Egyptian officials point out that Christians are not the only targets of Islamic militants. Tourists, police officers, prominent secular journalists, and politicians have also been slaughtered by militants. But in Al Kosheh, the problem was the government, not the militants. This is why the case there resonates so powerfully among Copts. Based on dozens of interviews with victims, police ran roughshod over the Christian part of town from the morning the bodies were found last Aug. 15 through to the end of September.
Victims claim that police threatened to rape several women.
They described in chilling detail being subjected to electric prods, of being hung from window grates and in some cases a ceiling fan for hours during questioning. Evidence of rope burns, bruises, and small red scars from the prods were visible on the bodies of more than a dozen victims interviewed by the Globe. A Copt, William Artori, has been convicted of the murder and is sentenced to death. The church and human rights activists say Artori was wrongly accused and that the only two witnesses against him were tortured into making statements that they have since recanted. The Egyptian government has found no wrongdoing by police, according to press reports.