Police brutality on rise, warn activists

More than a dozen groups charged in a statement that the police were reverting back to the systematic torture that prevailed under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime.

"Some of the crimes have even gone beyond that," the groups insisted.

They hold President Mohammed Morsi responsible for failing to stop or condemn such practices.

They called on him to sack his interior minister, who oversees the police, and to try him in connection with the deaths of nearly 60 protesters since last month.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim has denied that his forces have shot at protesters.

He said that his forces don't confront peaceful protesters and have only used tear gas to break up the riots.

However, the rights groups have demanded more transparency and accountability on crimes committed against protesters since the uprising, as well as calling for an overhaul of the country's security forces.

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights head Hossam Bahgat said that security agents used physical abuse mainly to extract confessions, but also employed such tactics in order to humiliate and punish those who protested.

"This has become more aggressive than during the Mubarak days," said Malek Adly, a lawyer from the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, one of the groups that issued the statement.

Mr Adly added that more than 1,000 people, including minors, had been detained in recent weeks.

Rights groups have also reported the death of a number of activists, including one who was allegedly tortured to death in detention.