54 documented cases of women being raped while detained in Egypt

A source within the coalition supporting ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi claims that they have documented 54 cases of women being raped in detention centres, two of who became pregnant and have not aborted until this day, Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday. This comes at a time when security sources are denying what they call rumours of rape or any other violations in the Egyptian prisons.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that: "The committee set up by the alliance during months of February and March documented 54 cases of rape inside different detention centres, including police stations and prisons, deportation cars and armoured police units, as well as other unknown places."

In some of the cases, the source pointed out that the women became pregnant following the rape and aborted; however, for others the abortion was a danger to their lives and they are now in their seventh or eighth month of pregnancy.

The source, who attended the committee hearings, added that: "There are two cases when women were raped more than 14 times in a single day within the camp of the Central Security, or the riot police, and another case when a woman was raped daily for a whole week in one of the police stations," but refused to disclose the identity or places.

The source explained that the documentation process has happened away from the media because of the extreme sensitivity of the political situation, and given that the women are suffering psychologically following the rape.

It was not possible to obtain an immediate response from the Egyptian authorities about what the source revealed; however, a security source denied on Wednesday what he called rumours about the existence of rape or cases of abuse in Egypt's prisons.

The coalition supporting ousted President Morsi held committee hearings in February and March to listen to women detainees who were released and to understand what they experienced inside the prisons and the police stations, from harassment to rape.

The committee consisted of representatives from Women Against the Coup and other independent human rights groups.

Ayatollah Alaa, a spokesperson for the movement Women Against the Coup, told Anadolu on Wednesday that: "The movement has presented to numerous human rights and political parties files detailing 20 documented cases of rape and physical abuse in prisons, detention centres, stations and other unofficial places."

There are no official numbers for those arrested since the ousting of President Morsi last July, with Egyptian authorities typically rejecting any accusations of arrests based on political grounds, stating that the prisons are empty, contrary to media reports, and that those languishing in prison face charges relating to violence or incitement to violence.

However, activists on social networking sites have shared a video clip of an Al-Azhar student called Nada Ashraf talking about the details of her own rape inside a police vehicle.

shraf says in the video that her ordeal began when she saw a police officer harass a girl at the university, grabbing at her breasts violently. So she called out to him, "Do you think you're a man like this?" only for the officer to leave the girl currently in his hands and tell Nada that, "I'll show you if I'm a man or not," according to the video.

In her testimony she explains that he then pushed her into the truck, tearing her clothes when she resisted. Other soldiers harassed her, with one crying at being unable to help her.

She added, the officer kept repeating "you'll know if I'm a man or not" and then raped her.

A security source responded to the accusations saying that such talk is only done by supporters of the ousted president in order to turn public opinion against Egypt.

The source added, "Either report the rape cases to the prosecutors or shut up," suggesting for the victims to turn to the same state institutions that have criminalised them.

It is worth noting that non-governmental organisation the International Coalition for Egyptians Abroad submitted a memorandum to the Commissioner General of Human Rights at the United Nations in Geneva, demanding an investigation into what they termed "the status of Egyptian women after the dismissal of former President Mohamed Morsi'.

The memorandum documented a number of local cases of rape and harassment by police inside the security apparatus, as reported by international human rights organisations, against "political prisoners" in Egypt who dissented against the authorities.

In one case, one of the detainees was suspended inside the cell naked and harassed by the policemen inside the station; some were forced to watch pornographic films while others were forced to wipe the floors of the prison with their naked bodies.