SIS: Amnesty Statement on Children Torture in Egypt Baseless, Lacks Accuracy

By: Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, Nov. 22 (SEE)- The Amnesty International Organization issued a statement on Nov.20 alleged that a number of children were subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and solitary confinement in Egypt. For it's part, the State Information Services (SIS) issued a statement Thursday to refute the AI’s statement.

"The AI's statement claimed that at least 12 children involuntarily disappeared and that 6 of the 12 were tortured. However, AI only published the details of only 2 of the cases therefore The State Information Service will only address them exclusively," SIS statement read.

SIS affirmed that the Egyptian authorities have abided by the standards emphasized by article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as it has offered the necessary guarantees of justice in this context, and has taken into account the young age of those two defendants, named in the AI's statement.

The SIS’s statement also denied AI's “enforced disappearance” allegations mentioned in the report, saying that "no reliable evidence was provided to validate such claims."

The SIS denied any violations committed by the Egyptian authorities concerning the detention period of the juvenile defendant, saying that the case is "still under investigation by the State Security Prosecution (Not the Military prosecution) and that the juvenile and other defendants have not been referred to court yet."

It also referred to article 119 of the Child's law of 1996, concluding that a child "may not be placed under preventive custody for more than a week; however, the court responsible for preventive custody may extend the juvenile’s detention in a legal observation center with the same guarantees stipulated by the criminal procedures law for preventive custody before the prosecution refers the case to the competent court."

SIS urged Amnesty International "in its capacity as a large and prominent organization to be more accurate while relaying allegations of human rights violations in Egypt," and not to take part in what the SIS called "systematic politicized smear campaigns" which aim to "damage the image of the Egyptian state" locally and globally.