Cairo, May 20 (ANI): New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused the Egyptian military of beating and torturing protesters arrested during anti-military demonstrations early this month.
The street clashes in Cairo that lasted three days, left nine civilians dead.
This was the latest in a string of deadly confrontations between the military and protesters in Egypt since a council of ruling generals took power 15 months ago.
In its violent crackdown on the May demonstrations outside the Defence Ministry, the military arrested over 300 people and referred them to military tribunals.
Human Rights Watch slammed the military's response to the protests, and said that people caught in the roundup and since released have given 'consistent accounts of torture and abuse during arrest and in detention'.
"The brutal beating of both men and women protesters shows that military officers have no sense of limits on what they can do," News24 quoted Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for group, as saying.
According to the report, the group also slammed soldiers who did nothing as apparent supporters of Egypt's military rulers opened fire on demonstrators.
The group claimed that days later, the military detained about 350 protesters as part of its crackdown on the protests and put them on trial before military tribunals.
At least 256 of those arrested remain in detention, it said. (ANI)