(AFP, Mosaab el-Shamy)
Egyptians participated in 138 protests over three days to mark the one year anniversary of the violent dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya an Al-Nahda Squares sit-ins, said Democracy Index on Monday.
The group, which has collated data on Egypt’s protests in the past, reported that more than 200 people were arrested and 30 explosive devices were defused over the three days, starting on 14 August.
The first day, which marks the actual sit-in dispersal, saw “70 cases of protest, including 33 marches, 27 road blocks and 10 human chains”. There were 53 protests on 15 August made up of 43 marches and 7 road blocks, and on 16 August there were 15 protests “including 10 road blocks, 3 demonstrations, a vigil and a human chain”.
The governorate of Alexandria witnessed the most protests (15) over the three days, followed by Sharqeya (14), Giza (13), Qaliubiya (13) and Cairo (10). Protests occurred in 20 governorates, with at least one protest in Qena and Ismailia each.
Democracy Index noted that incidents of violence doubled over these three days with 49 cases of violence “including 23 cases of clashes between security, residents and the [Muslim] Brotherhood”. The violence also manifested in attacks on state property including eight incidents of attempts to set fire to “government buildings, police cars and buses”. There were five incidents of attacking electric infrastructure, the explosion of five improvised explosive devices and three attacks on journalists”.
The group recorded that at least seven people were killed in the violence, whether it was by “elements of the police, Brotherhood or residents”.
The clearing of the sit-ins in August 2013 resulted in at least 817 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch. The protest camps emerged to support former President Mohamed Morsi before he was ousted on 3 July 2013 and remained until the dispersals. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Anti-Coup Alliance called for protests to mark the first anniversary.
Earlier this year Democracy Index reported that in 2013 there were a total of 14,270 protests in Egypt, which the group said reflected the failure of the [Egyptian] system to ensure economic and social rights”.
