Major reshuffle at Egypt interior ministry leaves critics unappeased

The reshuffle sees the creation of a human rights division, but has drawn criticism as officers associated with torture under Mubarak are promoted Egyptian Minister of Interior Ahmed Gamal El-Din announced on Monday a reshuffle within the ministry, affecting the security directorate and the minister's aides. The reshuffle covered nearly 100 leading positions in the ministry throughout the country including 100 major police generals and nine security directorates, including Gharbiya, Alexandria, North Sinai, Assiut, Aswan and Sohag. The minister has also created two new divisions within the ministry: a human rights section headed by Major-General Hussein Othman, the former ministerial aide for the West Delta zone, and a social communication sector headed by Major-General Abu Bakr Abdel Karim, the former secretary of the media and public relations department. The interior ministry has been subjected to criticism recently for committing human rights violations and abuses against citizens at police stations across the country, as reported by human rights organisations. Many activists have objected to some of the decisions made in the recent reshuffle, including the promotion of Khaled Ghorba, the former head of the security directorate in Alexandria who is also accused of supervising the torture of activists during the Mubarak era. Ghorba has been promoted to become the ministerial aide for the social security sector. From Ahramonline