Egyptian military torturing protesters: Report

The Egyptian military has secretly detained thousands of anti-government protesters, tortured many of them, amid the stepped up uprising against embattled President Hosni Mubarak, media reports said.

The Egyptian army secretly arrested thousands of anti-government protestors over the past two weeks and tortured some of them, The Guardian reported. Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Cairo, told the UK daily that hundreds, and possibly thousands, of ordinary people had "disappeared" into military custody across the country for no more than carrying a political flyer, attending the demonstrations or even the way they look.

Journalists, human rights activists and lawyers were among the detainees, the report said. Some were accused of working for Hamas and Israel. Despite Vice President Suleiman's warning that government "can't bear mass protests for a long time," anti-Mubarak activists continue to demand his immediate resignation.

The military announced it will remain neutral after the protests erupted and said it will not open fire at protestors under any circumstances. However, human rights activists claim that the army has chosen to side with the Egyptian government and was involved in the disappearance and torture of many anti-regime protestors. Such abuses have for years been associated with the notorious State Security Intelligence (SSI)

but not the army,the report said.

Human rights groups told the newspaper that electric shocks were used against some of the detainees, which included journalists, human rights activists and lawyers. Some were held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and others in secret locations. The detainees said they have suffered extensive beatings and other abuses at the hands of the military. They also said they were accused of working for such foreign elements as Israel and Hamas.

Emboldened by workers' strike across Egypt, thousands of pro-democracy protesters today carried out massive rallies against the 82-year-old leader as they vowed to step up their 17-day revolt despite the government's warning that army could "intervene to control the country."

Egyptian labour unions went on a nationwide strike for the second consecutive day, giving a new dimension to the demonstrations in Cairo and other cities against the embattled President's 30-year autocratic regime. Thousands of protesters, who have been staging sit-ins on the Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the hub of the anti-government demonstrations in the heart of Cairo, refused to bow to the military pressure to "go home" and took out rallies against Mubarak as their movement entered the 17thday.