Prominent Egyptian human rights activist says security forces beat him up
A leading human rights lawyer and activist said he was beaten up by Egyptian security forces, who doused him in paint and brandished weapons at bystanders who attempted to stop the attack.
Gamal Eid shared an image on social media of the aftermath of the alleged attack, showing his face covered in what appears to be red and yellow paint.
In the Facebook post, Eid said that up to a dozen people were involved in the attack on Sunday.
“Some were preventing me from moving, some were beating me, some dousing me with paint, some using their guns to threaten people wanting to help me so that nobody could help, some filming me — all under the command of the Pasha (man in charge) they were with,” he said.
He told CNN that the attack left him with cuts and bruises.
Eid said he filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. He also accused Egypt’s Ministry of Interior of the assault, saying this is the third time he has been targeted by them.
“The Ministry of the Interior is confident that it will not be held accountable, and that it is above the law,” he told CNN.
“The attacks are repeated and there is no punishment. I do not know if this will stop, but I know that as far as I’m able to speak, I will speak out and criticize because collusion is not among my choices.”
CNN has asked the ministry for a comment.
Second attack
Eid is the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANRHI). The Egyptian human rights organization said in a statement Sunday that the attack began when Eid was attempting to hail a taxi near his home on Sunday morning.
“As soon as he arrived at the corner, a number of security personnel and officers stepped out of three cars, knocked him to the ground and started beating him,” it wrote, adding that the cars did not have license plates.
As he lay on the ground, one of the officers “ordered them to take several pictures” of Eid “as they were pouring paint all over him and beating him as if they were documenting that they had carried out what they were asked to do,” ANRHI wrote.
This is the second attack on Eid since October, international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement Monday, adding that the first attack left Eid with “cracked ribs and other injuries.”
Weeks after the first attack, on October 30, “he received threatening calls and a text message saying ‘behave,'” HRW wrote.
“Repeated attacks against one of Egypt’s leading rights activists raises grave concerns about the possible involvement of Egypt’s leadership,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW, said in the statement.
Eid told CNN that he is one of around 30 Egyptian human rights activists that are banned from leaving the country.
“Independent human rights activists in Egypt have become hostages of the regime,” he said. “They refuse to let us travel or work inside. They want us silent, be assaulted and don’t open our (mouths) to complain.”
