Egypt braces for pro-Morsi rallies on Rabaa anniversary

CAIRO

Egypt is getting ready for planned protests by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the violent breakup of major protest camps in Cairo, in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.

Egyptian authorities have tightened security measures in main squares and around vital installations ahead of the anniversary. The Interior Ministry has warned that security forces would use force to deal with "any attempt to cause chaos".

On Thursday, the pro-Morsi National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy called on supporters to stage week-long protests as of Friday to mark the anniversary.

The 6th of April Youth Movement called on the public to write their memories of the infamous day on social media so that the "murderous regime and its media do not fabricate it."

"Even though we disagreed with the political demands of the protest camps, we cannot deny that what happened during the dispersal of the Rabaa and Nahda sit-ins was a massacre," the group said on Friday through its Facebook page. "A massacre that no one can deny expect those who lack human values, a conscience and principles."

Hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators were killed when security forces violently dispersed their protest camps in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza's Nahda Square on Aug. 14, 2013, only weeks after a military coup against Morsi, Egypt's first elected civilian president.

According to the National Human Rights Council, the dispersal of both protest camps that day left 632 people, including eight policemen, dead.

But the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, Morsi's main support bloc and the sit-in's main organizer, said thousands were killed in the dispersal.

In a report based on a year-long investigation, Human Rights Watch said last year that at least 817 demonstrators were killed in Rabaa and 87 in Nahda.

The government, for its part, denounced the HRW report, saying it was politicized and biased.

Egypt has been roiled by violence and turmoil since Morsi was removed from power by the military on July 3, 2013 following protests against his rule.

Since Morsi's ouster, Egyptian authorities have carried out a relentless crackdown on dissent that has mainly targeted the ousted president’s supporters, leaving hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.

Scores of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members, including Morsi, have been sentenced to death.