International right monitor Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on Sunday calling on the members of the Egyptian parliament to pass a transitional justice law to investigate the mass killings that took place 14 August 2013, and also to compensate the victims’ families.
On the third anniversary of the dispersal, HRW said in its report that the mass killings that occurred at the hands of Egyptian security forces resulted in the death of 817. The large majority of the killings took place during the dispersal of sit-ins supporting former president Mohamed Morsi, describing the Rabaa Al-Adaweya dispersal as the worst mass killings in modern history.
Those killed were protesting the overthrow of ousted president Morsi by the Egyptian armed forces.
The organisation further added that Egyptian authorities have held no one accountable for the mass killings, also stating that the United Nations has failed to take proper action on the matter.
HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director Sarah Leah Whitson said that if President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi wants to have any credibility with the thousands of families who suffered from the mass killings, then there should be serious accountability for these crimes. She added that what happened is a dark stain on Egypt’s record that won’t be easily washed away.
HRW called on the House of Representatives before it issues the transitional justice law, prior to the end of its session in October, to include a national reconciliation proposal and compensations to victims that accord with international standards. It also said that the members of parliament should open the door for all the victims to receive justice.
HRW cited MP Moustafa Bakry saying that there will be no reconciliation with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. He stated that if the Germans did not reconcile with the Nazis, there is no way for a reconciliation with the outlawed group.
The report added that between the ouster of Morsi on 3 July 2013 and 26 August 2013, the HRW documented six incidents in which security forces unlawfully killed protestors, resulting in the death of about 1,185, including those who died during the dispersal. Egyptian authorities continue to deny the number announced by HRW.
