The unforgettable crimes of the coup

Since the June 30, 2013, not a day has passed that the Egyptian regime has not committed a crime against the rights of the Egyptian people, its history and culture. Yet, not enough has been done to expose the regime and its leaders on the regional and international levels. They have yet to be shamed and lawfully prosecuted in a way that is proportionate to the crimes they have committed.

If we were to go back and assess these crimes and discern the size of the offences and how they would be characterised in international law, we would find that by no later than mid-July and maybe even in August, the forces behind the coup had committed more than four large scale massacres that would go down in history as crimes against humanity.

The atrocities began with the massacre of the Republican Guard, followed by the Manasa and Ramses massacres, and ended with the Rabaa massacre. Throughout these four massacres the regime killed and wounded more than 30,000 people. There are also hundreds of missing persons whose fate remains unknown and 25,000 others who are being detained in prisons, including children. Meanwhile, approximately 100,000 others have been released from prison, some spending days, some weeks and others months in the coup’s prisons.

The people have forgotten the majority of these crimes or they now live their lives as if these crimes occurred centuries ago. Is there even anyone who still speaks of the Rabaa massacre? Who is calling for the prosecution of those responsible for these massacres and other crimes?

How is it possible that a criminal and murderer such as Abdel-Fatah Al-Sisi, the man responsible for committing these massacres has not been held accountable for his actions neither in Egypt nor abroad? Yet the media on the regional and international levels is now discussing the closure of Al-Sisi’s unprecedented criminal file and how he will go on to rule the people. How can people even begin to talk about the future of Egypt?

Were those killed, wounded and who suffered at the hands of Al-Sisi not human beings? Are they not Egyptian? Where is mankind’s conscious when it comes to the Egyptian people? Why did strength, masculinity and chivalry die within the Egyptian people so much that many of them began to encourage Al-Sisi to carry out these crimes and ask for more bloodshed?

Where is the human conscious of the Arab people and humanity in general? Is there even any conscious left? How can a war criminal escape the accountability of the crimes committed in front of the world’s television screens? He escaped the aftermath of these crimes in front of the global community and global media.

What could explain this level of negligence from human rights advocates? What has prompted them to speak of yesterday’s events as occurrences in history and why are these crimes being washed away or being archived while the criminal in question is free and being referred to as the next president of Egypt?

It is the responsibility of those who fight for human rights not to forget and not to be lured into accepting the current situation. It is their responsibility not to allow a bloody murderer to rule Egypt or else all Egyptians will bear the burden of his crimes.

This is a translation of a piece that appeared on felesteen.ps on April 8, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.