Remembering the Rabaa Massacre: A Decade of Denial and Injustice
Amr Hashad, a protester who witnessed the Rabaa massacre in Egypt 10 years ago, recounts the horrific events that unfolded when the military cracked down on the peaceful sit-in. Hashad describes seeing bodies, snipers targeting protesters, bulldozers crushing people, and planes spraying something that burned their skin. Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 904 people were killed, making it the worst single-day killing of protesters in modern history. Hashad's family also faced imprisonment and his father survived being shot multiple times. Hashad himself spent five years in prison before fleeing to the UK. He believes that the lack of accountability for the massacre has allowed authorities to continue killing political prisoners. Amnesty International describes the past decade in Egypt as a "decade of shame" and calls for accountability for the actions of the Egyptian authorities.