Egyptian police slaughter 20 Sudanese refugees
(Update: as noted below, it's even more than that.) The so-called "ally" of the west, that being Egypt, allowed its police to murder at least 26 Sudanese at a refugee camp, where the living conditions were as miserable as could be, as the additional info below indicates:
UPDATE: I've received a newsletter from Sabit Alley, a representative of the South Sudanese Community in the US (an article written by him can be found here), which reveals that the number of refugees murdered by the Egyptian police now stands at fifty. The letter, which helps give a clearer perspective of what happened, reads as follows:
Another update: there's a demonstration being held in from of the Egyptian embassy in Washington DC today, and here's a newsletter (visit also SudanReeves.Org for more info):
CAIRO, Egypt - Thousands of riot police swinging truncheons brutally cleared a Sudanese refugee protest camp early Friday, and security officials said at least 20 refugees, including three children, died in the melee. An official Interior Ministry statement said 12 protesters died and 74 police were wounded.Ranting of a Sandmonkey provides more info on what happened:
But other ministry officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, put the number of dead at 20.
Boutrous Deng, one of the protest leaders, told The Associated Press that 26 Sudanese were killed. He said the dead included 17 men, two women and seven children.
CAIRO (Reuters) - A young Sudanese girl of about four died when Egyptian police fought on Friday with thousands of Sudanese demanding to be allowed to start new lives abroad.I certainly hope that real democratic countries will think wisely to help them out of the horrifying situation they're currently in. I should hope that the United States will start reviewing this crisis seriously, because Egypt, with the Muslim Brotherhood on the rise, and the already non-existant democracy of Mubarak's rulership still causing the horror it is, should not be considered an ally or a country to do business with.
Reuters witnesses at the scene said there were about six unconscious Sudanese, some of them young children, lying on the ground after police used force to clear some 3,500 people who had camped in squalid conditions for over two months.
A doctor at the site who examined the girl who was brought to him after being found unconscious said: "She's dead."
About 2,000 riot police stormed the camp site and beat the people inside with truncheons and sticks after officials failed to persuade the Sudanese to board buses to take them to another site.
About 4,000 riot police in total ringed the site in an affluent part of Cairo near the offices of the U.N. agency that deals with refugees.
The protesters had refused to clear the area after police fired water cannons on them, demanding that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arrange for them to be flown out of Egypt.
"Let the United Nations arrange to take us to another country," said one Sudanese protester who gave his name as Wilson.
"Most Sudanese refugees have been subjected to violence in Egypt. We don't want to be here anymore," he said.
UPDATE: I've received a newsletter from Sabit Alley, a representative of the South Sudanese Community in the US (an article written by him can be found here), which reveals that the number of refugees murdered by the Egyptian police now stands at fifty. The letter, which helps give a clearer perspective of what happened, reads as follows:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEIf you can, do what you can to help stop this nightmare that the dictatorship in Egypt is causing.
January 2, 2006
The Sudanese Community in the U.S. Condemns Police Brutality of Refugees
Over 50 Killed, Survivors Say
TRENTON, NJ: Members of the South Sudanese Community in the U.S. are outraged by the murder of their fellow country men in Cairo by the Egyptian security forces. Reports from surviving refugees in Cairo say that, contrary to most news reports, the number killed has risen to over 50 and this number may continue to rise as more bodies are discovered.
The South Sudanese Community in the U.S. condemns, in the strongest terms, the brutal use of force by the Egyptian security forces, which has resulted in the killing of innocent Sudanese in the Egyptian capital. We also condemn the actions of the UNHCR for collaborating with the Egyptian police and for its continued failure to protect these refugees.
The problem began early Friday morning when Egyptian police attacked the refugees who had been peacefully camping on the UNHCR compound for the last three months. Many of them had suffered discrimination in Egypt for several years and had made numerous complaints about their plight in Egypt to the UNHCR, but were ignored. Their complaints listed the abuses meted on them by the Egyptian authorities and the general public, the denial of basic services such as health, education, employment and, above all, the official recognition as refugees.
The refugees first decided to camp outside of the UNHCR's offices in Cairo last September, because of the UNHCR's continued refusal to listen and address their grievances. The objective of their camp was to draw attention to their suffering and to plead with the U.N. to relocate them to a third country for refuge, but the UNHCR refused to do anything.
According to reports from refugees, who were eyewitnesses to the violence and managed to escape, the officers not only sprayed hot water on the refugees, but beat them with batons and fired gun shots at them. As a result, the police killed a number of refugees and injured many others. A large number of those who were not killed, were bundled up into waiting buses and driven off to undisclosed locations in the Egyptian desert.
"We are receiving numerous reports that the Egyptian security forces are now searching for and rounding up South Sudanese refugees in the city to be taken to these undisclosed locations," said Sabit Alley, a leader in the South Sudanese Community in the U.S.
Knowing the brutality of the Egyptian security forces in the past, the Sudanese Community in the U.S.is concerned that their kinsmen in Egypt are being tortured in locations where journalists and human rights groups are denied access. We are also concerned that the Egyptian government, in concert with the UNHCR, may forcefully deport refugees to Sudan, where they had escaped religious, racial and political victimization and persecution, and where these highly oppressive conditions still exist despite Sudan's peace agreement to end its north-south civil war.
The South Sudanese Community of the U.S. requests that the U.S. government and the international community intervene in this crisis and:
1. Appoint an independent international body to investigate the circumstances surrounding the wanton and barbaric murder of innocent South Sudanese refugees in Cairo;
2. Compel the Egyptian government to release all of the refugees who have been taken into detention or to some secret locations outside of Cairo;
3. Demand that the Egyptian government and the UNHCR immediately cease their plans to forcefully deport these refugees against their will to the Sudan;
4. Ask international non-governmental organizations to provide emergency medical and relief services to the wounded and affected refugees;
5. Request that the UNHCR immediately relocate these refugees to a friendly third country where their safety can be guaranteed.
Contact: Sabit Alley: sabit285@aol.com or phone: (732) 236-3219
Sabit Alley is an Associate Representative of the SPLA/M in America and a leader of the South Sudanese Community in the U.S.
Another update: there's a demonstration being held in from of the Egyptian embassy in Washington DC today, and here's a newsletter (visit also SudanReeves.Org for more info):
IRD Condemns Massacre of Sudanese Refugees in Cairo:The persecution of the Sudanese refugees MUST STOP!
Rally at Egyptian Embassy Today
WASHINGTON: January 5, 2006: The Institute on Religion & Democracy's Church Alliance for a New Sudan (CANS) today condemned the massacre of Sudanese refugees late last week in Cairo. In an extraordinarily underreported incident on Friday, December 30, 2005, thousands of Egyptian security police assaulted some 2,500 plus Sudanese men, women, and children who were camped across from the offices of U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Sources, including the Cairo representative of the Government of Southern Sudan and respected Sudan expert Professor Eric Reeves, now indicate that as many as 265 people died in the attack and a New York Times story depicts the plight of hundreds of others whose fate is unknown. (SudanReeves article) (NY Times article)
IRD is co-sponsoring a demonstration at the Egyptian Embassy, 3521 International Court, NW, Washington, DC, today, January 5, from 11AM to 2PM to protest the deaths. The demonstration is being organized by the SPLM/USA and the Nuba Mountains International Association. "This is just the latest indication of the Egyptian government's callous attitude towards African Sudanese," said CANS director Faith McDonnell.
A petition to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and a letter to the U.S. Congress, signed by thousands of Sudanese around the world, detail the conditions that prompted Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers to camp outside the U.N. office in Cairo. "Without your immediate intervention, Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers will continue to languish in the den of murderous brutality in Egypt and end up like the Tutsis in Rwanda and Bosnians in Serbia," the petition urges Secretary General Annan.
"Over the years," the petition continues, "Egypt collaborated with the oppressive regimes in Khartoum to exploit continuous silence of the international community and treat the marginalized people of 'New Sudan' as animals and massacre them. They should not be allowed to get away anymore with their barbaric and brutal acts. They must be universally condemned and held accountable for their crimes."
McDonnell added that the UNHCR should also be called to account for its role in the original dispute that triggered the crisis -- the UNHCR resolution to stop registering all Sudanese asylum seekers for Refugee Status Determination (RSD). "The determination that Southern Sudanese safely could return home and no longer had any reason to need refugee status was premature. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement has yet to fully be implemented, and no provision has been made for such a large number (2-3 million) of returnees." She expressed concern for those who were wounded in the assault, those who were being detained, and those who were threatened with deportation back to Sudan. "The death toll continues to rise," she said. "Initial reports indicated that less than thirty Sudanese had been killed, and although Southern Sudanese government representatives have now found evidence of at least 265 dead, most press reports are still content to use this ridiculously low number, sanctioned by the Egyptians and by the United Nations."
IRD urges all those who have been involved in advocacy in the recent campaign for Darfur to lend their voices on Thursday, and in the days to come, on behalf of the Sudanese refugees in Cairo. "We, along with our brothers and sisters from South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains welcome those who have demonstrated for Darfur at the White House, and all who have been concerned for human rights in Sudan, whether South or Darfur. The suffering of the Sudanese is not over, and it is not just in Sudan."
(Van Ness/UDC on the red line is the closest metro station to the Egyptian Embassy.)
