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The massacre of rabaa between narration & documentation
1.
2. The Massacre of Rabaa
Between
Narration & Documentation
Prepared by:
Yaser Selim
Amany AboZaid
Nour Saad
Menna Al-Hadary
Asmaa Shehata
Reviwed by:
Translated by:
Dr. Gehan Deeb
Gehad Gaber
Mohamed Reda Selim
Sara Eldesoky
Mohamed Kamal
Designed by:
Marwa Ads
Rawand Abdull
3. Dedicated
To the nymphs of the earth and the Knights of the heaven,
To the soil irrigated with blood,
To the eyes and the shreds leading up to Eden,
To the veins riddled with shrapnels,
To the prison walls captivating the purest in the homelands,
To the hearts grasping hot coals despite tribulations …
4. The first flow of blood .. a paper
A poor printing and bad drafting paper spread throughout Egypt in the hands of
youth who knew nothing about it except its contents. They went to the markets and
public places asking for signatures. That shedding blood sheet was called ‹Rebel›;
signatures were provided in ignorance covered in the name of rebellion.
The Egyptian media fed this practice. The June 30 was like the Festival Day of the
Pharaoh›s magicians. Their goals were scattered, as their hearts were: some of them
called for earlier presidential elections, others called for the unseating of the ‹Islamic›
President, and others did not know what they wanted, or rather what was wanted to
them. Meaningless alliances, fronts and coalitions arouse preparing for the witnessed
day. The Islamists and many patriots realized the plot being hatched against the
country and dignity. They decided to gather and demonstrate in Rabi›a Al-Adaweya
Square.
The June 30 came with a plot that was unfolded on July 3. It was that day when the
Egyptian army cooperated with the Egyptian media that played a misleading role - as
usual - in marginalizing those protestors who were in Rabi›a from the scene. On the
other hand, they videoed the demonstrators against Pres. Mohamed Morsi at AlTahrir Square and Al-Itihadeya using the military helicopters whose shots exaggerated
their actual numbers.
Crowds scrambled to Rabia Square after President Morsi had been deposed and
kidnapped to emphasize their stand supporting legitimacy and right and rejecting any
negotiations with the military coup and its government. The game of transmitting
rumors and false news began to defame the sit-in figures with the intent of dispersing
the people around them. On the other hand, many of the leaders of the Muslim
5. Brotherhood and other Islamist parties have been detained. As a result, there was a
strong reaction represented in the stability of the protesters and the increase of their
numbers; so that the sit-in sites expanded to include Rabi›a Adaweya Square, AlNahda and Al-HarasAl-Gomhori. New sit-in sites emerged, such as Mustafa Mahmoud
Square and Al-Alf Maskan Square, as well as the main squares in the governorates.
This stability scared the coup forces, so they decided to try the first stage of the
counter-violence against the peaceful protestors .
Al-Haras Al-Gomhori Massacre: A Massacre of Worshippers
(Dawn of July 8, 2013)
Security forces opened fire on protesters during the dawn prayer till the early hours
of the morning. Women and children were besieged in Al-Mustafa Mosque and were
showered with gas bombs. This resulted in more than 111 martyrs, 1000 wounded
and huge numbers of detainees.
Having unveiled the face of brutal bloody coup, disseminating lies began. It was
alleged that the demonstrators did initiate to open fire on the Republican Guard
forces. There were other falsehoods which are destroyed by the true testimonies of
the eyewitnesses and videos of the massacre. In fact, all the dead and wounded were
protesters, and none of the officers or soldiers were injured except for an officer. It
was said that he refused to murder people, so he was shot immediately by his leader.
Al-Menassa Massacre
(July, 27, 2013)
The demonstrators withdrew from Al-Haras Al-Gomhori site to join those who were
at Rabi›a Square. Throughout the period of the sit-in, their numbers increased that
the sit-in expanded in Al-Nasr Road from Tiba Mall direction to reach a place called
Al-Menassa (The Platform / The Monument).
As the armies of occupation do, the Pro-Morsi demonstrators were surprised by the
* Rabia Square was selected for two reasons: not to engage in side-clashes with the protestors of Al-Tahrir
Square and Al-Itihadeya Palace, and because Islamists gathered there before.
6. snipers› bullets from all sides, especially after the soldiers came to Al-Azhar University
buildings and showered them with live bullets with no humanity.
The place was filled with pure blood and sheds; the martyrs were more than 136
and 4500 wounded. Arrests of the figures of the Islamic movement were made. They
were prominently accused of inciting to kill demonstrators.
The demonstrators restored power quickly after the massacre. They assured they
would continue till the return of the legitimate president Mohamed Morsi to his
legal position. They received threats that the army would put an end, very soon,
to their sit-in by dispersion. Helicopters continued throwing threatening papers on
them in Rabi›a and Al-Nahda. The coup media did not stop misleading the society;
they pictured the demonstrators at Rabi›a signal as a handful of armed traitors to
the homeland aiming to destroy the State institutes. Ramadan (an Islamic month)
finished, and Eid al-Fitr passed; however, the demonstrators over time were filled
with faith and confirmation, and so continued their sit-in. They tried to secure their
square - as much as possible - with sand borders and light stones. They guarded the
square gates turn by turn expecting a near attack.
In the early morning hours of August 14, 2013, a disaster struck. The army and
the police killed more than 2000 martyrs. The names of 825 are mentioned here
at the end of this document. There were, according to the narrations, more than
10,000 wounded, missing and detained. It was the most horrendous massacre in the
Egyptian modern history.
From the first moments of the army convoys breaking into the square, we begin our
documentation and listening to eye-witnesses on this heinous crime; a crime that will
remain a black stain on the pages of the coupists and their supporters either from
thugs or delegators.
But first we ask Allah for righteousness and stability.
7. * Steadfastness in the Dispersion Massacre:
Rabi›a Square was crowded with thousands of people sitting-in: youth, elderly,
men, women, and children. Daylight was accompanied by inhuman men, or beasts,
whose only job was to snipe and kill.
In such a scene, people only think of escaping from death and bullets. No one
expects that the weaponless sits in, who have nothing but their faith, could face the
nowadays Mongols.
Notwithstanding, to be truthful with God is beyond any expectation and exceeds
the limits of human imagination; this was their lethal weapon. It was this sincerity
to what they say or do that made them heroes for generations to come, even after
a long period. Their faith was heart-rooted to bring them closer to the Prophet
Mohammad’s kith and martyrs. Testimonies are documented to be words of glory
and dignity.
9. * The first moments:
The attack on Rabi›a Al-Adawiya Square began at six o›clock in the morning from
a place called ‹Tiba Mall› on Wednesday, August 14, 2013.
Dr. Mohammad Esam Mansoor:
We slept an hour and half after dawn till 6:00 a.m. We woke up when everybody was
shouting: “Emergency! Emergency!” Everyone went to his spot preparing the first
aids.
Niveen Khalil:
I prayed the dawn prayer by the Platform. At 6:00 a.m., Dr. Beltagy asked everyone in
tents to go there.
Camera: Niveen Khalil
Doaa Eweida:
At 6:00 a.m., I woke up upon hearing one of us asking everybody in tents to get out,
since the shooting started by Tiba Mall. I woke my sister up quietly to go together to
the Platform where we found Dr. Salah and Dr. Safwat also calling people to get out
of their tents
10. Camera: Sohaib Shabana
Hamdi Ahmed Khalil:
The incidents began at 6 o'clock a.m. I was there. The attack started from a place
called Tiba Mall overlooking Nasr Road and from all the main and sub-streets.
Clouds of tear gas covered the place. Snipers were on the around buildings; and
helicopters were hovering above our heads as if we're in a battlefield.
Camera: Othman Ads.
Abdullah ELSharkawy:
I woke up at nearly 6:30 a.m. to hear the news that the killers had begun their attack
from Tiba Mall direction. We began to move our martyrs and wounded. A helicopter
was flying at a low height. Strong tear gas bombs fell heavily, penetrating the eyes,
the respiratory system, and the nervous system.
11. Camera: Othman Ads
Amr Albeheery:
I was in the mosque when I heard a sudden sound outside. I got out and found attack
and retreat, gas bombs, and the police with seven armored vehicles.
Rokaya Mohammad Alkhodary:
Dr. Beltagy told us that the armored vehicles of the police and army are on their way
to the square. So, everybody kept shouting “Stand and protect your square!”
At 6:55 o'clock a.m, we saw a black thick smoke coming from Tiba Mall side. We
heard sounds of firing shots onto all the square sectors.
12. The first two martyrs in the Dispersion Massacre
- Camera: Bahaa Arrazy
Aalaa Abdarraheem:
I woke up terrified on hearing the sound of the shooting so close to us at Tiba Mall
street. It was the first attack on this area. It always happened at the Monument
Street and Attayaran Street. The shooting was continuous and loud. There were
different sounds of various weapons. Nearly every minute, a specific sound, louder
and clearer than the others, was heard out of a bullet shot. Later on, I knew that it
was the snipers’
Camera: Othman Ads
13. Mahmood Alameer:
When we first heard the shooting sound, there were neither microphones to warn
nor fire engines to disperse us with water inside the square. As for the outside, the
inhabitants said that microphones and fire engines were used, but this is not certain
because, unfortunately, no one of those who were outside is still alive.
Esmaeel Arafa:
I woke up almost at 6:30 a.m. to hear the demonstrators' calling “Allah is Great”
along with the sound of shooting. I ran out of the tent to check the situation.
Everybody was ready and the first gas bomb came from Tiba Mall’s direction. I ran
back to the tent to put the mask and wear my shoes. We thought the shooting
was coming from one direction, but we saw smoke emitting from the direction of
Kentucky Restaurant at Attayaran Street. We knew they became insane and began the
dispersion. The worst we imagined was that they would disperse us in three streets
and leave the fourth for us to escape. However, after fifteen minutes, we realized that
we had been under attack from all ways in and Al-Sisy started a complete genocide.
Camera: Mosaab Ashamy
Doaa Emad:
I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and everyone was yelling: “Wake up! The army is getting ready
to shoot.” I got up scared and ran out of the tent.
14. Dr. Omama Al-Husseiny:
It was 6:30 a.m. when one of my sisters entered the tent I was sleeping in. She woke
me up saying: “Omama! Wake up; the tanks are heading to the square, coming from
Tiba Mall’s direction.”
Ahmad Alkooly:
The break-in began with direct strikes using live bullets that I myself saw a wounded
man whose hand was torn to pieces by bullets. They did not stop our sit-in with water
or gradual steps as they claimed. Otherwise, the first step they meant was firing the
live bullets; what followed was even worse.
15. * أThe break-in weapons:
Dr. Mohammad Esam Mansour:
An apache helicopter flied over us and killed anyone holding a camera or videoing
with a mobile. It was the first time for me to see an apache firing and killing
doctors, engineers, women and children! I knew it killed all cameramen. There were
spies among us communicating with this helicopter to kill some of the platform
characters: a poet, a folk singer or a cheerer.
Naglaa Salih:
I saw helicopters throwing tear gas bombs and shooting youth.
Camera: Mosaab Ashamy
Ahmad Al-Kholy:
The police weapons varied between heavy machine guns, gas and sonic bombs, or
cartridges. Snipers were everywhere. There was also a helicopter that was hovering
at a low altitude.
Esmaiel Arafa:
Bullets of all kinds: grenof, machine guns, pistols and cartridges. There were snipers
on the buildings and helicopters.
16. Emad Eddin Al-Sayed:
There were many hunting lines. A sniper took a line crossing the square. Anyone
crossed the line would be murdered at once so that people could not gather and
be in scattered groups. A sniper's task was to cut the aids' lines. We saw many
murdered before us on those lines. I was able to video with Mohammad Maher
on a front line behind Rabi'a mosque. Unfortunately, I was caught and hit, and my
camera was confiscated.
* Victims of the break-in:
Dr. Mohammad Esam Mansour:
There were too many wounded people, tens of corpses, a burst head, a cut leg with
an unknown shot, or a person with half face. The bullets we know were rare. Those
people were shot with something strange. What kind of a bullet that separates half
of a head, cuts a thigh, or penetrates the belly or chest leaving 10 cm hole? I tried
to help people preventing their bleeding, providing medical solutions, and making
splints. While we were helping them, we could not feel our bodies as they were
numb. No one ever imagined such a dawn. In an hour and a half, there were about
300 wounded and dead.
17. Fatima Khalid:
I saw a martyr whose intestines were put over his body in a plastic bottle.
Ismael Arafa:
I saw someone with a bullet in his head. He could be cured; however, there was no
place. I saw a woman carrying her dead baby and did not know what to do. I saw a
martyr with a half skull. I saw fingers and legs cut, and eyes out of their heads.
Camera: Sara Alaa
Dr. Omama Al-Husseini:
I saw strange injuries. Other than the normal cartridge, there was another kind of
cartridges that exploded inside the body. Bullets like gears with pointed edges were
pulled out of bodies. There were body-penetrating bullets, cartridge bullets shot in
the eye and head, and gas bombs exploding over people’s heads causing immediate
death. I saw heads separated from their bodies and saw cut hands and arms. We
relieved whoever we could and referred the critical cases to Rabi'a Medical Center.
18. Dr. Fatma Bayyad:
All the dead were as if killed by a canon; heads were burst and wounds reached
20cm.
Camera: Othman Ads
19. Dr. Lamya Mayar:
I have little experience in forensic medicine, war wounds and surgery. But awkward
questions raised here:
Which shot having power to destroy the thoracic cage and cause a 10 x5 cm diameter
hole?!
Which shot having power to fragment the arm and turn it into a big paste?!
Which shot having power to fragment the head as if it was run over by a car?!
Which shot having power to cut flesh and bones into pieces and cut the face into
two?!
Which INNOCENT shot having power to fragment the jaw to make a mass of flesh,
bone, skin and blood?!
Camera: Sara Alaa
Dr. Ahmad Fahmy:
The first wounded got in the hospital dying; he was shot in the chest. The second
was shot in the head and part of his brain was out. The third's whole brain was in the
hands of someone carrying the body.
20. Mohammad Khalid Al-Dib:
A man over 60 was carried into Rabi'a martyrs morgue, Media Center previously. I
was shocked and yelled at people not to look at him, but this attracted them to look
and ask for a physician. I went to check him, but found his skull was crashed and his
brain was out. What is horrible is that despite this, he was still alive. I kneeled and
didn't know what a book of medicine might state how to treat such a case. The man
was uttering something, but all I could do is to put his skull together and put his brain
back, then I left. Everybody, among them was his son, yelled at me: “Do something!
Tell us what to do!” I explained the case to them that any attempt to save his life
would torture him and we should let him rest in peace. I left him. My heart was filled
with utter helplessness, a feeling that overwhelmed the place. Even senior and clever
physicians did not know what to do with such a case. For half an hour, the man was
dying. I passed by every ten minutes; his soul was coming out more and more, taking
my own soul in weakness and pain.
How the coupists want us to go on our lives as normal and sane in a society that
hailed what happened to us? Only one word can describe how I felt: impotence. Allah
will suffice us against those who killed us and those who were content with it.
21. * Scenes from Rabi›a Al-Adaweya Square:
Sagida Abd El-Naser Haggag:
I saw a Mongolian child sitting calmly beside his old grandmother who takes care of
him. He was crying silently and innocently in fear and panic. I also saw a mother of
three children; the third is an infant whom she escaped with in order to hide him,
and left the other two in crowd with a women. Food and water were distributed
and given to us while we were besieged from all directions by the Army, Police and
aircrafts.
I saw someone who carried my sister after she fell on the floor due to toxic gas
asphyxiation; she was screaming out of severe pain. Someone else suddenly helped
us and carried her on his shoulders.
I saw the Heaven between my eyes and felt that it really deserves suffering and
sacrifice.
I saw someone entrusted himself and decided to put his head on the floor sleeping
until a bullet would target him from any direction.
I saw our tent and others' burning and falling to ashes. I noticed a sheikh who was
carried on his son's shoulders. “Daaaaaaad!” screamed the son whose father fell
down near me and the insides of his head were all coming out.
Fatima Khalid:
I saw a woman who sat with her two children crying beside a martyr. «I want you to
be like these martyrs in order to go to Heaven», she said to her children.
Naglaa Salih:
I saw someone whose brain was coming out of his head to be caught by some youth
and be buried with him.
Moreover, I saw children who died out of gas asphyxiation.
*Alshahada in Islam is an Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of
Muhammad as God›s prophet. The declaration in its shortest form reads: There is no god but Allah and
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
22. I saw a young man as soon as I moved beside, a bullet shot him in the neck raising his
index finger and saying, «There is no God but Allah.» Then, he died as a martyr with
a smile on his face.
I saw a person who was severely injured by a cartridge; however, he bandaged his
injury so fast and went back to the confrontation, standing in front of a huge army
with a stone in his hand.
I remember a fasting woman who refused to have Iftar (breaking one›s fast) as she
loves to meet Allah in the Heaven while fasting.
Ramy Foad Hafez:
There was a woman weeping as her son was bleeding heavily. There was a child
who was trying to awake his dead father. A fountain of blood was pouring from the
injured and drowning the coat of the doctor who was trying to prevent bleeding. A
nurse fell on the floor and said while weeping «Why is that? Why is that?» A man
was crying while carrying his brother with part of his brain visible out of the broken
skull. Anonymous corpse was thrown there. There was also a man whose heart has
stopped and at least 15 doctors rallied around him trying to revive him. Another man
was carrying a corpse while insulting and crying.
I saw a doctor who lost his nerve and began yelling here and there. I saw a young
excellent doctor who was trying to stitch an injured, but his hand was shivering, so
the needle fell 10 times at least.
A slightly injured man was shocked by the horror of what he saw. He prayed for us,
left the reception room, pressed his injury with gauze, and said «Thanks be to Allah
that I'm alive and able to breathe.» A worker was pushing with a venous device in
his hand, but his foot slipped in a pool of blood. Another old man slipped in it when
he was pulling my shirt; he cried and said, «I know that you are so busy, but my son
is almost dead and I want to be sure of his death by any doctor before burying him.
Maybe he's still alive; so I wouldn't be unjust to him.» I went to check his son and
found that half of his head was not there. I looked into the grieved father's eyes.
Speechless! He then understood and said to me, «Thanks son.» He carried his dead
son and left!
23. Hager Khalid:
I saw bulldozers running over the martyrs and their belongings with no sanctity or
shame. Moreover, I saw police and army officers sharing the properties of the dead,
what is left or fit for use.
Camera: Mosaab Al Shamy
Ahmed Alkholy:
Unforgettable women:
I remember a woman wearing two gowns, breaking bricks and putting the pieces
in her outer gown transferring them to the front lines for defence. Another woman
did not stop motivating men and reminding them of Du'a (prayer). She was moving
among us infecting us with a strange positive energy. I am not exaggerating if I say
that the woman kept doing so for not less than seven hours.
24. Unforgettable Men:
A supermarket owner closed his shop but left all the fridges of Pepsi and juice
available. Demonstrators took the goods and put the money in the fridge drawer.
No one ever stole or took something for free, but rather sometimes they put more
money when they did not find change. I remember a man, all along the month of
Ramadan*, telling the people when Dawn was about to come, «Have your Suhoor*
first, then give me money.» If I hadn't witnessed those scenes myself, I would have
said that they are mere stories and tales.
Camera: Othman Adss
* Ramadan is the ninth month of the year in the Islamic calendar on which Muslims fast from dawn until
sunset. Muslims all over the world abstain from food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight
hours. As a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practise self-sacrifice, Ramadan is much
more than just not eating and drinking.
* Suhoor is an Islamic term referring to the meal before the dawn during the Islamic month of Ramadan.
25. * The Field Hospital:
Nahla El-Haddad:
On that day of dispersing Rabi'a sit-in, clinics were stormed and evacuated by the
police. We were forced to exit from the back street. We kept stand waiting for what
would happen while some people were carrying their dead and wounded sons on
their hands and searching for transport. At that time, I saw a fire coming up from the
clinic building and I ran towards the building until an officer, who was blocking the
street, stopped me. I yelled and asked him:»Did you set fire on the floor from which
this flame is coming?!!». He said: «Yes.»
I said: «But there are injured persons at a room inside. I took photos of them myself.»
He said: «No. We made sure that they all were dead.»
I said: «No. I am sure there were injured people.». He said: «OK! We did not see
them!»
Later on, I made sure that some injured died after fighting fire; their corpses and arms
were crooked or extended beside the martyrs' charred corpses in a sleeping state.
Camera: Nahla Al Hadad
Doaa Oweida:
When I reached the field hospital gate, I was astounded and dismayed by what I
witnessed. The street which was full of vibrant tents changed; ashes and bullets
everywhere; a mixture of heavy blood and ashes covered the ground. The state of
the ground nauseated me; ashes mingled with water in attempts to extinguish the
26. fire. This all was covered with heavy blood while the dead and injured ones were
crammed into the hospital to the extent that the by-stander was afraid of disturbing
their continuous passing.
Camera: Sara Alaa
Naglaa Salih:
The field hospital was completely filled with corpses; what you have seen in the
videos is nothing! Corpses were on the four floors. We began to treat the injured at
the Media Center and Rabi'a Al-Adaweya Masjid as the field hospital was full. The
hospital began shrouding the bodies of martyrs without washing and wrote down
their names as seen in order to facilitate recognizing them by their families.
Camera: Othman Ads
27. Mahmoud Al-Amir:
I entered Rabi'a Medical Center to search for the corpse of a close friend, but I found
that most of the storeys were filled with martyrs lined beside each other. Later on, I
knew that at the end of dispersing Rabi'a sit-in, all floors were full of martyrs.
The center was showered with bullets piercing the walls. A young woman called
Asmaa Sakr was standing while a bullet penetrated the wall and killed her in the
head. A relative of mine narrated that he was standing in a room of the floor where
the bullet penetrated the
wall and many others before it.
Ahmed Elkholy:
After 45 minutes of dispersing the square, a doctor at the main field hospital located
on AlNasr road between the traffic and Rabi'a Al-Adawiya Masjid told me that about
40 persons roughly lost their lives; i.e., every minute a person died, mostly by live
ammunitions. I myself saw such strange kind of ammunition which cut the flesh of
the injured. Unbelievable! I will not talk about the number of children and infants
whom I found suffering from severe gas asphyxiation. I was discharged from the
hospital to leave a place for any of the injured in need.. ه
Camera: Sara Alaa
28. Dr. Ahmed Elsroi:
Aircrafts monitored the protection of some demonstrators at the field hospital,
which was consequently shot many times. We all lied down due to the heavy tear gas
bombs and bullets. Eventually, the forces stormed the hospital and fired tear gas five
meters distance at the hospital which was crowded with the wounded. All doctors,
pharmacists and volunteers, including students at the Faculty of Medicine, and all
suffocated patients were arrested. No one knows the fate of the wounded by live
bullets, including four serious cases. Then, the hospital was entirely burned, including
the drugs, devices and supplies. I don't know if there were wounded persons left
inside or not!
Abdullah Mustafa:
I photograhed the dead and wounded in the field hospital until a central security
armored vehicle entered the hospital and threw a gas bomb. Then, it fired multilive bullets even though the hospital contained only the corpses, wounded, doctors,
journalists or those who assisted at transferring the corpses and injured. When the
hospital was shot, its glass was broken and six people were killed, including a person
who was beside me and was shot in the head, and many were wounded.
Shooting lasted for 7 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, all people lied on the ground, and
the wall bricks were flying and hitting our heads. They kept firing tear gas. After
shooting stopped, I searched for «Omar», but I didn't find him. I called his name, but
there was no answer. I went downstairs to escape the gas and then went upstairs
from another way. When I looked at the other door from the other way of the
hospital, I observed that they set fire on it, and the people advised us not to exit from
this way because it was not safe anymore. At that moment, the soldiers came in and
threatened to kill anyone they would see.
Dr. Ahmed Fahmy:
We heard that the policemen were evacuating the hospital. Consequently, I went
upstairs to ask for the administrative hospital team who was approximately on
the fifth floor. The smell of tear gas was fatal. Does criminality reach that extent
of shooting a hospital with live bullets and tear gas? I went downstairs with some
doctors in attempt to vacate it from the dead and wounded. It was disastrous not to
find someone who could carry the wounded. We had to leave many of the wounded
people in their last throes dying as we could not carry them. The soldiers shot some
of them dead while we were watching and could do nothing.
29. Rokaya Mohamed Elkhodary
We entered the center, but it was completely full of dead and wounded people. Blood
was everywhere, and so was the congestion of those alive! We went upstairs, but we
found all the floors even more crowded! On the second floor, we saw the martyrs set
beside one another and their faces were like a shining moon.
Camera: Sara Alaa
Dr. Omama Al-Husseiny:
Rabi'a Mosque and the meeting hall No. 2 were turned into two field hospitals that
began to receive the dead and wounded people. The space was not enough for the
massive number of the dead and wounded. Those whose wounds could be healed
even temporarily were transferred to the demonstrators' tents in front of Rabi'a AlAdaweya Masjid and Medical Center. Nevertheless, the Masjid as well as the hall was
congested with bodies of martyrs and the wounded that were thrown on the floor,
heavily bleeding from every part of their bodies.
The corpses of martyrs were moved to another hall inside the Masjid and tents free
spaces in the hospital for the injured. Before Al-Zuhr prayer (A Muslims' prayer after
midday), the new wounded were transferred to Rabi'a Al-Adaweya Medical Center
since the field hospitals could not receive new cases anymore.
I entered the hospital to find it on fire. I looked for my relatives who were sitting
there, but none was there. The place was utterly burning. There remains some of the
wounded people not moved from the hospital yet. I went out from the hospital
30. door (the meeting hall no.2) and found my friends going out from the Masjid door as
well.
At Rabi›a Center, the doctors were forced to leave the place and the wounded even if
they were at the process of doing an operation.
Dr. Fatma Bayad:
Suddenly, the burst sound became closer. The hospital and the hall were targeted by
helicopters that launched tear gas bombs. Our emergency plan was to get rid of our
medical ID and to get on civil wear instead of the operation scrub of doctors.
We were informed that we could transfer the injured to Rabi'a Medical Center.
However, as soon as we began to transfer them, we heard the sound of bursts along
with tear gas bombs thrown at anyone who just came close to the front door of the
medical center. We had to use the tail-door while we were bowing our heads in order
not to be shot with a bullet. The volunteer doctors from the field hospital entered
and got ready; the center had been informed of the possibility of dispersing the sit-in,
so there was only one doctor and one male nurse.
Once the people knew that we had moved Rabi'a Medical Center, the wounded
automatically were referred to us. Most of injuries were fatal as usual; however,
the existence of an operation room gave a glimpse of hope to those who were in
bad need of a surgery. The matter got worse as we put two operation beds inside
one room. When I went upstairs, I found a wounded person on a bed and at least
three others on the floor of the same room waiting for their turn of surgery. Of
course, the numbers of surgeons were not enough, nor were the room capacity and
potentialities.
I left the operation room to find a corridor before the operation rooms crowded
with the lined wounded whose wounds varied from light to middle and severe, but
according to the medical and surgical standards, they could be healed.
Unexpectedly, the hospital walls were badly shaken by a bomb burst I didn't know
its kind. Tear gas bombs were being thrown inside the hospital entrance. We were
certain of the fatality. I looked out from the back window, but all I found were the
wounded and their relatives. I told them about the hospital attack and that they
would be arrested. Then, I went back to the hospital yard and saw a Special Forces
officer dressed in black and was holding a weapon demanding not to ask him about
the type of the gun, whether automatic or not, in order not to disclose his ignorance
31. of weapons. Afterwards, he shouted at us to go out immediately. We said aloud: «We
are doctors and those are wounded, so we can›t leave them behind.» He sternly said:
«Either you leave or stay with them.» One of the wounded had fractions due to live
bullets, so a doctor wanted to take him, but the officer threatened him to break his
legs or force him to stay with him if he did so.
The situation was hard and depressing! I waited to see what would happen. I saw
that officer forcing the medical staff to go out from the front door of the center
overlooking the Anwar Elmofti Street. I evaded them and went back again to the
hospital garden from the rear door of the center to be with the injured who were in
the garden to the last second. There was a very horrible scene; everything was being
burned, the Masjid, the field hospital and the media center!!!
Dr. Lamia' Mayer:
At 09:00 a.m., a march came while I was hiding. I went with them to El-Tayaran Street
then to the Masjid and the field hospital again, but I was amazed by what I saw; I left
the hospital only for one hour, but when I returned to the external corridor where I
was working, I found it topsy-turvy. The beds were upturned, plaster and cast sacks
and the contents of lockers were thrown on the floor and so were the plants and
everything. I asked people about what happened, but no one knew anything, and
those who knew were dead or escaped. Some people told me that the soldiers threw
a bomb on the corridor; others said that it was a tear gas bomb thrown at the heart
of the corridor. Until now I don't know what happened! I entered the hall no. 1.
Dozens of the wounded and the dead were still there, but the aids were hardly there.
My colleagues were struggling; I helped them as I could, for I was semi-comatose
moving as a machine.
Later on, a new order was issued to move all the injured, wounded and medicines
to Rabi'a Medical Center behind the Masjid to vacate the field hospital. All that was
done and I was broken-down on the ground.
I found the hall No. 2 full of dead; and the hall No.3 full of the dead and wounded.
I left the beloved field hospital that became empty except for some women who
overslept due to exhaustion, two doctors and some workers. I took some supplies
from the pharmacy and went to Rabi'a center, but I was astonished; five floors of the
dead and the wounded. Nonstop whistles were calling to «make a space», and bullets
32. were showered heavily.
I was besieged inside Rabi›a Hospital where the shooting was before its main glass
gate and its small rear gate. The soldiers directly targeted both gates and they were
thoroughly smashed. They began to fire inside the hospital with gas bombs and we
got suffocated.
I descended to the ground floor where someone splashed Pepsi at my face and gave
me water to drink. I went upstairs again with a man; the first floor was like a pool of
blood. In front of us there was an armored vehicle calling for a safe leave. He pulled
my hand and we left the place with others raising our hands. However, bullets were
showered heavily,
so we ran to the hospital and told him that they would arrest everyone getting out
of here. However, we took the risk and changed our way to the field hospital and
Masjid. I was dismayed by what I saw: the field hospital was so cruelly burning and
thick black smoke rushed everywhere. I saw men, women and children crowded
between the halls on fire and the Masjid on a mini Resurrection Day. I saw men's
defeat, killing the Egyptians in the streets, setting the mosques and hospitals on fire,
as well as burning women and children!
I witnessed genocide! Trees, masjids, hospitals and tents were all burned. Did they
use napalm?!! Maybe! Fire was unnatural. It was not logical to cause such burning
with a match and gas! The number of burned organs I saw was unbelievable. Did they
kill people alive? Yes, they killed them directly with bullets or by burning them alive
to avoid their testimonies on what happened!
33. Dr. Hassan Al-Prince:
The mother of all crimes was setting a massive fire to the hospital including the
injured and corpses of martyrs in order to hide a part of crime!
* Dr. Hassan Elbrens speaking about the lies on the corpses
hidden under the rostrum:
Some of corpses which were dried after burning were taken and wrapped in shrouds
under the rostrum to claim that these corpses were victims of demonstrators and
were buried under it. This lie can be rebutted as follows:
1- The new shrouds had no dust or blood.
2- Hundreds of Egyptians and foreigners who visited Rabi›a Square inspected under
the rostrum.
3- We did not learn about any reports of missed people all the period of the sit-in
long.
4- How were those corpses burned by demonstrators with no smell or smoke while
the rostrum was on air and surrounded with thousands of people all the period of the
sit-in?
5- The rostrum base was wooden and flammable, and under it there were cables and
computer wires that controlled the broadcast and montage that published songs and
parts of the legitimate president›s speeches.
6- We did not see any digging by pro-coup under the rostrum immediately after
breaking it down. If this had been done, they would not be hesitated to broadcast it
live by pro-coup media.
7- Neither the police nor the army did take sniffer dogs in order to detect the places
of the buried corpses in all TV shots that were broadcasted.
34. * The Manayfa block: A symbol of heroism :
Mohammad Al-Sanhawy:
One of the tremendous massacres at Rabi'a was what happened at «Al-Manayfa
Block», an under construction building at Al-Tayaran street, beside «Cook Door»
Restaurant and in front of the Mobil Gas Station. According to various testimonies,
that building was a stumbling block for the dispersing forces to have access to
the square. At the end of the day and before storming the square completely, the
building was attacked heavily by helicopters, snipers and grenof guns. The building
was inspected and stormed by the Special Forces from downstairs to upstairs and
vice versa. Murder was their only choice. At that building, hundreds of men, women
and children were murdered without mercy. A handful of persons who survived told
me that the Special Forces soldiers entered the building after killing the youths who
were protecting it. The Special Forces soldiers kicked the wounded so hard in the
stomach. If a wounded person moaned or made any move telling them he was still
alive, they shot him dead in the head.
That man who survived narrated that he decided to bear all kicks with no sign of
groan or move in order to save his life. He said, «An officer kicked me with his leg in
my stomach, but I did not moan. He jumped high and kicked me again throwing all
his weight on my stomach, but I did not moan. When he made sure of my death, he
left the floor along with the forces after killing all people there and ascended to the
next floor. I waited until they went away and attempted to escape by jumping from
the building to the ground.»
I saw genocide: massive killings, burning the corpses and the wounded, killing the
injured with bullets, ethnic genocide, targeting the paramedics and the captives in
the queue of detainees, using heavy weapons against weaponless people, setting
the mosques and hospitals on fire; all horrible incidents were there. What happened
at Rabi'a was the extreme of disbelief. We shall not forget or forgive. We shall not
neglect the punishment as well.
36. * Out of Rabi›a Square :
If memories about all what happened fade as we age, the scene of being forced
to leave the square will never fade; memories then are very stable. This scene will
provoke the fuse of return chanting and cheering 'Allah Akbar', rejoicing in God 's
victory, praying for Martyrs hoping to catch up with them.
Camera: Mosaab El-Shamy
Belal Wahb
We weren't defeated and didn't withdraw. The ground which is beneath us testifies.
We were burned as standing trees until their ripest fruits were fallen down; i.e.,
martyrs… «O Square! If your ground lasted longer before that incineration, we would
stand still in the face of death another day!
Doaa Eweida:
We went out but couldn't stop our tears being forced to leave the square in that way.
As soon as we went out, we heard, from a short distance, a strong sound and saw
thick black smoke over the square from the place which we went out. Then we knew
that the criminals have forced the doctors to get out so that they could set fire to the
field hospital housing the martyrs and wounded remained inside. We went out of the
square with bleeding hearts just saying 'Allah is sufficient for us and He is our best
Guardian.'
37. Camera: Mosaab El-Shamy
Naglaa Salih
When I went to an exit through Rabi'a hospital, I found the officers shooting people.
The ground was full of blood. Suddenly an officer said, «Come here and get out...»
There were a lot of injured persons behind me. I passed through the door then to the
street unbelieving that he didn't kill us.
A friend told me that a fire engine sprayed Rabi'a Mosque and its field hospital with
petrol. Rabi'a then was burned. I also knew from Bisan Essam, a friend of mine who's
a doctor, that the policemen ordered the doctors to leave without any wounded
people; otherwise they will be burned as well. All Rabi'a and whoever there were
burned.!
Roqia Mohammed Al-Khodary
I went down, with Khadiga and Marwa and was shocked to see the policemen on the
ground floor dressed in black uniforms, clutching their rifles, and looking at us with
a gloating smile saying, «To stay at home is better, isn't it? Come, come and don't
worry, we won’t harm you.»
We came out of the hospital through the back door, overlooking Anwar Al-Mofty St.
behind Rabi'a's Mosque. People left exactly like war captives.!
38. Hager Dawood
We exited surrounded by the Special Police forces and armored vehicles. They hurled
their insults at us, and in return we said, «Allah is Sufficient for us and He is our best
Guardian.» Most of us were either the hospital›s doctors or women.
Fatima Khalid :
This scene of our exit from the mosque was unforgettable. We went out as prisoners
of war. There were armed people on the two sides pointing their weapons to our
faces and wearing black uniform. Their bodies are wrapped by weapons called
«special band». We were forced to pass between them and knew that this was a
“safe exit»!! How? When we were going out, there were guns shooting at us. Martyrs
were being carried by people walking. Our great army and honorable policeman were
laughing and standing upon the armored military vehicle sticking out their tongues! !
- Aisha Emad:
It was more comfortable to die as a martyr than to exit like that. I stopped and looked
at the martyrs saying, «You're fortunate!» However, I saw the armored military
vehicle running behind us; it was inevitable to walk.
Those infidels went out from their burrows gloating over us but we were trustful in
God's victory “Allah is our Guardian.»
We walked in the streets and we didn't know where we were going. An armored
military vehicle and a police's vehicle came by us shooting to frighten us. We passed
by some thugs who were dancing, cheering and using fireworks. Then we went to AlZahraa Masjid with Port Said Brothers (Ikhwan).
- Doaa Emad:
All of us left the Monument Street «Alnosb Eltezkary». Men were forced to raise
their hands during exit as war captives. They were hit and insulted. If anyone uttered
a word, the officers would shoot beside or above him, or even in the leg. They fired
their weapons while they were ordering us. For example, one was ordered by the
officer to show the identity card with a fire shot, a mean and coward act.
39. Mohammed Basuony
We were ordered by an officer to a certain direction; however, there was an ambush.
We found more officers who dealt with us as detained Jews. They rudely insulted us
and forced us to sleep on our stomach and put our hands behind our backs. They hit
our heads with a machine gun to obey their orders quickly. They took our mobiles
and identity cards. Then, another officer came and set us to an army ambush. The
army abusively treated us more than the police did. I saw a cross on the hand of the
military officer who ordered the soldiers to abuse us. Then a military senior came and
ordered the officer to release us; consequently, we left the square.
Amr Omran
We left raising our hands and looking sharply at them feeling unsafe. The question
raised then: 'How our God did create such creatures without any humanity?'
They were looking on, gloating and insulting us: “Syrians and terrorists you are!”
People were looking at us and photographing us; we then were certain that they lost
their morals and humanity.
We saw bared and trodden dead bodies of children and girls on the ground. We were
frightened to put them a side or even to cover them up.
Dr. Lamia Mayer:
It was about six o' clock when I and my friends decided to exit from a safe way. I went
out with a group of people, with a final look at the officers in black military suits and
masks holding very enormous weapons. Their skin was also swarthy; their bodies
were so huge. They deployed on the ground floor where we were besieged. The
armored vehicle was standing directly in front of the main door; there was a monster
inside it yelling, “The person who is going to exit now will be safe.” We said, “Allah is
sufficient for us.”.
Hager Khalid
During vacating the square, they allowed the people to exit as prisoners of war
putting their hands on their heads or behind their backs. Anyone who put on a mask
was beaten nearly to death and then thrown at us.
40. Gehad Khalid Hefzy
When we were going out of the square, we were photographed as prisoners of war.
We were sorted at the barriers to take men and let women go. We were insulted,
menaced and threatened by the scoundrels.
If they say that here are the photos of surrendering citizens and they sympathized
with them, and so let them leave peacefully, they will be liars. We went out after
we were slaughtered and choked to get our children back home and then exit to
complete.
If they say that they did not harm anyone after dispersing, they will be liars. After
we had been photographed and during our exit, we were chased in the street by
their bombs and shotguns. They even shot the mosque during the Maghreb prayer,
and the Imam asked them on the microphone to stop shooting till completing the
prayer.
Romysaa Ramadan
Whenever I listen to someone who witnessed the dispersion of Rabia's sit-in, I find
implications I didn't hear before. Hardly one finds a story similar to the other, as if
there were one hundred thousand squares equivalent to the number of the people
there. On that day, everyone was running, observing, recording with his eyes and
narrating his own story. I try to follow up everyone who witnessed that day and
search for testimonies of all people. I try to stick puzzle pieces beside each other to
complete the image, but it doesn't become idiomorphic. The more I hear and follow
up, the more the image area expands. So I'm not able to know its dimensions.
Rabia's dispersion is a historical incident; I think that many years will pass for one to
be oriented of what has happened. Stories will not end throughout the years. We
will hear a new thing we have never heard. Many years will pass to see the image
clearly idiomorphic. .
41.
42. * When and how were the dead enshrouded at Rabi›a?
- Yaser Selim:
Shooting Rabi'a for dispersing the sit-in started at about 6.30 a.m. and lasted for
more than 10 hours until the whole square was completely evacuated. During that
period of time, we built more than a field hospital and prepared more than a place
to receive the wounded and dead. A number of doctors were there to treat the
wounded people and save other cases as much as possible..
45. The names of the dead were written on the burial shrouds
All that was happening during the shooting and dispersion
46. * Al-Iman Mosque:
Given the location of the mosque, located near the end of Makram Ebeid Street from
Nasr Road direction and due to its proximity to Rabi'a Al-Adaweya sit-in, sitters were
able to move many of the dead and wounded to the mosque to protect them from
the savagery of bulldozers and inhuman fires launched during the break-in.
A lot of volunteers moved to the mosque to treat the wounded and to shroud the
dead. They wrote the data of each martyr on the shroud to facilitate the access of
their bereaved families, and to resolve the difficulties these families would face while
obtaining the burial permits issued in coordination between the Ministry of Health,
the Public Prosecution and the Forensic Medical Authority.
On the other hand, the people of the district transferred the corpses surrounding
the Mosque by their private cars to the Zeinhom Mortuary until Thursday morning,
August 15, 2013.
Local and foreign newspaper correspondents came to Al-Iman Mosque to take photos
and make an interview with the relatives of the victims. Some correspondents who
supported the coup were disguised in fear of the reaction of the people.
The news said that the number of corpses was more than 228. It was difficult to
determine the accurate number as the corpses were transferred outside the Mosque
after the relatives had identified them. Workers inside the mosque assured that these
numbers did not include the reports of the Ministry of Health, which proves that the
number of victims was more than the formal statistics.
47. The efforts of the workers and voluntary doctors inside the mosque continuously
exerted, not only for one or two days, but also for three days. They were willing
persons whose trends and visions are different, or persons who disagreed with the
Ikhwan Group threatening the comeuppance for those martyrs.
The voluntary doctor Mustafa Abd El-Ghany assured that there were a lot of
unknown corpses charred as a result of burning the tents and the Field Hospital of
Rabi'a Al-Adaweya which made it difficult for their relatives to recognize them. Sound
amplifiers were used from inside the mosque urging the victims’ relatives to exit
because of the hot atmosphere and suffocation caused by the intense crowd; the airconditioners and fans were not enough.
The field hospital inside the mosque asked the volunteers to bring odor and cleansing
materials because the smell of some of the dead began to be strong as time passed.
The victims’ families and relatives started to transfer the corpses outside and Al-Iman
Mosque to move them to Zeinhom Mortuary. A huge crowd was there; their yelling
against the police was extremely strong accusing them of killing the victims during
dispersing the sit-in. Since the Zeinhom Mortuary was asking the relatives to sign a
report confirming that the deceased was committed suicide to obtain a burial permit,
they declared their intension to start an open sit-in in the Mosque's area till they
would receive and bury the dead. Many of them did the funeral prayer on the victims
in El-Iman Mosque on Thursday morning, August 15, 2013.
It is worth mentioned that the General Abd El-Fattah Othman announced a statement
that the security forces detected a number of cars which carried corpses from
different governorates, and the corpses were brought by Ikhwan and put in the
mosque to be displayed as Rabi’a's victims.
The corpses which were inside Al-Iman Mosque were exposed to attempts of stealing
by the security forces to be buried in Rabi'a Al-Adaweya. They intended to accuse the
peaceful demonstrators of murder and broadcast this on the TV channels supporting
the military coup. As a result, the crimes of the coup regime increased. This tyrant
regime is undoubtedly responsible for the killing and burning of the demonstrators in
Rabi'a Al-Adaweya, and hence effacing the features of the crime.
49. * Zeinhom Mortuary:
To kill citizens by their armies of treachery and intrigue means nothing in comparison
to the bargains made on the dead and to the salt poured on the wounds of the
wounded. So did the «great» Army of Egypt, and did the families of the martyrs who
tasted death many times.
No longer in our country are reasons alone prone to become numerous versus a
single death, but death varied too. There are people who were shot dead and others
who died out of the atrocity of the horror scenes, etc.
The violations of the Army were not limited to the bloodshed and killing, but
they exceeded to include the sanctity of death. The army would nearly catch
the processions of martyrs to their graves. Under the human laws, everything
is respectable and sanctified when death comes. Even in the laws of the jungle,
death becomes a red line not exceeded by beasts or cattle. Notwithstanding, a new
barbarism embarked in our country and the meaning of sanctity vanished from all
things.
The families of the martyrs tried to heal their inner wounds and went to Zeinhom
Mortuary to issue reports by the Forensic Authority, and consequently obtain the
burial permits to coffin their martyrs and move them to their graves. They wished
they knew the adversity which would await them. Not only were the tyrants burning,
shooting and distorting, but they also forced the families of the martyrs – who could
identify the bodies of their loved ones– to sign papers confirming that the deceased
committed suicide.
Martyrs are honored everywhere, but in Egypt, they are regarded as 'committed
suicide'. Some people who wanted to honor their dead were forced to sign that
paper. Others refused and protested in front of the mortuary until they could find a
solution for their issue. The alternate solution was to have a report with «scribbles»
written beside the cause of death!
50. A burial permit for a Rabi'a Massacre's victim
A disastrous scene: a mother sitting beside her son's corpse thrown before the
Mortuary where the blood prevailed. She waited for a change in the death cause
for obtaining a burial permit. Marwa, a daughter of a murdered man, Ahmed Abd
Elsamad, 48 years, said that Zeinhoum Mortuary asked her family to sign a report
declaring that her father committed suicide in order to get a burial permit, though
her father was shot dead with two bullets in his shoulder and back. Pierces by bullets
in hearts and chests were not enough! Indeed, it is humanity that was pierced,
ruptured and dispersed!
Regarding her brother's murder, the actress Leqa'a Sweidan witnessed, on lots of TV
channels, that a huge numbers of corpses were at Elkasr Eleiny Hospital and their
relatives could not receive them. The hospital administration and the Ministry of
Health evaded their responsibility of these corpses and the only way to accelerate
the process of obtaining a Death Certificate was to sign a paper confirming that the
deceased committed suicide. That was only if one was lucky and could identify the
body as many dead were charred and could only be identified with the DNA test.
There were mutilated bodies that no longer a mouth or a nose was identified. There
were whole brains cast outside the skulls.
51. Amid all that misery, due to the crowd, blood and hot temperature of mid-August,
corpses were thrown on the corridors of the Mortuary, even exceeding it to the
surrounding streets and the side piles of garbage. The huge number of martyrs made
it even harder for the families' dogged search process. Each family divided their
members into groups whose tasks were to find out the dead not the living ones. In
order that a girl could find her dead father, she had to unveil shrouds on hundreds of
corpses in a horrible scene not knowing if she could at the end find him or would he
be among those who were lost. The first night ended, but most of people did not find
their dead relatives. The dead smell was extremely strong. Some people volunteered
with refrigerator cars to accumulate corpses on them. When cars were full of corpses,
people brought ice sacks to be put on the blooded shrouds.
Outside Zeinhoum Mortuary on the day following
Rabi'a Massacre
52. In an interview with Al-Mesryoon Newspaper, Mohamed Abdel Aal, 42, resident at AlKobba Gardens in Cairo, said:
I've come to Zeinhom Mortuary searching for my brother Ahmed Abdel Aal, 47, a
driver, who was absent from home till now. I searched for him at the police stations
as well as government and private hospitals; however, all these trials were in vain.
Eventually, I came here to search for him among available and unknown corpses at
the Mortuary but in vain. When the dead were displayed on TV, I couldn't identify my
brother's body as most bodies were totally charred. Doctors there told me to leave
my DNA sample in order to be conformed to the bodies in the Mortuary. The test
result would be known in ten days.
Mohamed Hasanein, 26, working for a private company in Cairo, is a witness inside
Zeinhom Mortuary who spent 48 hours at the service of the bodies that were rotten
due to the lack of enough refrigerators. He also assisted the doctors at necropsy
operations without making the security men notice him. He said that he went to
Zeinhom Mortuary on the day of dispersing Raba'a and Al-Nahda sit-ins as one of his
friends' relatives was killed. His friend is called Haitham Al-Shawaf, a coordinator of
the Revolutionary Force Coalition and a member of June 30 Ftont; he was killed at AlNahda Square incidents.
When I went there, I found so many corpses around the Mortuary. Its capacity was
not enough for such a massive number of dead bodies. On the next day, I wanted to
go to the Mortuary to search for the corpse of my friend Waleed to bury it. When I
was objected by the security men, I told them the reason why I wanted to enter it,
and they allowed me only see a human disaster of violating the dead sanctity. All
corpses were thrown on the ground. There was no human treatment in necropsy;
there was no stitching of cut parts due to the lack of required materials. I tried to
help the doctors and workers there. I moved the corpses thrown on the ground to
the rooms designated for that. Also, I divided rooms into certain categories to enable
necropsy of more corpses since many were thrown on the street surrounding the
Mortuary for its incapacity to handle the huge number of corpses.
Hasaneen added that because of the lack of refrigerators, people of Al-Saida Zeinab
district covered corpses with lots of ice not to be rotten due to their stay on the
streets for two days. They also gave shrouds to the relatives of the dead.
It was a disaster that seemed not to end. Indeed, it will not end in the hearts of those
who lived and witnessed it unless perpetrators are punished.
53. * The Lies of Military Operations Commanders about Rabi›a
Massacre :
General Medhat Al-Menshawy
“The forces did not shoot a single bullet. Officers and soldiers found bad-smelling
shrouded bodies prepared to be filmed for the Western media.” General Medhat
Al-Menshawy, Commander of Special Forces, stated in an interview published by
Alyoom Assabea newspaper..
Major Bahaa Ashareef
54. Ashorook newspaper published an interposition in Hona Al-'Asima show with Hasan
Moosa, the Head of the Central Security Forces: “The sits in set fire to the cars in area
and threw fire over the police men. They disregarded the warning to evacuate the
square and cooperate with the police. When they blew up the gas station and fire
engines, we had to use gas bombs heavily and surround them.”
Major Ashareef added: “The Minister of Interior and the Commander of Special
Forces recommended the forces to have self-control and secure the sits in, especially
women and children.”
Major Bahaa Ashareef
In another interview with Al-Wafd newspaper, Major Bahaa Ashareef, Commander of
Rabaa Operation, said: “Gas and water were the only weapons used. We started with
a warning by microphones and the help of inhabitants. Then we used sonic vibration
vehicles followed by tear gas and water, heavily and occasionally, to secure a way out
for them. The numbers did gradually decrease. We kept using gas for a long time to
avoid bloodshed.”
55. * Rabi›a Massacre Martyrs:
It was harsh to look into the details of the most austere massacre in modern history.
It was terrible to see the burnt or distorted features of the bodies.
I spent many days searching for names, addresses, photos, and social networking
accounts.
Sorrow was bleeding among the letters of obituary and words of elegy.
I became a relative to all martyrs.
I have known much about them, their children, spouses, relatives, study, and their
good courses of life.
I realize this was the cruelest task ever to do. However, I found the meaning of
cruelty in the stories told by the relatives about their exhausting journeys in search
of the bodies. A woman sees a photo of a martyr and realizes it is her father’s. A man
tells how his brother’s body was burned. A young lady cannot believe her groom
has passed away. Others could not even find the bodies; they just saw a photo on
Facebook. In addition, many others were missed.
I tried as I could to publish the photos of the dead when they were alive. We consider
them alive as Allah says in His Quran: “But do not think of those that have been
slain in God's cause as dead. Nay, they are alive! With their Sustainer have they their
sustenance.” They went out there to advocate Allah’s words and stood against the
killing machine as they believed in the Prophet Mohammad’s saying: «The best of
all martyrs is Hamza Ibn Abdul-Mottaleb, and a man who stood up in the face of an
oppressive ruler to enjoin and forbid him and was killed by him.» (Revised by AlAlbany)
We regard them living martyrs stood against the tyrant, Al-Sisy, who killed and burned
them with no mercy even towards a senile or a young man, a man or a woman.
I tried hard to count all martyrs, but it could be mistaken or incomplete.
I apologize for all the martyrs’ relatives for any unintended negligence.
I could find 210 photos out of
For any additions or modifications in the second edition to the martyrs’ list (name,
photo or address), please don't hesitate to contact us (twthek@hotmail.com).
Yaser Selim
56. Some of the victims of
Rabaa massacre..
A photo collage of some of the victims of Rabaa massacre
57. Abdulaal Al-DaidamonySharkeia
Abdulazeem Hussein
Shaltoot- Gharbeia
Abdulfattah AlbarbaryQalubeia
Abdulghafour Eid
Abdulhalim Abo GendiGharbeia
Abdullah Ahmed AlSayed Ibrahim
Abdullah Bakry- Fayoum
Abdullah Hassan
Albanna- Cairo
Abdullah Mohamed
Abdulhafeez- Sharkeia
Abdullah Rageh- Cairo
Abdullah Sultan
Abdullah Yasser
Kharouba- Damietta
59. Abdulrahman Saeed
gouda- Cairo
Abdulrahman Samy
Hamza- Cairo
Abdulrahman TahaDakahleia
Abdulreheem YoussefMenoufeia
Abo Obaida Kamal AlDeen- Al-Fayoum
Aby Mahmoud ElmasryCairo
Adam Hatem AdamCairo
Adel AbdulgawadQaliubeia
Adel Sobhy Ali
Adel Farghaly
Adham Mohamed EzzatGharbeia
Ahmed Mahmoud
Alsebaei- Swais
60. Ahmed Abdulaal
Alhaddad
Ahmed AbdulfattahCairo
Ahmed Abdulgawad
Ahmed Abdulhamid
Bayomi- Cairo
Ahmed Ali Sonbol- Cairo
Ahmed Alsarawy
Ahmed Amin AlbalkaDakahleia
Ahmed AshrafDamietta
Ahmed Diaa FarahatCairo
Ahmed Elsayed Hussein
Hassan- Sharkeya
Ahmed Essat
Abdulmoez- Cairo
Ahmed Fathy KamelMenofeia
61. Ahmed Galal- Sarkeya
Ahmed Gamal Mostafa
Ahmed gomaa Ahmed
Alsayed- Cairo
Ahmed Helal- Fayom
Ahmed Helmy
Abdulmooty- Sharkeya
Ahmed KadryAlexandria
Ahmed MAhmoud
Ahmed Baz- Sharkeia
Ahmed Mohamed
Alzanani- Menofeia
Ahmed Mohamed EidSharkeia
Ahmed Mohamed Hafez
Ahmed Mohamed
Hassaan Salem
Ahmed Mohamed
Hussein
62. Ahmed Mohamed
Shaker- Cairo
Ahmed Reda IbrahimSharkeya
Ahmed Saad SadafyBany sweif
Ahmed Saeed AhmedIsmaeleia
Ahmed Saeed AmmarCairo
Ahmed SalahuldeenAlexandria
Ahmed Wahba AlshafeiDamietta
Ahmed Yusuf AlafshDakahleia
Ahmed Zaky DiaaDakahleia
Alarabi Alsayed
Almesedi
Ali Khaled Hassan- Cairo
Ali Metwally- Ismaelia
63. Almoatasem Bellah
Ahmed MarzoukBanysweif
Amir Mostafa BederCairo
Ammar Abdo EmaraMenofia
Ammar Salah- Menofia
Amr Ali GenedyGharbia
Amr Azzam- Cairo
Antar Samir- Cairo
Asem Mohamed
Ibrahim Al-Gamal
Ashraf Abo EssaQaliobeya
Ashraf Sadek
Ashraf Shaaban
Abdulhamid- Fayuom
Asmaa Albeltagy- Cairo
67. Ibrahim Fawzy FaresDakahleya
Ibrahim Mostafa AlAzab- Gharbeia
Ibrahim Mousa
Mohamed EisaMenofeya
Ibrahim Ragab EsawyCairo
Islam Abbas
Almenshawy- Giza
Islam Abdulhamid- Kafr
Elsheikh
Islam Hassan DarwishMenofeia
Islam Mohamed
Abdulhamid- Sharkeia
Karim Al-Sayad- Banha
Khairy AlmeleegyMenofeia
Khalad Mohamed
Osama- Dakahleia
Khaled Elleethy- Cairo
77. * Conclusion:
The book has ended but sadness will never end; it is the sadness of a stolen country.
The pages have ended but they have not and will not be turned over yet.
We have not documented the aforementioned pages calling for pride or fame out
of sacrifices made by the best of Egypt›s people. No, we swear by almighty Allah
-though we have the right to be proud - we have documented disastrous crimes the
generations may forget if they are not written.
We have shortened the story of Truth and Falsehood in a few lines that will not give
those pure and worthy ones all or some of their rights as much as they deserve.
It is so hard for our hearts to make the blood a narrated story and to make the dead
people just numbers. This is not true, but we all will be in their debt our whole life;
For those who had not been mentioned before those mentioned;
For those who had been lost and disappeared before those who were mourned in
great funerals;
For those who had been put under bulldozers and in rubbish before those who died in
front of cameras;
For those whose faces had been distorted and their features had been disappeared
before those smiled persons with bright faces;
For every martyr, every wounded, every missed person and every detainee, who
deserve to be an icon we have the honour to belong to it and be belonged to us;
We have documented this work only for the sake of Allah then for history.
For those of understanding and conscience would to think and be reminded;
78. For the honest and free people so as not to surrender for the striking power and
tyrants;
And for the ignorant to know which curse will follow them in this world and in the
Hereafter;
Unquestionably, this is the promise of Allah.
Unquestionably, this is the promise of Allah.