Torture museum opens to public for a day
Cairo--
A torture museum displaying 650 items from the darkest periods of human history was opened to the public yesterday.
Situated in a Cairo basement, the Egyptian Museum of Torture Tools is home to the personal collection of torture historian Mohamed Abdel-Wahab.
It is opened for just one day every year on June 26 – United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – and features a mixture of original medieval items from the Spanish Inquisition as well as recently produced replicas.
Abdel-Wahab, who is interested in the most disturbing and depraved actions of human beings, states that his 10-year obsession with torture was influenced by the second Gulf War.
The torture historian reported on the war and claims to have even set foot in Saddam Hussein's house by accident while in Iraq.
He said: ‘[I built the museum] to expose torturers and their heinous ways of torturing throughout the ages.
‘And to show that this crime does not lessen with time. Torturing human beings is no simple matter.’
The Egyptian Museum of Torture Tools is occasionally opened to the media as a way to boost its profile and to project an anti-torture message.
‘[My mission] is to expose torture and the governments who torture,’ said Abdel-Wahab.
‘This will not be just a museum, it will be a watchtower that will expose every torturer all over the world.’
Currently a private affair, Abdel-Wahab is trying to get a licence from the Egyptian government to turn this personal collection into a permanent public exhibition.
‘At the moment I am looking for a piece of land to build the largest museum of torture tools in the world, God willing,’ he said.
This is not the only museum of torture in the world, the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy all boast permanent public museums on the history and uses of torture.
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