Nine anti-government defendants were sentenced to death in Egypt on Monday, bringing the number of those handed the death penalty to 680 since 3 July 2013, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) said in a report on Tuesday.

Seven of those who have received the death penalty have already been executed. The total number of defendants whose papers were referred to the Grand Mufti has reached 1,734. The report pointed out that senior officials at Mansoura's security directorate systematically exercise illegal detention, kidnapping, torture and the forgery of official documents and fabrications.

It invited UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to form a fact-finding committee with full powers to investigate crimes committed after 3 July 2013 and bring those responsible for these crimes to justice.

C.Hulsman: Penalties in absentia are always high and many of th 680 death penalties concerned defendants in absentia. Accusations of human rights violations are abundant but they need to be seen in the light of the war between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Government and thus independent fact finding is needed.