(AFP Photo)
The General Doctors’ Syndicate has decided to provide families of those killed during the Republican Guards clashes with EGP 5,000 of financial aid.
Salah Desouky, treasurer of the syndicate’s fund, said in an official statement by the syndicate that the Relief Committee decided to treat the “martyrs” of the Republican Guards clashes the same way it had treated “martyrs” of other clashes including the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes and the cabinet clashes.
Desouky stated that the Relief Committee is currently considering the possibility of fully or partially funding the treatment expenses of those injured during the Republican Guard clashes. He added that the committee is to establish a fund for those injured during the “dawn massacre”.
The decision is yet to be made during the syndicate’s general assembly. Desouky said the general assembly was scheduled for Friday.
Ahmed Hussein, syndicate board member, denied that the Doctors’ Syndicate gave financial aid to victims of the Mohamed Mahmoud and the Maspero clashes.
“The way the syndicate handles different incidents is discriminatory,” Hussein said, adding that there are certain “trends” within the syndicate which prevent it from treating victims of different incidents equally. “The Relief Committee belongs to all Egyptians; it should treat them all equally.”
Emteyaz Hassouna, member of the West Delta Doctors’ Syndicate, said that since the majority of the General Doctors’ Syndicate members are aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, the syndicate would take the same stance the Brotherhood cabinet would regarding different incidents. She added that the syndicate usually ignores violence unless practiced against the Brotherhood and its affiliates.
“I’ve been in the syndicate since 2011,” Hassouna said. “It never condemned any violence which took place within that period except for the Abasseya clashes [in May 2012] and the Republican Guards clashes.”
Desouky stressed that the syndicate provided victims of the Maspero (in October 2011) clashes with financial aid, adding that it had been ready to help victims of Mohamed Mahmoud clashes (in November 2011) yet none of the victims’ families submitted requests for assistance.
The Federation of Trade Unions to which the Doctors’ Syndicate belongs organised a protest on Sunday outside the Engineers’ Syndicate in Ramses regarding the clashes. The protest reflects the Federation’s concern with what they described as “procedures restricting freedom of the press, closing down satellite channels and the spread of violence in the streets”.
The syndicate had strongly condemned the “bloodshed at the Republican Guards Headquarters” and called for quick and neutral investigation into the clashes. The syndicate warned that should it spot indifference towards the case from those concerned, it would “regrettably” resort to filing official complaints against the officials responsible for the investigation at International Courts and to Amnesty International.
According to the syndicate, the death toll of the Republican Guards clashes reached 84. Official numbers for those killed stands at 53 citizens and 4 security personnel.
Clashes at the Republican Guards Headquarters broke out on Monday dawn between protesters supporting former president Mohamed Morsi and security personnel. While pro-Morsi protesters claim they were attacked during their peaceful sit-in, the armed forces claims pro-Morsi protesters instigated the violence by using arms against security personnel and attempting to storm the headquarters.
