Maspero demonstrations

Last updated

Maspero Massacre
Part of the Egyptian Crisis under the SCAF
Maspero demonstrations.jpg
Location Maspiro, Cairo, Egypt
Date9–10 October 2011
Target Coptic Christians
Deaths24
Injured212

The Maspero Massacre initially started as demonstrations in October 2011 by a group dominated by Egyptian Copts in reaction to the demolition of a church in Upper Egypt claimed to be built without the appropriate license. [1] The peaceful protesters who intended to stage a sit-in in front of the Maspiro television building were attacked by security forces and the army, resulting in 24 deaths, mostly among the Coptic protestors, and 212 injuries, most of which were sustained by Copts. [2]

Contents

Demonstration

The peaceful protesters gathered in peaceful chants, angered by a statement made publicly by Aswan's governor, Mustafa Kamel el-Sayyed, who, after the destruction of the church in Aswan, denied the existence of the church, and then later retracted his statements, and claimed instead that the construction of the church was illegal. It was later revealed that extremist followers of the Salafist Islamic sect had pronounced threats and made demands for Aswan's Christian congregation not to have any loudspeakers in the church and to limit the visibility of any Christian symbols such as crosses on the church structure. In order to defuse tensions, the Aswan governorate organized a meeting between Salafist and Coptic leaders, wherein the Copts refused the latter demand of eliminating crosses and steeples. The threats eventually escalated to actual destruction of the church by the extremists, and to the subsequent statements by the Aswan governor. It was this incident that led to the protest, which is presented in the following details based on a number of credible sources. [3]

The march set out towards Maspiro from the downtown poverty-stricken neighborhood of Shubra, densely populated by both Muslims and Christians. Reporters agree that it was a sizeable demonstration comparable to the numbers at the 28 January protest, the day when Mubarak sent army vehicles to confront protesters. [4] Protesters were also angry about an injury sustained by a Christian priest during the violent confrontation by army and police at Wednesday's demonstration at Maspiro, when a smaller group had been demonstrating against the situation in Aswan.

When the protests started, Egyptian state television anchor Rasha Magdy, urged [5] "honorable" citizens to go "protect" the military.

Clashes

Reports suggest that the army began using violence even before the protesters reached Maspiro. Gunshots were heard from the end of Shubra Street and rocks were thrown from a nearby bridge. The protesters responded in chants against the Field Commander. The attacks suddenly stopped as the protesters proceeded on Galaa Street. As they crossed the Al Ahram headquarters, one rock was thrown at the building. Reports suggest this was in response to Al Ahram's poor coverage of violence against Copts in a recent issue.[ citation needed ]

Army attacks resumed when the protesters turned the corner at Ramsis Hotel and reached Maspiro. Witnesses saw two armored personnel carriers crushing protesters to death, and soldiers firing wildly at the congregation, followed by riot police throwing tear gas. These incidents have been documented by video and later broadcast on CNN. [6] Reports count between 24 [7] and 27 deaths, mostly Coptic civilians, and over 300 injured.

State television within minutes of violence first reported the death of three soldiers and requested that all noble Egyptian patriots protect the military against the "violent crowd of Copts," also alluding to "foreign infiltrators" inciting violence. That evening, state television continued to broadcast a manipulated version of the story claiming the protesters were armed and that a "conflict" had broken out between civilians and military personnel with riot police, leaving deaths and injuries on both sides. Later, the Department of Health released another statement indicating that there were no military deaths and associating all bodies with deceased civilian protesters.[ citation needed ]

Response

According to an official statement by the Egyptian military, it was the protesters who first attacked the army resulting in the death of three police officers. They claim to have responded by firing blank cartridges, and that military personnel were being pulled out of their armoured vehicles and attacked by rioters, which they claim caused other military personnel to panic and "mow down" some protesters "accidentally" as they drove off. [8] Human rights organisations have dismissed the Army's response as partial. [9]

Several international media outlets, including BBC and CNN, picked up this version of the events. Egyptian state television later retracted the claims when it broadcast a mild report on the events the following day but continued to exhibit a reluctance to condemn the actions of the army. [10] Egypt's Minister of Information Osama Heikal blamed the reports on the "emotional distress" the states news anchors went through over reports of copts attacking the Egyptian army. [11]

Public figures, including prominent Muslim and Coptic leaders, demanded the prosecution of army generals. The military council then called for the civilian Prime Minister to investigate the incident and identified 15 suspects to be tried in military courts. The military council and state television remain targets of heated criticism from prominent activists and journalists. The representatives at the state television have not issued any statements, but a newscaster has publicly expressed feeling "ashamed" to be working for an institution that proved "itself to be a slave for whoever rules Egypt". [11] Activists also blame state television for provoking sectarian tensions.

Governor Mustafa Kamel El Sayyed reportedly said that the demolition of the Church was agreed to by the local Coptic community and absolved himself of any responsibility in the tragic events at Maspiro. [12] The Ministerial Cabinet announced it will amend laws pertaining to the construction of houses of worship and toughen the anti-discrimination laws, but local human rights activists doubt the effectiveness or follow-through of the Cabinet's approach. [13]

Identical promises have been made following other similar incidents (recently and in the more distant past) without any amend the archaic laws that require only non-Muslims to receive permission to build houses of worship. In addition, the Egyptian military, which is responsible for these deaths, has taken over the investigation, prompting Human Rights Watch to issue a statement which concluded that "official denials suggest investigation will be flawed". [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria</span> Head of the Coptic Church from 1971 to 2012

Pope Shenouda III was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His papacy lasted 40 years, 4 months, and 4 days, from 14 November 1971 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Egypt</span>

Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census, religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) is an Egyptian human rights organization established in 2003 with a mission of promoting and maintaining human rights in Egypt. The NCHR publishes annual reports concerning the current status of human rights within the country. Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali played a "significant role" in creating the organization, and served as its president until 2012. In 2012, during the brief one year reign of the Muslim Brotherhood Hossam El Gheriany. a senior Islamist judge was appointed as the head of the NCHR, however after the 2013 uprising and the subsequent military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi Gheriany was removed and the entire council was recomposed and Mohamed Fayek was appointed as the new President. In 2021 after the term of NCHR members expired, The Parliament of Egypt nominated Moushira Khattab to become the new president of NCHR to replace Fayek and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approved her nomination as well the new composition of NCHR.

The Nag Hammadi massacre was a massacre of Coptic Christians carried out on the eve of 7 January 2010, in the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. The massacre occurred at the hands of Muslim gunmen in front of the Nag Hammadi Cathedral, as Coptic Christians were leaving the church after celebrating the midnight Christmas Divine Liturgy. The massacre resulted in the murder of eight Copts and one Muslim bystander. Nine other Copts were confirmed to be wounded, and two Muslims were reportedly wounded in the attack. Egypt's Interior Ministry said it suspected the attack was motivated by the alleged rape by a Christian of a Muslim girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Khaled Mohamed Saeed</span> Egyptian who died due to police brutality

Khaled Mohamed Saeed was an Egyptian man whose death in police custody in the Sidi Gaber area of Alexandria on 6 June 2010 helped incite the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Photos of his disfigured corpse spread throughout online communities and incited outrage over the fact that he was beaten to death by Egyptian security forces. A prominent Facebook group, "We are all Khaled Said", moderated by Wael Ghonim, brought attention to his death and contributed to growing discontent in the weeks leading up to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. In October 2011, two Egyptian police officers were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison for beating Saeed to death. They were granted a retrial and sentenced to ten years in prison on 3 March 2014.

Kamilia Shehata Zakher is a schoolteacher in Deir Mawas, Egypt, and wife of Tadros Samaan, the Coptic Priest of Saint Mark's Church in Mowas Cathedral in Minya. Her disappearance in July 2010 sparked protests and rumours of kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam. Her subsequent return to the Church inflamed sectarian tensions between Egypt's Muslim majority and Coptic Christian minority.

The 2011 Alexandria bombing was an attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, on New Year, 1 January 2011. Twenty-three people were killed and another ninety-seven were injured, as a result of the attack, which occurred as the Christian worshipers were leaving. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against Egypt's Coptic Christians in a decade, since the Kosheh massacre in 2000 left 20 Copts dead. The target of the bombing was the Saints Church, a Coptic church located across the street from the Masjid Sharq El-Madina mosque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Egyptian revolution</span> Political upheaval in Egypt

The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution, began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Hosni Mubarak's presidency. It consisted of demonstrations, marches, occupations of plazas, non-violent civil resistance, acts of civil disobedience and strikes. Millions of protesters from a range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured. Protesters retaliated by burning over 90 police stations across the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic responses to the Egyptian revolution of 2011</span>

There have been numerous domestic responses to the Egyptian revolution of 2011. Opposition parties, activists and religious bodies have been staunchly demanding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, with the exception of fearful Christian authorities, who called for staying away from the protests. The government has made ongoing attempts at media censorship, including briefly shutting down nearly all Internet traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Council of the Armed Forces</span> Statutory body of the Egyptian Armed Forces

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is a statutory body of between 20 and 25 senior officers of the Egyptian Armed Forces, and is headed by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah еl-Sisi and Lieutenant General Abdel Mageed Saqr. The council is convened only in cases of war or great internal emergencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Egyptian Crisis under the SCAF</span>

The following is a chronological summary of the major events that occurred during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, after Hosni Mubarak's resignation. Protests and riots led to the deaths of hundreds, injuries of thousands and the arrests of tens of thousands. Millions have mobilised the streets since the revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essam Sharaf</span> Prime Minister of Egypt (2011)

Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf is an Egyptian academic who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2005.

The trials and judicial hearings following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution were a series of legal moves to establish accountability among the various Egyptian government officials and prominent businessmen.

The 2011 Imbaba church attacks were a series of attacks that took place in Egypt on 7 May 2011 against Coptic Christian churches in the poor working-class neighborhood of Imbaba in Giza, near Cairo. The attacks were blamed on Salafi Muslims, and the attacks began when the Muslims attacked the Coptic Orthodox church of Saint Mina, where they alleged a Christian woman was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam. The attacks resulted in the burning of 3 Coptic Orthodox churches, and the destruction of many Christian-owned houses and businesses. In addition, 15 people were killed in the attacks, and about 232 injured. Among those killed were four Christians and six Muslims, while two other bodies were still unidentified. Imbaba has been known to be a stronghold of Muslim fundamentalists since the 1970s, but also comprises a significant number of Coptic Christians.

Abdel Latif Fouad El-menawy "عبد اللطيف المناوي" is an author, columnist, and multimedia journalist who covered war zones and conflicts around the world. He is the author of "Tahrir- the last 18 days of Mubarak ". He wrote the book as an eyewitness to events happened during the 18 days before the stepdown of Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wael Mikhael incident</span>

The Wael Mikhael incident occurred on 9 October 2011 when two Egyptian journalists, Wael Mikhael and Mina Daniel, were killed while covering a demonstration that turned into a violent clash between the Egyptian military and Coptic protesters. Mikhael was reporting as a cameraman for the Coptic Orthodox Christian TV station in Cairo and was shot in the head while filming what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration. Daniel was reporting as a political activist blogger and was shot in the shoulder and leg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2013 Egyptian protests</span> Demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi

The 30 June protests occurred in Egypt on 30 June 2013, marking the one-year anniversary of Mohamed Morsi's inauguration as president. The events ended with the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état after mass protests across Egypt demanding the immediate resignation of the president. The rallies were partly a response to Tamarod, an ostensibly grassroots movement that launched a petition in April 2013, calling for Morsi and his government to step down. Tamarod claimed to have collected more than 22 million signatures for their petition by June 30, although this figure was not verified by independent sources. A counter-campaign in support of Morsi's presidency, named Tagarod, claimed to have collected 26 million signatures by the same date, but this figure was also unverified and not mentioned in media nearly as much as Tamarod's, with no reliable sources repeating it. The movements in opposition to Morsi culminated in the June 30 protests that occurred across the country. According to the Egyptian military, which calculated the number of protesters via helicopter scans of demonstration perimeters across the country, the June 30 protests had 32 million protesters, making them "the biggest protests in Egypt's history." However, independent observers raised concerns that the Egyptian government exaggerated the actual number of anti-Morsi protestors, with some research determining that only around one to two million people protested across the country against Morsi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabaa massacre</span> Forceful dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-in in Cairo, Egypt

On 14 August 2013, the Egyptian police, under the command of then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, used lethal force to “disperse” two camps of protesters in Cairo: one at al-Nahda Square and a larger one at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. The two sites had been occupied by supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, who had been removed from office by the military a little over a month earlier following mass protests against his rule. Initiatives to end the six-week sit-ins by peaceful means had failed, and the camps were cleared out within hours.

Copts in Egypt refers to Coptic Christians born in or residing in Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coptic nationalism</span>

Coptic nationalism refers to the nationalism of the Copts, a Christian ethnic and religious minority that primarily inhabit the area of modern Egypt. Coptic nationalism does not have a claim for a Coptic nation but asks for an equal position for Copts in Egypt. Most Copts live in the south of Egypt but the largest concentrations of Copts lives in Cairo and Alexandria. The Copts are descended from the pharaonic inhabitants of Egypt. Most ethnic Copts belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Copts number between 10-15 percent of the Egyptian population of 104 million

References

  1. ↑ "Cairo clashes leave 24 dead after Coptic church protest". BBC. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  2. ↑ Michael, M (9 October 2011). "Christians Under Siege in Post-Revolution Egypt". AP. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Carr, Sarah. "A First-Hand Account: Marching from Shubra to Deaths at Maspiro" Al Masry Al Youm. October, 10, 2011". Almasry Alyoum. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Blair, Edmund. "Egypt's Mubarak sends in army, resists demands to quit" Reuters. January 28, 2011". Reuters. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "بالفيديو.. رشا مجدي "مذيعة الفتنة".. حرضت على الأقباط في "مذبحة ماسبيرو".. اعترفت باستخدامها كـ"ورق كلينكس" من قبل المسئولين بالتليفزيون.. ونقل احتفالات "أكتوبر" مكافأة الدولة لها". بوابة فيتو. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Mackey, Robert. "Social Media Accounts of Violence in Cairo Challenge Official Narrative." The New York Times. October 10, 2011". The New York Times. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Maspero survivors finally testify: army shot at unarmed demonstrators without provocation - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online".
  8. ↑ Hassan, Amro (13 October 2011). "Egypt military says soldiers didn't intentionally kill Copts". LA times.
  9. ↑ "Egypt military takes over inquiry of Coptic unrest". CBS news. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Ammar, Manar. "Egypt state television admits to making up news over soldiers' deaths" Bikya Masr. October 10, 2011". Bik ya Masr. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  11. 1 2 El Gundy, Zeynab (10 October 2011). ""Outrage over state TV's misinformation and anti-Coptic incitement"". Al-Ahram . Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Free Christian Voice. October 11, 2011". Free Christian Voice. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Fahmy, Heba. "Experts say tougher measures needed after Maspero, slam state media coverage" The Daily News Egypt. October 11, 2011". CBS news. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Egypt: Don't Cover Up Military Killing of Copt Protesters October 15, 2011". Human Rights Watch. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.