20110519
press tv
Amnesty International has lashed out at trials of civilians before military courts in Egypt, saying the ruling army could fail to restore law and order.

“These courts flout international standards for fair trial, and are grossly unjust. The faith of many Egyptians in the criminal justice system is being sorely tested by military courts,” the rights group's website reported on Wednesday.

“Law and order cannot be restored with the summary trials and sentencing of hundreds of civilians,” the report added.

The rights group has, based on reports from detainees, found that the prisoners have been tortured by electric shocks.

Egyptian rights groups say the army has already tried more than 10,000 people before court-martials, the vast majority of them for criminal offences.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took power in February after 18 days of demonstrations led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's three-decade regime.

The disbandment of military courts was among the demands that motivated the Egyptians to rise up against the former regime.

Egyptians have since the revolution called on the ruling military to hand over power to a civilian rule.

Analysts say the continuation of military courts will ruin people's sacrifices that led to the revolution, signaling that the former regime's “machinery of repression” is still present.

An Egyptian government fact-finding panel finds that at least 846 people were killed and more than 6,400 people were injured in the country's historic revolution.