A decade goes by so quick under authoritarian rule.
For 10 years, Egypt has failed to hold anyone accountable for the largest mass killing in Egypt’s modern history. The Rab’a massacre, a crime against humanity, took place in Cairo on August 14, 2013, and kick-started a mass repression campaign targeting everyone from government critics and opposition politicians to ambitious young change-makers, resulting in tens of thousands of political prisoners.
On August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces violently dispersed a sit-in at Rab’a al-Adawiya, one of the main gathering places of protesters demanding the reinstatement of then-President Mohamed Morsi. The army overthrew and arrested President Morsi on July 3, 2013 and after the coup, Morsi supporters held large protests throughout Egypt and gathered in two main squares in Cairo, Rab’a, and al-Nahda. On August 14, security forces fired on masses of peaceful protesters, including many women and children, killing at least 817 people and more likely over 1,000.
Despite overwhelming evidence compiled by organizations like Human Rights Watch and calls by the UN and international human rights organizations for a full investigation, Egyptian authorities have failed to investigate or prosecute anyone for the killings of hundreds of innocent protesters. Apart from the hundreds killed that day, hundreds more who participated in the sit-in remain imprisoned 10 years on, convicted in grossly unfair mass trials, while others have been sentenced to death. As for former-President Morsi, he died in detention in 2019 in abusive conditions. The fortunate few fled into exile, with little hope of ever returning.
Since August 2013, Egypt’s security forces have frequently and repeatedly committed human rights abuses with zero accountability, with routine arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture of real or alleged political activists as well as ordinary citizens, all under the guise of “fighting terrorism”. A once-historic and storied civilization, reigned in and ruled by a power-hungry dictator.
Side Items
Think Piece-ing a Brawl: It’s barely been a week since the infamous and now-viral Alabama riverboat brawl of 2023 and already it’s been milked for every headline and story imaginable. This overwrought article talks about how bystanders who filmed the incident “couldn’t have known the footage would elicit a national conversation about racial solidarity”. Like be for real, that’s a bit much I think. Most people just enjoyed watching a good ol’ justified stomping
Liverpool Match 1 Review: As promised, here’s ~100 seconds of coverage of Liverpool’s first game of the season. Let me know what you think of my silly video and what to include for the next silly video (Liverpool’s next game is Saturday, Aug 19 at 9am CST)