Egypt hangs six as 'alarming escalation in executions' persists

Three prisoners convicted of killing a police officer were hanged in Egypt , bringing to six the number of executions carried out by Egyptian authorities in two weeks, Amnesty said.

Amnesty International's Najia Bounaim condemned the "alarming escalation in executions so far this year" in Egypt after the three were hanged for the 2013 murder of senior police officer Nabil Farag.

Use of the death sentence is "appalling under any circumstances, but it is even more so given that all six execution victims were sentenced based on confessions they said were extracted under torture", said Bounaim.

"The shocking flaws in Egypt’s justice system have seen hundreds sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials in recent years," Bounaim said.

"The Egyptian authorities should stop all further executions and immediately establish an official moratorium on executions."

Human Rights Watch last week condemned the hanging of three young "political detainees" convicted of murdering the son of a judge in September 2013.