A fact-finding commission into the 2011 popular uprising againstHosni Mubarak's government initially concluded that 846 people werekilled during the revolution.Current Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi ordered a report on thefact-finding commission's findings after he was elected. The reportwas then submitted to Morsi and to Egypt’s top prosecutor late lastyear.The 16-member panel behind the report included human rightsactivists, lawyers, judges and a representative from the militaryprosecutor’s office.It includes authoritative and in-depth accounts of the killings,and concludes that lethal force could only have been authorized byMubarak's security chief and with the former president’s fullknowledge.Extensive details are cited, including police logs documentingthe issuance of weapons and ammunition along with the officers whoreceived them.“The use of firearms can only be authorized by the interiorminister, who must in turn inform the political leadership(Mubarak). And if the police continue to use firearms for more thanone day, then the political leadership must be informed,” anauthor of the report who wished to remain anonymous told theNational Post, a Canadian newspaper.One of the report’s authors, lawyer and human rights activistMohsen Bahnasy, said he was planning to submit parts of it to theprosecution in Mubarak’s trial, as well as to other courts tryingpolicemen accused of killing protesters.The report is sure to strike a nerve in Egypt, where only lastweek three demonstrators were killed and 65 more injured in aprotest over the verdict in a case regarding a riot at the PortSaid Stadium that saw more than 70 killed. That verdict came after a week of anti-police brutalitydemonstrations in Port Said and across Egypt that led policethemselves to take to the streets in a rare protest. … Read More
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