Mnamo Julai 3, 2013, jeshi la Misri lilifanya mapinduzi na kuiondoa serikali iliyochaguliwa kidemokrasia ya Rais Mohamed Morsi wa Muslim Brotherhood. Maelfu ya Wamisri walifanya maandamano kote nchini Misri kuonyesha kumuunga mkono Morsi.
Mwezi mmoja baadaye, jeshi na polisi wa Misri walifanya mauaji kadhaa mjini Cairo, na kuua mamia ya waandamanaji wasio na silaha. Mamlaka zilianzisha jibu la kijeshi kwa maandamano makubwa ya amani ya wafuasi wa Brotherhood dhidi ya serikali haramu ya Misri. Ingawa ukandamizaji huo ulilenga hasa Udugu, ukandamizaji huo ulijumuisha vikundi vingine vya upinzani vya kisiasa na watu binafsi.
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.”
Mauaji ya 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.
"Sehemu kubwa ya ufyatuaji risasi uliofanywa na polisi inaonekana haukuwa wa kiholela," HRW iligundua, "kufyatua risasi hadharani kuelekea umati wa waandamanaji badala ya kuwalenga waandamanaji wenye silaha ambao wanaweza kuwa tishio kubwa."
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.”
Vifo hivyo "vilikuwa adhabu ya pamoja kwa waandamanaji walio wengi kwa amani," HRW ilihitimisha.
Mmoja wa waombaji aliyekuwepo kwenye maandamano hayo, hakujeruhiwa bali watu waliokuwa upande wake wa kushoto na kulia walikuwa wakipigwa risasi. Pia alikuwepo wakati mamlaka ilipochoma moto hospitali hiyo kwenye Medani ya Rab'a na kuua takriban wagonjwa 300 ambao hawakuweza kuondoka.
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.”
Waombaji wawili waliokuwepo kwenye maandamano haya hawakujeruhiwa lakini walikuwa katika hatari ya kupigwa. Wengine waliokuwa umbali mfupi walipigwa na risasi.
Uhalifu Dhidi ya Binadamu
Sheria ya Uholanzi inatoa hukumu ya kifungo cha maisha jela kwa makosa ya uhalifu dhidi ya ubinadamu. Uhalifu huo unafafanuliwa kuwa kuua kwa kukusudia au vitendo vingine vya kinyama vya hali inayolinganishwa na ambavyo husababisha kwa makusudi mateso makali au uharibifu mkubwa wa kimwili au kisaikolojia, unapofanywa kama sehemu ya shambulio la kawaida au la kawaida dhidi ya raia kwa mujibu wa sera ya Serikali.
HRW iligundua kwamba “vikosi vya usalama viliwaua kwa utaratibu na kwa makusudi waandamanaji wengi wasio na silaha kwa misingi ya kisiasa . . . kwa njia iliyoenea, na kusababisha vifo vya waandamanaji zaidi ya 1,150, mnamo Julai na Agosti 2013.
HRW ilimalizia zaidi, "[t]namna ambayo vikosi vya usalama vilitumia nguvu kutawanya maandamano inaonekana kuakisi sera zilizowekwa na serikali ya Misri." Kwa kweli, “serikali ilitarajia na kupanga vifo vya maelfu kadhaa ya waandamanaji.”
Mauaji ya Rab'a "yalitekelezwa kwa mujibu wa mpango uliobuniwa na Wizara ya Mambo ya Ndani na kuidhinishwa na Baraza la Mawaziri na Baraza la Ulinzi la Kitaifa baada ya matayarisho ya wiki tatu," HRW iliamua, ikinukuu taarifa za Ibrahim kwamba alitarajia kutawanywa kungeua idadi kubwa ya watu. waandamanaji.
Ibrahim alitoa taarifa kwa umma akifichua alijua kabla kwamba watu wengi wangekufa wakati wa harakati za polisi na kijeshi kukomesha maandamano. Siku moja baada ya mauaji ya Rab'a, Ibrahim alisema "mpango wa kutawanya ulifanikiwa kwa asilimia 100," akionyesha kwamba ulizingatia mpango uliokuwa umewekwa.
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.”
Morsi alikutwa na hatia ya mashtaka yakiwemo uchochezi wa ghasia na mateso kutoka kwa maandamano ya mwaka 2012 yaliyosababisha vifo vya watu 10 nje ya ikulu ya rais. Alihukumiwa kifungo cha miaka 20 jela.
The Dutch lawsuit
Kesi dhidi ya Ibrahim inazingatiwa na ofisi ya mwendesha mashtaka wa Uholanzi. Iwapo mwendesha mashtaka atakataa kumshtaki Ibrahim, waombaji wanaweza kuomba mahakama ya juu zaidi ya The Hague iamuru mwendesha mashtaka afungue mashtaka.
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.
Marjorie Cohn ni profesa katika Shule ya Sheria ya Thomas Jefferson na rais wa zamani wa Chama cha Wanasheria wa Kitaifa. Kitabu chake cha hivi karibuni zaidi ni "Drones na Mauaji Yanayolengwa: Masuala ya Kisheria, Maadili, na Kijiografia."
ZNetwork inafadhiliwa tu kupitia ukarimu wa wasomaji wake.
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