Elad Benari
Egypt’s armed forces participated in forced disappearances, torture and killings across the country during the 2011 uprising which led to the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak, even as military leaders publicly declared their neutrality, according to a leaked presidential report on revolution-era crimes.
The report, submitted to President Mohammed Morsi by his own hand-picked committee in January, has yet to be made public, but a chapter from it seen by the British Guardianimplicates the military in a catalogue of crimes against civilians, beginning with their first deployment to the streets.
The chapter recommends that the government investigate the highest ranks of the military to determine who was responsible.
More than 1,000 people, including many prisoners, are said to have gone missing during the 18 days of the revolt. Scores turned up in Egypt’s morgues, shot or bearing signs of torture, according to the Guardian.
Many have simply disappeared, leaving behind desperate families who hope, at best, that their loved ones are serving prison sentences that the government does not acknowledge.