Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement has called on its supporters to launch peaceful protests on the second anniversary of the Rabaa and Nahda massacres.
In a statement issued on its website, the movement urged Egyptians to hold peaceful rallies all over the country on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the “mass-slaughter of thousands of innocent Egyptians in the Rabaa and Nahda massacres,” decrying the killings as the “the most horrid humanitarian crime, the worst massacre in the history of Egypt.”
“We call on the masses of patriotic Egyptian people to join a roaring revolutionary wave of non-violent protests that should continue until the end of August. We will demonstrate in all the major streets and public squares, under the slogan ‘Rabaa: Earth will not drink up blood,’” read the statement.
The movement noted that it will never succumb to pressures exerted by the “despotic corrupt military rule,” adding that Egyptians are intent on giving “the world a new example of resisting oppression, despotism and brutal military coups.”
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Interior Ministry vowed to launch another heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protests.
In July 2013, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted by the military under the leadership of Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, the country's current president.
On August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces raided two camps of pro-Morsi protesters in Cairo: One at the al-Nahda Square and another larger one at the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.
According to the Egyptian Health Ministry, the attacks claimed the lives of 638 people, 595 of whom were civilians, and injured at least 3,994 others.
Following the military ouster of Morsi, thousands of his supporters and also proponents of the Muslim Brotherhood movement have been jailed, with many of them, including Morsi himself, receiving death penalties in mass trials.