As reports of severe abuse by the military emerge fears of a military dictatorship are rising

The closer the referendum, the more the army adopts Mubarak-style measures:

As mentioned in a previous post, the army, in alleged cooperation with a bunch of approximately 500 thugs cleared Midan Tahrir last Wednesday, the 9^th of March. Rather than preventing the thugs from attacking the demonstrators, the army used (or had created intentionally?) this moment of confrontation to clear the Midan: they tore down tents and dispersed demonstrators who had been camping out in the middle island of the huge roundabout since Jan 25. Yet, the army didn't leave it at clearing the epicentre of the revolution from what it might have considered annoyingly persistent protesters, but arrested about 200 of them.

Many have since been in detention, the fact that among them are several artists who became famous in the revolution, helping to draw attention. From reports of those who have been released already it becomes clear that those still under arrest are not only facing to be put on trial before military courts but are very likely undergoing humiliating and inhuman treatment. Of those released from custody early, the singer Ramy Essam draw most attention in the last week. He uploaded a video on his website were he reported of his arrest, described the verbal and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of the army, and showed the torture marks on his back. You can watch his video on Youtube, but you'll have to set up an account first to confirm that you're an adult – obviously the video does contain some disturbing images...

Now, since yesterday other reports faced the light: in a press conference held by 20 protesters who had been arrested on Wednesday 9^th March and were released after several days in detention, the young women Samira Ibrahim Mohamed and Salma el-Hosseiny Gouda told of the horrible treatment they had undergone. The army officers tortured them by continuously teaser-ing them, sometimes even pouring water on them to make the electric shocks more intense. Above that the women were forced to undress and – all of that being filmed – have their virgnity checked, threatening that whomever was not a virgin would be accused of prostitution.

Afterwards a group moved from the journalists' syndicate where the the press conference hd been staged to the Egyptian museum at Midan Tahrir to protest for the release of those (around 150) people who were held by the military. And guess what, the military reacted by chasing the protesters through the streets of downtown, eventually arresting another five people.

An Egyptian friend of mine, who said he knew one of the girls arrested yesterday, even spoke of 11 fresh detainees. No matter the number: what is happening here is more than worrying. Especially if we bring the military's recent abuse of protesters together with the ban on demonstrations for Saturday, and the army's stance on the referendum and the timeline for elections, as outlined in my post „YES!? or NO!? Egypt facing its first referendum in "freedom". Seems someone is securing their influence here...

There are many rumours about deals between Salafis and the army being forged behind the scenes. Also fear of a military dictatorship is rising. As many Egyptian are reappraising the army's role and intentions now, the scenario of a potential clash between the people and the army also becomes more likely. Of course recent events in Lybia and Bahrain are fueling these fears.

In case you are interested in assumptions and speculations about what might be behind the army's actions and the MB's support for the amendments, you could have a look also at the most recent entry in a blog called „Amr Bassiouny".

Update: Just found a video of Salma alHosseyni Gouda's statement, with English subtitles (which to me seem to be fairly accurate). Brave girl to actually report on what happened rather than hide and be ashamed - not an easy thing in a society where many people if not a majority place the responsibility for all kinds of sexuality-related misconduct by default solely on the woman.