Cynthia Schneider, a former U.S.
ambassador to the Netherlands and a professor of diplomacy at Georgetown
University, and Khaled Abol Naga, an Egyptian actor and UNICEF goodwill
ambassador, "demand" in an article on CNN that Egypt’s military stop torturing
detainees. Excerpts below:
In a society where men value macho pride and unmarried women value virginity, it is courageous for young men and women who have been abused to go public about the torture and sexual violence that occur regularly to those who are held in detention. Moreover, some of the parents are also not afraid to speak out.
The ruling military council's widespread use of detention and trial appears unprecedented, even when measured against the time of Hosni Mubarak. The addition of abuse and torture all adds up to a zero-sum strategy of squashing dissent and consolidating power. By trapping civilian protesters inside the military system, the ruling military council completes the cycle of intimidation against Egyptian citizens.Image: Today's Google doodle
