Egyptian authorities are being accused of using abduction, torture and other tactics as a way of stifling dissent.

London-based Amnesty International says there has been an "unprecedented spike" in enforced disappearances in Egypt since early 2015 on the pretext of fighting terrorism.

Its report, entitled "Egypt: 'Officially, you do not exist'', documents 17 cases it says reveals "the shocking and ruthless tactics" used by authorities.

The report quotes a local group as saying that between three and four people ranging from political activists to children as young as 14 "disappear" each day in Egypt.

The report says rape, electric shocks, and arrests of other family members are used to force victims to give false confessions.


Image: Egypt's leader Abdel Fattah al Sisi was elected in 2013

One case tells of a 14-year-old boy who, the report says, was repeatedly raped and abused in order to extract confessions.

The boy is one of five cases involving children.

Another 14-year-old arrested in January "was beaten, given electric shocks all over his body and suspended from his limbs in order to extract a false 'confession'", the human rights watchdog said.

Amnesty director Philip Luther said: "The report exposes not only the brutality faced by those disappeared but also the collusion between national security forces and judicial authorities, who have been prepared to lie to cover their tracks or failed to investigate torture allegations, making them complicit in serious human rights violations."

Mr Luther, who noted the Egyptian authorities had "repeatedly denied that enforced disappearances exist in the country", appealed to President Abdel Fattah al Sisi to "order all state security agencies to stop enforced disappearances, torture and other forms of ill-treatment and make clear that anyone who orders, commits or is complicit in such violations will be brought to justice".

Image: Giulio Regeni's body was found on the side of the road

The country's foreign ministry immediately responded to the report with an accusation that the group was "biased, politicised" and had a "special interest in tarnishing Egypt's image".

Egyptian authorities have denied they use torture, but said there have been isolated incidents of abuse and those responsible have been prosecuted.

Egypt has also come under criticism from Italy after Italian-born Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni disappeared on 25 January while researching labour movements in Cairo.

His body was found nine days later dumped on the side of a road. He had been tortured.

Authorities insisted they were not involved and blamed it on a possible traffic accident, or a "gay lovers' spat".