General Ali Abdel Mawla, head of the general authority for legal affairs with the Interior Ministry, on Tuesday voiced strong criticisms against a suggestion to create a new authority monitoring police work, combating the torture and abuse of citizens, and ensuring the application of international human rights standards, local media report.

Abdel Mawla said the “Interior Ministry refuses the establishment of a monitoring body as part of the law” because according to him the work is already done by the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) "The NCHR is capable of monitoring the work of the police and submitted strong reports before the revolution, but they were not considered," he said, local media quoted.

The discussion of the draft police authority law has been postponed to next week.

The Egyptian police is regularly accused of abusing citizens especially during pro-democracy protests.

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