Egypt Under Pressure Over Giulio Regeni Murder

There are growing calls inside and outside Egypt for authorities to investigate the torture and murder of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni independently and fairly.

The 28-year-old Italian had been in Egypt for four months, but was a critic of the government through his research and reporting on labour unions.

He was last seen on 25 January, the fifth anniversary of Egypt's uprising, while on his way to meet a friend in downtown Cairo.

There was a heavy police and military presence that day as well as a massive crackdown on anyone security forces suspected of trying to organise protests.

Nine days after he went missing, Mr Regeni was found dead - his body dumped on the side of the Alexandria-Cairo desert road.

Prosecutors said there were visible signs of torture, and a post-mortem examination found his neck had been broken - leading to suggestions he was beaten to death.

Immediately, fingers were pointed at the police - but Egyptian officials vehemently deny any involvement.

In response to a letter signed by thousands of academics calling for an urgent investigation, Egypt's foreign ministry said "attempts to accuse the Egyptian authorities, in the absence of any proof or evidence, were counter-productive".

The spokesperson completely rejected "statements made in the letter regarding arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances in Egypt".

But, according to rights groups, forced disappearances and torture have become common practice by the Egyptian police.

Sky News met several families who said their sons, all in their 20s, were taken while walking on the street or from cafes.

Ibrahim Ismail's son, Lotfy, was seen being bundled into the back of a police car last year.

After three months of the authorities denying they were holding him, he turned up in prison. His mother says he had marks on his body, and had told her police tortured him.

Lotfy's parents insist he is not an Islamist or an activist and has no interest in politics.

The family claim there had been an attack on security forces in their neighbourhood days before, and the police were grabbing young men off the streets and forcing them to confess they had something to do with it.

Ibrahim Metwaly still does not know where his son is, and it has been almost three years since he saw or heard from him.

The father heard his son was in military detention from other inmates who had been released, but authorities will not confirm anything.

He started an organisation for families of the disappeared and says he is inundated with calls every day.

Mr Metwaly told Sky News: "If my son has committed a crime he should be tried and judged according to the law - but kidnapping and torturing them is unacceptable."

Human rights campaigners only record cases where there is strong evidence an individual was taken and held by security forces without charge, or without revealing the detainee's location.

Campaigners say that 163 people were forcibly disappeared between April and June last year.

The frequency rapidly increases by the end of 2015, with 340 cases between August and November.

In the first month of this year, a further 66 cases were reported - along with 42 people allegedly tortured while in detention.

"It is in the culture of the police and national security since the time of [former leader Hosni Mubarak] to practise torture," explains Mohamed Lotfy from the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.

"Throughout the last five years after so much opposition and protest and uprising against the government, none of them were genuinely held accountable."

Egypt is investigating Mr Regeni's death in co-operation with Italian authorities. But, according to reports, the Egyptian officer in charge was himself previously convicted of torture and murder.