Description

On 14 August 2013, the Egyptian police and to a lesser extent the armed forces, under the command of then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, used lethal force to clear two camps of protesters in Cairo. For six weeks, the two sites, at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and al-Nahda Square, had been occupied by supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, who had been overthrown by a military coup the prior month following mass protests against his rule. Initiatives to end the six-week sit-ins by peaceful means had failed. The camps were cleared out within hours.