Trying civilians by military courts in Egypt raises doubts about the ruling military's commitment to the rule of law, rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a report released on Wednesday.
The London-based rights group also said there was reason to believe the military, which took over the country after president Hosni Mubarak resigned in February, was implicated in arbitrary detention and torture.
The report, based on research between January 30 and March 3, quoted victims saying they were detained and tortured by the military. Some were tried by military courts in connection with protests.
"Trials of civilians before military courts violate fundamental requirements of due process and fair trials, and that their continued use raises questions about the Egyptian military's commitment to establish the rule of law in Egypt," the report's summary said.
It said an official commission has neglected to investigate "individual cases of arbitrary detention, torture or other ill-treatment, including by the military."
The military, widely popular for not intervening on Mubarak's side during the protests that ousted him, has been accused by rights groups of mistreating and torturing protesters.
Egyptian rights groups say it has already tried more than 10,000 people before courts martial, the vast majority of them for criminal offences.
The military has vowed to come down hard on lawlessness, particularly after mobs set fire to a Christian church in Cairo earlier this month. It has also sentenced five people to death, four of them for gang raping a girl.
One of the four condemned to death is a 17-year-old minor.
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