You can accuse the United States of torture n YouTube. Just don't accuse a Muslim country of worse acts -- and provide video documentation. It will get your account closed and your proof deleted.

The video-sharing Web site YouTube has suspended the account of a prominent Egyptian anti-torture activist who posted videos of what he said was brutal behaviour by some Egyptian policemen, the activist said.

Wael Abbas said close to 100 images he had sent to YouTube were no longer accessible, including clips depicting purported police brutality, voting irregularities and anti-government demonstrations. YouTube, owned by search engine giant Google Inc , did not respond to a written request for comment. A message on Abbas's YouTube user page, http://youtube.com/user/waelabbas, read: "This account is suspended."

"They closed it (the account) and they sent me an e-mail saying that it will be suspended because there were lots of complaints about the content, especially the content of torture," Abbas told Reuters in a telephone interview. Abbas, who won an international journalism award for his work this year, said that of the images he had posted to YouTube, 12 or 13 depicted violence in Egyptian police stations.

Abbas was a key player last year in distributing a clip of an Egyptian bus driver, his hands bound, being sodomised with a stick by a police officer -- imagery that sparked an uproar in a country where rights groups say torture is commonplace.

That tape prompted an investigation that led to a rare conviction of two policemen, who were sentenced to three years in prison for torture. Egypt says it opposes torture and prosecutes police against whom it has evidence of misconduct.

YouTube, which is more than willing to allow posts on the antics at Abu Ghraib to be posted, insists that video of ACTUAL torture, exposing ACTUAL human rights abuses, is inappropriate for its service. So I guess we have the company's official stand. Seditious, anti-American nonsense is fine, but courageous and ground breaking journalistic efforts are not.

Posted by: Greg at 10:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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