

Currently released so far... 2829 / 251,287
Articles
Browse latest releases
2011/01/28
2011/01/27
2011/01/26
2011/01/25
2011/01/24
2011/01/23
2011/01/22
2011/01/21
2011/01/20
2011/01/19
2011/01/18
2011/01/17
2011/01/16
2011/01/15
2011/01/14
2011/01/13
2011/01/12
2011/01/11
2011/01/10
2011/01/09
2011/01/07
2011/01/05
2011/01/04
2011/01/02
2011/01/01
2010/12/30
2010/12/29
2010/12/28
2010/12/27
2010/12/26
2010/12/25
2010/12/24
2010/12/23
2010/12/22
2010/12/21
2010/12/20
2010/12/19
2010/12/18
2010/12/17
2010/12/16
2010/12/15
2010/12/14
2010/12/13
2010/12/12
2010/12/11
2010/12/10
2010/12/09
2010/12/08
2010/12/07
2010/12/06
2010/12/05
2010/12/04
2010/12/03
2010/12/02
2010/12/01
2010/11/30
2010/11/29
2010/11/28
Browse by creation date
Browse by origin
Embassy Athens
Embassy Asuncion
Embassy Astana
Embassy Asmara
Embassy Ashgabat
Embassy Ankara
Embassy Amman
Embassy Algiers
Embassy Addis Ababa
Embassy Accra
Embassy Abuja
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Embassy Abidjan
Consulate Amsterdam
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura
Embassy Buenos Aires
Embassy Budapest
Embassy Bucharest
Embassy Brussels
Embassy Bridgetown
Embassy Brasilia
Embassy Bogota
Embassy Bishkek
Embassy Bern
Embassy Berlin
Embassy Belgrade
Embassy Beirut
Embassy Beijing
Embassy Bangkok
Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan
Embassy Bamako
Embassy Baku
Embassy Baghdad
Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen
Embassy Conakry
Embassy Colombo
Embassy Chisinau
Embassy Caracas
Embassy Canberra
Embassy Cairo
Consulate Curacao
Consulate Casablanca
Consulate Cape Town
Embassy Dushanbe
Embassy Dublin
Embassy Doha
Embassy Djibouti
Embassy Dhaka
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Embassy Damascus
Embassy Dakar
Consulate Dubai
Embassy Kyiv
Embassy Kuwait
Embassy Kuala Lumpur
Embassy Kinshasa
Embassy Kigali
Embassy Khartoum
Embassy Kampala
Embassy Kabul
Embassy Luxembourg
Embassy Luanda
Embassy London
Embassy Lisbon
Embassy Lima
Embassy La Paz
Consulate Lagos
Mission USNATO
Embassy Muscat
Embassy Moscow
Embassy Montevideo
Embassy Monrovia
Embassy Minsk
Embassy Mexico
Embassy Maputo
Embassy Manama
Embassy Managua
Embassy Madrid
Consulate Munich
Consulate Montreal
Consulate Monterrey
Embassy Pristina
Embassy Pretoria
Embassy Prague
Embassy Port Au Prince
Embassy Phnom Penh
Embassy Paris
Embassy Panama
Consulate Peshawar
REO Basrah
Embassy Rome
Embassy Riyadh
Embassy Riga
Embassy Reykjavik
Embassy Rangoon
Embassy Rabat
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Consulate Recife
Secretary of State
Embassy Stockholm
Embassy Sofia
Embassy Skopje
Embassy Singapore
Embassy Seoul
Embassy Sarajevo
Embassy Santo Domingo
Embassy Santiago
Embassy Sanaa
Embassy San Salvador
Embassy San Jose
Consulate Strasbourg
Consulate Shenyang
Consulate Shanghai
Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis
Embassy Tripoli
Embassy Tokyo
Embassy The Hague
Embassy Tel Aviv
Embassy Tehran
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Embassy Tbilisi
Embassy Tashkent
Embassy Tallinn
USUN New York
USEU Brussels
US Mission Geneva
US Interests Section Havana
US Delegation, Secretary
UNVIE
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Browse by tag
ASEC
AO
AF
AL
AE
AORC
AJ
AM
AR
AEMR
AMGT
APER
AG
AS
AU
AGMT
AFIN
ABUD
ATRN
ACOA
AEC
AX
AMED
ADCO
AODE
AFFAIRS
AC
ASIG
ABLD
AA
CU
CH
CO
CI
COUNTERTERRORISM
CA
CY
CVIS
CMGT
CASC
CJAN
CE
COUNTER
CBW
CG
CLINTON
CDG
CIA
CACM
CDB
CS
CD
CV
CF
CN
CAN
CIS
CM
CONDOLEEZZA
COE
CR
CTM
COUNTRY
CLEARANCE
CPAS
CWC
CT
CKGR
CB
ECUN
EU
ETRD
EFIN
EAID
ES
ECON
EWWT
EINVEFIN
ELAB
ETTC
ENRG
EUN
EC
EG
EINV
EXTERNAL
ER
EPET
EAGR
EIND
ECPS
EMIN
ECIP
EINDETRD
EN
EZ
ET
EUC
EI
EAIR
ELTN
EREL
ECIN
EFIS
EINT
ENVR
ECA
EINVETC
ENIV
EINN
ENGR
EUR
ELECTIONS
IR
IZ
IN
IS
IMO
INTERPOL
IT
INRB
IAEA
ID
IV
ICTY
IQ
ICAO
IPR
IRAJ
INRA
INRO
IC
IIP
ITPHUM
IWC
IO
ISRAELI
IRAQI
ICRC
IF
ILC
IEFIN
ITALY
ITALIAN
KDEM
KIRF
KNNP
KN
KISL
KJUS
KTFN
KWBG
KPAL
KPKO
KSCA
KCRM
KR
KWMN
KU
KV
KE
KCOR
KPAO
KG
KTIP
KICC
KBCT
KSPR
KHLS
KTIA
KMDR
KGHG
KUNR
KS
KFRD
KIPR
KAWC
KPWR
KCIP
KSUM
KWAC
KMIG
KOLY
KZ
KAWK
KSEC
KIFR
KDRG
KDEMAF
KFIN
KGCC
KPIN
KBIO
KHIV
KNUC
KPLS
KIRC
KACT
KGIC
KRAD
KCOM
KMCA
KHDP
KVPR
KDEV
KPRP
KCFE
KOCI
KTDB
KMRS
KLIG
KGIT
KSTC
KPAK
KNEI
KSEP
KPOA
KFLU
KNUP
KNNPMNUC
KOMC
KO
KTER
KHUM
KNPP
MTCRE
MOPS
MARR
MO
MASS
MNUC
MY
MX
MCAP
MPOS
MAR
MD
MZ
MEPP
MA
MR
ML
MIL
MOPPS
MTCR
MAPP
MU
MG
MASC
MCC
MK
MTRE
MP
MDC
MRCRE
PGOV
PREL
PTER
PHUM
PINR
PARM
PBTS
PHSA
PK
PINS
PSI
PA
PE
PO
PINT
PL
PSOE
PU
POL
POLITICAL
PARTIES
PROP
PBIO
PECON
PM
PREF
PAK
POGOV
PINL
PKFK
PGOF
PMIL
PTERE
PF
PALESTINIAN
PY
PGGV
PNR
POV
PAO
PFOR
PHALANAGE
PARTY
POLITICS
PEPR
UK
UNGA
UN
UP
UNO
UZ
UNMIK
US
UG
UNSC
USEU
UV
UY
USUN
UE
UNESCO
UAE
UNEP
USTR
UNHCR
UNDP
UNHRC
UNCHS
Browse by classification
Community resources
courage is contagious
Viewing cable 09CAIRO79, GOE STRUGGLING TO ADDRESS POLICE BRUTALITY
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09CAIRO79.
Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
09CAIRO79 | 2009-01-15 15:03 | 2011-01-28 00:12 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Cairo |
VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHEG #0079/01 0151524
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151524Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1372
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000079
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, DRL/NESCA, INL AND INR/NESA
NSC FOR PASCUAL AND KUTCHA-HELBLING
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2029
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EG
SUBJECT: GOE STRUGGLING TO ADDRESS POLICE BRUTALITY
REF: A. 08 CAIRO 2431
¶B. 08 CAIRO 2430
¶C. 08 CAIRO 2260
¶D. 08 CAIRO 783
¶E. 07 CAIRO 3214
¶F. 07 CAIRO 2845
Classified By: Ambassador Margaret Scobey for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
¶1. (C) Summary and comment: Police brutality in Egypt
against common criminals is routine and pervasive. Contacts
describe the police using force to extract confessions from
criminals as a daily event, resulting from poor training and
understaffing. Brutality against Islamist detainees has
reportedly decreased overall, but security forces still
resort to torturing Muslim Brotherhood activists who are
deemed to pose a political threat. Over the past five years,
the government has stopped denying that torture exists, and
since late 2007 courts have sentenced approximately 15 police
officers to prison terms for torture and killings.
Independent NGOs have criticized GOE-led efforts to provide
human rights training for the police as ineffective and
lacking political will. The GOE has not yet made a serious
effort to transform the police from an instrument of regime
power into a public service institution. We want to continue
a USG-funded police training program (ref F), and to look for
other ways to help the GOE address police brutality. End
summary and comment.
-------------------
A Pervasive Problem
-------------------
¶2. (C) Torture and police brutality in Egypt are endemic and
widespread. The police use brutal methods mostly against
common criminals to extract confessions, but also against
demonstrators, certain political prisoners and unfortunate
bystanders. One human rights lawyer told us there is
evidence of torture in Egypt dating back to the times of the
Pharaohs. NGO contacts estimate there are literally hundreds
of torture incidents every day in Cairo police stations
alone. Egyptians are bombarded with consistent news reports
of police brutality, ranging from high profile incidents such
as accidental but lethal police shootings in Salamut and
Aswan this past fall (refs B and C) that sparked riots, to
reports of police officers shooting civilians following
disputes over traffic tickets. In November 2008 alone, there
were two incidents of off-duty police officers shooting and
killing civilians over petty disputes. The cases against
both officers are currently making their way through the
judicial system.
¶3. (C) NGO and academic contacts from across the political
spectrum report witnessing police brutality as part of their
daily lives. One academic at XXXXXXXXXXXX who is a member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)
policy committee told us of accompanying his sister to a
Cairo police station to report her stolen purse. In front of
this academic, the police proceeded to beat a female suspect
into confessing about others involved in the theft and the
whereabouts of the stolen valuables. A contact from an
international NGO described witnessing police beat the
doorman of an upscale Cairo apartment building into
disclosing the apartment number of a suspect. Another
contact at a human rights NGO told us that her friends do not
report thefts from their apartments because they do not want
to subject "all the doormen" in the vicinity to police
beatings. She told us that the police's use of force has
pervaded Egyptian culture to the extent that one popular
television soap opera recently featured a police detective
hero who beats up suspects to collect evidence.
¶4. (C) Contacts attribute police brutality to poor training,
understaffing and official sanction. Human rights lawyer
XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
speculated that officers routinely resort to brutality
because of pressure from their superiors to solve crimes. He
asserted that most officers think solving crimes justifies
brutal interrogation methods, and that some policemen believe
that Islamic law sanctions torture. XXXXXXXXXXXX commented that a
culture of judicial impunity for police officers enables
continued brutality. According to XXXXXXXXXXXX, "Police
officers feel they are above the law and protected by the
public prosecutor." Human rights lawyer XXXXXXXXXXXX attributed police brutality against common
criminals, including the use of electric shocks, to the
problem of demoralized officers facing long hours and their
own economic problems. He asserted that the police will even
beat lawyers who enter police stations to defend their
clients.
-----------------------
Criminals and Islamists
-----------------------
¶5. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX explained that since the GOE opened a
dialogue with formerly violent Islamists, such as the Islamic
Group, following the 1997 Luxor terrorist attacks, torture of
Islamists has decreased. XXXXXXXXXXXX claimed that the GOE now treats Islamists better
than common criminals. Some Islamist detainees are
"spoiled," he asserted, with regular access to visits from
friends and family, decent food and education. Before the
Luxor attacks, XXXXXXXXXXXX commented, the government would torture
Islamist detainees on a daily basis.
¶6. (C) Attorney XXXXXXXXXXXXXX commented that the GOE is more
reluctant to torture Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood
(MB) members, because of their persistence in making public
political statements, and their contacts with international
NGOs that could embarrass the regime. XXXXXXXXXXXX speculated that
the exception to this rule is when MB members mobilize people
against the government in a way the regime deems threatening,
such as the April 6 Facebook strike (ref D). According to
XXXXXXXXXXXX, the MB-affiliated blogger and "April 6 Movement" member
XXXXXXXXXXXX whom police arrested November 20 (ref A) falls
into this category, and the GOE is probably torturing him to
scare other "April 6" members into abandoning their political
activities. XXXXXXXXXXXX's assessment tracks with "April 6" member
XXXXXXXXXXXX's accounts of his own torture and the alleged
police sexual molestation of a female "April 6" activist this
past November (ref A). Bloggers close to XXXXXXXXXXXX told
us that following his arrest he was tortured severely with
electric shocks and needed to be hospitalized, but that
security forces stopped the torture when he began
cooperating.
----------------------------
GOE Awareness of the Problem
----------------------------
¶7. (C) Contacts agree that in the past five years, the
government has stopped denying that torture exists and has
taken some steps to address the problem. However, contacts
believe that the Interior Ministry lacks the political will
to take substantive action to change the culture of police
brutality. XXXXXXXXXXXX asserted that following alleged
standing orders from the Interior Ministry between 2000 and
2006 for the police to shoot, beat and humiliate judges in
order to undermine judicial independence, the GOE made a
political decision in 2007 to allow the courts to sentence
police officers to short prison terms. XXXXXXXXXXXX described the
2007 Imad El-Kebir case as a turning point in influencing the
government to permit the sentencing of police officers.
(Note: Per ref E, a court sentenced two police officers to
three years in prison in November 2007 for assaulting and
sodomizing bus driver Imad El-Kebir. The case gained
notoriety after a cell phone video recording of the torture
was posted on YouTube. End note.)
¶8. (C) An estimated 13 cases of officers accused of brutality
are currently working their way through the courts, and
judges have handed down moderate sentences, usually the
minimum three-year prison term, against policemen over the
past few months, often for heinous crimes. For example, in
October 2008, a court sentenced a policeman to three years in
prison for beating and drowning a fisherman. In November
2008, a court sentenced two policemen to three years in
prison for hooking a man to their car and dragging him to his
death. XXXXXXXXXXXXX characterized the sentences as
"light," in proportion to the crimes, but commented that any
prison sentences are an important development toward holding
the police responsible for crimes. XXXXXXXXXXXX commented
that the prison sentences demonstrate that the GOE is
providing political space for judges to operate somewhat
independently, in response to criticism from foreign
governments and international NGOs. XXXXXXXXXXXXX of the
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights described the
sentences as important in drawing public attention to brutal
police crimes, and strengthening the hand of advocates who
call for reforming systemic problems within the police force.
-----------
GOE Efforts
-----------
¶9. (C) Ambassador Ahmed Haggag, who is detailed from the MFA
as the coordinator for the UNDP Human Rights Capacity
Building Project, described for us the organization's efforts
to train the Interior and Justice Ministries and the Public
Prosecutor on human rights issues through lectures and
workshops. Acknowledging that torture is a "problem, but not
a daily occurrence," Haggag said the UNDP trains police
officers on international human rights conventions, and is
trying to convince police officers to solve cases using
"legal and ethical means," instead of torture. Haggag told
us he "doubts there is still torture against political
prisoners." Staffers from the quasi-governmental National
Council for Human Rights described the council's workshops
for police officers where professors give lectures on human
rights law and prisoner psychology. NGO contacts have
privately criticized the UNDP project as ineffective,
complaining that it has banned credible human lawyers from
giving lectures to the police because of their political
opposition to the NDP, and instead invites MOI officials
complicit in torture to give human rights presentations.
¶10. (C) In late December 2008, the MOI announced it had
suspended 280 police officers for human rights violations and
fired 1,164 lower-ranking policemen for misconduct. Our NGO
contacts doubted that the disciplinary actions were human
rights related, and speculated that the officers were
probably involved in taking bribes and other illegal
activity. XXXXXXXXXXXX asserted that this announcement does
not amount to a serious MOI human rights policy. XXXXXXXXXXXXX expressed skepticism over whether these disciplinary
actions will result in long-term positive changes, especially
in light of rumors that one of the officers sentenced in the
2007 El-Kebir sodomy case will rejoin the police force as
soon as he leaves prison.
¶11. (C) Former senior Interior Ministry official Ihab
Youssef, Director of the NGO "The Police and the People for
Egypt" told us in late 2008 that his NGO did not receive many
proposals from the public in response to its solicitation for
ideas on developing projects to build trust between the
police and citizens. Youssef said that the NGO's Facebook
site, which provides a forum for the public to complain about
the police, has generated more interest. In September 2008,
Youssef publicly announced the formation of his NGO, which
counts establishment figures such as former FM Ahmed Maher
among its board members (ref C). Youssef does not receive
GOE funding for the NGO, and has turned to private Egyptian
businesses to raise money. Our NGO contacts have privately
dismissed Youssef's efforts as non-substantive "propaganda,"
and in a recent magazine article, one of Youssef's own board
members, retired Ambassador Shoukry Fouad, criticized the NGO
as unsuccessful.
-------
Comment
-------
¶12. (C) The GOE has not begun serious work on trying to
transform the police and security services from instruments
of power that serve and protect the regime into institutions
operating in the public interest, despite official slogans to
the contrary. It seems that the government would have the
strongest interest in preventing future accidental shootings
of innocents, such as the Salamut and Aswan incidents that
resulted in riots. We imagine that halting the torture of
common criminals, who are usually poor and voiceless, is
lower on the GOE's agenda. We want to continue USG-funded
police training, and we will look for ways to help XXXXXXXXXXXX's NGO launch productive work.
SCOBEY