Egypt: Human Rights Watch Delegation Refused Entry

[Jefferson23]

Authorities Block Cairo Release of Report on Mass Unlawful Killings

August 11, 2014

We came to Egypt to release a serious report on a serious subject that deserves serious attention from the Egyptian government.Instead of denying the messenger entry to Egypt, the Egyptian authorities should seriously consider our conclusions and recommendations and respond with constructive action.

Kenneth Roth,Executive Director

(New York) – Egyptian authorities refused to allow Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth and Middle East and North Africa Director Sarah Leah Whitson to enter Egypt on August 10, 2014. Roth and Whitson were to brief diplomats and journalists in Cairo on a 188-page Human Rights Watch report on the mass killings in Egypt in July and August 2013.

When Roth and Whitson arrived at Cairo International Airport, authorities refused to allow them into the country without giving an explanation for the decision. This is the first time that Egyptian authorities have denied Human Rights Watch staff members entry to the country, including during the Mubarak government.

“We came to Egypt to release a serious report on a serious subject that deserves serious attention from the Egyptian government,” Roth said. “Instead of denying the messenger entry to Egypt, the Egyptian authorities should seriously consider our conclusions and recommendations and respond with constructive action.”

The report, “All According to Plan: The Rab`a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt,” documents how Egyptian police and army methodically opened fire with live ammunition on crowds of demonstrators opposed to the military’s July 3 ouster of President Mohamed Morsy at six demonstrations in July and August 2013, killing at least 1,150 people, and how no one has been held to account one year later. Human Rights Watch conducted a year-long investigation into the killings, including interviews with over 200 witnesses, visits to each of the protest sites, and review of video footage, physical evidence, and statements by public officials.

Human Rights Watch wrote to Egypt’s Interior Ministry, Office of the Public Prosecutor, Defense Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Embassy in Washington, DC, and Mission in New York on June 12 soliciting the Egyptian government’s perspectives on the issues covered in the report. Human Rights Watch sent follow-up letters on July 8 asking to meet with officials during the planned August visit to Egypt. Copies of the report were sent to the same officials on August 6. Human Rights Watch did not receive substantive responses to any of its queries.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/11/egypt-human-rights-watch-delegation-refused-entry