The NCHR report on Maspero
WATANI International
13 November 2011
On 2 November, the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) released its fact-finding report on what is now known as the “Maspero incident” of Sunday 9 October. The report came replete with relevant facts directly related to the incident or forming the root cause of the events—a collection of facts which I denote as ‘the legacy of resentment and bitterness’.
Predictably, the report came under fire from many who read it within the framework of specific preconceptions. A careful reading of the NCHR report, however, reveals remarkable candour and credibility. I would like to shed the light on some important passages of the report:
• Analysis of the incident:
• The Maspero incident in which 26 Egyptian Christians, one military man and one Muslim lost their lives; and more than 321 civilians and military men were injured, witnessed a number of severe human rights violations that amount to crimes against peaceful protestors. These crimes included intentional and random murder, as well as physical assault which led to serious injury.
• Unanimously, eyewitnesses testified to the fact that the demonstration which started from Shubra and headed to Maspero was a peaceful one which included many Muslims alongside the Christian demonstrators. The demonstrators carried nothing but wooden crosses, Egyptian flags, and banners denouncing the demolition of churches and calling for a unified law for places of worship. The demonstration was announced and the relevant authorities notified of its time and place at least three days earlier, meaning that the security and official authorities were not taken off guard. They should have either banned the demonstration or protected it, but they did neither.
• As the demonstrators passed through the Shubra open tunnel, then under the 26 July flyover, and later through the Boulaq Abul-Ela district, stones and empty bottles were hurled down at them. They were also shot at, but no-one was injured. Civilians were behind all these attacks.
Once the demonstrators reached Maspero, the Military Police moved in to halt the progress of the demonstration and to disperse the protestors, using shields, hitting protestors with wooden batons and firing fake bullets. Simultaneously, live bullets were shot at the protestors from sources that could not be precisely identified.
• A few minutes after the Military Police used force to disperse the protestors, three armoured vehicles which were stationed at the site moved swiftly and successively in a circular motion, running over a number of protestors—who could not believe or understand what was happening. Twelve were killed, and others were severely injured.
• After State TV announced that the Copts were attacking the Army, a number of civilians carrying white weapons and wooden and iron beams joined ranks with the Military Police to beat the protestors, insulting them and shouting: “The Army and the people are one hand against the Christians”.
• Sadly, the coverage of the State TV was misleading and instigated against the Christian protestors. The news bulletin alleged that the Coptic protestors had shot live bullets at the Army and the Police forces. It intentionally ignored to cite the murder and physical crushing of the protestors, or the assault against them. This worked to antagonise viewers against the Christians; some viewers rushed to support the Army against the Copts. The State TV coverage appeared professionally and technically poor, and lacking in credibility. Were it not for the rejection by the majority of Egyptians of the antagonism incited by Egyptian TV, its mistakes could have dragged the nation onto a serious sectarian crisis.
• The State TV news reader Rasha Magdy did not merely read the news on the strip that appeared on the TV screen, but went on, vociferously and heatedly, to add personal comments which did not conform with balanced, impartial news reading. Neither were they in line with the vigilance for public interest expected form her as a news presenter, nor the required awareness of the limitations of her position or her influence on viewers.
Among the most serious violations in the coverage of events offered by State TV, was the sole focus on those injured from among the ranks of the Military Police and Security corps, to the exclusion of the scenes of crushing the protestors by the armoured vehicles, and the killing of the Christian protestors. This served to falsify the truth and enrage viewers against the Copts.
• The events that led up to the Maspero incident:
• Since 1970 Egypt has witnessed a series of operations by violent, armed groups affiliated to fanatic Islamist streams, which targeted Christian civilians and their churches. The first of these incidents was the al-Khanka church incident in Qalyubiya in 1972. A fact finding committee formed by Parliament and headed by Gamal al-Oteifi issued a report in November 1972 that recommended that church building and restoration should be governed by the same rules that apply to mosques. The Oteifi report also stressed the importance of respecting the rights of Christians to practise their religious rites without discrimination. But to date, these recommendations were not respected, and incidents of violence against Christians and their churches recurred. This has been the outcome of official failure on the part of successive Egyptian governments to enact policies and regulations to put an end to violence, and to issue legislation to deal with discrimination.
• Despite the solidarity between Egyptians during the 25 January Revolution, the ideal picture was soon shattered with the successive attacks against Copts and their churches. This was especially obvious in the incidents which occurred in the village of Sole in Etfeeh, Abu-Qurqas in Minya, the two churches in Imbaba, Cairo and, most recently, the church in Merinab, Aswan.
• Throughout the past four decades, Copts were attacked and their churches demolished and burned, while the authorities in charge insisted on dealing with the issue as a security file. The security authorities imposed ‘conciliation sessions’ between victims and offenders as a quick fix to resolve problems, but this only inflamed the fire instead of putting it out. The law was not enforced; no culprits were brought to justice; in the few cases where court sentences were issued they were not implemented. The result was that brutal incidents incessantly recurred, which bred a conviction among Copts that they were discriminated against because of their religion. They thus bonded to their Church in lieu of bonding and participating on the national level.
• Despite repetitive warnings by the NCHR, Egyptian governments persisted in employing the same ‘painkiller approach’ that has been used throughout the last 40 years. It delayed confronting the sectarian problem, and failed to instate the supremacy of the law. It neglected passing a unified law for building and restoring places of worship, which the NCHR had incessantly called for since 2006, for the benefit of citizenship rights, equality and non-discrimination. This official neglect has bred recent, non-justified calls for separate laws to govern the building of churches and mosques. It should be noted that technical and procedural regulations governing the building and restoration of churches have nothing to do with religion, so they should not be any different for churches or mosques.
• The NCHR had proposed an equality and anti-discrimination bill, which the government promised to pass. The government, however, issued only a modification to the Penal Law, adding a clause that penalises anyone who commits discrimination against citizens. This is not enough, since this only focuses on the deterrent penal impact, and overlooks the reformative aspect side of achieving equality.
• Recommendations:
• The formation of an independent judiciary committee to investigate incidents within cultural, social and political contexts. This committee should be allowed to access any concealed information.
• Investigations concerning the Maspero incident should be conducted by an independent, judicial commission, in order to save the Military any suspicion of bias, especially that members of the Armed Forces have been accused of killing, running over and assaulting the Coptic demonstrators. All in State TV who contributed to instigate against the Christian demonstrators should be questioned, since their action goes beyond professional error and amounts to a crime.
• A unified law for building and restoring places of worship should be promptly passed, and all existing places of worship in Egypt should be legalised. An equality and anti-discrimination law should also be passed.
• The State should compensate the victims by swiftly disbursing exceptional pensions to the families of the Christian victims, equally with those of the 25 January Revolution. The injured should be treated at the expense of the State, and should be adequately compensated, according to the criteria of the Armed Forces.