Ma Iulai 3, 2013, ua hoʻokō ka pūʻali koa ʻAigupita i kahi hoʻokahuli aupuni a hoʻopau i ke aupuni i koho ʻia e ka Pelekikena Mohamed Morsi o ka Muslim Brotherhood. He mau kaukani o ʻAigupita i hana i nā hōʻikeʻike ma ʻAigupita e hōʻike i ke kākoʻo iā Morsi.
I hoʻokahi mahina ma hope mai, ua hoʻokō ka pūʻali koa a me nā mākaʻi o ʻAigupita i kekahi mau pepehi kanaka ma Kairo, me ka pepehi ʻana i nā haneli o ka poʻe kūʻē ʻole. Ua hoʻokau nā luna i kahi pane pūʻali koa i ka nui o nā kūʻē maluhia e nā poʻe kākoʻo o ka Brotherhood e kūʻē i ke aupuni kūʻokoʻa o ʻAigupita. ʻOiai ʻo ka manaʻo nui i ka Brotherhood, ʻo ka hoʻopaʻapaʻa i komo i nā hui kūʻē politika ʻē aʻe a me nā kānaka.
Four Dutch citizens of Egyptian origin, who were present during three of the most brutal massacres in summer 2013, filed a petition in the Netherlands that charged Egyptian Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim with crimes against humanity. In September 2014, the Dutch law firm of Seebregts & Saey submitted a formal request to the Dutch prosecutor to prosecute Ibrahim. Dutch criminal courts have jurisdiction under the International Crimes Act when a Dutch national has been the victim of a crime. Due to head of state immunity, the lawsuit did not name Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who ordered the Rab’a massacre when he was Defense Minister.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) undertook a one-year investigation into the conduct of security forces responding to the demonstrations. In its report titled “All According to Plan: The Rab’a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt,” HRW concluded, “police and army forces systematically and intentionally used excessive lethal force in their policing, resulting in killings of protesters on a scale unprecedented in Egypt.” HRW also determined “the killings not only constituted serious violations of international human rights law, but likely amounted to crimes against humanity, given both their widespread and systematic nature and the evidence suggesting the killings were part of a policy to attack unarmed persons on political grounds.” Although HRW was able to confirm that some protesters used firearms in a few instances, they did not justify “the grossly disproportionate and premeditated lethal attacks on overwhelmingly peaceful protesters.”
Ka Pepehi Rab'a
There were over 20,000 protesters in Rab’a Square. In what HRW called “the gravest incident of mass protester killings,” Egyptian police, snipers and military personnel opened fire on unarmed demonstrators on August 14, 2013, “killing at least 817 and likely more than 1,000.” Security forces used live ammunition “with hundreds killed by bullets to their heads, necks, and chests.” Snipers fired from helicopters over Rab’a Square.
"ʻO ka hapa nui o ka pana ʻana a nā mākaʻi i ʻike ʻole ʻia," i ʻike ʻia e HRW, "e kī ākea ana ma ke ala ākea o ka lehulehu o nā mea hōʻikeʻike ma mua o ka hoʻopaʻa ʻana i ka poʻe pū kūʻē pū me ka mea i hoʻoweliweli koʻikoʻi."
The Rab’a mosque, which served as a refuge, particularly for women and children, “held so many corpses that it felt like it ‘had turned into a cemetery,’” one protester told HRW. An 18-year-old boy came into the hospital and said his stomach hurt. A doctor noted, “I looked down and his intestines were all out. He had taken several bullets and [later] died.” The doctor also reported that another person “took a bullet in the face, causing his face to open and tongue to fall out . . . He spent 40 minutes looking at me and gesturing for help, but I couldn’t do anything. Surgery was not possible.”
ʻO nā make "ua pili i ka hoʻopaʻi hui o ka hapa nui o nā mea kūʻē maluhia," i hoʻopau ai ʻo HRW.
ʻAʻole i ʻeha kekahi o nā mea noi ma ka hōʻike, akā ua kī ʻia nā poʻe ma kona hema a ʻākau. Aia pū ʻo ia i ka wā i puhi ai nā luna i ke ahi i ka haukapila ma Rabʻa Square, a make ma kahi o 300 mau maʻi i hiki ʻole ke haʻalele.
Republican Guard Square
On July 7, 2013, about 2,000 Brotherhood supporters began a peaceful sit-in. Shortly before dawn on July 8, police and army units opened fire, targeting those in the protest and others emerging from prayers at the mosque. Authorities killed 61 protesters with live ammunition and injured 435. Most suffered gunshots to the head, neck and chest.
One of the petitioners was hit by a bullet, but survived.
Manassa Memorial
At least 95 protesters were killed on July 27, 2013. A field hospital doctor reported, “From 2 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. it was a steady stream; the bodies kept coming. Most had gunshot wounds in the head, neck or chest. The hospital was overflowing; we were completely over capacity.” Another field house doctor told HRW: “All of the dead were either dead on arrival or died immediately after they arrived, because of where they were hit; if you’re hit in the head or chest, you won’t last very long. The entire hospital floor was covered with injured people. It was beyond imagination.”
ʻAʻole i ʻeha nā mea noi ʻelua i hele mai ma kēia hōʻikeʻike akā ua pilikia lākou i ka pa. ʻO nā poʻe ʻē aʻe ma kahi mamao loa i pā ʻia e nā pōkā.
Ka hewa i ke kanaka
Hāʻawi ke kānāwai Dutch i nā hoʻopaʻi a hiki i ke ola i loko o ka hale paʻahao no ka hoʻopaʻi hewa ʻana i ke kanaka. Ua wehewehe ʻia ka hewa ma ke ʻano he pepehi kanaka me ka manaʻo a i ʻole nā hana ʻino ʻē aʻe o ke ʻano like me ka manaʻo e hoʻokau i ka ʻeha nui a i ʻole ka pōʻino kino kino a i ʻole ka noʻonoʻo, ke hana ʻia ma ke ʻano o ka hoʻouka kaua ākea a i ʻole ka hoʻouka kaua ʻana i ka lehulehu kanaka e like me ke kulekele Mokuʻāina.
Ua ʻike ʻo HRW "ua pepehi ʻia nā pūʻali koa palekana i ka nui o ka poʻe kūʻē ʻole me ke kaua ma nā kumu politika. . . ma ke ʻano ākea, ka hopena o ka make ʻana o nā mea kūʻē 1,150, i Iulai a me ʻAukake o 2013.
Ua hoʻopau hou ʻo HRW, "ʻo ke ʻano o ka hoʻohana ʻana o nā pūʻali palekana i ka ikaika e hoʻopuehu i nā kūʻē e hōʻike ana i nā kulekele i hoʻonohonoho ʻia e ke aupuni ʻAigupita." ʻO ka ʻoiaʻiʻo, "ua manaʻo ke aupuni a hoʻolālā no ka make ʻana o kekahi mau tausani mau mea kūʻē."
Ua "hoʻokō ʻia ka pepehi kanaka ʻo Rabʻa e like me kahi hoʻolālā i hoʻolālā ʻia e ke Kuhina Kalaiaina a ʻae ʻia e ka ʻAha Kuhina a me ka National Defense Council ma hope o ʻekolu pule o ka hoʻomākaukau ʻana," i hoʻoholo ai ʻo HRW, e haʻi ana i nā ʻōlelo a Ibrahim i manaʻo ʻo ia e make ka lehulehu poe hoikeike.
Ua hōʻike ʻo Ibrahim i nā ʻōlelo ākea e hōʻike ana ua ʻike mua ʻo ia he nui ka poʻe e make i ka wā o nā mākaʻi a me nā hana koa e hoʻopau i nā hōʻike. I ka lā ma hope o ka luku ʻana iā Rabʻa, ua ʻōlelo ʻo Ibrahim "ua lanakila ka hoʻolālā hoʻopuehu i ka 100 pakeneka," e hōʻike ana ua pili ia i kahi hoʻolālā i kau ʻia.
In a televised interview on August 31, 2013, Ibrahim confirmed that the Interior Ministry expected losses of “10 percent of the people,” adding, “you will find thousands lost from their side.”
“Abject politicization of justice”
HRW learned that “[s]ecurity forces detained over 800 protesters on August 14, 2013, some of whom they beat, tortured and in some cases summarily executed.”
On April 11, 2015, 51 Brotherhood supporters were convicted in a mass trial, based on the testimony of a single police officer. HRW said the evidence presented at the trial demonstrated that the men were disseminating news about and organizing peaceful protests in opposition to the military coup and removal of Morsi. Fourteen of the defendants were sentenced to death and the other 37 were given life sentences. According to Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director of HRW, “The fact that people who covered and publicized the mass killings in 2013 could go to prison for life or be executed while the killers walk free captures the abject politicization of justice in Egypt.”
Ua hoʻopaʻi ʻia ʻo Morsi no nā hoʻopiʻi me ka hoʻoulu ʻana i ka hana ʻino a me ka hoʻomāinoino mai nā hōʻike hōʻike 2012 i hopena i ka make ʻana o 10 mau kānaka ma waho o ka hale pelekikena. Ua hoʻopaʻi ʻia ʻo ia i 20 mau makahiki i loko o ka hale paʻahao.
The Dutch lawsuit
ʻO ka hihia kūʻē iā Ibrahim e noʻonoʻo ʻia e ke keʻena hoʻopiʻi Dutch. Inā hōʻole ka mea hoʻopiʻi e hoʻopiʻi iā Ibrahim, hiki i nā mea noi ke noi i ka ʻaha kiʻekiʻe ma The Hague e kauoha i ka mea hoʻopiʻi e hoʻopiʻi.
There has been no legal accountability for the massacres conducted by the Egyptian military government against the largely peaceful protesters. If high government officials in Egypt are permitted to commit crimes against humanity with impunity, it will encourage similar actions in the future – both in Egypt and elsewhere. Since there is little prospect for justice in Egypt itself, the Dutch lawsuit may be the only vehicle for accountability for these most serious crimes.
He polopeka ʻo Marjorie Cohn ma Thomas Jefferson School of Law a he pelekikena mua o ka National Lawyers Guild. ʻO kāna puke hou loa ʻo "Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues."
Hāʻawi kālā ʻia ʻo ZNetwork ma o ka lokomaikaʻi o kāna poʻe heluhelu.
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