THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court said yesterday it had rejected a bid by the Muslim Brotherhood of deposed president Mohamed Mursi to probe the military’s alleged crimes against humanity in Egypt.
“A communication seeking to accept the jurisdiction of the ICC over Egypt has been dismissed as not presented on behalf of the concerned State,” the ICC said in a statement.
The request had been made on behalf of the Freedom and Justice Party of former Islamist president Mursi, ousted by Egypt’s powerful military in July in what his supporters say was a coup.
The Brotherhood in December filed a complaint with the ICC seeking an investigation of alleged crimes against humanity committed since June 2013.
A crackdown targeting Mursi’s supporters since July has left more than 1,400 people dead and 15,000 in jail.
The complaint included alleged evidence of murder, unlawful imprisonment, torture, persecution against an identifiable group and enforced disappearance of persons.
It also included claims of targeted shootings and bulldozers running demonstrators over.
On August 14, at least 627 people were killed when security forces stormed Cairo’s Rabaa Al Adawiya Square to disperse a sit-in by Mursi’s backers. It was the deadliest mass killing in Egypt’s modern history.
The complaint named individual suspects in the Egyptian military but the lawyers did not wish to divulge them publicly.
Egypt has not ratified the ICC’s founding Rome Statute so the court’s prosecutor can only investigate the country in response to a request from the UN Security Council calls or the Egyptian government.
“The Registry verified with the Egyptian authorities whether or not such a communication was transmitted on behalf of the State of Egypt, as a result of which, the Registrar did not receive a positive confirmation,” the ICC said.
An Egyptian court on Monday imposed death sentences on 683 suspected Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie.
Mursi, elected in the wake of a pro-democracy uprising against the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak, is on trial for allegedly plotting attacks and jail breaks.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s general prosecutor yesterday referred 102 alleged Islamists for trial over attacks on Coptic Christian churches and properties in the central province of Minya last August, judicial sources said.
The trial will take place in Minya where a judge triggered a global outcry for sentencing to death 683 alleged Islamists after a session that lasted just 10 minutes on Monday.
The 102 defendants are charged with rioting, attacking citizens and targeting the churches and homes of Copts in retaliation for the deadly dispersal of two camps of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi in Cairo’s Rabaa Al Adawiya and Nahda squares on August 14, the sources said.
The trial date has yet to be fixed. Enraged by the bloody police crackdown in Cairo, mobs of alleged Islamists lashed out at Copts in the Upper Egypt province of Minya, accusing them of backing the military that ousted the elected leader.
Hundreds of people were killed when the two pro-Mursi camps in the capital were stormed by police in a crackdown that deeply polarised the country.
Amnesty International says that since the army ousted Mursi on July 3, more than 1,400 people have been killed in the crackdown on his supporters, and upwards of 15,000 jailed.
Copts, who account for up to 10 percent of Egypt’s population, have complained of systematic persecution for decades.
In a separate case, 160 other people have also been referred for trial in Minya for allegedly taking part in an unauthorised demonstration, judicial sources said.
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Abdel-Fattah Al Sisi said yesterday that Egypt’s increasing population was one of the country’s most pressing problems, state news agency Mena reported.
In a meeting with a group from the National Population Council (NPC), the former general also spoke about democracy, corruption, fair opportunity and investing manpower for an economic leap.
Speaking to a group of experts, he equated the rise in corruption with the vanishing of the middle class, which he said destroys accountability in state institutions and individuals.
“The middle class in society has suffered a great deal because of low incomes and their inability to fulfil their demands, which is what contributed to rising levels of corruption,” Al Sisi said.
A quarter of Egypt’s 85 million people live under the poverty line.
He said fighting corruption in the immediate future will depend on convincing people to forgo excess and that hard work and dedication are the basis of excellence. He added that addressing a nation’s problems takes time and effort before any changes can be seen.
“Corruption increased because of scarcity, deteriorating levels of education and culture and the detachment of religious speech from reality,” he said. “Religion, in its wider sense, is inclusive … we should represent God in a good way through our deeds and words.”
“Democracy in its right meaning means the people’s will and their free choice,” he said. “No one can pressure Egyptians or force a certain ideology on them.”
Al Sisi, who left his job as defence minister in March to run for president, is widely expected to win the race, scheduled for 26-27 May.Agencies
