On 14 August 2013, the Egyptian police and to a lesser extent the armed forces, under the command of then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, used lethal force to clear two camps of protesters in Cairo. Estimates of those killed vary from 600 to 2,600. For six weeks, the two sites, at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and al-Nahda Square, had been occupied by supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, who had been overthrown by a military coup the prior month following mass protests against his rule. Initiatives to end the six-week sit-ins by peaceful means had failed. The camps were cleared out within hours.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the sit-in dispersals as crimes against humanity, and called them "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history", in reference to the numerous deaths that occurred.
The exact death toll during the incident is unclear, and multiple sources have given conflicting estimates. HRW stated that 817 were killed by government forces in Rabaa Square and 87 in al-Nahda Square. The Egyptian Health Ministry figures were 595 protesters and 43 police officers killed, and 3,994 injured. However, The Forensic Medical Authority stated that the number of police officers killed was only eight. Egypt's National Council for Human Rights stated that at least 624 civilians were killed. The Muslim Brotherhood and the National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy stated the number of deaths from the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque sit-in alone was about 2,600. The total casualty count made 14 August the deadliest day in Egypt since the 2011 Egyptian revolution which toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
Several world leaders denounced the deadly violence during the sit-in dispersion. However, the sit-in, before it was dispersed, was coupled with widespread violent acts of retaliation by the Islamist groups targeting government security personnel and churches in several cities across Egypt. The interim government declared a three-month-long state of emergency and curfews were enforced in many cities.
Background
Following the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president. After a period of instability, the Muslim Brotherhood took control of the government. However, within less than a year, mass protests calling for the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi culminated in the second revolution known as the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.
Supporters of the deposed president had occupied two squares – Rabaa al-Adawiya in Nasr City, Cairo and al-Nahda in Giza – originally to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his presidency, but from 3 July onwards to protest his ouster, vowing to remain there until Morsi was reinstated. Internal and external reconciliation processes were established to attempt to resolve the crisis peacefully.
However the sit-ins became flash points for outbreaks of violence and bloody confrontations amongst pro-Morsi, anti-Morsi demonstrators and security forces. The encampments became permanent with stores, barbers and their own TV station. Authorities saw the camps as destabilising and disruptive and representing "a threat to the Egyptian national security and an unacceptable terrorizing of citizens," accusing the pro-Morsi side of provoking bloodshed to win sympathy. They also considered the standoff a hinder to putting Egypt on a "roadmap" to restoring civilian democracy, with a new constitution and new elections. The government threatened a raid on the protest camps on multiple occasions. An ultimatum was issued for the 14th of August, although Al-Azhar, Egypt's official Islamic authority, denied that such a warning had been given.
Warning Initiatives in an attempt to resolve the tension, including foreign-backed efforts by Gulf Arab countries, the European Union and the United States, failed to yield a positive outcome. The state authorities referenced these failures and issued the ultimatum. Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi warned ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday that the government's decision to clear the sit-ins was "irreversible".
According to the Interior Ministry, the plan was to disperse the six-week-old sit-ins gradually by forming cordons around the two sites as early as dawn Monday, 12 August, allowing protesters to leave but preventing others from getting in, to minimize casualties before using water cannons and tear gas. Leaked news of the plan prompted thousands of protesters to defiantly flood into two protest camps, prompting police to postpone the move as the protesters fortified the sit-in camps. In Rabaa, men with helmets, sticks and what appeared to be protective sports equipment guarded barricades made of sandbags, truck tires and brick. They also built three concrete waist-high barriers to stop armored vehicles from entering the camps.
Dispersal On 14 August 2013, shortly after 7:00 am, Egyptian police moved in to disperse the camps. According to the Interior Ministry, the plan was to stop the protests gradually by cutting off supply lines while providing a safe exit for those who elected to leave.
By 8:00 the smaller camp – near Cairo University in Giza — was cleared of protesters. However, it took about 12 hours for police to take control of the main sit-in site near the Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque that served as the epicenter of the pro-Morsi campaign. Police in riot gear fire birdshot and tear gas, supported by bulldozers to clear barricades for armored vehicles. Military helicopters swooped low over the encampment and, using loudspeakers, warned the thousands of demonstrators to leave the area along designated routes to safety.
Thousands of Morsi supporters chanting "Allahu Akbar" tried to join those besieged by the security forces but they were driven away when police fired tear gas. All entrances to Rabaa were blocked by security forces. Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad alleged that police snipers fired at Rabaa protesters from the rooftop of surrounding buildings and protesters also said that snipers fired down on those trying to flee or reach safety. In the afternoon, the protesters managed to push the police back to the point where they could get into a makeshift hospital. Shortly before dusk, soldiers and police officers renewed their push and protestors were forced to flee. Government forces seized control, destroying what remained of the protest camp.
The National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy, a pro-Morsi group, reiterated its rejection of violence and called on its members to continue to protest "to stop the massacre". The attacks set off retaliatory clashes and protest marches. Protesters blocked important roads, including the Ring Road, a key route that connects many of Cairo's major districts. Crowds of Morsi supporters marched toward eastern Cairo in the late morning, running into a barrage of gunfire as they confronted police lines. Separately, a number of attacks on police stations occurred around the country. Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim put the number of stations attacked at 21. Angry mobs also attacked dozens of Christian properties. By nightfall, the military-backed interim government had declared a state of emergency and instituted a curfew. However, protesters established new sit-ins outside Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandeseen, Giza and others in cities around the country, defying the new curfew and the interior minister's vows to break up any such assemblies.
Initial reports by the Egyptian Health Ministry said 235 protesters, three journalists and 43 policemen died in the violence and more than 2,000 were injured, with the death toll expected to rise. Egyptian state television aired images of weapons confiscated from the sit-in protesters' camps, including automatic rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition. An Egyptian free-to-air satellite news television channel aired infrared footage appearing to show pro-Brotherhood rioters firing automatic weapons against security forces. Some political analysts opined that the force used by the police was designed to provoke a violent response from supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to justify the police response.
Aftermath
The violence spread across the country as people learned what had happened in Cairo and many protesters took to the streets in anger. In the Giza Governorate, an angry mob attacked a police station, one of 21 such attacks according to the interior ministry. In southern Egypt, between two and seven Coptic Christian churches were burned to the ground, according to The New York Times, while the interior ministry said that at least seven Coptic Christian churches had been vandalised or torched by Islamists. One Coptic rights group, Maspero Youth Union (MYU), estimated that as many as 36 churches were devastated by fire across nine Egyptian governorates including in Minya, Sohag and Assiut, and many other churches were looted or stormed in the ensuing street violence. Christian activists accused Morsi supporters of waging "a war of retaliation against Copts in Egypt." Muslim Brotherhood supporters also attacked government headquarters in several governorates. Supporters of Morsi staged solidarity protests against the crackdown, with clashes reported in Ismailia, Alexandria, Suez, Upper Egypt's Assiyut and Aswan and other places. In defiance of the curfew, Morsi supporters vowed to return to the streets to continue protesting against the crackdown and coup. Egyptian banks and its stock market were closed through 15 August. Rail travel into and out of Cairo was also suspended. In Giza, hundreds of Morsi supporters set fire to local government offices. The government then authorised the use of live ammunition on anyone attacking state buildings.
Tamarod called on its supporters on 16 August to form neighbourhood watch groups to guard against Morsi supporters while Morsi supporters vowed to keep up their campaign to get the deposed president reinstated.
The next day, hundreds of Morsi supporters barricaded themselves at the Fateh Mosque in Cairo. A day later, security forces dispersed the demonstrators. The Muslim Brotherhood reiterated its call to hold continued protests and called for a "Day of Rage" after Friday prayers on 16 August with Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad writing on Twitter: "Anti-coup rallies tomorrow will depart from all mosques of Cairo and head towards Ramsis square after Jumaa prayer in 'Friday of Anger'." The party also released a statement that read: "Despite the pain and sorrow over the loss of our martyrs, the latest coup makers' crime has increased our determination to end them." By 20 August, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, who had been in hiding, was arrested after being found in a residential flat in Nasr City. Pro-Morsi supporters continued to rally and by 30 August, six more protesters had died.
State of emergency and curfew