The Egyptian police force, in tandem with the National Security Agency has been accused of forced disappearances, torture of children. Human Rights Watch and Belady: An Island for Humanity in report which was released today claim that the legal system ignored the abuse.

The report titled “No one cared he was a child: Egyptian Security Forces’ Abuse of Children in Detention” claims 20 children aged 12-17 were arrested and abused by forces.

“The harrowing accounts of these children and their families reveal how Egypt’s machinery of repression has subjected children to grave abuses,” said Aya Hijazi, co-director of Belady.&nbsp;

“Egyptian authorities act as though they are above all laws when it comes to children in detention”, Hijazi added.

Based on the account mentioned on the Human Rights Watch website, 15 out of 20 children claim to have been tortured during interrogation. A child was also badly assaulted during the process.

<h6><img alt="pp" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="77a46e3b-cfeb-42c6-9627-f4e2fbce268c" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%285%29_28.jpg" /> 
A picture taken during a guided tour organised by Egypt's State Information Service on February 11, 2020, shows Egyptian policemen at the entrance of the Tora prison in the Egyptian capital Cairo | AFP 
 
&nbsp;</h6>

As many as seven children claim that they were tortured using sophisticated electricity driven tools like stun guns.

“Egyptian authorities act as though they are above all laws when it comes to children in detention”, Hijazi added.

Many children were tied with arms behind their backs which led to the dislocation of their shoulders. A 14-year-old boy claimed that his joints had be put back into place with manipulation from another prison, who is allegedly a doctor.

Many human rights abuses have been reported under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Even though most abuse was allegedly committed by the National Security Agency’s officers, the police and army have also been complicit.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://wionews.com/world/egypt-extends-state-of-emergency-to-three-years-275532" hreflang="en">Egypt extends state of emergency to three years</a>

“Children are describing being waterboarded and electrocuted on their tongues and genitals, and yet Egypt’s security forces are facing no consequences,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.&nbsp;

Many human rights abuses have been reported under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Even though most abuse was allegedly committed by the National Security Agency’s officers, the police and army have also been complicit.

“Governments that want to end these horrors should end support to Egyptian security services and condition any future agreements on there being real reforms”, Esveld added.

Even though children were put into detention, their families were not informed. Many of them were missing in action for over 13 months.&nbsp;

A child was given the death sentence, which is in direct violation of international human rights protocols in place. Additionally, three were indefinitely put in solitary confinement. When families tried to reach out to their kids, their requests were denied.

<img alt="p" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7671e0c9-e525-4f66-a949-68248371e340" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%286%29_30.jpg" />

Many narratives claim that there was not enough room for everybody to sleep, owing to which most kids slept in shifts.

A harrowing account released by Human Rights Watch suggests that kids were threatened were re-detention if they didn’t confess to the crime they were being held for.

According to Egyptian law, all detainees have to be presented in front of a prosecutor within 24 hours of taking them into custody. However, the authorities circumvented this law by claiming that the kids were “arrested”.

The law states that children cannot be tried before criminal courts, however, two kids were tried in military courts, which clearly disregards the law in place.

Under the 1996 Child Law and the subsequent amendments, special protection is accorded to children, and they cannot be detained and penalised along the same lines as adults.

A loophole in the Child Law enables officers to send children to criminal courts if their accomplices were adults, which is abused to prosecute children.

According to the human rights group, the allies of Egypt, including the US and many European countries need to end their support to the country in order for them to be held accountable for their trespassing.

(With inputs from the report released by Human Rights Watch)

The Egyptian police force, in tandem with the National Security Agency has been accused of forced disappearances, torture of children. Human Rights Watch and Belady: An Island for Humanity in report which was released today claim that the legal system ignored the abuse.

The Egyptian police force, in tandem with the National Security Agency has been accused of forced disappearances, torture of children. Human Rights Watch and Belady: An Island for Humanity in report which was released today claim that the legal system ignored the abuse. The report titled “No one cared he was a child: Egyptian Security Forces’ Abuse of Children in Detention” claims 20 children aged 12-17 were arrested and abused by forces. “The harrowing accounts of these children and their families reveal how Egypt’s machinery of repression has subjected children to grave abuses,” said Aya Hijazi, co-director of Belady. “Egyptian authorities act as though they are above all laws when it comes to children in detention”, Hijazi added. Based on the account mentioned on the Human Rights Watch website, 15 out of 20 children claim to have been tortured during interrogation. A child was also badly assaulted during the process. A picture taken during a guided tour organised by Egypt's State Information Service on February 11, 2020, shows Egyptian policemen at the entrance of the Tora prison in the Egyptian capital Cairo | AFP As many as seven children claim that they were tortured using sophisticated electricity driven tools like stun guns. “Egyptian authorities act as though they are above all laws when it comes to children in detention”, Hijazi added. Many children were tied with arms behind their backs which led to the dislocation of their shoulders. A 14-year-old boy claimed that his joints had be put back into place with manipulation from another prison, who is allegedly a doctor. Many human rights abuses have been reported under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Even though most abuse was allegedly committed by the National Security Agency’s officers, the police and army have also been complicit. Also read: Egypt extends state of emergency to three years “Children are describing being waterboarded and electrocuted on their tongues and genitals, and yet Egypt’s security forces are facing no consequences,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. Many human rights abuses have been reported under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Even though most abuse was allegedly committed by the National Security Agency’s officers, the police and army have also been complicit. “Governments that want to end these horrors should end support to Egyptian security services and condition any future agreements on there being real reforms”, Esveld added. Even though children were put into detention, their families were not informed. Many of them were missing in action for over 13 months. A child was given the death sentence, which is in direct violation of international human rights protocols in place. Additionally, three were indefinitely put in solitary confinement. When families tried to reach out to their kids, their requests were denied. Many narratives claim that there was not enough room for everybody to sleep, owing to which most kids slept in shifts. A harrowing account released by Human Rights Watch suggests that kids were threatened were re-detention if they didn’t confess to the crime they were being held for. According to Egyptian law, all detainees have to be presented in front of a prosecutor within 24 hours of taking them into custody. However, the authorities circumvented this law by claiming that the kids were “arrested”. The law states that children cannot be tried before criminal courts, however, two kids were tried in military courts, which clearly disregards the law in place. Under the 1996 Child Law and the subsequent amendments, special protection is accorded to children, and they cannot be detained and penalised along the same lines as adults. A loophole in the Child Law enables officers to send children to criminal courts if their accomplices were adults, which is abused to prosecute children. According to the human rights group, the allies of Egypt, including the US and many European countries need to end their support to the country in order for them to be held accountable for their trespassing. (With inputs from the report released by Human Rights Watch)

Egyptian security forces allegedly torture, detain children in direct violation of law

A group of 117 doctors penned an open letter in a medical journal called The Lancet. The group of doctors have called for an end to what has been described as the psychological torture and medical neglect with Julian Assange in prison. Assange is currently facing 18 charges in America which includes planning to hack into a computer at the Pentagon

Doctors Warning: Julian Assange can 'die' in UK jail

A&nbsp;former&nbsp;employee of Britain's&nbsp;consulate&nbsp;in Hong Kong said Wednesday that&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;secret&nbsp;police&nbsp;tortured&nbsp;and interrogated&nbsp;him&nbsp;about London's role in protests in the semi-autonomous city.

Simon Cheng, a Hong Kong citizen, claimed he was shackled to a steel "tiger chair", hung spread-eagled on a "steep X-Cross" and beaten while he was detained for 15 days in August.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Cheng's allegations are credible and that the treatment "amounts to&nbsp;torture".

Raab told BBC radio that he summoned the&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;ambassador to denounce the "disgraceful" and "outrageous behaviour from the authorities in China" which violate international law.

Cheng was placed in administrative detention after visiting the neighbouring southern&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;city of Shenzhen in August.

He said in a statement on Facebook that he had taken a high-speed train to Hong Kong's West Kowloon station, where he was stopped by mainland&nbsp;police&nbsp;and sent back to Shenzhen.

Cheng said&nbsp;police&nbsp;tied&nbsp;him&nbsp;to a steel "tiger chair," accused&nbsp;him&nbsp;of being a British spy and forced to do "extreme strength exercise" for hours, beating&nbsp;him&nbsp;whenever he failed to complete it.

He was also shackled to an X-shaped frame that kept his hands aloft for "hours after hours," Cheng wrote.

"It felt extremely painful."

Cheng said he was asked if he knew anyone who worked for British intelligence agencies, what part he had played in protests and what he knew about mainland citizens who had joined the demonstrations.

China has repeatedly accused Washington and London of condoning violence in Hong Kong.

The&nbsp;former&nbsp;British colony was handed back to Beijing in 1997 under a 50-year agreement that gave Hong Kong special rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and an independent judiciary.

The protests started as&nbsp;a response to a now-scrapped extradition bill but has since expanded to include broader demands for democracy and investigations into&nbsp;police&nbsp;violence.

Chinese&nbsp;foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Wednesday said that Shenzhen&nbsp;police&nbsp;had "guaranteed" Cheng's "legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law."

Geng said that he was unaware of any statements from London on Cheng's situation, but that China expressed "strong indignation at the recent series mistakes and deeds of the British side on the Hong Kong issue."

Police&nbsp;in Shenzhen declined to comment on Cheng's statement when contacted by AFP.

Cheng said he had monitored&nbsp;the protests&nbsp;as part of his work at the British&nbsp;consulate&nbsp;in Hong Kong, "in order to evaluate travel alerts" and whether British citizens were involved.

Outside of work, he supported the movement and had joined the protests.

The longest round of interrogations by a team of&nbsp;police&nbsp;officers lasted 48 hours with no break, Cheng said.

Police&nbsp;expected Cheng to confess that the "UK&nbsp;instigates the riots in Hong Kong by donating money, materials and equipment," and that he was&nbsp;paying the bail for mainlanders arrested by Hong Kong&nbsp;police&nbsp;using money from the&nbsp;UK&nbsp;government, Cheng said.

Shenzhen&nbsp;police&nbsp;had said in August that Cheng was detained for "violating the law of the People's Republic of China on public safety management."

The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, said cited&nbsp;police&nbsp;as saying that Cheng had been held for "soliciting prostitutes".

Cheng said he felt he had no choice but to make a filmed confession to "soliciting prostitution," a charge that he said was offered by&nbsp;police&nbsp;as an alternative to "indefinite criminal detention."

Cheng said he was asked during his detention by&nbsp;police&nbsp;to provide information on members of protest-related Telegram chat groups.&nbsp;

Police&nbsp;also wanted to know why protesters were becoming increasingly violent by late summer, and challenged Cheng's belief in democracy, calling&nbsp;him&nbsp;a traitor to China.

He said he had complied with some of their demands and drawn up an "organisational chart" of one Telegram group.

Cheng was asked if he had safeguarded the "Lennon Wall" in Hong Kong's Jordan neighbourhood, where protesters had put up messages and posters, and shown a photograph of the wall.

"That photo is not from my mobile phone, I suspect they have eyes and ears for gathering information in Hong Kong," Cheng wrote.

Cheng said has resigned from the British&nbsp;consulate&nbsp;and fled to an unnamed third place and intends to seek asylum.

"I won't give up the fight for human rights, peace, freedom and democracy for the rest of my life, no matter the danger, discrimination and retaliation I will face, and no matter how my reputation will be stained," he wrote.

A former employee of Britain's consulate in Hong Kong said Wednesday that Chinese secret police tortured and interrogated him about London's role in protests in the semi-autonomous city.

A former employee of Britain's consulate in Hong Kong said Wednesday that Chinese secret police tortured and interrogated him about London's role in protests in the semi-autonomous city. Simon Cheng, a Hong Kong citizen, claimed he was shackled to a steel "tiger chair", hung spread-eagled on a "steep X-Cross" and beaten while he was detained for 15 days in August. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Cheng's allegations are credible and that the treatment "amounts to torture". Raab told BBC radio that he summoned the Chinese ambassador to denounce the "disgraceful" and "outrageous behaviour from the authorities in China" which violate international law. Cheng was placed in administrative detention after visiting the neighbouring southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in August. He said in a statement on Facebook that he had taken a high-speed train to Hong Kong's West Kowloon station, where he was stopped by mainland police and sent back to Shenzhen. Cheng said police tied him to a steel "tiger chair," accused him of being a British spy and forced to do "extreme strength exercise" for hours, beating him whenever he failed to complete it. He was also shackled to an X-shaped frame that kept his hands aloft for "hours after hours," Cheng wrote. "It felt extremely painful." Cheng said he was asked if he knew anyone who worked for British intelligence agencies, what part he had played in protests and what he knew about mainland citizens who had joined the demonstrations. China has repeatedly accused Washington and London of condoning violence in Hong Kong. The former British colony was handed back to Beijing in 1997 under a 50-year agreement that gave Hong Kong special rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and an independent judiciary. The protests started as a response to a now-scrapped extradition bill but has since expanded to include broader demands for democracy and investigations into police violence. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Wednesday said that Shenzhen police had "guaranteed" Cheng's "legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law." Geng said that he was unaware of any statements from London on Cheng's situation, but that China expressed "strong indignation at the recent series mistakes and deeds of the British side on the Hong Kong issue." Police in Shenzhen declined to comment on Cheng's statement when contacted by AFP. Cheng said he had monitored the protests as part of his work at the British consulate in Hong Kong, "in order to evaluate travel alerts" and whether British citizens were involved. Outside of work, he supported the movement and had joined the protests. The longest round of interrogations by a team of police officers lasted 48 hours with no break, Cheng said. Police expected Cheng to confess that the "UK instigates the riots in Hong Kong by donating money, materials and equipment," and that he was paying the bail for mainlanders arrested by Hong Kong police using money from the UK government, Cheng said. Shenzhen police had said in August that Cheng was detained for "violating the law of the People's Republic of China on public safety management." The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, said cited police as saying that Cheng had been held for "soliciting prostitutes". Cheng said he felt he had no choice but to make a filmed confession to "soliciting prostitution," a charge that he said was offered by police as an alternative to "indefinite criminal detention." Cheng said he was asked during his detention by police to provide information on members of protest-related Telegram chat groups. Police also wanted to know why protesters were becoming increasingly violent by late summer, and challenged Cheng's belief in democracy, calling him a traitor to China. He said he had complied with some of their demands and drawn up an "organisational chart" of one Telegram group. Cheng was asked if he had safeguarded the "Lennon Wall" in Hong Kong's Jordan neighbourhood, where protesters had put up messages and posters, and shown a photograph of the wall. "That photo is not from my mobile phone, I suspect they have eyes and ears for gathering information in Hong Kong," Cheng wrote. Cheng said has resigned from the British consulate and fled to an unnamed third place and intends to seek asylum. "I won't give up the fight for human rights, peace, freedom and democracy for the rest of my life, no matter the danger, discrimination and retaliation I will face, and no matter how my reputation will be stained," he wrote.

Former United Kingdom consulate worker says Chinese police tortured him

Grief, fear, and anger have enveloped the town of Chunian in Pakistan's eastern, Punjab province after the bodies of three missing children were found in a district which has seen numerous cases of child abuse and abductions in recent years.

Police said on Monday that they had made twenty arrests as they investigated the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/2322-child-abuse-cases-reported-across-pakistan-in-the-first-six-months-report-162731">suspected murders and sexual assault of the boys</a>. The body of Muhammad Faizan had been found the previous week, a day after he went missing.

Faizan, 8, had failed to return home with his brother when the two went to nearby shops to buy snacks. His body and the remains of two more boys were later found on a deserted section of an industrial estate.

"The animal brutalized my child. I cannot bear this. I want justice," Faizan's mother, Amtal Salam said.

Local media reported three other children from the area have been missing since the middle of the year and another child had disappeared late last week after the bodies were found.

Videos of hundreds of local children being sexually assaulted were found circulating in 2015, which a senior child protection official at the time called the largest child abuse scandal in Pakistan's history.

Last year, the body of a 7-year-old girl was found in a garbage dumpster, which police said was the twelfth incident of a girl being abducted, raped and killed in the district in a year, and sparked violent protests. A man was convicted of committing the murder and was executed.

Hundreds more protested last week, blocking off streets and damaging shops.

Families in the area are fearful of the welfare and safety of their <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/for-the-first-time-in-pakistans-history-court-convicts-man-over-child-pornography--133299">children</a>.

"Now the children are afraid to go to the mosques, they are afraid to go to school. Announcements have been made that parents should escort their children to school," said Shehnaz Bibi, a housewife from a neighbouring village.

Police are continuing to investigate the suspected murders and disappearances and are also looking into the possibility of a serial killer.

Grief, fear, and anger have enveloped the town of Chunian in Pakistan's eastern, Punjab province after the bodies of three missing children were found in a district which has seen numerous cases of child abuse and abductions in recent years.

Grief, fear, and anger have enveloped the town of Chunian in Pakistan's eastern, Punjab province after the bodies of three missing children were found in a district which has seen numerous cases of child abuse and abductions in recent years. Police said on Monday that they had made twenty arrests as they investigated the suspected murders and sexual assault of the boys. The body of Muhammad Faizan had been found the previous week, a day after he went missing. Faizan, 8, had failed to return home with his brother when the two went to nearby shops to buy snacks. His body and the remains of two more boys were later found on a deserted section of an industrial estate. "The animal brutalized my child. I cannot bear this. I want justice," Faizan's mother, Amtal Salam said. Local media reported three other children from the area have been missing since the middle of the year and another child had disappeared late last week after the bodies were found. Videos of hundreds of local children being sexually assaulted were found circulating in 2015, which a senior child protection official at the time called the largest child abuse scandal in Pakistan's history. Last year, the body of a 7-year-old girl was found in a garbage dumpster, which police said was the twelfth incident of a girl being abducted, raped and killed in the district in a year, and sparked violent protests. A man was convicted of committing the murder and was executed. Hundreds more protested last week, blocking off streets and damaging shops. Families in the area are fearful of the welfare and safety of their children. "Now the children are afraid to go to the mosques, they are afraid to go to school. Announcements have been made that parents should escort their children to school," said Shehnaz Bibi, a housewife from a neighbouring village. Police are continuing to investigate the suspected murders and disappearances and are also looking into the possibility of a serial killer.

Pakistani town grapples with child abuse and abduction

Paramilitary men beat and tortured to death a civilian in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, a doctors committee linked to the country's protest movement said Tuesday.

The civilian died on Monday in El-Daen, in East Darfur state, after members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed with youths accused of stealing mobile phones, the committee said on its Facebook page.

"Members from Al-Janjaweed (RSF) militia beat and tortured a number of youths... on allegations that the youths had stolen a mobile phone," it said.

"One youth passed away due to torture by Al-Janjaweed," it said, referring to the RSF which has its origins in the militia that fought ethnic African rebels in Darfur during a civil war that broke out in 2003.

Witnesses contacted by telephone backed up the account of the doctors committee.

Two witnesses said an RSF unit arrested five youths -- accusing them of stealing mobile phones from their base -- and took them outside town, where they tortured them and abandoned them on the streets.

One of the victims allegedly died, they said.

After the victim was buried, town residents converged on the RSF base and torched it, while other RSF personnel arrested the unit responsible, the two witnesses said.

An RSF spokesman was unavailable for comment.

The doctors' committee alleged a total of six civilians have died over the past three days at the hands of the RSF, including four members of a family-run over by a vehicle driven by a paramilitary unit in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum.

Generals 'protect militias'

The sixth person was killed by gunfire in El-Souki, in the southeastern state of Sinnar, as residents protested against the RSF, demanding they leave town, according to the committee and witnesses.

"The continuation of the barbarity and tampering with civilians' safety daily by Janjaweed (RSF) militias, coupled with not holding them accountable under any law or code of ethics, prove that the Transitional Military Council protects these militias," the committee said.

The protest movement blamed the deaths in El-Souki and El-Daen on the security apparatus and the military council which has ruled Sudan since the ouster in April of longtime president Omar al-Bashir following months of anti-regime demonstrations.

"We hold the security authorities responsible for those killed in El-Daen and El-Souki," Ismail al-Taj, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association told reporters in Khartoum.

The SPA spearheaded protests against Bashir that broke out in December.

"We demand an independent investigation to identify those who committed these heinous crimes against citizens," Taj said, adding it was the responsibility of the military council to protect civilians during protests and rallies.

On Monday, scores of protesters demonstrated in parts of the capital, including at night, against the killing in El-Souki.

Protesters and rights groups accuse RSF personnel of having carried out a brutal raid on a protest camp outside military headquarters in Khartoum on June 3 that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded.

RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's military council, has portrayed the allegations as part of an attempt to distort the image of his paramilitary force.

Paramilitary men beat and tortured to death a civilian in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, a doctors committee linked to the country's protest movement said Tuesday.

Paramilitary men beat and tortured to death a civilian in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, a doctors committee linked to the country's protest movement said Tuesday. The civilian died on Monday in El-Daen, in East Darfur state, after members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed with youths accused of stealing mobile phones, the committee said on its Facebook page. "Members from Al-Janjaweed (RSF) militia beat and tortured a number of youths... on allegations that the youths had stolen a mobile phone," it said. "One youth passed away due to torture by Al-Janjaweed," it said, referring to the RSF which has its origins in the militia that fought ethnic African rebels in Darfur during a civil war that broke out in 2003. Witnesses contacted by telephone backed up the account of the doctors committee. Two witnesses said an RSF unit arrested five youths -- accusing them of stealing mobile phones from their base -- and took them outside town, where they tortured them and abandoned them on the streets. One of the victims allegedly died, they said. After the victim was buried, town residents converged on the RSF base and torched it, while other RSF personnel arrested the unit responsible, the two witnesses said. An RSF spokesman was unavailable for comment. The doctors' committee alleged a total of six civilians have died over the past three days at the hands of the RSF, including four members of a family-run over by a vehicle driven by a paramilitary unit in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum. Generals 'protect militias' The sixth person was killed by gunfire in El-Souki, in the southeastern state of Sinnar, as residents protested against the RSF, demanding they leave town, according to the committee and witnesses. "The continuation of the barbarity and tampering with civilians' safety daily by Janjaweed (RSF) militias, coupled with not holding them accountable under any law or code of ethics, prove that the Transitional Military Council protects these militias," the committee said. The protest movement blamed the deaths in El-Souki and El-Daen on the security apparatus and the military council which has ruled Sudan since the ouster in April of longtime president Omar al-Bashir following months of anti-regime demonstrations. "We hold the security authorities responsible for those killed in El-Daen and El-Souki," Ismail al-Taj, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association told reporters in Khartoum. The SPA spearheaded protests against Bashir that broke out in December. "We demand an independent investigation to identify those who committed these heinous crimes against citizens," Taj said, adding it was the responsibility of the military council to protect civilians during protests and rallies. On Monday, scores of protesters demonstrated in parts of the capital, including at night, against the killing in El-Souki. Protesters and rights groups accuse RSF personnel of having carried out a brutal raid on a protest camp outside military headquarters in Khartoum on June 3 that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded. RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy chief of Sudan's military council, has portrayed the allegations as part of an attempt to distort the image of his paramilitary force.

Sudan paramilitaries 'torture' civilian to death: Doctors

A woman has sought police help via a video posted on Twitter against alleged torture by her husband, an automobile businessman. In the video posted on Twitter by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, the woman, a Khar resident, is seen weeping and asking for help.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Cry of a women goes unheard with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KharPoliceStation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KharPoliceStation</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/MumbaiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MumbaiPolice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CPMumbaiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CPMumbaiPolice</a>. Please do the needful immediately before something untoward happens. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BetibachaoBetiPadao?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BetibachaoBetiPadao</a>. <a href="https://t.co/9DK5Bn1nJz">pic.twitter.com/9DK5Bn1nJz</a>
&mdash; Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashokepandit/status/960028253279965184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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I have been &ldquo;tortured&rdquo; both mentally and physically by my husband. He has been &ldquo;torturing me&rdquo; for several years. I have been in the relationship just for the betterment of my children. But this man refuses to do the needful for my living, the woman said in the video.

&ldquo;Kindly help me, because this man will torture me mentally and end up my life. If I don&rsquo;t get justice I will end up tomorrow in the streets of Khar. Please give me justice,&rdquo; the woman said in the video.

A senior police official said the woman and her husband had a domestic dispute.

&ldquo;The couple has three children and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar. While the husband and two kids stay on the eleventh floor, the woman along with their daughter stay on the 12th floor,&rdquo; the officer said.

He said the woman has recently registered two cases against her husband.

&ldquo;One case was registered for house breaking, while another for criminal intimidation,&rdquo; he said, adding police is probing the matter and whatever action is needed will be taken.

In the video posted on Twitter by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, the woman, a Khar resident, is seen weeping for "help and justice"

A woman has sought police help via a video posted on Twitter against alleged torture by her husband, an automobile businessman. In the video posted on Twitter by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, the woman, a Khar resident, is seen weeping and asking for help. Cry of a women goes unheard with #KharPoliceStation. @MumbaiPolice @CPMumbaiPolice. Please do the needful immediately before something untoward happens. #BetibachaoBetiPadao. pic.twitter.com/9DK5Bn1nJz — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 4, 2018 × I have been “tortured” both mentally and physically by my husband. He has been “torturing me” for several years. I have been in the relationship just for the betterment of my children. But this man refuses to do the needful for my living, the woman said in the video. “Kindly help me, because this man will torture me mentally and end up my life. If I don’t get justice I will end up tomorrow in the streets of Khar. Please give me justice,” the woman said in the video. A senior police official said the woman and her husband had a domestic dispute. “The couple has three children and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar. While the husband and two kids stay on the eleventh floor, the woman along with their daughter stay on the 12th floor,” the officer said. He said the woman has recently registered two cases against her husband. “One case was registered for house breaking, while another for criminal intimidation,” he said, adding police is probing the matter and whatever action is needed will be taken.

Mumbai woman alleges torture in video, seeks help from police through Twitter

Indian filmmaker and social activist Ashoke Pandit shared a video on Twitter of a woman seeking help from Mumbai police against alleged torture by her husband.

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Cry of a women goes unheard with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KharPoliceStation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KharPoliceStation</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/MumbaiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MumbaiPolice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CPMumbaiPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CPMumbaiPolice</a>. Please do the needful immediately before something untoward happens. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BetibachaoBetiPadao?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BetibachaoBetiPadao</a>. <a href="https://t.co/9DK5Bn1nJz">pic.twitter.com/9DK5Bn1nJz</a>
&mdash; Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashokepandit/status/960028253279965184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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According to reports the husband of the woman is an automobile businessman, and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar, Mumbai.

The police have responded to the appeal and said that they would take necessary action after investigating the matter.

The woman in the video alleged that she has been tortured by her husband for the past several years and he was having an extramarital affair; she said that she was tolerating and cohabiting with him for the sake of her children.

She also said that she had filed an FIR with the Khar police but no action has been taken so far.

&quot;Kindly help me, because this man tortures me mentally and end up my life. If I don&#39;t get justice I will end up tomorrow on the streets of Khar. Please give me justice (Sic),&quot; the woman purportedly said in the video.

A senior police official said the woman and her husband were having some domestic dispute.

Police are&nbsp;probing the matter, the police officer said.

According to reports the husband of the woman is an automobile businessman, and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar, Mumbai

Indian filmmaker and social activist Ashoke Pandit shared a video on Twitter of a woman seeking help from Mumbai police against alleged torture by her husband. Cry of a women goes unheard with #KharPoliceStation. @MumbaiPolice @CPMumbaiPolice. Please do the needful immediately before something untoward happens. #BetibachaoBetiPadao. pic.twitter.com/9DK5Bn1nJz — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 4, 2018 × According to reports the husband of the woman is an automobile businessman, and stay in a duplex apartment in Khar, Mumbai. The police have responded to the appeal and said that they would take necessary action after investigating the matter. The woman in the video alleged that she has been tortured by her husband for the past several years and he was having an extramarital affair; she said that she was tolerating and cohabiting with him for the sake of her children. She also said that she had filed an FIR with the Khar police but no action has been taken so far. "Kindly help me, because this man tortures me mentally and end up my life. If I don't get justice I will end up tomorrow on the streets of Khar. Please give me justice (Sic)," the woman purportedly said in the video. A senior police official said the woman and her husband were having some domestic dispute. Police are probing the matter, the police officer said.

Video: Mumbai woman seeks police help against husband's torture through Twitter

Last week, 50 Sri Lankan Tamil men used an&nbsp; international news agency to make a damning accusation: that they were raped and tortured by Sri Lankan authorities on suspicion of being members of the separatist terror group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), against whom Sri Lanka fought a&nbsp;bloody, 30-year-long civil war. By the time the war ended, more than 120,000 people had been killed. But the conflict ended in 2009. These men say they were tortured in 2016.&nbsp;Why did they wait so long to speak up?&nbsp;British parliamentarian Lord Naseby knows Sri Lanka intimately, having been associated with it for 45 years. He heads a parliamentarian group supportive of Sri Lanka in England&#39;s House of Lords.&nbsp;And he spoke to WION in an exclusive about the latest charges and possible motives.

Sri Lanka&rsquo;s long civil war has been marked by the frequent surfacing of fake videos and doctored evidence, more often than not, at the hands of sections of the very powerful global Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, who supported, armed and financed the terror group LTTE.&nbsp;The network is so powerful and well-connected that they gathered several media concerns and NGOs as supporters of their cause along the way.&nbsp;

Sri Lanka has been under sustained fire for alleged human rights violations during the long war. Like in any conflict in the world, excesses were not unknown. However, why would a country already under international scrutiny, torture prisoners seven years after the end of the war? <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/un-fudged-sri-lanka-war-casualty-figures-uk-parliamentarian-says-citing-classified-files-24164" target="_blank">Lord Naseby&rsquo;s earlier revelation</a> based on confidential reports had already caused a sensation in the House of Lords. He had accessed confidential reports from the UK Defence Attache in Sri Lanka, figures cited by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN spokesperson and by the US ambassador to Sri Lanka &ndash; all during 2009, the last year of war. They revealed that the casualty figures of the last phase of the war had been mysteriously altered and upped seven-fold by the United Nations. From an accepted estimate of a total of 5000-7000 deaths which included troops, LTTE cadres and civilians, the UN &ndash; ostensibly under pressure from pro-LTTE lobby groups &ndash; had hiked the figure up to 40,000. Lord Naseby&rsquo;s remarks to WION&rsquo;s Mandy Clark in London on the latest torture allegations are no less revealing.&nbsp;

&ldquo;This report is quite interesting because we are now nearly at the end of 2017. So one wonders why it&rsquo;s taken so long to come out?&quot; asks Lord Naseby. &ldquo;Of course, if there was torture of that nature, then it&rsquo;s entirely unacceptable.&nbsp; However, I have observed two things. Firstly, we had the case of an asylum-seeker here in the UK just some months ago. He had similar burns on his arms and back. But the conclusion of the Appeals judge was, that these wounds had been self-inflicted. And that he must have had some help to do it.&nbsp; And besides, the injuries are far too clearly defined for them to have been done by anybody who was roughing somebody up.&nbsp;

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&quot;The Appeals judge had rejected the case mentioned by Lord Naseby in April 2017, calling the injuries &lsquo;self-inflicted by proxy&rsquo;. Rumors of several unscrupulous doctors in the UK offering their services to Sri Lankan Tamils and other asylum-seekers to mutilate them under anaesthesia refuse to die down too. But WION correspondent Clark asked the British MP what made him confident that the latest report was a sham.&nbsp; &nbsp;

&ldquo;I go to Sri Lanka about once a year,&rsquo;&rsquo;&nbsp;explained Lord Naseby.&quot; &quot;And I make it a particular point to see the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) there. I do so in their headquarters and I meet nobody there other than the head of the ICRC. I have asked them three times now:&nbsp;have you, the ICRC, who have access, to all the prisons including the high-security ones, immigration areas, police stations, are in all the prisons, also the high-security prisons ever come across torture as defined under the Geneva Convention in any form or other, this previous year?&nbsp; And the answer has been: &lsquo;No we have not. We&rsquo;ve come across some heavy handling but nothing of what these men are alleging.&rdquo;

Lord Naseby points to &ldquo;heavy handling&quot; all over the world, referring to Guantanamo Bay, the US high-security prison for terrorists. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe there is anything of that nature being done in Sri Lanka. Sure, there may be the odd case but &ndash; I&rsquo;d like to see the real evidence from these particular young men who have made the charge.&rdquo;

The controversial film of the men alleging torture does not present the credentials of the medical professionals who must have examined the wounds to determine how they were inflicted. But it begs the question: can doctors really tell by looking at a wound whether it was violently inflicted by a third party, or clinically inflicted in agreement with the &quot;patient&quot;?&nbsp; No, says Lord Naseby, citing his own wife, a doctor. But the politician says he can understand the motives behind such acts.

&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a very great temptation for people desperate to stay in the West, to self-inflict, &ldquo; he says. &ldquo;People like to come to the UK because they can have a better life here. And whether these men were LTTE supporters or not, is of no concern to me. But if I were one, I too would be really tempted to try and stay. And if you&rsquo;re a former LTTE, what are a few burns on your body if you can get asylum through that mechanism? It would be a small price to pay.

Lord Naseby&rsquo;s main contention is that the ICRC is a neutral body with no political affiliations and nothing to hide. The strength and robustness of Colombo&rsquo;s response, too, gives the British MP the clear indication that the torture may not have happened.&nbsp; &nbsp;For now, he is not going to pursue the investigation of the latest charges, preoccupied as he is with compiling more evidence on the fudged casualty figures, to present a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. But, if the charges made by the 50 men are also proven false, they will add fuel to the huge fire Lord Naseby&rsquo;s revelations on Sri Lanka will ignite, both in the House of Lords and in Colombo&rsquo;s parliament, thousands of kilometres away.

50 Sri Lankan Tamil men had said last week that they were raped and tortured by Lankan authorities on the suspicion of being members of the LTTE -- seven years after the end of the civil war

Last week, 50 Sri Lankan Tamil men used an international news agency to make a damning accusation: that they were raped and tortured by Sri Lankan authorities on suspicion of being members of the separatist terror group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), against whom Sri Lanka fought a bloody, 30-year-long civil war. By the time the war ended, more than 120,000 people had been killed. But the conflict ended in 2009. These men say they were tortured in 2016. Why did they wait so long to speak up? British parliamentarian Lord Naseby knows Sri Lanka intimately, having been associated with it for 45 years. He heads a parliamentarian group supportive of Sri Lanka in England's House of Lords. And he spoke to WION in an exclusive about the latest charges and possible motives. Sri Lanka’s long civil war has been marked by the frequent surfacing of fake videos and doctored evidence, more often than not, at the hands of sections of the very powerful global Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, who supported, armed and financed the terror group LTTE. The network is so powerful and well-connected that they gathered several media concerns and NGOs as supporters of their cause along the way. Sri Lanka has been under sustained fire for alleged human rights violations during the long war. Like in any conflict in the world, excesses were not unknown. However, why would a country already under international scrutiny, torture prisoners seven years after the end of the war? Lord Naseby’s earlier revelation based on confidential reports had already caused a sensation in the House of Lords. He had accessed confidential reports from the UK Defence Attache in Sri Lanka, figures cited by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN spokesperson and by the US ambassador to Sri Lanka – all during 2009, the last year of war. They revealed that the casualty figures of the last phase of the war had been mysteriously altered and upped seven-fold by the United Nations. From an accepted estimate of a total of 5000-7000 deaths which included troops, LTTE cadres and civilians, the UN – ostensibly under pressure from pro-LTTE lobby groups – had hiked the figure up to 40,000. Lord Naseby’s remarks to WION’s Mandy Clark in London on the latest torture allegations are no less revealing. “This report is quite interesting because we are now nearly at the end of 2017. So one wonders why it’s taken so long to come out?" asks Lord Naseby. “Of course, if there was torture of that nature, then it’s entirely unacceptable. However, I have observed two things. Firstly, we had the case of an asylum-seeker here in the UK just some months ago. He had similar burns on his arms and back. But the conclusion of the Appeals judge was, that these wounds had been self-inflicted. And that he must have had some help to do it. And besides, the injuries are far too clearly defined for them to have been done by anybody who was roughing somebody up. × "The Appeals judge had rejected the case mentioned by Lord Naseby in April 2017, calling the injuries ‘self-inflicted by proxy’. Rumors of several unscrupulous doctors in the UK offering their services to Sri Lankan Tamils and other asylum-seekers to mutilate them under anaesthesia refuse to die down too. But WION correspondent Clark asked the British MP what made him confident that the latest report was a sham. “I go to Sri Lanka about once a year,’’ explained Lord Naseby." "And I make it a particular point to see the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) there. I do so in their headquarters and I meet nobody there other than the head of the ICRC. I have asked them three times now: have you, the ICRC, who have access, to all the prisons including the high-security ones, immigration areas, police stations, are in all the prisons, also the high-security prisons ever come across torture as defined under the Geneva Convention in any form or other, this previous year? And the answer has been: ‘No we have not. We’ve come across some heavy handling but nothing of what these men are alleging.” Lord Naseby points to “heavy handling" all over the world, referring to Guantanamo Bay, the US high-security prison for terrorists. “I don’t believe there is anything of that nature being done in Sri Lanka. Sure, there may be the odd case but – I’d like to see the real evidence from these particular young men who have made the charge.” The controversial film of the men alleging torture does not present the credentials of the medical professionals who must have examined the wounds to determine how they were inflicted. But it begs the question: can doctors really tell by looking at a wound whether it was violently inflicted by a third party, or clinically inflicted in agreement with the "patient"? No, says Lord Naseby, citing his own wife, a doctor. But the politician says he can understand the motives behind such acts. ”It’s a very great temptation for people desperate to stay in the West, to self-inflict, “ he says. “People like to come to the UK because they can have a better life here. And whether these men were LTTE supporters or not, is of no concern to me. But if I were one, I too would be really tempted to try and stay. And if you’re a former LTTE, what are a few burns on your body if you can get asylum through that mechanism? It would be a small price to pay. Lord Naseby’s main contention is that the ICRC is a neutral body with no political affiliations and nothing to hide. The strength and robustness of Colombo’s response, too, gives the British MP the clear indication that the torture may not have happened. For now, he is not going to pursue the investigation of the latest charges, preoccupied as he is with compiling more evidence on the fudged casualty figures, to present a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. But, if the charges made by the 50 men are also proven false, they will add fuel to the huge fire Lord Naseby’s revelations on Sri Lanka will ignite, both in the House of Lords and in Colombo’s parliament, thousands of kilometres away.

Tamil torture wounds may have been self-inflicted: Lord Naseby

US&nbsp;President Donald Trump is expected to order a review that could lead to the reinstatement of a CIA program to hold terrorist suspects in secret overseas &quot;black site&quot; prisons that used interrogation techniques often condemned as torture, two US&nbsp;officials said on Wednesday.

The black sites were used to detain suspects who were captured in the &quot;war on terrorism&quot; launched by former President George W&nbsp;Bush after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The now defunct program&#39;s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, which included simulated drowning known as &quot;water boarding&quot;, were criticised around the world. Former President Barack Obama and other senior US&nbsp;officials denounced water boarding as torture.

The officials said Trump is expected to issue an executive order in the next few days. It would call for a high-level review into &quot;whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States&nbsp;and whether the CIA should run the facilities,&quot; according to a copy of the draft published by the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/white-house-draft-order-calls-for-review-on-use-of-cia-black-sites-overseas/2017/01/25/e4318970-e310-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.e98a6f4272c5">Washington Post</a>.

&quot;There is widespread opposition in Congress, in US&nbsp;intelligence agencies and within the military to reopening black sites and revisiting the use of harsh interrogation techniques, according to the serving officers. I think this will be a step backward and I&#39;m not alone in thinking that, what he -- the path he&#39;s going down is wrong. It is not about our values as a country and don&#39;t ask me; just ask John McCain and others,&quot; said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.

&quot;The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America,&quot; Senator John McCain, a Republican, said in a statement.

Asked about the issues, Trump administration spokesman Sean Spicer said the draft was not a White House document.

The CIA black sites were located in Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Thailand and Afghanistan. In 2006, Bush ended the use of harsh interrogation techniques and closed all the blacks sites except for one in Kabul.

Trump&#39;s draft order also would authorise a review of interrogation techniques that US&nbsp;officials could use on terrorism suspects, and keep open the detention center at the US&nbsp;naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and send new prisoners there.

Trump vowed during the 2016 election campaign to resume water boarding and a &quot;hell of a lot worse&quot;.

The draft on the Washington Post web site says that, &quot;No person in the custody of the United States shall at any time be subjected to torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as proscribed by US&nbsp;law&quot;.

However, the Justice Department under Trump could issue an interpretation of US&nbsp;law that allows for the use of harsh interrogation techniques as occurred in the so-called &quot;Torture Memos&quot; drafted under the Bush administration in 2002 and subsequently withdrawn.

(Reuters)

Trump vowed during the 2016 election campaign to resume water boarding and a 'hell of a lot worse'

US President Donald Trump is expected to order a review that could lead to the reinstatement of a CIA program to hold terrorist suspects in secret overseas "black site" prisons that used interrogation techniques often condemned as torture, two US officials said on Wednesday. The black sites were used to detain suspects who were captured in the "war on terrorism" launched by former President George W Bush after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The now defunct program's Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, which included simulated drowning known as "water boarding", were criticised around the world. Former President Barack Obama and other senior US officials denounced water boarding as torture. The officials said Trump is expected to issue an executive order in the next few days. It would call for a high-level review into "whether to reinitiate a program of interrogation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether the CIA should run the facilities," according to a copy of the draft published by the Washington Post. "There is widespread opposition in Congress, in US intelligence agencies and within the military to reopening black sites and revisiting the use of harsh interrogation techniques, according to the serving officers. I think this will be a step backward and I'm not alone in thinking that, what he -- the path he's going down is wrong. It is not about our values as a country and don't ask me; just ask John McCain and others," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. "The President can sign whatever executive orders he likes. But the law is the law. We are not bringing back torture in the United States of America," Senator John McCain, a Republican, said in a statement. Asked about the issues, Trump administration spokesman Sean Spicer said the draft was not a White House document. The CIA black sites were located in Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Thailand and Afghanistan. In 2006, Bush ended the use of harsh interrogation techniques and closed all the blacks sites except for one in Kabul. Trump's draft order also would authorise a review of interrogation techniques that US officials could use on terrorism suspects, and keep open the detention center at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and send new prisoners there. Trump vowed during the 2016 election campaign to resume water boarding and a "hell of a lot worse". The draft on the Washington Post web site says that, "No person in the custody of the United States shall at any time be subjected to torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as proscribed by US law". However, the Justice Department under Trump could issue an interpretation of US law that allows for the use of harsh interrogation techniques as occurred in the so-called "Torture Memos" drafted under the Bush administration in 2002 and subsequently withdrawn. (Reuters)

Trump could reinstate CIA's secret 'black site' prisons: US officials

John McCain, the Arizona Senator and chairman of the armed services committee, said that regardless of what Donald Trump says, any attempt to bring back waterboarding,&nbsp;a form of torture that&nbsp;simulates drowning, would be challenged in court, the Guardian reports.

&quot;I don&#39;t give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard. We will not do it,&quot; McCain told a panel discussion at the Halifax international security forum, the Guardian reports.

McCain, who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, said extreme interrogation techniques, a euphemism for torture, are&nbsp;illegal under US law and under the Geneva conventions.&nbsp;

During the 2016 US election, Trump said that he would try to change the laws opposing waterboarding.

In a speech in <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/6/29/12058208/trump-waterboarding">Ohio</a>, he told the crowd waterboarding is &quot;peanuts&quot; compared to what terrorist organisations do. When he asked the crowd what they thought about it, they applauded, and he went on to descibe his feelings on waterboarding. &quot;I like it a lot. I don&#39;t think it&#39;s tough enough.

(WION)

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

'I don't give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do'

John McCain, the Arizona Senator and chairman of the armed services committee, said that regardless of what Donald Trump says, any attempt to bring back waterboarding, a form of torture that simulates drowning, would be challenged in court, the Guardian reports. "I don't give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard. We will not do it," McCain told a panel discussion at the Halifax international security forum, the Guardian reports. McCain, who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, said extreme interrogation techniques, a euphemism for torture, are illegal under US law and under the Geneva conventions. During the 2016 US election, Trump said that he would try to change the laws opposing waterboarding. In a speech in Ohio, he told the crowd waterboarding is "peanuts" compared to what terrorist organisations do. When he asked the crowd what they thought about it, they applauded, and he went on to descibe his feelings on waterboarding. "I like it a lot. I don't think it's tough enough. (WION)

John McCain says US will never waterboard under Trump

Thrown into jail for their political or religious views, Vietnam&#39;s prisoners of conscience are routinely tortured, beaten and kept from their families, Amnesty International said in a report published Tuesday. 
 
The rights group interviewed 18 prisoners of conscience who collectively spent over 77 years in prison for activism, questioning injustices in society or for their ethnicity and religious beliefs. 
 
In the report, &quot;Prisons within Prisons&quot;, those interviewed recount being beaten until they urinated blood, given electric shocks and confined in isolation without access to family members or a lawyer. 
 
One former prisoner of conscience told Amnesty he was beaten unconscious and left in a cell for four days without food. When he asked for food, officers prepared a bowl of rice for the dogs outside his cell, and then gave him what was left. 
 
&quot;On one occasion, pens were placed between his fingers and his hands were twisted around, causing excruciating pain. On another, the legs of a table were placed on his toes and police put all their body weight on the table resulting in unbearable pain and causing his toes to bleed,&quot; read the report. 
 
&quot;When his interrogators began electrocuting him and told him that his entire family, including his wife and child, would be arrested if he did not confess, he finally relented and agreed to plead guilty to the charges against him.&quot; 
 
The report accuses Vietnamese officials of using prisoners known as &quot;antennae&quot; who work with authorities and take part in torture and continue interrogations inside prison cells, in exchange for favourable treatment. 
 
Amnesty said in the most extreme case it heard, a Hoa Hoa Buddhist, Mai Thi Dung, had to share cramped cells with a series of different women who would question her about her activism at night, after she had endured up to 10 hours of interrogation by authorities. 
 
She was locked in a tiny room &quot;with no open windows or ventilation shafts resulting in such bad ventilation that it was difficult to breathe.&quot; 
 
On one occasion prison authorities &quot;presented her with a document for her to sign which guaranteed her conditions of detention in which she could move and breathe easily in exchange for a confession. She declined.&quot; 
 
Another prisoner said his &quot;antennae&quot; cellmate threatened to gouge his eyes out with a sharpened toothbrush handle unless he confessed to the charges against him. 
 
A female land rights activist, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, said when she was brought to trial 15 of her 17 defence witnesses were prevented from entering the courtroom. 
 
At the end of the trial she heard an intercom announcement &quot;calling the witnesses who had testified against her to collect the money they were promised to cover the costs of their travelling to the court to take part in the proceedings&quot;. 
 
Vietnam, a one-party state, is regularly denounced by rights groups and Western governments for its intolerance of political dissent and systematic violations of freedom of religion. 
 
(AFP)

The prisoners recount being beaten until they urinated blood, given electric shocks, and confined in isolation without access to lawyers

Thrown into jail for their political or religious views, Vietnam's prisoners of conscience are routinely tortured, beaten and kept from their families, Amnesty International said in a report published Tuesday. The rights group interviewed 18 prisoners of conscience who collectively spent over 77 years in prison for activism, questioning injustices in society or for their ethnicity and religious beliefs. In the report, "Prisons within Prisons", those interviewed recount being beaten until they urinated blood, given electric shocks and confined in isolation without access to family members or a lawyer. One former prisoner of conscience told Amnesty he was beaten unconscious and left in a cell for four days without food. When he asked for food, officers prepared a bowl of rice for the dogs outside his cell, and then gave him what was left. "On one occasion, pens were placed between his fingers and his hands were twisted around, causing excruciating pain. On another, the legs of a table were placed on his toes and police put all their body weight on the table resulting in unbearable pain and causing his toes to bleed," read the report. "When his interrogators began electrocuting him and told him that his entire family, including his wife and child, would be arrested if he did not confess, he finally relented and agreed to plead guilty to the charges against him." The report accuses Vietnamese officials of using prisoners known as "antennae" who work with authorities and take part in torture and continue interrogations inside prison cells, in exchange for favourable treatment. Amnesty said in the most extreme case it heard, a Hoa Hoa Buddhist, Mai Thi Dung, had to share cramped cells with a series of different women who would question her about her activism at night, after she had endured up to 10 hours of interrogation by authorities. She was locked in a tiny room "with no open windows or ventilation shafts resulting in such bad ventilation that it was difficult to breathe." On one occasion prison authorities "presented her with a document for her to sign which guaranteed her conditions of detention in which she could move and breathe easily in exchange for a confession. She declined." Another prisoner said his "antennae" cellmate threatened to gouge his eyes out with a sharpened toothbrush handle unless he confessed to the charges against him. A female land rights activist, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, said when she was brought to trial 15 of her 17 defence witnesses were prevented from entering the courtroom. At the end of the trial she heard an intercom announcement "calling the witnesses who had testified against her to collect the money they were promised to cover the costs of their travelling to the court to take part in the proceedings". Vietnam, a one-party state, is regularly denounced by rights groups and Western governments for its intolerance of political dissent and systematic violations of freedom of religion. (AFP)

Amnesty slams torture of Vietnam's prisoners of conscience

Police in Rio de Janeiro state, which hosts next month&#39;s Olympics, killed at least 645 people in the last year and 8,000 over the decade, a rights group said today. 
 
The grisly toll includes dozens of execution-style killings in addition to the lethal violence used during standard police work in the state, the report from Human Rights Watch said. 
 
The international rights group identified 64 cases in the last eight years in which Rio police allegedly tried to cover up extrajudicial killings of 116 people, including at least 24 minors. 
 
&quot;Killing criminals was a requirement from my superiors as a way of showing that we were performing well,&quot; one of 30 police officers interviewed for Human Rights Watch&#39;s study alleged. 
 
The officer, who like all the others spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of &nbsp;reprisals, said he had been stationed in one of Rio&#39;s most dangerous neighborhoods where he took part in operations against heavily armed drug traffickers. The strategy was to kill them as a way to reduce crime, he said. 
 
The officer, who is still on the force, was quoted as saying that some police would capture suspected drug traffickers and kill them, sometimes to gain status as killers and to boost their own extortion rackets. 
 
The pressure to play along makes honest policing difficult in Rio, according to the report, titled &#39;Good cops are afraid:&#39; The toll of unchecked police violence in Rio de Janeiro.&quot; 
 
&quot;Illegal executions by police colleagues turn an already dangerous job into something even more dangerous&quot; and stokes anger against the authorities, the report said. 
 
Rio state&#39;s prosecutor general, Marfan Martins Vieira, also told Human Rights Watch that a large proportion of shoot-outs reported by police are faked. 
 
However, he said that his office had only taken on &quot;a very small number&quot; of cases involving murder by police. 
 
Vieira accused the Civil Police, which investigates homicides, of not fulfilling its task, but Human Rights Watch says the ultimate responsibility lies with prosecutors and that they should be pursuing the culprits. 
 
Only eight of the 64 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch have gone to trial and only four of those resulted in prison terms for police. 
 
(AFP)

They killed 645 people last year, the grisly toll includes dozens of execution-style killings

Police in Rio de Janeiro state, which hosts next month's Olympics, killed at least 645 people in the last year and 8,000 over the decade, a rights group said today. The grisly toll includes dozens of execution-style killings in addition to the lethal violence used during standard police work in the state, the report from Human Rights Watch said. The international rights group identified 64 cases in the last eight years in which Rio police allegedly tried to cover up extrajudicial killings of 116 people, including at least 24 minors. "Killing criminals was a requirement from my superiors as a way of showing that we were performing well," one of 30 police officers interviewed for Human Rights Watch's study alleged. The officer, who like all the others spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said he had been stationed in one of Rio's most dangerous neighborhoods where he took part in operations against heavily armed drug traffickers. The strategy was to kill them as a way to reduce crime, he said. The officer, who is still on the force, was quoted as saying that some police would capture suspected drug traffickers and kill them, sometimes to gain status as killers and to boost their own extortion rackets. The pressure to play along makes honest policing difficult in Rio, according to the report, titled 'Good cops are afraid:' The toll of unchecked police violence in Rio de Janeiro." "Illegal executions by police colleagues turn an already dangerous job into something even more dangerous" and stokes anger against the authorities, the report said. Rio state's prosecutor general, Marfan Martins Vieira, also told Human Rights Watch that a large proportion of shoot-outs reported by police are faked. However, he said that his office had only taken on "a very small number" of cases involving murder by police. Vieira accused the Civil Police, which investigates homicides, of not fulfilling its task, but Human Rights Watch says the ultimate responsibility lies with prosecutors and that they should be pursuing the culprits. Only eight of the 64 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch have gone to trial and only four of those resulted in prison terms for police. (AFP)

Rio police kill, torture with impunity: Rights group

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