‘Egyptian military took part in killings, torture’
A presidential report leaked to the Guardian shows armed forces suspected of making hundreds disappear during 2011 revolution
The Egyptian military participated in forced disappearances, torture and killing across the country during the 2011 revolution to oust president Hosni Mubarak, Britain’s Guardian revealed Wednesday, quoting a leaked fact-finding report on events during the uprising.
Over 1,000 people are said to have gone missing from the time of the 18-day revolt, with some turning up in morgues while others disappeared without a trace.
The report was submitted to President Mohammed Morsi by a 16-member committee he appointed in July 2012 to compile findings on the disappearances, and one of the chapters was obtained by the British paper.
Although the army declared its neutrality at the time, the document “implicates the military in a catalogue of crimes against civilians, beginning with their first deployment to the streets. The chapter recommends that the government investigate the highest ranks of the armed forces to determine who was responsible,” the report said.
Hossam Bahgat, the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was quoted as saying that the report “uncovers new details on one of the most secret aspects of the 18 days of revolt that ended with the ouster of Mubarak: the role played by the armed forces in supporting Mubarak against protesters from the date they were deployed on 28 January 2011, until the first military statement was issued in support of the protesters on 10 February.”
Investigators found that “members of the armed forces detained an unknown but likely large number of civilians at a checkpoint along a highway south of Cairo who have never been seen again; detained and tortured protesters in the Egyptian Museum before moving them to military prisons, killing at least one person; and delivered to government coroners in the capital at least 11 unidentified bodies, believed to be former prisoners, who were buried in indigent graves four months later,” the Guardian quoted the report as saying.
The committee members recommended the leaders of the armed forces be investigated “about the issuance of orders and instructions to subordinates who committed acts of torture and enforced disappearance.”