Egyptian Security Forces Detained 9 members of the Same Family When They Didn’t Find the Wanted Person

The Egyptian security forces detained 9 members of the same family when they didn’t find the wanted person. On July 17, 2016, the security forces stormed the house of Ashry Mohamed Ismail in a village in the Fayoum governorate and when they didn’t find him, they arrested instead 9 innocent family members.

Since the military coup in 2013 led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi against Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president, the Egyptian security forces have launched a massive crackdown on human rights.

Authorities have effectively banned protests, imprisoned tens of thousands—often after unfair trials—and outlawed the country’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hostage-taking, torture, enforced disappearance, and have been al-Sisi military regime’s tool to enforce pressure on people to surrender or confess a crime they didn’t commit. National Security officers commit torture and enforced disappearances, and many detainees have died in custody from mistreatment.

In its annual report, released last year, the quasi-governmental National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) stated that the “right to life witnessed horrible deterioration.” in Egypt.

Usually,  the police forces take members of the same family in what is known by victims and Egyptian lawyers as “hostage-taking,” to describe the arrest of family members for the purpose of forcing fugitive relatives to give