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Human Rights Watch report "overlooked important events" - June 30 committee
A poster of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi that reads "Yes to legitimacy; no to the coup" lies amid the debris of a cleared protest camp outside the burnt Rabaa Adawiya mosque in Cairo August 15, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
CAIRO, Aug 13 (Aswat Masriya) - The June 30 fact-finding committee criticised the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Rabaa report, saying it ignored "crucial" events, on Wednesday.
The committee added in its statement that the report "disregarded" violence against Christians and attacks on churches and on police installations.
The report, which has stirred controversy since its release on Tuesday, accused Egypt's security personnel of "systematically" killing at least 1,150 pro-Mursi protesters in July and August 2013.
It referred to attacks on chruches and police stations on page 101, as testified by witnesses.
"Immediately following the dispersals of the Rab'a and al-Nahda sit-ins, crowds of men attacked at least 42 churches, burning or damaging 37, as well as dozens of other Christian religious institutions in the governorates of Minya, Asyut, Fayoum, Giza, Suez, Sohag, Bani Suef, and North Sinai."
The committee said it will "objectively" evaluate the information included in the HRW report by virtue of being the "most impartial" and the "keenest" party on not issuing verdicts "prematurely" while investigations are still on going.
"All information contained in the report will receive our equal and thorough attention since it includes the viewpoints of the protesters who refused to cooperate with the committee."
The committee renewed its calls to local and international human rights organisations, and families of those who were killed in the dispersal to supply it with all the information and evidence they possess, assuring confidentiality of information and protection of their identities.
Former interim President Adli Mansour ordered the formation of a national independent fact-finding committee to gather data and evidence on events that occurred during and after the "June 30 2013 Revolution" last December.
Former international judge and law professor Fouad Abdel Moneim Riad is chairman of the committee.
Egypt's former ambassador to the United States Abdel Raouf al-Ridi, international law professor at Ain Shams University Hazem Atlam, law professor at Cairo University Mohamed Badran and aide to former justice minister Eskander Ghattas are also members of the committee.
The committee is expected to release its final report in September.
