(AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI)
Two NGOs condemned the continuation of sectarian attacks and the performance of the Ministry of Interior after the attack on a wedding at the Virgin Mary Church in the Giza neighbourhood of Al-Warraq on Sunday.
The Egyptian Centre for Human Rights (ECHR) stated in a statement issued on Wednesday its condemnation of the continuation of sectarian attacks, especially on Christians.
ECHR also condemned the “continuous escape of the perpetrators of such crimes,” saying that Egypt is vulnerable to being tried in front of international courts due to its “slackness” in combating such crimes.
The statement read: “These crimes against Christians affirms the struggle Egyptian Christians face, they are vulnerable to injustice with no state protection.”
ECHR urged interim President Adly Mansour to combat this issue: “In the context of dramatic changes in the Middle East, leading Christians to migrate to the USA and Europe in search for a safer environment.”
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemned “the terrorist attack by masked gunmen on the church of the Virgin Mary yesterday” in a statement issued on Monday.
ANHRI deemed the Ministry of Interior, as well as other security bodies, as being responsible for the attack, saying that “they failed to secure the citizens on the street.”
ANHRI demanded the arrest of the perpetrators of the attack and bringing them to stand trial.
“At the time that the state is taking more exceptional measures and drafting repressive legislation claiming their use to face terrorism, the terrorist attack on the church of the Virgin Mary took place to reveal the failure of these exceptional measures in the face of violence and terrorism. Therefore, it should give priority to political solutions rather than security-based solutions to face the escalating violence on Egyptian streets, and to restructure the Ministry of Interior to perform its job in a professional way and in pursuant to the normal laws,” the ANHRI statement read.
Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat began on Monday an investigation of the attack which stirred a range of reactions and condemnations.
The shooting by two unidentified masked men on a motorcycle on Sunday caused four deaths and 17 injuries. Among the fatalities were 8-year-old Mariam Ashraf and 12-year-old Mariam Nabil.
