Responses to the claim made by Human Rights Watch that the Egyptian security forces' “massive use of lethal force” to disperse sit-ins on 14 August led to “the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history” has exposed divisions within the human rights community in Egypt. “Forcibly dispersing the sit-ins and the way the security forces have dealt with protesters in recent days is incompatible with human rights principles,” Ahmed Seif Al-Islam, founder of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, told Al-Ahram Weekly. “The death toll,” he adds, “clearly shows that excessive force was used in order to clear the sit-ins.” More than 800 people, including 57 police officers, were killed during the dispersal and subsequent clashes between security and pro-Mohamed Morsi protesters. As Western capitals pressed Cairo to halt the crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its allies Egypt's presidency responded by saying it was facing a campaign of terrorism sponsored by the MB. Sherif Al-Helali, director of the Arab Institute for the Support of Civil Society, puts the blame for the clashes squarely on the shoulders of the MB. The military and police, he says, were reacting to Brotherhood incited violence. “Seven Egyptian human rights organisations have submitted a memorandum to the EU ambassador in Cairo requesting an urgent meeting,” says Al-Helali, during which signatories to the memorandum will present documents and videos “proving” that the MB is responsible for the ongoing violence. Hafez Abu Seada, head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, justifies the security forces' use of live ammunition while clearing the sit-ins. “The police are only authorised to use firearms in the case of legitimate self-defence, and this is guaranteed by the law and the constitution as well as enshrined in international law,” he says. “Both sit-ins contained arms. Weapons were found during the dispersals. This alone means the state's dispersal decisions were legal and conformed with accepted human rights norms.” It is a position disputed by nine Egyptian human rights organisations who issued a joint statement this week in which they argued the force used by security agencies amounted to collective punishment. “That some participants in the sit-in, and some of its leaders, committed criminal acts, were in possession of weapons and engaged in violence does not give the authorities license to collectively punish all those taking part,” said the statement. The signatories went on to “condemn the use of excessive force by the security authorities when dispersing the sit-ins. We believe the security apparatus could have avoided this human tragedy if it had complied with international rules and standards for the dispersal of assemblies.” The statement then demanded an independent investigation into “the extrajudicial killing” of citizens since 3 July and the prosecution of all those directly involved. The press release also condemned “the terrorist acts of the MB”, including “attacks on government buildings and police stations, security personnel and churches in Upper Egypt and Sinai”. The statement was signed by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, the Arab Organisation for Penal Reform, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, the Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners and Nazra for Feminist Studies. “The continuation of the Pro-Morsi sit-ins was impossible given the presence of weapons in the sit-ins and the way the protesters abused the rights of local residents,” says CIHRS head Bahieddin Hassan. The problem, says Hassan, is that “there was laxity in enforcing the law within these sit-ins early enough”. “If the law had been enforced in time we wouldn't find ourselves in such crisis.” “The state urgently needs a serious plan to contain the violence and restore the political track which has been derailed by the security resolution,” says Hassan. The security solution, currently applied in Cairo and Sinai, must be replaced by a political one, especially after it has failed to protect police stations and government installations. Al-Islam also warns that there is no security solution and that the absence of a political track places an untenable burden on security forces in containing the unrest. “We must remember that ousted president Morsi failed when he shut his eyes to any political solution. As long as there are protesters in the streets, there must be political dialogue.”
