Dozens killed, over 1,000 injured in Egypt protests - UN

USPA News - Dozens of deaths have been reported after five days of protests in Egypt, the United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday as it called on all parties to engage dialogue and stop the use of force. As the Government of Egypt declared a state of emergency on Sunday, media reports indicate that dozens of people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured after protests against President Mohammed Morsi turned violent. The demonstrations coincided with the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, when mass protests toppled then President Hosni Mubarak and led to a transition period in the country, which was part of a larger group of movements in the region known as the Arab Spring.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Egypt remained "extremely fragile and unstable," underlining the necessity of increasing nationwide participation and ownership of the constitutional, institutional, economic and legal reforms. "Each missed opportunity to reach national consensus, and each example of excessive use of force by security forces, is aggravating an already frighteningly tense and volatile situation," said Pillay. In addition, Pillay called on the Government ?to urgently rethink its responses to the unrest which have ranged from excessive use of force on the one hand, to complete failure to protect people, especially women, on the other.? The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a news release it had received reports of some 25 female demonstrators who have been sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo over the past few days, in some cases with extraordinary violence. Pillay deplored that authorities have failed to prevent sexual attacks or to bring more than a single prosecution against the hundreds of men involved in such attacks, which have occurred with apparent impunity in a public square. Besides the state of emergency, Morsi also issued a curfew in the Ismailia, Suez and Port Said districts for 30 days. He also called for dialogue, although Pillay said he must "listen to the demonstrators` demands, tackle grassroots problems, address key issues raised by the opposition with regard to the recently adopted Constitution, and to take immediate measures to solve the numerous serious problems currently affecting the judicial system." Pillay noted that involving all stakeholders in reviewing current draft legislation on demonstrations, associations, and access to public information would be an important first step towards a sustainable democracy.