Egypt failing at every level on protecting human rights: Amnesty

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has accused the present government in Egypt of failing at every level in terms of protecting human rights.

In a report released on Thursday, Amnesty International highlighted that 1,247 death sentences have been handed down this year, with at least 247 of them being upheld.

The report, according to the BBC, cites harrowing incidents of torture and deaths in police custody, and goes so far as to say that Egypt's notorious state security forces are back and operating at full capacity.

It said these security forces are employing the same methods of torture and other ill-treatment used during the darkest hours of the Hosni Mubarak era.

It said that torture methods include the use of electric shocks, rape and handcuffing detainees and suspending them from open doors.

A year after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi, the Amnesty report further states that at least 16,000 people were detained in the last year alone as part of the government's bid to silence Morsi supporters.

Of these detenus, 80 have died in custody so far, the report adds.

Amnesty further states that Egypt's criminal system has suffered huge setbacks over the past year with several politically-motivated verdicts.