Egypt rejects calls for investigation into Rabaa massacre
Egyptian authorities have rejected a call by Human Rights Watch (HRW) for an international investigation into the killing of hundreds of protesters in the country by security forces in August 2013.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Saturday brushed aside the HRW appeal for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to set up an international commission of inquiry into the deaths of protesters in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square of the capital, Cairo.
"The call for an international investigation into the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in is even more ludicrous because it is issued by an organization that has never expressed any interest in the soldiers, police and civilian victims of terrorism in Egypt," the statement read.
Rights groups have accused Egyptian security forces of using disproportionate force, killing many unarmed protesters. The HRW has said that the massacre "probably amounted to crimes against humanity."
No policemen or security personnel have yet faced trial over the deaths.
On August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces launched violent attacks on protest camps at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in the capital, Cairo, and Nahda Square in Giza, the third largest city in Egypt.
The HRW said over 815 people were killed at Rabaa Square, whereas the Egyptian Health Ministry put the death toll at 638. The rights organization said last year that the massacre was one of the world’s largest in a single day in recent history.
An absolute majority of those killed were followers of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, who was ousted on July 3 the same year in a military coup led by then head of the armed forces and current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
On Friday, Egyptians took to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the August 2013 attacks. Cities across Egypt were the scene of mostly peaceful rallies before and after the Friday prayers, with people chanting slogans in memory of the victims of the massacre.
The military-backed government of Sisi has overseen a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood supporters and other critics. The clampdown on Brotherhood supporters has reportedly left over 1,400 people dead over the past two years.
Leading local and international rights organizations say nearly 300 political prisoners have died in Egyptian detention facilities since the ouster of Morsi.
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