Egyptian Christians with heads shaved held in Benghazi (Photo: Maha Ellawati)
Libyan forces tortured around 100 Egyptian Copts for reportedly trying to convert Muslims. The Egyptian shaved the heads of the Copts, burned them with acid and shocked them.
The Daily News reported:
Around 100 Egyptian Copts have been detained and reportedly tortured by Libya’s Preventive Security forces in Benghazi on charges of illegal immigration.
The detainees are suspected of trying to convert Muslims after being found with Bibles, images of Christ, and the late Pope Shenuda of Egypt’s Coptic Christians. A Libyan security official reported to AFP that none of these items were “for personal use”.
The detained Copts were reportedly tortured by police forces in BouEita prison. Police forces used acid to burn tattooed crosses off their wrists, shaved their heads, and used electricity to torture the detainees whilst they were blindfolded, according to the head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Naguib Gabriel.
Gabriel denied that the Egyptians detained had been proselytising in Libya, saying that even if this was true, no law in Libya or Egypt prohibits it.
He added that such cases of torture constitute international crimes committed by the Libyan Government who “abuses the Libyan Revolution”.
