RIGHTS GROUP: 2,799 KILLED BY EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES IN TWO YEARS

Rights group: 2,799 deaths by Egyptian authority in two years (Photo: Memo)

Kairo, 2 Dzulqa’dah 1436/17 August 2015 (MINA) – Some 2,799 Egyptians have been killed since the Egyptian authorities forcefully dispersed mass rallies in Cairo on August 14, 2013, in protest against the military coup which ousted the first freely elected Egyptian president, a rights group said on Friday.

Anadolu News Agency reported that the Egyptian Coordination of Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) stated that since June 30, 2013 until today, the Egyptian authorities’ varied methods of killing resulted in a large number of deaths.

According to the ECRF on August 14, 2013, the Egyptian army and police dispersed the demonstrations against the military coup, killing 632 Egyptians. Meanwhile, national and international rights groups said the number of deaths was over 1,000.Middle East Monitor (Memo) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Following the violent dispersal of the rallies, the Egyptian authorities adopted systematic killing, including torturing prisoners to death, liquidations and assassinations.

On June this year, the Egyptian security forces assassinated nine unarmed Muslim Brotherhood leaders, claiming they were planning to make chaos in the country. The Muslim Brotherhood denied the accusations and stressed that the individuals were a team following up the families of Egyptians killed or wounded by the army and the police.

According to the report, which was divided into three stages, the first stage covered the period from June 30, 2013 until August 13, 2013, where 316 Egyptians were killed. The second stage covered August 14, 2013 until August 16, where 2007 Egyptians were killed. The third stage details the events from August 17, 2013 until August 12, 2015, where 476 Egyptians were killed.

Since the military coup against Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian authorities have been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing it of “inciting violence and terror” in the country.

In December 2013, an Egyptian court designated the group as a “terrorist organisation” and ordered all of its leaders and members to be arrested and their property confiscated.

Hundreds of its leaders and members have been sentenced to death or life in prison since the announcement of the ruling. (T/P002/RO6)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)