August 25, 2013 by creeping
via Human Rights Watch, Christians Say Pleas for Protection Fell Largely on Deaf Ears:
(New York) – Egyptian authorities should take the necessary steps to protect churches and religious institutions against mob attacks, Human Rights Watch said today. Since August 14, 2013, attackers have torched and looted scores of churches and Christian property across the country, leaving at least four people dead. Authorities should also investigate why security forces were largely absent or failed to intervene even when they had been informed of ongoing attacks.
Immediately following the violent dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo on August 14, crowds of men attacked at least 42 churches, burning or damaging 37, as well as dozens of other Christian religious institutions in the governorates of Minya, Asyut, Fayum, Giza, Suez, Sohag, Bani Suef, and North Sinai. Human Rights Watch has verified with family members and a lawyer that at least three Coptic Christians and one Muslim were killed as a result of sectarian attacks in Dalga, Minya city, and Cairo.
“For weeks, everyone could see these attacks coming, with Muslim Brotherhood members accusing Coptic Christians of a role in Mohammad Morsy’s ouster, but the authorities did little or nothing to prevent them,” said Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Now dozens of churches are smoldering ruins, and Christians throughout the country are hiding in their homes, afraid for their very lives.”
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A witness told Human Rights Watch that an imam at a mosque in the Cairo neighborhood of Maasara called over the mosque loudspeakers for the eviction of Coptic residents. Mina Lamie, 29, a neighborhood resident, said that on August 15 he heard the imam say, “The Copts are behind all of this, they participated on June 30 … we have to burn the churches.” He said that at 11:30 p.m. thousands gathered and began chanting, “The people demand the eviction of the Copts.” No churches in the area were actually attacked, Lamie said.
List of Churches Burned or Damaged Since August 14
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Minya city Minya city Minya city Minya city Minya city Minya – Bani Mazar Minya – Bani Mazar Minya – Bani Mazar Minya – Dalga Minya – Malawi Minya – Malawi Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Sohag city Fayum city Fayum – al-Manzala Fayum – al-Manzala Fayum – al-Zurbi Village Fayum – al-Zurbi Village Fayum – al-Sarg, Ebshway Giza – Kirdassa Giza – Deir Hakim Giza – Atfih Giza – al-Mansouriya Suez city Suez city Suez city Suez city North Sinai – Al-Areesh Bani Suef – al-Wasita Bani Suef city Asyut city Asyut city Asyut city Helwan city Cairo – Ezbet al-Nakhl |
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