Rights group Amnesty International is urging Egypt to hold police and military members responsible for abuses against protesters and to reform those institutions to prevent future violations.

Executive director of Amnesty International in the U.S., Suzanne Nossel, told VOA Tuesday that the London-based group documented in two reports abuses by the military under Egypt's former ruling military council.

“We saw really distressing human rights abuses including the use of live ammunition on demonstrators, torture and sexual assault, people detained as a result of their participation in protests, and we also documented that these abuses have continued even after the uprisings were concluded.”

The reports said protesters have been tried by military courts but soldiers responsible for the abuses have not been forced to face trials in independent, civilian courts.

Amnesty says Egypt needs “major reforms” to its police force in order to rebuild public trust. It also says a panel created by new President Mohamed Morsi to investigate the killing and injuring of protesters under military rule must be given time, resources and power to carry out its task.