VZCZCXRO9268
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #3214 3101555
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 061555Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7391
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS CAIRO 003214
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
NSC STAFF FOR WATERS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV EG
SUBJECT: TWO EGYPTIAN POLICE OFFICERS CONVICTED OF TORTURE;
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS CALL FOR FURTHER STEPS
REF: 2006 CAIRO 7109
Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.
1. (SBU) The November 5 conviction of two Egyptian police
officers for the assault and sodomy of bus driver Imad
El-Kabir (reftel) has received wide coverage in the Egyptian
media. Judge Samir Abul Mati sentenced officers Islam Nabi
and Reda Fathi, of the Boulaq Dakrour (Giza) police station,
to three years in prison for the January 2006 attack on
Kabir. The officers apparently chose to document their
attack on Kabir by using a cell phone video camera. Although
they initially used the video in an effort to humiliate and
intimidate Kabir and his fellow bus drivers, the video clip
soon leaked. The online images, accompanied by Kabir's
anguished cries for mercy, created a media sensation in Egypt
and beyond with their graphic depiction of the attack.
2. (SBU) Egyptian and international human rights groups
have welcomed the conviction, and have called upon the GOE to
take comprehensive and firm measures to stamp out what they
say is a culture of police impunity. Our Egyptian human
rights contacts, while applauding the convictions, have also
noted that the three-year sentences were the minimum allowed
under the law. Both officers faced up to 15 years in prison
because of the brutal and sexual nature of the crime.
3. (SBU) The two police officers will remain in detention
pending their appeal of the conviction, which is expected to
take up to one year. According to several of our human
rights contacts, they remain troubled by the fact that the
police service has not yet formally discharged the convicted
officers from service.
RICCIARDONE