Egypt’s ruling military council, which took power after the February ouster of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising, have portrayed the Oct. 9 protest and the ensuing bloodshed as the work of provocateurs, thereby shielding the soldiers present from any blame. A number of the Christian protesters were killed when military vehicles ran them over.
“The military has already tried to control the media narrative, and it should not be allowed to cover up what happened on October 9,” said New-York based Human Rights Watch spokesman Joe Stork.
The clashes left 27 people dead, at least 21 of them Christians, in the deadliest single incident since Mubarak’s ouster. After months of growing tensions between the youthful protesters that spearheaded the uprising and the ruling military, the killings brought relations between the two sides to a new low. Activists accuse the ruling military council of behaving like the old regime. The generals have been pressing for an end to street protests.
Egypt’s Christian minority, about 10 percent of the mostly Muslim population, has long complained of discrimination and second-class citizen treatment. However, attacks on Christians have significantly increased since the uprising.
The violence on Oct. 9 began when about 1,000 Christians tried to stage a peaceful sit-in outside the state television building in the Maspero district along the Nile. The protesters said they were attacked by “thugs” with sticks and the violence spiraled out of control after a speeding military vehicle jumped onto a sidewalk and crushed some Christians.
At a news conference after the clashes, the military tried to exonerate itself, blaming the Christians and “hidden hands” for starting the violence. They denied troops shot any protesters or intentionally ran them over.
The ruling council put military prosecutors in charge of investigating the killings.
However, HRW urged authorities to transfer investigation of the case from military to civilian prosecutors.
“The only hope for justice for the victims is an independent, civilian-led investigation that the army fully cooperates with and cannot control and that leads to the prosecution of those responsible,” the HRW statement said. “The generals seem to be insisting that they and only they investigate the Maspero violence, which is to ensure that no serious investigation occurs.”
HRW also urged an investigation into whether the military manipulated the media and the state television coverage on Oct. 9 which “may have amounted to incitement to violence.”
As protesters marched toward the TV building, state television called on viewers to rush to the army’s rescue, casting the Christians as a mob seeking to undermine unity between the people and the military.
Activists fear that an army-controlled investigation may seek to make scapegoats of some of the protesters. Some 28 people were arrested in the aftermath of the killings, most of them Christians. There has been no word of soldiers arrested.
Those fears have been heightened by a prosecutorial summons for a young blogger critical of the military. Alaa Seif, the son of one of Egypt’s most prominent human rights lawyers, has been attacked on television by pro-military activists who claim that they have a videotape of him throwing rocks at Christians during the Maspero events.
His sister Mona, herself a prominent campaigner against military tribunals for civilians, said Tuesday that the blogger had been called for questioning. Alaa is currently outside the country.
