Egyptian Internet Torture Video Shakes Police Sense of Impunity

[struggle4progress]

By Daniel Williams

Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- ``No, Pasha,'' cried out Imad Kabir, a 21-year-old minibus driver recorded on a cell-phone video as he was tortured at a Cairo police station. ``No!''

An off-screen voice answered, in vulgarities, to the effect that the police would show the video to Kabir's associates to reveal the lesser kind of man he was.

They hung Kabir upside down and sodomized him with a rod. The police then distributed the video by phone to Kabir's co- workers at a Cairo bus stop, Egyptian authorities said.

The video eventually found its way onto the Internet. When it did, the story took a surprising turn. It became not just a vivid example of torture in the Middle East's most populous country; it also undermined the torturers' sense of security. Two policemen have been jailed in the incident ...

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