Ten years after the Rab’a massacre in Cairo, Egypt, the country has failed to hold anyone accountable for the mass killing of protesters.

Development Diaries recalls that security forces, on 14 August, 2013, killed at least 1,000 unarmed and innocent citizens at a mass sit-in in – the largest mass killing in the country’s modern history.

Hundreds of protesters were violently dispersed at Rab’a al-Adawiya, as they demanded the reinstatement of then-President Mohamed Morsy.

It is understood that many protesters who participated in the sit-in remain imprisoned, convicted in grossly unfair mass trials, and some have been sentenced to death.

Recall that the United Nations and several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), immediately called for an investigation into the sad event.

However, the government of Egypt under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has refused to order an investigation into the killings, instead, he approved Law No.161 of 2018 on the ‘treatment of the armed forces’ senior commanders’, which empowers the president to grant military commanders ministerial status and ‘diplomatic immunity’ when traveling outside Egypt.

The government of Egypt has failed to adhere to Article 241 of the Egyptian constitution, which requires them to pass a transitional justice law that ‘ensures revealing the truth, accountability, proposing frameworks for national reconciliation, and compensating victims, in accordance with international standards’.

Development Diaries calls on the government of Egypt to investigate the involvement of the country’s security forces and government officials in the killings and prosecute culprits.

We also call on the country to enforce the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Photo source: Mosa’ab Elshamy