During a dawn police raid on four copts' homes, two men and five women, one of them in her seventies, were illegally arrested and torture; and one of the women was sexually assaulted by the investigating officer.
The case was a blatant miscarriage of justice leading the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) to call on the Public Prosecutor to indict the Al-Khosous chief of criminal investigations, Captain Sherif Hossameddin, following credible and consistent complaints of abuses he committed against a number of men and women from the Al-Khosous town in the governorate of Qalioubiya, including arbitrary arrest, hostage-taking, unlawful detention, torture and sexual assault. It also called on his suspension from duty until the end of the investigation.
On December 15th, an ordinary quarrel between two children, one Copt and the other Muslim, living in Alzraib, evolved into a family quarrel between the parties during which fire was exchanged resulting in surface injuries to seven people on both sides. Police arrived to the scene after the altercation was over, and arrested eight Christians and Muslims who were released after a few days.
According to EIPR report, at about four o’clock on the morning of December 16th, nearly thirty police officers, led by Captain Sherif Hossameddin, went into the homes of four Copts, named Nessim Zarif, Erian Abdo, Youssef Badri and Romani Badri. Two men were arrested, Zarif Awad, and Romany Badri, together with five women, and taken to the police station as hostages to force their relatives and acquaintances involved in the brawl to surrender.
The witnesses present at the time of arrest said that the officer in question has taken off his shoe and hit one of those arrested on his face when he tried to object to the arrest of the women, before the officer ordering the arrest of his wife, saying, "bring your Madam wife, so we can have a party. I have a lot of detectives who have not returned to their homes for a long time", says the EIPR report.
At the police station the detainees were tortured for nearly three hours to extract confessions regarding the location of the weapons used in the brawl. According to concurring eyewitnesses’ statements, Captain Sherif Hossameddin personally has beaten, kicked and electrocuted women and men.
Then he ordered the suspension of two women, one of whom was seventy years old in the "Washer" (ie, tying hands and feet to a broad stick in a hanging position, as per photo) and used a leather scourge to flog them on the soles of their feet. He also touched the women in sensitive parts of their bodies in the presence of their tied male relatives and neighbors.
One of the detainees said that the Chief of Criminal Investigations brought his wife and his mother in front of him and said he would rape them, forcing the detainee to make false statements about the parties involved in the brawl.
Erian Abdo, one of the Coptic victims said : "They put a cloth over my eyes while Captain Sherif indecently assaulted my wife, then I told him that I will do what he wanted. He told me if I named two people who fired the shots, he would clear me and release my wife and mother. So I named my closest friends as culprits, Nasim Zarif and Youssef Badri, believing they would have a better understanding of my dilemma".
According to the testimony of victims the detainees were released approximately at 7am on December 16th, after three Copts surrendered themselves to the police, who in turn referred two of them, on charges of injury and possession of firearms. The prosecutor ordered the detention of the suspects for four days pending investigations, then the judge ordered their released on December 20th on bail.
The victims of torture immediately upon their release, sent telegrams to the Minister of Interior, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General of Benha North , accusing Captain Sherif Hossameddin of committing violations to the rights of the detainees already referred to, says the EIPR report.
Romani Badri, one of the detainees, wondered: "There has been more than 25 people involved in the brawl, the Captain took only two of the other Muslim party, and they have been sitting on their chairs in the police station watching what was happening to us".
It should be noted, that according to information received by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Attorney General has received several communications in the past against the same officer on violations committed by him since he took office as Chief of Criminal Investigations at Al-Khosous.