0:00:00 > 0:00:04Now on BBC News, it's time for Our World.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Welcome to Egypt.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Enticing images of timeless hospitality and ancient attractions.
0:00:17 > 0:00:26A picture postcard view the authorities are keen to promote.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29But there is another Egypt - a military-backed regime
0:00:30 > 0:00:39where dreams of freedom have been crushed.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and this is the approach to dissent. In the last few minutes the police
0:00:44 > 0:00:49have been using teargas and have been live rounds. I have been the
0:00:49 > 0:00:56BBC 's corresponded in Egypt in the four years. I have tracked the
0:00:56 > 0:01:00escalating crackdown on the streets. Gatherings like this are few and far
0:01:00 > 0:01:05between. Gunfire. And I have witnessed peaceful protest is being
0:01:05 > 0:01:13targeted. Wait.I have never seen a regime as bloody as Sisi's regime.A
0:01:13 > 0:01:16regime were a growing number have simply disappeared.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28This regime is based on Terara and torture is one detail of that.Press
0:01:28 > 0:01:35freedom is under attack, much of the brutality carries on scene. This is
0:01:35 > 0:01:39a story the regime would prefer us not to tell.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56It all looked so different seven years ago.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59This was Tahrir Square in February 2011 -
0:01:59 > 0:02:06the night the people broke free of President Hosni Mubarak,
0:02:06 > 0:02:26ending 30 years of authoritarian rule - or so they hoped.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30At the new dawn didn't bring a vibrant new democracy in the heart
0:02:30 > 0:02:31of the Middle East.
0:02:31 > 0:02:39Now, the square feels like a place of lost opportunity.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Well, standing here in Tahrir Square seven years on, there is really
0:02:42 > 0:02:43nothing to indicate that this
0:02:43 > 0:02:46was the cradle of an uprising,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49that it was here that the people toppled an autocrat.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52The monument is bare, no list of names of all of those
0:02:52 > 0:02:58who were killed, and that is just the way the authorities want it.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00It is as if the revolution has been erased and along with it,
0:03:00 > 0:03:09the hope it brought.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14The former military strongman Hosni Mubarak wound up behind bars. He was
0:03:14 > 0:03:19succeeded in 2012 and the Islamist Mohamed more sea the Muslim
0:03:19 > 0:03:27Brotherhood. Egypt's first democratically elected president.
0:03:27 > 0:03:37But he too was jailed after a divisive here in office. He had been
0:03:37 > 0:03:44ousted in July 2013 in a military coup that had mass popular support.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50The coup was led by the Army Chief, General Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi who
0:03:50 > 0:03:56went on to be alert to President one year later. Critics say he has
0:03:56 > 0:04:06presided over an unprecedented assault on human rights. I came to
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Cairo on Egremont's watch as history was being rewritten. Those hailed as
0:04:10 > 0:04:17heroes of the revolution were being treated as enemies of the state.
0:04:17 > 0:04:23Like Alaa Abd El-Fattah, one of Egypt's best-known dissidents. He is
0:04:23 > 0:04:29seen here out on bail. The blogger and human rights campaigner is from
0:04:29 > 0:04:38a prominent family of activist.This was someone who could have been
0:04:38 > 0:04:42amazing, not just to this country, this is someone with a really
0:04:42 > 0:04:46valuable mind and set of skills and it is because of fat that he is
0:04:46 > 0:04:54being put away.I met Alaa Abd El-Fattah in April 20 14. He had
0:04:54 > 0:04:59already been charged and he talked about how much worse things were
0:04:59 > 0:05:06than before the revolution.When you were confronting Mubarek, hope was
0:05:06 > 0:05:12material things, like you could almost touch it, and it was very
0:05:12 > 0:05:16easy to feel that it was worth it and people were taking these risks
0:05:16 > 0:05:22without feeling any kind of despair. Right now it is looking bleak.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25He was a leading light of the Tahrir protests.
0:05:25 > 0:05:32Secular, articulate, a software developer,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36He was used to paying the price for speaking out. He was jailed or
0:05:36 > 0:05:41threatened with arrest under all of the recent regimes here. And when
0:05:41 > 0:05:51his son was born, he was in prison.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Alaa Abd El-Fattah was accused of organising this protest.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57The demonstrators appeared peaceful.
0:05:57 > 0:06:04The authorities were not.
0:06:04 > 0:06:10Protest or effectively banned.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13-- Protests are effectively banned.
0:06:13 > 0:06:21I was in court to see him being convicted. Others came forward to
0:06:21 > 0:06:28say they plan to the protest. He still got five years. Another member
0:06:28 > 0:06:35of generation jail.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45His fractured family go through the motions
0:06:45 > 0:06:50without a much-loved son, husband and brother.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Human rights groups say there are thousands like them
0:06:54 > 0:06:58in Egypt, families of political prisoners.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00His sister campaigns against civilians being tried
0:07:00 > 0:07:09in military courts.
0:07:09 > 0:07:16His mother has been an activist for decades. In this household,
0:07:16 > 0:07:24percenters the family business
0:07:24 > 0:07:25dissent the family business
0:07:25 > 0:07:28But she says the struggle for change is harder than ever under
0:07:29 > 0:07:30President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32The level of bloodiness is beyond anything I've ever
0:07:32 > 0:07:33heard or experienced.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36And the way they have managed to desensitise people towards death,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39to belittle the value of people's lives, to make people get used
0:07:39 > 0:07:41to death sentences, to forced disappearances and abduction,
0:07:41 > 0:07:50to torture, to torture victims, this is becoming daily News.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Her brother has another year to serve,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54then faces a further five years on probation with
0:07:55 > 0:07:58stringent conditions.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01In this tightly knit group, the empty space at the table
0:08:01 > 0:08:17is keenly felt.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22these days on the streets, there is no clamour for reform. Many are
0:08:22 > 0:08:28struggling to get by. And grateful the relative stability. And plenty
0:08:28 > 0:08:35prefer not to raise their heads above the parapet. With good reason.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Well, there is something that you cannot see here that you can feel
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and that his fear. It has been increasing during my time here.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47People who would have been ready to speak on camera two or three years
0:08:47 > 0:08:52ago are too frightened to do that now. In the last few weeks we have
0:08:52 > 0:08:56looked into many cases, disappearances, torture, people
0:08:56 > 0:09:02whose loved ones were killed in custody, and those families were too
0:09:02 > 0:09:06frightened to work here. They tell us they are afraid and other loved
0:09:06 > 0:09:12one will be arrested if they do. -- and other loved one.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17Those who end up in custody can expect the harshest treatment.
0:09:17 > 0:09:28Torture is nothing new in Egypt. But my sources say it is now routine
0:09:28 > 0:09:29nationwide.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30Mahmood Mohammed Hussein has first-hand experience
0:09:30 > 0:09:34of the latest torture techniques.
0:09:34 > 0:09:40We first met one year ago when every step was a reminder of the abuse he
0:09:40 > 0:09:47suffered. He was held without trial for more than two years. This is the
0:09:47 > 0:09:52only reason he was arrested,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54aged just 18, was because of his T-shirt.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56The slogan read "A nation without torture".
0:10:00 > 0:10:07now 22, he is struggling to rebuild his life. But could still be tried
0:10:07 > 0:10:11for attending a band protest. And joining a terrorist group. Charges
0:10:11 > 0:10:19he denies. -- banned. Despite the risks, he wants to tell the world
0:10:19 > 0:10:20his story.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Aren't you afraid that by speaking out like this that the authorities
0:11:03 > 0:11:05could come after you again?
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Others also want their words to be heard at feel unable to appear on
0:11:45 > 0:11:51camera. Like another young man I met who described being subjected to
0:11:51 > 0:11:59every kind of abuse. He gave us a detailed, credible and disturbing
0:11:59 > 0:12:03account, he identified the police station where he was interrogated
0:12:03 > 0:12:08and tortured, he said he was beaten, blindfolded, stripped, kicked, and
0:12:08 > 0:12:13electrocuted. And later, in his words, he discovered there was
0:12:13 > 0:12:27something worse than electrocution, he was raped with a stick. Torture
0:12:27 > 0:12:33victims used to have one refuge. One place to go for support. This centre
0:12:33 > 0:12:44in Cairo. For over two decades, staff provided rehabilitation. But
0:12:44 > 0:12:49last year, the authorities moved in and forced the Centre to close its
0:12:49 > 0:12:58doors. Its co-founder, a psychiatrist, says the prevalence of
0:12:58 > 0:13:06torture is the worst she has ever known.I work in this field since
0:13:06 > 0:13:111993 and I have been hearing about this field is in my university
0:13:11 > 0:13:17years. What I have been seeing and what might colleagues have been
0:13:17 > 0:13:26seeing since 2013 is unheard of.It was never, ever that the. So how
0:13:26 > 0:13:30widespread would you say the practice is now?As widespread as
0:13:30 > 0:13:38the conflict. As widespread as the country.What would you say to
0:13:38 > 0:13:41government officials here need you to deny them as torture?You are
0:13:41 > 0:13:49liars. I would say you are liars. I would say you know there is torture
0:13:49 > 0:13:58because you practise it. What can I say? And I would say that there will
0:13:58 > 0:14:02come the day. Maybe I will not witness the day but there will come
0:14:02 > 0:14:13a day when those people will be brought to justice.But justice can
0:14:13 > 0:14:20be elusive for anyone hidden behind the Sun. That's what Egyptians call
0:14:20 > 0:14:26those who vanished from the streets and are held in secret by the state.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31Most are Islamist but anyone opposing the regime is at risk.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36Human rights campaigners say enforced disappearances are a
0:14:36 > 0:14:43trademark of the Abdel Fattah al-Sisi era. They have documented at
0:14:43 > 0:14:47least 1500 cases in the last quarter years. But they believe the real
0:14:47 > 0:15:01figure is much higher. -- last four years. Most of the disappeared and
0:15:01 > 0:15:07merge weeks or months later in custody, facing terrorism charges.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13But some remain hidden. But this man's brother who has been gone
0:15:13 > 0:15:26since July 2013. A bill says his brother, Mohammad Amir, was an
0:15:26 > 0:15:30engineering student who disappeared as an Islamist protest aged 22. He
0:15:30 > 0:15:36tells me witnesses saw him being taken away by the security forces.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41The years of fruitless searching since then have been a torment for
0:15:41 > 0:15:43his family.
0:16:09 > 0:16:17Their father, Ibrahim, a lawyer, has been fighting a lonely battle for
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Egypt's disappeared. He founded an association for families of the
0:16:20 > 0:16:30victims. Last September, he set off for Geneva, to address a United
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Nations working group on disappearances. However, at Cairo
0:16:35 > 0:16:38airport he is well joined the ranks of the disappeared and was later
0:16:38 > 0:16:47discovered in jail. The lawyer is now being held here in the full
0:16:47 > 0:17:00bidding prison complex in Cairo. His family says he has been tortured. --
0:17:02 > 0:17:04across town after nightfall, a journey to yet another broken
0:17:04 > 0:17:12family. We are on our way to see a mother who has a truly terrible
0:17:12 > 0:17:17story to tell. We have been in touch with her over the last few weeks and
0:17:17 > 0:17:21we have arranged to sit down with her tonight. She lives in a suburb
0:17:21 > 0:17:33out near the pyramids so we are them now. -- headed there now. This is a
0:17:33 > 0:17:40student of 23 who wants to open her own business. Her mother says that
0:17:40 > 0:17:46she and her daughter were arrested near a demonstration in 2014 and
0:17:46 > 0:17:50convicted of offences including attending a band protest. She says
0:17:50 > 0:17:55they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and spent seven months in
0:17:55 > 0:18:02jail but were later acquitted. She tells me that in 2016, is a glider
0:18:02 > 0:18:06was detained again at a police checkpoint and disappeared. -- her
0:18:06 > 0:18:12daughter was detained again. She was dumped by the roadside after 28 days
0:18:12 > 0:18:23a changed girl.
0:18:50 > 0:18:56But her legal papers show the anguish did not end there. As she
0:18:56 > 0:18:58was struggling to recover, she disappeared for the second time last
0:18:58 > 0:19:10April. Her mother says neighbours saw her being taken by armed and
0:19:10 > 0:19:14masked police.
0:19:36 > 0:19:43She seeks comfort now in her daughter's bedroom. And in mementos
0:19:43 > 0:19:46from the past.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Her treasured keepsakes are just as she left them are waiting for her
0:20:07 > 0:20:17return. Her mother refuses to give up hope, refuses to be silenced.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02We wanted to ask the authorities about her daughter 's disappearance
0:21:02 > 0:21:08and the other cases in this report. We approached the Interior Ministry,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11the Foreign Ministry and the state information service. No-one was
0:21:11 > 0:21:19prepared to be interviewed. In the past, the authorities have told me
0:21:19 > 0:21:26there is no systematic torture. But if mistakes are made, offices are
0:21:26 > 0:21:32punished. They have also denied there are enforced disappearances
0:21:32 > 0:21:37and widespread human rights abuses.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45On the banks of the Nile, there is little hint of change. Egypt looks
0:21:45 > 0:21:53locked in the past. Elections are coming but the President does not
0:21:53 > 0:21:58need to worry about the outcome. Several potential to help meet
0:21:58 > 0:22:04challenges have been intimidated out of the race. -- potential
0:22:04 > 0:22:09challengers. Many here are concerned about security and the bomb attacks
0:22:09 > 0:22:13by the so-called Islamic State. The president says he is waging war on
0:22:13 > 0:22:21terror. But human rights campaigners say he is using that as a pretext to
0:22:21 > 0:22:29wage war on dissent. Having been here for over four years I know a
0:22:29 > 0:22:34lot of the problems that Egypt is facing. There are real economic
0:22:34 > 0:22:39issues. There are serious security threats from Islamic State. But this
0:22:39 > 0:22:43is the most populous country in the Arab world and if Egypt cannot steer
0:22:43 > 0:22:47a course towards real democracy, that is the problem for the Middle
0:22:47 > 0:22:52East and a problem for the West. I am leaving him with questions. How
0:22:52 > 0:22:58long before all of the repression here starts to backfire? And how
0:22:58 > 0:23:13many more prisons and the regime feel? -- fill?