In light of the sectarian violence that erupted in Imbaba, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies sent a memo signed by 14 member groups of the Forum of Independent Human Rights Organizations to Prime Minister Essam Sharaf yesterday.
The same memo was sent to former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on January 19, 2011, after the bombing of the Two Saints Church in Alexandria. In a letter to Dr. Sharaf, Bahey eldin Hassan, the director of the CIHRS, said that the memo could have been written today and that its recommendations must be implemented by the government Sharaf heads.
The letter noted that refraining from enforcing the law after the burning of the Atfih Church—by trying the defendants before their rightful judge, not a military tribunal—perhaps contributed to the reiteration of the same crime in Imbaba, where more people were injured and many died.
The letter stated that unfortunately, sectarian violence is likely to increase if the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the cabinet continue to pursue the same policies operative prior to January 25. Indeed, the CIHRS warned of this issue in another memo sent to Dr. Sharaf on recommended policies for the transitional phase.
At the end of the letter, Bahey eldin Hassan expressed his hope that the memo would receive Dr. Sharaf’s attention rather than meeting the same fate it found under former Prime Minister Nazif.
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