CAIRO: A fact finding commission said Wednesday Tahrir protesters didn’t attack the Israeli embassy on Friday, a day after 15 political movements and parties condemned the violent clashes with police in Giza.
Clashes between protesters and police outside the Israeli and Saudi embassies and the nearby Giza Security Directorate left three dead and 1,049 injured. Protesters had earlier destroyed a recently erected wall along the street on which the embassy is located and stormed part of the embassy.
The commission, formed by the National Council for Human Rights, suggested in its report that “criminal elements” are involved in burning the security directorate. The report also blamed the government for releasing rushed statements without prior investigations, in which “foreign conspiracies” are blamed without evidence or explanation.
On Tuesday, a statement, signed by different political forces including the youth coalition, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Mohamed ElBaradie as well as Hamdeen Sabahy’s camps, condemned the misleading media campaign launched against protesters, depicting them as thugs who aim to destabilize the country.
"The death of six soldiers on the borders by the Israeli army [fueled] extreme hatred against the Zionist embassy, which was faced by complete and shameful silence from the government and the ruling military council," said journalist Rasha Azab, who gave her account of the events during a press conference following the release of the statement.
"The street spoke and reacted by storming the embassy and then the government accused them of being thugs and deliberately clashed with protesters in front of the Giza Security Directorate," Azab added.
She said protesters marched to the Israeli embassy to demolish the wall built to protect the area around the building where it is located, with weak security presence around the embassy that encouraged the enthusiastic crowd to storm the building.
"Security forces were deliberately absent to let the protesters storm the embassy and then clashes started," Azab explained, adding that police trucks started running over protesters and using teargas, which provoked the crowds.
"Central Security Forces (CSF) lured protesters towards the Giza Security Directorate when protesters noticed a fire inside the building," Azab added.
Eyewitness Suzan Ghonim reiterated Azab’s testimony, adding that she saw CSF soldiers entering the security directorate building before the fire broke out.
"The same soldiers then were out of the building wearing civilian clothes and fired at a nearby tree, setting ablaze. Then the fire spread to a nearby police truck," Ghonim said.
Film director and eyewitness Manal Khaled suggested that "police deliberately left the embassy for protesters to storm, and deliberately provoked protesters by using excessive force to lure them towards the security directorate building.
“What are the reasons of that? Did they aim to let the success of the day go in vain?"
Tens of thousands protested in Tahrir Square on the afternoon of Sept. 9, following marches from different parts of the capital, calling for an end to the military trials of civilians and demanding a clear timeline for the transfer of power to a civilian authority.
Tuesday’s press conference highlighted the consequent arrest of protesters, which also included passersby.
Wafaa Abdel Al, mother of Ahmed Abdel Karim who was arrested near the embassy, said that her son was planning to meet one of his friends when he tried to save the life of a protester shot in the clashes.
"While rescuing the protester, Ahmed saw rocks thrown at a nearby police officer; when Ahmed waved for him to avoid the rocks, the officer arrested him," Abdel Al said.
"Twenty-five CSF soldiers started beating my son until he was taken to prosecution… until he could not feel the pain," Abdel Al added.
Ahmed, along with eight protesters, was imprisoned for 15 days pending investigations by military prosecution, after which they would be referred to state security emergency prosecution.
Following the clashes, the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) declared the activation of all emergency law clauses.
The official Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted SCAF member and assistant defense minister for legal affairs Mahmouh Shahin as saying on Monday that the reasons behind the amendments have to do with the disruption of public security.
"Extending the scope of crimes on which the emergency law is applied … is because of the security conditions the country has been going through," Shahin said.
Shahin told a TV channel the night before that the law would stay in force until mid 2012.
He stressed the importance of confronting thuggery and whatever threatens Egypt or affects its image internationally.
Shahin explained that the supreme emergency state security court will be hearing the cases on which the law is applied instead of the usual judiciary.
"We want to apply the rules of law not carry out detentions," he said, adding that SCAF took this step after acquiring information about external entities attempting to disrupt stability in Egypt.
Lawyer Ahmed Abdel Rasoul, defending a number of the detainees, said that the emergency law will make the situation of the detainees more difficult. "The normal penal code enables us to utilize procedures to defend detainees —the newly-amended articles in the emergency law will prevent all these procedures," he said.
Member of the National Front for Justice and Democracy Ahmed Imam said that the SCAF used the sentiment against the Zionist regime to send certain messages to the international community showing that this country cannot be ruled without emergency law.
"This revolution will never be complete until a civilian authority controls the military authority," Imam said.
