Egyptian military rulers told human rights groups that military courts have sentenced some 7,000 civilians since former President Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February, according to an article from The McClatchy Newspapers group.

The 7,000 -- a number not yet verified by human rights advocates -- includes protestors, activists, thugs, ordinary criminals and innocent passers-by, No Military Trials activist Mona Seif told Mohannd Sabry, McClatchy's special correspondent in Cairo.

Similar to Egypt's current military rule, an authoritarian military regime took charge of the government in Brazil after a 1964 coup d'état ousted left-wing president Joao Goulart.

That regime lasted for some 21 years.

That era is now infamous for having been among the most repressive in contemporary Brazilian history.

Brazilian government-sponsored studies into the political abuses of that regime have noted that countless innocents were jailed and tortured, and well over 300 people who were the victims of political assassinations and disappearances.

Exact figures on the number of civilians jailed have yet to be published by Egyptian authorities.

Egypt Human rights Egypt Human rights