#Jan25: New campaign remembers Egypt's 'fallen heroes'

#Jan25: New campaign remembers Egypt's 'fallen heroes'
'Killed in Egypt' aims to document the fallen heroes of the revolution and all the victims of the extrajudicial killings going on since 2011.
2 min read
02 February, 2019
Thousands of people have been killed since the 2011 uprising [Killed In Egypt]
Activists in Egypt have launched a new campaign to shed light on all those killed in Egypt since the 2011 uprising in the country.

The website, dubbed, “Killed in Egypt” aims to document the “fallen heroes of the revolution” and “all the victims of the extrajudicial killings going on since 2011,” a press release said.

“This initiative started with a team of independent intellectuals interested in Egypt. Our aim in launching this project was to honour the victims, remind everyone of their rights and to also provide moral support to their families.” it continued.

The website showcases nearly 200 victims that have been killed since the Arab Spring, noting a brief history into their background, their age, occupation and how they died.

Since the deadly Rabaa massacre of 2015, in which more than 1,000 protesters were killed during a peaceful sit-in, Egyptian authorities have led a brutal crackdown on political dissidents, rounding up thousands and sentencing hundreds to life in prison, or death, in grossly unfair mass trials.

Extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances have been carried out on a scale "never seen before", Amnesty International said.

Human rights groups estimate that as many as 60,000 political prisoners languish in Egyptian jails, significantly more than under Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship.

Muslim Brotherhood members and alleged supporters of Morsi are though to constitute the largest number, but the mass detentions also include journalists, leftists, human rights activists - basically anyone who speaks out against Sisi.

Some 13 new prisons have reportedly been built to accommodate the relentless number of detentions.

At least 1,231 people detained are being prosecuted collectively over the alleged killing of six security officers during the Rabaa Massacre, including Mahmoud Abu Zeid - or "Shawkan" - who was arrested for taking photos at the sit-in.

In another case, 494 people arrested at Cairo's al-Fateh Mosque in August 2013 are being tried together and have been held since their arrest.

The mass trials of those arrested are based on scant or dubious evidence.

In 2014, Egypt's interior ministry said over 7,000 people were being held in pre-trial detention, but that number is thought to be significantly higher.

Egypt has been dogged by instability since Egypt's first democratically elected Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown in a military coup on July 3, 2013. 

Since Morsi was ousted, Egyptian authorities have carried out a relentless crackdown on the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, leaving hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.

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