CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – An Egyptian man who died in police custody was subjected to brutal and harsh interrogation, which amounted to torture practice, a rights group has reported.
The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) said in a report that Mustafa Nafe Ramadan, better known as Disheh, was held for nearly two weeks in police custody before being announced dead on Friday 5 August.
The 19-year-old from el-Raml neighborhood in the coastal city of Alexandria, who worked as a car electrician and had no criminal record, was interrogated by three officers for the duration of his detention, said the group, which monitors torture practices in Egypt.
It added that Disheh suffered from “torture and the continuous assault on him by severe beatings in different parts of his body by the officers” at the police station.
“[Disheh] was well-behaved and had a clean criminal record, as he had not been arrested before and had not entered a police station before his arrest. He was loved by the neighbors in the area in which he lived,” ENHR said in a statement.
ENHR said that when his family received Disheh’s body they found bruises on his back and neck, an injury on the left side of his head caused by a sharp tool, and other injuries in the lower jaw and nose.
It also said that during his detention an Egyptian officer threatened Disheh’s mother when she came to check on him at el-Raml 2 police station, telling her, “I will let you grieve for him soon.”
According to a statement by the interior ministry, Disheh was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm. The statement denied the accusations of torture, saying the young man died after a fight with a cell inmate.
ENHR said that Disheh was arbitrarily arrested on 23 July when he was sitting in a coffee shop with a friend in Ard al-Mufti al-Jadeedeh area in el-Raml. An argument broke out between Disheh and an officer after police came to arrest the two friends. Disheh was insulted and slapped before he and his friend were arrested.
The police accused Disheh of possessing a gun, which he denied. ENHR said that Disheh was carrying a cutting tool, which he uses for his work, to cut cables and wires on cars.