Ahmed Shaaban went missing on Nov. 7 while on his way home from a wedding, and on Nov. 11 police dumped his bruised corpse into a canal near his neighborhood to give the impression that he committed suicide, Amnesty quoted his family as saying.
After Shaaban was detained, his family learned he had been picked up at a police checkpoint. They received an anonymous telephone call saying he was being tortured at Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber police station, Amnesty quoted them as saying.
It was not clear from Amnesty’s statement why the two might have been detained.
An Interior Ministry official denied the family’s account, saying Shaaban and a second man, Ahmed Farrag Labib, had been trying to steal a mobile telephone from a female student who called for help.
Passersby had grabbed Labib, but Shaaban got away, and his corpse was later found in a canal, the official said.
Amnesty said Labib was reported to be still in custody without access to family or lawyers.
“These disturbing allegations of enforced disappearance and death in custody, and possibly unlawful killing by police, must be immediately and fully investigated by an independent body,” Amnesty Director for the Middle East and North Africa Malcolm Smart said in a statement distributed by e-mail.
Human rights organizations have accused Egyptian police of frequent brutality against detainees.
In July, two policemen from the same police station went on trial charged with the illegal arrest and torture of anti-corruption activist Khaled Said, who died in their custody.
That case has become a rallying point for Egyptians who say security forces act with impunity under an emergency law allowing indefinite detention and curbs on anti-government activity. The government says the emergency law is aimed at dealing with drug and terrorism cases.
