Egypt: Police Account of Deadly Raid in Question

press release

Beirut — The fatal shooting by Egyptian security forces of nine Muslim Brotherhood members on July 1, 2015, may have been unlawful killings and could qualify as extrajudicial executions. Independent prosecutors should investigate the killings and hold accountable any members of the security forces found to have committed any unlawful killings or to have been otherwise responsible for them.

Egypt's Interior Ministry apparently said that it had arrested the nine men in a raid before later claiming that security forces killed them in a shootout after the men opened fire on police with automatic weapons from behind a closed door in a Cairo apartment. Human Rights Watch spoke to 11 relatives and other witnesses with knowledge of the incident who said that security forces had arrested the men, fingerprinted them, and tortured them before killing them. The Supreme State Security Prosecution, which is charged with handling cases involving terrorism and national security, reportedly authorized the raid on the apartment and is also investigating the deaths.

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