Egypt 1st-Hand: A Twitter Diary of Detention and Interrogation by the Military (Elshamy)

Photo: ReutersMosa'ab Elshamy is an Egyptian activist who has been prominent on social media throughout the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak --- his tagline is "I revolted and overthrew a dictator" --- and the complex politics that have followed Mubarak's downfall.

On 15 May, the day of the Nakba Day marches, Elshamy was among protesters in front of the Israeli Embassy, expressing sympathy with Palestinian aspirations. More than 350 people were injured when police used tear gas and rubber bullets against the demonstrators, who responded with stone-throwing. Dozens of people were arrested; Elshamy was among them.

Today Elshamy posted an account of his detention on Twitter. This is the "diary", beginning with the earliest message:

What eased the pain of a week in military prison was knowing there are wonderful free people supporting, believing in and praying for us.

My friends and I were lucky enough to be freed but there are thousands of unkown and unjustly arrested civilians still there.

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I know we'll win because the majority of the group weren't scared by the suspended sentences and are more determined than ever.

Thank you all for the concern. I'm physically alright. My humanity, however, hurts. SCAF [the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces]  is a master of psychological torture.

We were usually awaken during this time of the night to observe soldiers torture newly arrived (naked) prisoners.

During detention, an army officer called me a son of a whore. I asked him to leave my mum out of it and he kicked me in the face. 

Everyone with long hair or beard was called a homosexual. Everyone who wore a Kuffeieh was called a "Palestinian faggot". 

"You want to drop the Israeli flag, don't you?" said an army soldier before dropping a protester's pants and beating him half naked. 

The sheer spite they had for us and for the revolution will never be forgotten. We were treated worse than war prisoners.

SCAF were determined to make an example out of us. Treatment only slightly "improved" when the pressure outside mounted on them. It works!

Still think we were luckier than others. Prisoners in S-28 urinate in their cells and are sometimes allowed only one meal per day. 

No one was spared. We were all humiliated during detention then treatment in prison was slightly a-okay. 

Few days before our release, a high ranking officer spoke to us with a smile and did a big deal of brainwashing. Many believed him, sadly. He spoke about how we live in turbulent times, how the army is the most patriotic institution and how we should "rise above some exceptions". He filled our heads with crap like how the country will go bankrupt in few months, the foreign agendas and the naivety of protesting now.

Yesterday, an officer told me that we might be under surveillance by military intelligence for years. "You don't want be caught here again"

You'd think the old fear mentality was broken by #Jan25 [the day the uprising against Mubarak started] but the SCAF have done a wonderful job in silencing people ad oppressing minds.