GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egyptian protesters breach ‘torture center,’ seize files

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Post/Spy Talk

07March2011 6:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Egyptian protesters breached a secret police compound in eastern Cairo on Saturday and carted boxes of files, according to rights activists and Egyptian media reports.

“Protesters entered the State Security Investigations (SSI) compound in Nasr City, a place they call the ‘torture center’ of Egypt, just before 7 p.m.,” Priyanka Motaparthy, a research fellow with U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, reported from the scene.

“They dragged out as many documents and materials as they could, to protect them from being destroyed,” Motaparthy added.

Army officers did nothing to stop them, she said.

“Protesters began gathering in front of the Nasr City compound around 4 p.m. and by 5:30, we observed a crowd of at least 250” persons gathered outside. “Just before 7, we found a side entrance, where army officers stood by as people entered.”

The invaders amassed “several large trash bags full of shredded paper, file folders still intact, computer hard drives, and a green metal safe,” Motaparthy reported.

Some protesters “wandered through the halls of the building, shouting ‘Where are the prisoners?’” she continued. “They were searching for the secret detention cells where political prisoners were held and often tortured. “ (read full report)

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