CAIRO: Amnesty International urged the Egyptian government on Wednesday to launch an investigation into the killing by police of people illegally crossing the border into Israel.
The London-based human rights watchdog called on Egypt to investigate promptly, thoroughly and impartially all cases in which Egyptian border guards or other security forces have opened fire on people seeking to cross Egypt s borders with Israel or other countries.
In a report entitled: Deadly journeys through the desert, the group urged the government to bring to justice those responsible for killings or for excessive use of force, and provide reparations to those whose rights have been abused.
According to Amnesty, 25 people have been shot dead trying to cross the border into Israel from the Sinai peninsula since mid-2007 and more than 1,300 civilians have been tried by an Egyptian military court.
The Egyptian government is entitled to regulate the entry and stay of foreign nationals in Egypt but in doing so they must respect everyone s right to life.
There is nothing to indicate that those seeking to leave Egypt and cross into Israel have used force or posed any threat to the Egyptian border guards who fired at them, the group said.
The 250-km Egyptian-Israeli frontier has become a major transit route for migrants, asylum-seekers and drug smugglers.
Amnesty also slammed Egypt for forcibly returning Eritrean asylum seekers to their country despite the risk of torture.
The group called on the government to cease all forcible returns of people to all countries where they face human rights violations in line with Egypt s obligations under international human rights and refugee law.
In June, up to 1,200 Eritrean nationals were expelled.
Hundreds of Eritrean asylum seekers have reached Egypt via its southern border with Sudan, either hoping to receive permanent refugee status or to illegally sneak into Israel. -AFP
