Death toll in Egypt protest remains unclear (News Feature)

Feb 9, 2011, 16:28 GMT

Cairo - The United Nations and US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) say 300 people have been killed in Egypt's protests. But that is an estimate, at best. The true picture remains unclear.

The government put the figure at 77, but that was nearly a week ago, and the pro-democracy protests are still continuing. They entered their 16th day on Wednesday.

HRW's Heba Morayes told the German Press Agency dpa that in the first three days of the unrest, 154 people died, mostly from gunshot wounds. The information, he said, was based on details from two hospitals in Cairo, two in Alexandria and one in Suez.

'It was actually the families of the dead who were waiting to collect the bodies who insisted that we see what had happened,' said Peter Bouckaert, also from HRW. 'Suddenly, we were confronted with the bodies of the dead.'

Families of the dead and rights groups have demanded the government release a death toll and have called for an investigation.

Galal Ali told broadcaster Al Jazeera that his brother Nasser Faisal Ali died when police fired on protesters in the first four days of the demonstrations.

'The tyrant who killed my brother is free now. We want this officer to be held accountable, as well as the Minister of the Interior and all the regime,' Ali said.

HRW said there should be 'accountability for this unlawful and excessive use of force.'

Habib al-Adly who was interior minister when the clashes erupted, has been banned from leaving the country and will be tried in a military court on 18 charges, including allegedly ordering excessive force on protesters.

Images online and on television showed state security vehicles running people over, using live bullets on protesters and firing tear gas into dense crowds on January 28.

HRW said that police time and time again fired tear gas canisters directly at people's heads.

'This is a lethal way to try and use these riot control agents,' said Bouckaert.

A Facebook group called ElTahrir Square Field Hospital was created to try and collect information about those killed.

The makeshift Tahrir hospital, lodged in an alleyway, depends solely on donations and the volunteer medics who performed surgery on hundreds of patients during the most violent clashes.

According to Yasser Gomma from the north-eastern Governorate of Kafr al-Shiekh, who was camped out in Cairo's main Tahrir Square calling for the ouster of President Hosny Mubarak, at least five people were shot dead in his town during the unrest.

Gomaa said that General Hospital in Kafr al-Sheikh would not accept the dead unless an autopsy was performed on those brought in, which for many is contrary to Islamic practice. He said that the deaths, therefor, went unaccounted for.

But head of the General Hospital in Kafr al-Sheikh, Dr. Amir Ali, told dpa that only two people were killed in clashes and that the hospital accepted patients without demanding autopsies.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian government said that at least 5,000 people have been injured since January 25, but that figure was also released nearly a week ago.

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