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| Africa North |
| HRW urges Egypt to protect churches, end to Islamist incitement |
| 2013-08-23 |
| [Al Ahram] Egyptian authorities must protect churches and Christian homes and businesses from attack and Islamists must stop inciting sectarian violence, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... said on Thursday. The group said it had documented attacks on 42 churches and dozens of Christian institutions, schools and homes, as well as Christian-owned businesses across the country. It said at least four people were reported killed in sectarian violence, three Christians and one Mohammedan. Attacks on Egypt's Christian minority have escalated since the July 3 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. The attacks dramatically increased since the August 14 dispersal of two pro-Morsi protest camps in the capital. Human Rights Watch said authorities had failed to protect Christians from attacks, and that Islamists, including Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund, had failed to properly condemn the violence and prevent future attacks. "For weeks, everyone could see these attacks were coming, with Moslem Brüderbund members accusing Coptic Christians of a role in Mohamed Morsi's ouster, but the authorities did little or nothing to prevent them," said Joe Stork, the group's acting Middle East director. "In the vast majority of the 42 cases Human Rights Watch documented, neither the police nor the military were present at the start or during the attack," the group said. It said a priest in Minya province told the group he had called police and emergency services multiple times as mobs attacked his church, but no one came. A bishop told the group he contacted senior government officials to plead for help, and though they promised to send protection, none arrived. But while HRW criticised the government for failing to protect Christians, it also said the country's Islamists deserved blame for inciting the attacks. They came "after weeks of sectarian discourse by Moslem Brüderbund supporters" at two pro-Morsi protest camps, the group said. And while some Moslem Brüderbund leaders have condemned the attacks, others "have suggested a Coptic role in the ongoing crackdown on the group," HRW said. "While a few Moslem Brüderbund leaders have condemned these attacks, they also need to tell the group's followers to stop inciting violence by insinuating that the Coptic minority is responsible for the crackdown," Stork said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 HRW should have made this kind of statement years ago. Churches were being attacked and Christians tormented by the end of the Mubarek era. By May of this year there were already dozens of Copts dead from Muslim attacks and this was just referred to as 'sectarian violence'. Obama and others in the administrative have made a few comments on this but has never condemned the MB for the attacks. And of course, in the background, there is the noxious case of Benghazi. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2013-08-23 10:46 |
| #2 ...well, it's not like they can send out the "Blame BushChimpHitler" fund solicitation letter to keep those useful idiots sending those $$$ in anymore and another NGO has the copyright on puppies and baby seals. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-08-23 09:18 |
| #1 HRW noticed burning churches? Will wonders never cease? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-08-23 03:18 |