HRW lambasts justice minister’s incitement to kill 10,000 MB for every dead soldier

The international Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization issued a statement on Monday calling on Egypt’s executive authorities to condemn the “hate speech” of Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zend, following his incitement to kill 10,000 Muslim Brotherhood members for every Egyptian soldier killed in terrorist attacks.

“As you know [Zend] oversees Egypt's judiciary and public prosecution in his role as justice minister, and his words carry special weight and authority, particularly when they concern the authorities' use of force” the statement read. 

HRW also issued a petition, addressed to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, requesting that he publicly refute Zend’s remarks for fear they may incite the extrajudicial killing of Brotherhood members and sympathizers.

“That a high government official charged with overseeing the rule of law would go on TV and appear to encourage the slaughter of political opponents shows how some members of the Egyptian government have abandoned any pretense of justice,” HRW’s Sarah Leah Whitson asserted, adding, “The fact that Egyptian security forces have already committed mass killings of Brotherhood supporters, while judges have sentenced hundreds of others to death in mass trials, means that Justice Minister [Zend’s] threat is very real.”

In an interview with the staunchly pro-government television anchor Ahmed Moussa on the privately owned Sada al-Balad satellite channel in late January, Zend declared, “I swear 400,000 will not suffice … I swear by God almighty that, personally, the fire in my heart will not be extinguished unless for each one [soldier killed], there are at least 10,000 [Brotherhood members killed].”

The deaths of 400,000 would mean “the entire Brotherhood,” Moussa retorted.

“I’m saying the Brotherhood and whoever aids them, and whoever supports them, and whoever takes bribes from them, and whoever lives off their ill-gotten finances from Turkey, Qatar, and Iran,” Zend replied, asserting that the Armed Forces are Egypt’s true guardians and Brotherhood members are “hiding underneath their beds and are entirely worthless.”

HRW issued a report on the first anniversary of the forced dispersal of the Brotherhood-organized protest camps in Rabea al-Adaweya and Nahda squares in August 2013, describing the deadly use of force by Egypt’s police and Armed Forces as likely crimes against humanity.

They estimate a minimum of 817 protesters were killed in just one day when the camps were violently dispersed, suggesting that the actual number of fatalities may be well over 1,000, and comparing the incident to China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

There has been no justice or accountability for the dispersals, HRW maintains, which took place when Sisi was still serving as defense minister.

Zend defended the actions of security forces in an interview with the privately owned Al-Faraeen satellite channel in May 2015, claiming Brotherhood members were burning images of Egypt’s judges during protests.

“We [judges] in this nation are masters, the others are slaves … Those who burn photos of judges will have their hearts burned, their memories burned and even their shadows burned for daring to defile Egypt … Burning in return for burning, beating in return for beating and crushing in return for crushing,” Zend commented.