Egypt: Forced Eviction By Military Leaves One Dead

New York — Military prosecutors should immediately refer to the civilian judiciary 25 civilians arrested on November 18, 2012, during an attempted forced eviction by the military police that left one of the inhabitants dead. Civilian prosecutors should investigate the excessive use of force by the military police, in particular the lethal shooting, and prosecute any members of the military responsible for unlawful use of force.

The 25 inhabitants of the island of Qursaya, on the Nile in the Giza area of Cairo, were detained for resisting efforts by the military police to evict them. The military claims they are on military property, despite a 2010 court verdict overruling previous eviction orders and recognizing the inhabitants’ right to live and work on the island.

“The fact that the military is evicting people, arresting civilians, and bringing them before military courts is a serious challenge to civilian rule and President Mohamed Morsy should put a stop to it,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Egypt’s Constituent Assembly should once and for all put an end to military trials by enshrining in the constitution that the military has no power to detain or try civilians.”

Military police brought the 25 island residents they arrested on November 18 before military prosecutors at the military courts, who charged them with assaulting the military and seizing land owned by the armed forces and ordered their detention for 15 days.

In the early hours of November 18, hundreds of military police stormed Qursaya, which has an estimated population of 2,000, to evict residents from the part of the island the military claims is its property. A local resident, Ahmad Abdel Moneim, 40, told Human Rights Watch what happened:

There was no discussion. We were all sleeping. They came to the room where I was sleeping with my family. They threatened us and gave us two minutes to evacuate the room. When my cousins, Abdel Moaty Ahmed and Mostafa Ali Yassin, told the lieutenant that this is our land, he ordered their arrest, brought a tank of gasoline, poured it in the room, and set it on fire. They arrested my cousins just for claiming the ownership of the land. One of my cousins is the imam of the island’s mosque.