Egyptian General Admits Troops Carried Out "Virginity Checks"

Activists in Egypt Press for Investigation into ‘Virginity Check’ Allegations

31 May 2011 VOA News Activists and rights groups are calling on Egypt's military rulers to investigate accusations that soldiers subjected detained female protesters to “virginity checks.”

CNN reported on Tuesday that one senior general admitted security forces performed the acts on some women detained during continued rallies weeks after the demonstrations that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.

CNN quotes an anonymous Egyptian general saying that the virginity tests were carried out so that women would not claim that soldiers raped them in detention.

One 20-year-old detained woman said

the guards forced her to take off her clothes and shocked her with a stun gun as a male doctor looked to try to determine if she was a virgin. She said they also threatened her with prostitution charges.

The allegations center on arrests made after a rally on March 9. The violent rally in Tahrir Square followed a popular uprising that led to the ousting of Mr. Mubarak about a month earlier.

Also Tuesday, Egypt's public prosecutor says former President Mubarak currently will remain in his hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh because he is not well enough to move to a prison hospital.

The former president was admitted to the facility in April after suffering heart problems.

Last week, Egypt's chief prosecutor said the ousted president and two of his sons will be tried on charges including abuse of power, wasting public funds and killing of pro-democracy demonstrators earlier this year.

Earlier this month, Egyptian authorities released Mr. Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, after she agreed to hand over about $3.4 million in accounts in two banks and a villa in Cairo.