Information on organized criminal activities and corruption in the police force was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to Country Reports 2004, petty corruption was prevalent in the Egyptian police force and was even more pronounced among lower ranked officers (28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 1.d). However, the report mentioned that an internal affairs mechanism (whose findings are not available to the public) "was regularly employed for investigation corruption and other instances of police malfeasance" (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 1.d). In addition, victims of police corruption allegedly have access to judicial recourse (ibid.).

Although Transparency International (TI) rated Egypt 70th out of 133 countries in its 2003 corruption perceptions index, it indicated that by 2004, Egypt had adopted (but not yet signed) the African Union Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Corruption, and it had signed (but not yet ratified) the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2004).

In its 2005 report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicated that police were known to extort money from street children, although more information on what this entailed could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate (13 Jan. 2005).

A 26 February-3 March 2004 editorial, which appeared in Al-Ahram Weekly, mentioned the widespread misuse of taxi meters in Egyptian cities. The article suggests that not only can police officers fine drivers at any time for not using their meters, but they can also benefit from free rides under the pretext that the driver is operating illegally (Al-Ahram Weekly 26 February-3 March 2004).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Al-Ahram Weekly [Cairo]. 26 February-3 March 2004. Osama El-Ghazali Harb. "Systematic Corruption." http://weekly.ahram.egy/print/2004/679/op11.htm [Accessed 16 June 2005]

Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2004. 28 February 2005. "Egypt." United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41720.htm [Accessed 15 June 2005]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 13 January 2005. Human Rights Watch World Report 2005. "Egypt." http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/egypt9802.htm [Accessed 15 June 2005]

Transparency International (TI). 1 June 2004. Global Corruption Report 2004. "Egypt." http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org/download/gcr2004/10_Country_reports_A_K.pdf l [Accessed 16 June 2005]

Internet Sites, including: Al-Bawaba, Amnesty International (AI), Arabic News, BBC, The Center for Public Integrity (Washington), Crime and Society, Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Interpol, Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, World News Connection (WNC).