The 2011 Egyptian Protests

A leaked US embassy cable from 2009 described police brutality, including torture, as common and pervasive, and the government's efforts to combat it as ineffective and lacking in political will. The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights has documented 567 cases of torture, including 167 deaths, by police that occurred between 1993 and 2007. On 6 June 2010 Khaled Mohamed Saeed died under disputed circumstances in the Sidi Gaber area of Alexandria. Multiple witnesses testified that Saeed was beaten to death by the police. Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, led a rally in Alexandria against alleged abuses by the police and visited Saeed's family to offer condolences.
Corruption
Political corruption in the Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior has risen dramatically, due to the increased power over the institutional system necessary to prolong the presidency. This has led to the imprisonment of political figures and youth activists without trials, illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities, and rejecting university, mosque, and newspaper staff members based on their political inclination. A parliamentary election in December 2010 was preceded by a media crackdown, arrests, candidate bans (particularly of the Muslim Brotherhood), and allegations of fraud involving the near unanimous victory by the ruling party in parliament.