An Egyptian Court Sentences 683 to Death

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East 

CAIRO, Egypt. In a shocking decision an Egyptian court sentence 683 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death for “inciting violence” during deadly riots that broke out last year after the government cracked down on demonstrations in the central Egyptian city of Minya orchestrated by supporters of the Brotherhood in opposition of the military coup that resulted in the removal or President Mohamed Morsi from power last July. Mohamed Badie, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, was among those sentenced.

Relatives and families of members of Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Mohamed Morsi react after hearing the sentence, in front of the court in the city of Minya in south of Cairo. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

The sentence shocked the families of the accused, many accusing the state of using the court system as another tool for cracking down on the rights of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. The sister of Abu Bakr Ismail, a 30 year-old pharmacist and father of two said “My brother is an innocent man.” She said; “he was arrested because he was bearded and memorized the Quran.”

In March, in a spate case, the same judge sentenced 529 men to death in connection to the murder of a single police officer who was killed during the violent clashes that broke out between government officials and Islamists. The violent clashes between security forces and opponents of the coup followed a deadly crackdown by security forces on two Cairo sit-ins being held by supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi.

The ruling raised the one-month total for capital punishment sentences for the judge, Said Yusuf, beyond the total number of people believed to have been judicially executed world-wide last year. While these verdicts are shocking observers have noted that it is unlikely that they will be carried out. Egypt’s state prosecutor has ordered a judicial review of both cases. Also, only a fraction of the men convicted in these cases are in police custody; and under Egyptian law any person sentenced in absentia has the right to a retrial.

The sentences reflect the paradigm shift that has occurred in Egypt since the state’s first democratically elected leader, who was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed from power last year. Since the removal or President Morsi the government has cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, once again considering it an illegal organization, returning it to the status it had under the Mubarak Regime.

The violent crackdowns on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which have included these “mass death-Sentence” cases have sparked a firestorm of international condemnation and called the states transition to democracy into question.

Several senators in the United States, which has long-been a source of aid for the Egyptian military, moved to block future deliveries of military aid.  The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is “is alarmed by the news” of the mass death sentence in Egypit. The Secretary-General’s spokesperson said the Secretary-General is “concerned” about the situation and “intends to discuss these concerns and other issues with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Egypt Nabil Fahmy.”

The rulings came as the Egyptian interim government claims it remains committed to following its roadmap to democracy. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the general who led the coup against President Mori, is expected to win the presidential elections to be held on May 26-27, a fact may critics say is a sign that the Egyptian state has returned to a military regime.

For more information please see:

The Economist – Hang Them All? – 03 May 2014

CNN International – Egypt Court Sentences Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood Supporters to Death – 29 April 2014

Al Jazeera – Egyptians Reel from Mass Death Sentence – 29 April 2014

Reuters – Egyptian Court Sentences Top Muslim Brotherhood Leader to Death – 28 April 2014

Tomorrow…. The fifth round of polio campaign in Syria.

Tomorrow…. The fifth round of polio campaign in Syria.
Polio team in Syria aims to launch the fifth round of the mobile polio vaccination tomorrow morning on Saturday, May in the liberated areas of Deir al Zour, Raqqa, Hasaka, Aleppo, Idleb, Hama and Lattakia.

The fifth round is one of six rounds in which the same children are vaccinated with vaccinating children who were not vaccinated in the previous round.
Officials of this campaigns seek to end polio in Syria after it emerged recently in Syria especially in Deir al Zour.

1.25 million Children have been vaccinated during the first round, 1.4 million children in the second, 1.41 million children in the third and 1.44 million child in the fourth. It is likely that the number of vaccinated children during the fifth round will exceed 1.44 million children.

On the other hand, and within logistic preparation frame of the fifth round, the staff sought to check refrigerating set by which the vaccine is moved in addition to the readiness of groups to overcome difficulties they faced in the previous round.

Delegates of the team have received vaccines assigned for the fifth round from the directorate of health in Gaziantep- Turkey where the team seeks to procure vaccination from the Turkish ministry of health and the Turkish Red Crescent.

It is worth mentioning that polio team came by combining the efforts of the ACU, local councils and a group of local and international non-governmental organizations under the logo of “End Polio in Syria”. The number of volunteers in the team is about more than 8,000 volunteers with the participation of more than 200 doctors.

 

Armed Opposition’s Indiscriminate Attacks in Aleppo

Since the Syrian army entered Syrian cities in mid-2011, most cities have been divided between regime-controlled areas and armed opposition-controlled areas. Syrian city inhabitants are the primary sufferers of this division. This division is present in Aleppo, which is divided into Eastern and Western sections, and in the Damascus region, with damascene suburbs and the area surrounding Gota primarily under armed opposition control, and the province’s center and capitol under regime control.

The regime has arbitrarily dropped barrel bombs on neighborhoods outside of their control, destroying property and killing and wounding large numbers of civilians.  In response to this, armed opposition groups are bombing areas under regime control (in Damascus and Aleppo), using poorly-directed mortar shells and homemade explosives, all with high margins of error. Opposition groups’ shelling may cause less destruction than that of the regime, but they still qualify as indiscriminate attacks—in breach of international law.

The Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC) works to record evidence of these violations and collect the names of these victims. In pursuit of this objective, the SJAC has held meetings with witnesses and victims’ families in regime-controlled areas in Aleppo and Damascus, in order to document the opposition groups’ indiscriminate shelling operations. These operations involve indiscriminate shelling and missile attacks on civilian areas, allegedly with the aim of targeting regime security forces, the military, and secret police staying in these areas.