Women and security violations

Women and security violations

Egyptian women were not far from the ongoing systematic violations committed by the police, which are oriented to the society in general, it has nothing to do with being criminal, political activist or even suspected to be on of both!, as the victims have different social classes, cultural levels and political trends.
Egyptian security offices always seeking females, to be abducted, tortured and/or detained, that policy based on idea of Honor, which is really considered in a Middle Eastern, conservative and religious country. I mean, for a police officer, it works more rapidly and effectively to threat a suspect that his wife/mother would be raped in front of his eyes unless he confesses, rather than beat him until he does!, and in order to get a fugitive suspected, it is ok to detain his daughter in police station, where she is most likely to face sexual harassment. So, you find the word (rape) common in testimonies of most female victims.
Women frequently threatened with sexualized violence, police dealing with people always has a sexual component; men are also affected by it.


 
We can say: women are a tool to do pressure on suspects, also a target to violence.



The scenario of the Black Wednesday shows how the security utilizes the value of Honor to stop a protest. in that day the strategy of” state sponsored violence” was launched,in which the soldier mission is to besiege demonstrators, and hooligans are responsible of beating and sexually abused them.
You see those hooligans coming by police riots, some of them are criminals who had to serve the police officer in order not to be arrested! Sometimes the hooligans are the soldiers, but in plain clothes.


“Black Referendum Day”
25th May 2005
The president Hosni Mubarak in May 2005, suggested the amendment of an article in the constitution, and the general assembly approved it, thanks of the NDP majority. But it was unwelcommed by opposition groups neither humanitarian institutions, as it make the position of president monopolized by Mubarak.
The opposition decided to boycott the referendum on amending this article in, and some professors, journalists, authors, activists, students and others, gathered downtown to show their refusal peacefully. Police was certainly attended, but this time with hooligans, not only to beat and humiliate demonstrators, but also to abuse sexually the female participants.
The General Attorney ordered the issue to be closed because the perpetrator is unknown. A number of complaints were submitted


Thus, it was “Black” because of the abuses, beatings and arrests that occurred and still occur of activists demanding true democracy, reform and an independent judiciary, rather than empty symbols.
“We were harassed by those hooligans several times. They verbally and physical aggressed us several times in front of the police. At the end they continued to beat us uninterruptedly”.


Testimonies


Rabab- professor
“We were standing on the stairs of the press syndicate. A large number of men arrived. The police was also there. They led them towards us. We kept retreating. The security prevented us from entering into the syndicate. The hooligans occupied the whole of the stairs. We jumped from the stairs and went into the garage.
The officer told us: “Stay here … we shall protect you!” They brought a line of soldiers and encircled us completely except for a single point of entrance towards the stairs and from there they let those hooligans in and a group of bodybuilders (very tall men, very muscular men, like cinema doubles). And they stood by and watched. They beat us brutally. We screamed for help.
They tore out clothes. We had a journalist among us. He told them he was a journalist. They beat him all the same. I fell to the ground and crawled between the legs until I reached outside the police circle. I had several other colleagues with me. When we left that horror circle, the hooligans kept running after us. We jumped into taxis and left”.


Rabea Fahmy- Lawyer


“I went to join the demonstration in the press syndicate. I was wearing the KEFAYA(Enough) badge and was leaning at a wall because I have recently had an operation in my neck. Those men attacked me and beat me brutally and tore my clothes and underclothes until I was naked.
The police was standing there, watching. What has happened is a major violation, a molestation of women in the streets of Cairo. The streets became an Abou Ghraib prison. It was clear those were the instructions of the police. I caught the hooligan who tore my clothes. But he was helped to escape by the police authorities”.


Sometimes, women are victims of such violations (mentioned in the report), because of their political or humanitarian activities, or even practicing their jobs in a way does not appeal to SSI, such as publishing news about torture in newspapers, or filing a report for and international institution likely to “Defame the name of Egypt and the president”.


Abeer El-Askary
Abeer is a young journalist, was working for El Dostour Newspaper, she used to write about torture crimes, and played a leading role in a campaign against a state security police officer Walid El-Desouqi.and she is the winner of International Press Freedom Award.
While Abeer was charged to cover a judge meeting at the Judge”s club in May 11, 2006. She took the subway and arrived near the club, where policemen were


 
El-Askary described what happened, saying:
“At 8:00 pm, the policemen abducted and put me in a blue police Microbus. After they forced me to enter the microbus and took me to a dirty room on the 2nd floor of El Saida Zienab police station. There was nothing in the dirty room except a wooden chair.
They started to beat me and call me names and tear off my clothes. A policeman kicked me in my abdomen and slapped my face many times. And after a round of beating and humiliating me, the policeman ordered two detectives to throw me outside of the police station, not allowing me to speak with anyone.
They threw me in a microbus going to the Maadi Corniche. Afterwards, when I tried to stand in the street with my torn clothes they beat me and prevented people from helping me by telling them that they arrested me legally.
When I went to the police station, I tried to ask the people in the street for help but the officer prevented any one to interference and told people “She is accused of being a prostitute; we just brought her from a brothel”.


Dalia- demonstrator against the war on Iraq
March 2003
At Al-Tahrir square, General Hossam Salama of SSI, gripped me of my hair, slapped my face and kicked me brutally, all on street, but no one dared to interfere. Then he dragged me on the floor for about 20 meters, before throwing me into the police van.
In the van Salama threaten me of rape, he said that being raped is the way to make m forget about politics, I was deadly scared when he said with all evilness” let us check if you are virgin or not”.
At the police station, the official himself beat me, with the help of a female soldier and another police officer. They affirmed to me that they will get someone to rape me if I did not confess!
The point you could find wired, is violating human rights as a compliment to someone! This one is of course powerful guy, or at least, a friend of a police officer.
At the case below, the police officer is a friend of someone, who has a problem with his neighbors, and he told his the police officer, who decided to be a sincere friend!.


Sa”edyya
They should Die… otherwise we die!
At midnight, more than 40 armed men attacked the house, everyone was in his bed clothes, they beat all of us and we were taken to police microbuses. All neighbors were watching this..
They took me to Al-Zahraa police station, then to Helwan, where they keep me at an underground room called El-Tallaga (the fridge) , the officer ordered his detectives to urinated there, in front of me, I turned away my face, they whipped me, took my clothes off and let me completely naked.
I did not sleep for days, twice or three times a day they took were baring me, the officer Muhammad El-Sharkawi told me “you are good in nothing but … and I am specialized at …!” Once they made me naked and a man came to rape me, I was fainted, I told them:” kill me, get my nails out of my fingers, torture me as you like, but do not take my clothes off “.
Now, I am scandalized, Sharkawi was touching intimate areas of my body, I was dying, yeah… I was scratching my hair and my wishing death.
Nothing would compensate us, they should die, and otherwise we die!