Egypt families protest deserter's torture death

MANSOURA, Egypt, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Around 80 people protested outside a Mansoura hospital on Monday after the authorities released the body of an army deserter, whose family say he was tortured to death in prison.

Tamer Mohamed Emara, 20, was eight months into a two year sentence for desertion at Mansoura General Prison when he died.

The prison denied he had been tortured and an official autopsy said there was no evidence of torture.

But family members said Emara's body showed signs of beating and accused prison guards in the Nile Delta town of torture.

"I got a call saying my son was in bad shape and had been transferred to the hospital. When we arrived to see him it was clear he had been tortured and beaten," said Mohamed Emara, Tamer's father.

"Before he went into a coma he told us 'officers tortured me and I almost died'," Emara added.

Rights groups say torture is rife in jails and police stations where officials operate with impunity. Detainees have been subject to electric shocks, beatings and sexual abuse, rights groups say.

The government routinely denies torture is widespread and says it prosecutes any officer who mistreats detainees.

The Emara family, which has protested outside the hospital for two straight days, has refused to take charge of his body and demanded an independent second autopsy. (Writing by Marwa Awad; Editing by Jon Boyle)