By Mai Shams El-Din
CAIRO: The Ministry of Interior terminated the service of 669 police officers, including those implicated in the killing of peaceful protesters during the Jan. 25 uprising in what was dubbed the most sweeping reshuffle in the ministry’s history.
“The ministry ended the service of 505 generals, 82 brigadier generals, and 82 colonels, including those who were referred to the Criminal Court for the killing of protesters,” said Minister of Interior Mansour El-Essawy in a press conference Wednesday.
“After the Jan. 25 uprising, we need to establish the rule of law, and according to the law, I cannot terminate the service of officers with ranks below colonel. We decided to send them to administrative jobs, away from interaction with the public,” he said.
El-Essawy also confirmed that the law authorizes him to terminate the service of officers ranking above colonel, because their service at this point is subject to annual renewal and is extended only in cases of proven ethical conduct and efficiency.
“Those two factors also determine the movement of lower ranking officers. If they are unethical or inefficient then they can be moved to other departments to give them another chance, but they cannot be fired,” El-Essawy said.
Of the 669 whose service was terminated, 18 generals and nine brigadier generals were implicated in the killing of protesters. Fifty-four officers who have lower ranks and are investigated for their involvement in these killings were moved to administrative positions.
Human rights activist Ramy Raoof commented that even though this is a positive step, it would have never happened without public pressure through protests and sit-ins.
“These moves should have been made by General El-Essawy by default, not because of the pressure of public opinion,” Raoof told Daily News Egypt.
“We want the cabinet to shift its mentality from simply fixing the status quo to reforming the old structure completely,” Raoof added.
The reshuffle included 4,000 officers and will be implemented on August 1.
Raoof was, however, disappointed with the ministry’s decision not to temporarily suspend low ranking officers accused of killing protesters. “They are now free and are threatening the families of martyrs to make them drop the cases filed against the officers,” he said.
“The families of martyrs and the injured were coerced by police officers and many cases were reported to us. One of them was the case of Mohammed Marzouk who was injured on Jan. 28. The officers stormed his home, kidnapped him, and forced him to sign a document to drop the case,” Raoof said.
“How will such cases be addressed? We need sweeping changes in the ministry to feel the difference.”
El-Essawy also denied rumors that jailed ex-regime officials, now under investigation for a slew of crimes, had escaped Tora prison, confirming that the prison is well-secured.
“I urge media outlets to fact-check carefully before publishing [such rumors],” he said.
He also denied that snipers who shot protesters in Tahrir Square during the uprising were police officers.
“The report of the official fact-finding committee presented no proof of the presence of police snipers,” he said.
“After Jan. 28 the Ministry of Interior was dead, so how were protesters shot?” he added.
Raoof criticized the minister’s comments, describing them as “going back to the comments of his predecessor, the much reviled Habib El-Adly, who continuously denied any wrong-doing.
“Such denial supports the officers who are involved in torture and human rights violations and empowers them to practice more violations,” Raoof said.
He added that it would have been more accurate if El-Essawy investigated the issue before blindly denying the accusations.
“El-Essawy’s denial also contradicts reports by human rights organizations and the reports of independent fact-finding committees which confirmed that police snipers shot protesters from the roofs of the ministry on Jan.29,” he explained.
