We condemn the brutal repression in Egypt

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We are appalled by the brutality of the recent aggression of the army and police against civilians in Egypt. The attack on the camps on 14 August ended in a massacre. The exact figures of deaths are unknown, due to the cover-up — the authorities speak of 700, Muslim Brotherhood talk of thousands — but it is clear that many people have been killed and thousands more have been wounded. These victims are civilians of all kinds — men, women, and children — of different religions and political sympathies.

This violence is a threat to the whole revolutionary process and to all the forces who want progress in Egypt. It has been accompanied by an increase in detentions without legal guarantees of different sectors of the population: activists of all kinds — Islamists, trade unionists, strikers ... — and even passers-by.

The Egyptian security forces have detained and beaten an unknown number of journalists, while so far they have killed four. These attacks come on top of the military closing down many TV channels. All in all, they want to stop the news about their repression from being freely reported.

There are different opinions about the presidency of Mohamed Mursi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, and about the events of June 30 to July 3 that led to his fall from power, but there can be no doubt that the brutality shown recently by Egyptian security forces is inexcusable. The attacks on Coptic churches are also inexcusable, and we condemn them, whoever is to blame: the Muslim Brotherhood or elements related to the state.

The repression unleashed by the Egyptian generals has led to the resignation of Mohamed ElBaradei, until then Vice President of the new government. Meanwhile, the main Egyptian human rights organizations have condemned in a joint statement, the recent violence in their country, reporting, moreover, that the security forces have burned bodies of their victims, one assumes in an attempt to cover up evidence of their brutality.

We call on civil society and our governments to reject this violent coup. We do not want the hopes that the Arab revolutions produced around the world to be drowned in blood.

We warn the Egyptian generals that international justice may be limited and slow, but it may finally condem them. We will do what we can to ensure that this occurs.

We demand the states and governments around the world to cease all cooperation with the Egyptian armed forces, until this country has a democratic civilian government without military interference. In particular, we call on President Barack Obama to cancel the aid of 1,300 million dollars that his country gives each year to the Egyptian army.

We send our solidarity with the Egyptian people, in all their diversity, and we hope they can find their way to advance towards full democracy and social justice.

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