The United Nations passed an agreement against torture and other inhumane or degrading treatment. The agreement was approved on December 10th, 1984 and came into effect on June 26th 1987 as per provisions of article 27.

Egypt was one of the countries that signed this document. But it seems that Egypt does not respect any international charters and agreements signed let alone internal laws and conventions.

 
The first article of this agreement defines torture as any action resulting in sever physical or mental pain or torture, inflected in purpose on a person with the aim of extracting information, confession or as a punishment for an act committed or suspected of being perpetrated by that person. It also goes for acts of intimidation or attempts to compel a person into doing something for one reason or another whether the torturer is doing that in his official or non-official capacity. The resulting pain or torture might not be only direct but as a circumstantial effect as well.

 
This is what the first article stipulates which is not applicable to Egypt . Most confessions taken by police officers are extracted through direct torture; whether by officers themselves or their official or non-official assistants. This type pf torture is too well known in Egypt and to the Ministry of Interior which almost supervises such acts. Torture is totally organized and directly inflected on individuals. Article two of the agreement stipulates that all countries should take effective legislations and legal procedures to prevent torture acts in territories under their jurisdiction.

 
This what the UN says. But in Egypt , the Ministry of Interior supplies torture tools to police stations. The DA found a large number of sticks, clubs and other torture tools in one of the police stations. Policemen also take specialized training courses in torture. They are practice on detainees in jails as demonstrated in a video that shows a police academy student practicing torture over a citizen who brutally beaten in his neck.

In para 2 of the second article the convention states that it is prohibited to use any exceptional circumstances such as war, a threat of war, instability or any other public emergency status as an excuse for torture. In Egypt torture is practiced all the time not under marshal law only. Keep in mind that Egypt lives under marshal law since World War II and was suspended only for 17 years in different intervals. The last time this law was suspended was 26 years ago which means that Egypt is living a state of emergency for 26 years.

 
The fourth article of the same agreement states that all torture acts are considered crimes which is applicable to any person attempting to commit or involved into this crime and shall be tried under criminal law of the country that signed the agreement. Procedural law in Egypt allows torturers to evade the law. Under article 162 criminal lawsuits can be suspended: “Civil prosecution may appeal orders issued by investigation judge for lack of competence unless the rule is issued against a public servant or a police officer during his time of duty or because of his profession”. That is how torture victims are deprived of their rights to be compensated or to appeal should the crime take place while the officer was on duty….

 
An individual may surpass the DA to reach court rooms, but it is possible that the judge dismisses the case for lack of evidence as per article 154 of the penal procedure law that says: “If the investigation judge deems the incident not punishable under the law or due to insufficient evidences, he could dismiss the case.” Punishment can be evaded in case of difficulty to prove such a crime as the victims are usually tortured eye-folded, officers use false names and torture sometimes leaves no clear signs for forensic medical authorities to identify. 

 
In addition, forensic medicine records physical injuries only ignoring psychological ones despite the fact that they are more effective and devastating.

Article six of the agreement stipulates the necessity to have clear reasons for detention or arrest provided that the detention should be limited to a certain period necessary for indicting and completing the investigations.
 

In Egypt , a citizen was detained for two years. He was tortured during that period without knowing that he was illegally held.

 
" The whole story started in November 1995, when the prosecution authority decided to jail me for four days bending interrogations on charges of forging a birth certificate. The judge released me on LE 100 pail", Hanna said.
HE pointed that he should have been freed but Awseem police station referred him to the criminal investigation department in the morning of December 21st where I was held till dawn of December 23rd.

 
During that period, I was subjected to torture and they forged my signature on arrest warrant. The officer presented the false order issued by the prosecution authority. When I was referred to the prosecution officer, I was bleeding due to torture. When he discovered the fake arrest warrant, he felt that both the police officer and himself were in trouble. To protect himself, he wrote that the documents were referred to him only that morning. He admitted me to Imbaba public hospital for medication rather than having a medical report. 

 
"During interrogation, he got me to oath and thus considering me the wronged not the felon. Then he ordered investigations into the case, but I was taken to the roof of Awseem police station where I was kept there for two years from December 23rd 1995 till December 30th 1997. When I was released I discovered that I was held all that long time without the prosecution consent".

 
Most international conventions prohibited torture. The Egyptian constitution itself prohibited torture in one of its articles. In another article, mentioned above, it prevented suing the perpetrator should the judge rule against the case. But Egypt does not honour international conventions as long as, in its viewpoint, it was protecting the state or the ruling regime.