Egypt announces probe into torture claims

Egypt’s judiciary says it has launched an inquiry after Human Rights Watch accused security services of widespread torture of detainees in a probable “crime against humanity.”

The New York-based rights group said in a September report that security services in the North African country used torture as a “systematic practice” against suspected opponents of the government.

The prosecutor’s office says that counselor Nabil Sadik has ordered the appointment of a senior judicial official “to investigate the allegations mentioned” in the HRW report.

In a statement in English, it said the investigation, which began in late October, aimed to “rightfully stand on the truth and take the necessary legal measures.”

Since the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, rights groups have regularly denounced the regime of his successor President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over alleged abuses.

— AFP