The second day at Cairo’s 5th Anti-War Conference and 3rd Cairo Social Forum brought earthshaking surprises at it’s Anti-Torture Forum, held on Friday afternoon.

[Above: Abu Omar in the Press Syndicate, Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy]

Abu Omar–the Alexandrian cleric kidnapped 2003 by the CIA in Milan and rendered to Egypt where he was brutally tortured–showed up today at the Press Syndicate, defying the travel ban imposed on him by State Security as a condition for his release. Abu Omar took part in the Anti-Torture Forum, chaired by leftist activist Dr. Aida Seif el-Dawla, where he presented his testimony about his torture odyssey from Milan to Cairo, via Germany. “I was severely tortured by the Mukhabarrat and State Security,” Abu Omar said. “I was electrocuted for months, till my whole body turned black.”

[Above:Abu Omar speaking about his ordeal, at the Anti-Torture Forum, organized by Cairo's 3rd Social Forum at the Press Syndicate. Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy]

Abu Omar expressed fears of re-arrest by the Egyptian police for speaking to the media, but insisted he will keep on talking. “If I stay silent, these practices (by the Egyptian security services) will continue.” The cleric also pleaded to be allowed to leave Egypt, back to Italy.

Another political bomb was thrown by blogger Mohamed el-Sharqawi, who gave his testimony about the torture and sexual abuse he faced in Qasr el-Nil Police Station on 25 May 2006. For the first time, Sharqawi named his torturers.

[Above L-R: MB blogger Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, leftist blogger Mohamed el-Sharqawi, and rights activist Dr. Aida Seif el-Dawla, during the anti-torture forum. Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy]

“Police Major Samaw’al Mohamed Abu Sehla was the first to kidnap me from the car I was in on that day,” Sharqawi told the audience.

And, “the State Security officer who supervised my torture inside Qasr el-Nil Police Station is named Sherif.”

Sharqawi also expressed his frustration with the refusal of the authorities to open an investigation into his abuse, despite the repeated requests by his lawyers, accusing State Security of breaking into his house and stealing his laptop…