What's This?
In this Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015 photo, 32-year-old mother Shaimaa el-Sabbagh holds a poster during a protest in downtown Cairo.
Image: Mohammed El-Raaei/Associated Press
By Megan Specia2015-02-02 18:23:13 UTC
Human Rights Watch says evidence "strongly indicates" Egyptian security forces are responsible for the shooting death of a peaceful protester in Cairo last week.
Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old mother and activist, was shot with birdshot while taking part in a protest on Jan. 24 and died on the way to the hospital in an incident that has ignited rage across Egypt and internationally.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed witnesses to the shooting and analyzed photos and videos of the scene, concluding the evidence "strongly indicates that a member of Egypt’s security forces was responsible" for al-Sabbagh's death.
According to HRW analysis, one video that shows security forces dispersing the protest captured the moment al-Sabbagh was shot. In the video, a masked man in dark clothes is seen standing beside a uniformed officer, identified as a police brigadier general, in the street. The masked man adopts a shooting stance and points his firearm in the protesters’ direction as the police officer runs toward and points at the protesters. HRW analysts say this is the shot that killed al-Sabbagh. Three photographs published by local media organizations also show this moment, with the police officer and the gunman, from different angles.
While the Egyptian Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat has announced an investigation into al-Sabbagh’s death, HRW has provided a detailed analysis of evidence from the scene that sheds new light on the shooting, as shown in the video below, which contains some graphic imagery.
“The prosecutor general needs to follow through on his pledge to bring those responsible for al-Sabbagh’s death to justice,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch in a statement sent to Mashable. “The world is watching to see whether this case breaks the pattern of impunity for rights abuses that has marred Egyptian justice since the 2011 uprising.”
Witnesses to the attack recounted that within minutes of the protest forming, security forces fired tear gas and shots at the small group.
Human Rights Watch interviewed Azza Soliman, a 48-year-old lawyer and director of the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance, who was at a café across the street with her son and saw the security forces respond to about two dozen protesters, some of whom carried flowers and were chanting. Soliman initially went out to greet friends who were among the protesters, but within minutes, she said she heard sirens and saw security force personnel fire tear gas and live ammunition towards the protesters.
Another witness, Osama Hammam, a photographer who was covering the protest, corroborated Soliman's story and told Human Rights Watch that security forces fired tear gas and shotguns at the protest without warning.
One of the photos Hammam took, which he later posted to his Facebook account, can be seen below, showing al-Sabbagh lying on the sidewalk moments after she was shot.
Just minuted before, she had been carrying a hoop of flowers and walking down the road, as seen in this photo, also taken by Hamman.
An Egyptian newspaper photographer who was also taking pictures from a short distance away told HRW that a man wearing a black mask, who was standing to his left, fired the shot that hit al-Sabbagh.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi spoke publicly for the first time over the weekend about al-Sabbagh's death, offering condolences to her family and all Egyptians affected by her death.
"An individual's mistake should not be used to undermine an entire institution (police)," he added, speaking at a meeting Sunday with army and police commanders, top politicians, religious leaders and prominent media figures.
At the meeting , el-Sissi also urged Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, to uncover "the truth behind" al-Sabbagh's death. Ibrahim has said he would personally hand over any policeman found to have been involved in the killing.
However, a senior ministry official, Gamal Mukhtar, last week insisted al-Sabbagh was killed by a type of bullet not used by the police. He also claimed the footage of her death may have been fabricated by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
“The claim that these protesters attacked police or that the images of al-Sabbagh’s death are fabricated simply defies all available evidence and smacks of an attempted cover up,” Whitson said. “After so many protesters have died exercising their basic rights, the prosecutor general needs to step up and ensure that those responsible for this death are held to account.”
Additional reporting provided by the Associated Press.
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