Mandour was never examined for signs of torture by state forensic doctors, despite repeated requests. The Egyptian government claims that Dr. Mandour's allegations of torture are unfounded. Official legal complaints about his torture submitted to the authorities by Egyptian lawyers have gone unanswered, as has Middle East Watch's February 1991 letter to Egyptian President Mubarak requesting information about the investigation of the allegations.