ACTIVISTS MARK SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF RABAA MASSACRE

Cairo, 29 Shawal 1436/14 August 2015 (MINA) – Activists around the world are uploading photos of themselves holding yellow signs with the words “I #RememberRABAA” to mark the second anniversary of the deadly crackdown on Egyptian protesters by government security forces that killed up to 1,000 people.

In 2013 supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi occupied Rabaa Square in eastern Cairo to protest his ouster by the Egyptian military. On August 14, 2013, on the 47th day of their sit-in, security forces fired on the protesters with live ammunition. Human Rights Watch called it “the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history.”

Egyptian activists have been trying to preserve the memory of the Rabaa massacre as it has become known. The Rabaa Story Foundation, for example, has been working online to raise awareness, Vocativ.com reported.

Over 7,000 Facebook users are “attending” the virtual event to raise awareness, while Twitter and Instagram users around the world are re-tweeting the hashtag #RememberRABAA, while taking photos of themselves holding yellow cards, after the Jasmine Revolution.

Earlier today, The official website of Cairo International Airport was taken over by a group of hackers commemorating the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in in 2013 for several hours.

The website was attacked by Turkish hacking team “AkinCilar” on the second anniversary of the 2013 Rabaa masacre that killed thousands of Mohammed Morsi  supporter in Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square and the smaller in Nahda Square. They were both in Giza.

For several hours, users of the site were redirected to a second page showing the “R4BIA” symbol that has been used by Morsi’s supporters to commemorate the dispersal. Messages on the page in Arabic , English and Turkish called the dispersal “a crime against humanity” and vowed not to stop until “attaining vengeance.”(T/R04/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)