Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Torture, asking him to intervene with the Egyptian authorities with the goal of opening an impartial inquiry into the allegations of torture. Such an investigation is in accordance with article 12 of the Convention against Torture, to identify those responsible, bring them before justice, and punish them if found guilty.

The following men were secretly detained and torture:

1. Mr. Mohamed Al Said Abdelghany, 35 years old, father of three, employed at Talkha electricity company, a resident of Al-Mansoura, Daqahliya governorate.

2. Mr. Ahmed Abdeh Mghawry, 30 years old, father of two, Imam, a resident of Al-Mansoura, Daqahliya governorate.

3. Mr. Ramy Mohamed Maghawry, 27 years old, father of three, neurologist at Dumirah hospital, a resident of Al-Mansoura, Daqahliya governorate.

4. Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Abdelhamid, 32 years old, married, mechanical technician, a resident of Al-Mansoura, Daqahliya governorate.

5. Mr. Osama Fikri Mohamed Awadeen, 30 years old, father of three, IT teacher at Benin primary school, a resident of Al-Mansoura, Daqahliya governorate.

The aforementioned people were arrested on 15 July 2010 at their respective homes by SSI agents acting without a warrant and without informing them of the reason for their arrest. This arrest was ordered on the same day by the Ministry of the Interior under the State of Emergency law.

The five men have continued to be detained in SSI's Nasr City headquarters in secret detention and without any contact with the outside world. During their detention period, they have suffered serious acts of torture at the hands of the SSI to force them to confess to belonging to a banned movement with the goal of overthrowing the government.

Among other things, they were forced to remain standing for many days and prevented from sleeping. They were regularly savagely beaten on every part of their body and on many occasions were given electric shocks on sensitive parts of their bodies.

These acts of torture have also been confirmed by many of their former co-detainees in SSI's Nasr City headquarters sites, who described in detail the ill-treatment they experienced and reported that a near-majority of detainees underwent similar torture.

Alkarama fears that they will be heavily punished solely on the basis of declarations obtained under torture in order to justify their prosecution.

These practices are widespread in Egypt, and tend to perpetuate themselves notably because of the near-total impunity guaranteed by the public authorities to those who commit these crimes.