Prison abuses flagged

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Egyptian security forces of torturing children in jails. In a 43-page report, HRW and Egyptian rights group Belady documented alleged abuses against 20 children between the ages of 12 and 17. They called on the US, France and other European countries to halt arms support to Egyptian security forces ‘until Egypt takes measurable steps to end the abuses and hold accountable those responsible’. ‘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. He added that the Egyptian authorities ‘act as though they are above all laws when it comes to children in detention'.