Rights group details 184 assaults against foreign journalists in Egypt

At least 184 brutal violations were committed against foreign journalists working in Egypt between 2011 and 2014, according to a detailed report issued Monday by the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression.

Over the past three years, foreign correspondents have been threatened, detained, kidnapped, raped and even murdered, AFTE said.

In 2011, AFTE documented 112 cases of violations against foreign journalists, including 44 cases of physical abuse, 34 detentions and arrests, 11 incidents of confiscating equipment and two cases of sexual assault.

The report begins by outlining the 18 days between January 25 and February 11, 2011. Wally Neil, a correspondent for the South Africa-based Zuma Press news agency, was shot with rubber bullets while photographing the protests in downtown Cairo. The report quotes him as saying that he was deliberately targeted by security forces.

Abuse against foreign journalists began to escalate on February 2 and 3. The report documented more than 70 incidents of assault during those two days, including the rape of an American journalist.

Radio Canada’s Jean-Francois Lubin and Sylvain Castagne were attacked by supporters of former President Hosni Mubarak, as were CNN correspondents Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour, and Fox News correspondents Greg Kot and Olaf Wiig.

Lara Logan, a correspondent for the US-based channel CBS, was sexually assaulted during this time. AFTE’s report quoted her as saying, “What was shocking to me is the lack of humanity and compassion in the hearts of those attacking me as they tore off my clothes raped me for 40 minutes continuously.”

During the 18 days, AFTE’s report revealed 46 cases of assault, 31 detentions, two raids and kidnappings, one threat, one sexual assault, five incidents of interference with field reporting, 10 cases of journalists having their equipment destroyed and four cases of equipment being confiscated.

Next, the report looked at the transitional period between February 11, 2011 and June 30, 2012, during which time the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) — with now-retired Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi at the helm — ruled the country. AFTE documented nine violations committed against journalists during that period, including three assaults, three detentions and three sexual assaults.

Caroline Saint, a correspondent for the French television station Channel 3, was physically and sexually assaulted while covering a story near the Ministry of Interior. In addition, Central Security Forces sexually assaulted Mona Eltahawy, a correspondent for the Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star, after detaining her for reporting on the violent events of the battle of Mohamed Mahmoud on November 11, 2011.

During former President Mohamed Morsi’s administration from June 30, 20120 to June 30, 2013, AFTE documented 10 violations against foreign journalists, including one murder and six detentions.

American photographer Andrew Butcher was killed while filming clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents in Alexandria. An unnamed Dutch journalist was raped while photographing protests in Tahrir Square, and Sonia Dridi, a correspondent for the French television channel France 24, was also physically and sexually assaulted in Tahrir.

However, although more violations were observed in 2011, AFTE said the most dangerous period for foreign correspondents working in Egypt was between June 30, 2013 and October 2014. The case of the journalists and producers working for the Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera English was a milestone in that regard, according to the report.

“The Al Jazeera journalists’ trial is a turning point for the relationship foreign journalists have with Egypt, when the Canadian journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and the Australian journalist Peter Greste were sentenced to seven years in prison and the Egyptian photographer Baher Mohamed was sentenced to ten years for spreading false news, and joining a banned group,” the report stated.

In this most recent period, AFTE documented 61 violations, including 13 sexual assaults, six cases of imprisonment, 28 detentions and one murder.

British journalist Jeremy Bowen was shot with live ammunition while covering clashes in front of the Republican Guard headquarters in the summer of 2013. British photographer Mike Dean, a correspondent for Sky Channel, was killed after being shot in the heart as he attempted to report on the dispersal of the pro-Morsi Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in last August.