US 'SENT DETAINEES TO EGYPT'

11.5.2005. 19:38:29

A new report by a leading human rights group says the United States and other countries have secretly sent dozens of Islamist detainees to Egypt, where they have most likely been tortured, in the past decade.

The 53-page report by Human Rights Watch said Egypt is the world's main recipient of detainees.

The report, titled Black Hole: The Fate of Islamists Rendered to Egypt, identifies 61 people who have been transferred into Egyptian custody since 1994.

However some experts quoted by the report say the actual number of people sent to Egypt is much higher, as such transfers usually occur in secret and without legal safeguards.

The report cites analysts, lawyers and Islamic activists who believe 150 to 200 detainees have been transferred since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Those transferred to Egypt, most of them Egyptians suspected of Islamist militancy, include people believed to offer useful intelligence for US authorities in Washington's war on terrorism.

Others mentioned in the report were two Yemenis transferred to Egypt, one to Yemen and another to US custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

"Egypt ... has been the country to which the greatest numbers of rendered suspects have been sent," said the report.

While most of the countries transferring detainees to Egypt are Arab or South Asian, Sweden and the US are also on the list.

"The person sent back to Egypt under these circumstances is almost surely going to be tortured," Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East director Joe Stork said.