Human Rights Watch says website blocked in Egypt after torture report

CAIRO, Egypt – Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday, September 8, that Egypt blocked its website after it released a report on alleged torture by security services, joining a growing list of inaccessible sites in the country.

Users of at least two of Egypt’s internet service providers (ISPs) reported that they were unable to access the HRW website, although it could still be viewed through another ISP.

Egypt has blocked at least 429 websites including some belonging to media outlets and civil society groups since May, the Egyptian group Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression reported.

HRW said its website was blocked on Thursday, a day after it released its report on torture.

“Egyptian authorities keep insisting that any incidents of torture are isolated crimes by bad officers acting alone, but the Human Rights Watch report proves otherwise,” it quoted its deputy Middle East director Joe Stork as saying in a statement.

“Rather than address the routine abuses in Egypt, the authorities have blocked access to a report that documents what many Egyptians and others living there already know.”

Egypt’s foreign ministry had said the HRW report was based on “flimsy allegations” and accused the New York-based rights watchdog of defamation. – Rappler.com