Human Rights Watch condemns Egyptian justice minister’s comments

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi should condemn recent televised remarks by Egypt’s justice minister that appeared to advocate for the mass killing of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday in a letter to the president.

In an interview on 28 January 2016 with a satellite television news show, Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind said that he would not be satisfied until 10,000 Brotherhood members were killed for every slain member of the armed forces.

HRW asked Sisi to clarify that his government will “ensure the prosecution of anyone who commits, orders, or assists in murder or other crimes against Brotherhood supporters or any other group because of their political or ideological affiliation”.

The Egyptian government should forcefully dissuade others from engaging in hate speech, the organisation said on its website.

“That a high government official charged with overseeing the rule of law would go on TV and appear to encourage the slaughter of political opponents shows how some members of the Egyptian government have abandoned any pretence of justice,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director.

She added: “The fact that Egyptian security forces have already committed mass killings of Brotherhood supporters, while judges have sentenced hundreds of others to death in mass trials, means that Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind’s threat is very real.”