28 June 2013

HRW: Lynching of Shiites in Egypt follows months of negative rhetoric

Human Rights Watch expressed alarm on Thursday over the lynching of four Shiites by a mob led by an Egyptian Salafi Sheikh in Greater Cairo on Sunday.

The rights group said the violence in the village of Abu Musallim comes after months of anti-Shiite rhetoric.

“The brutal sectarian lynching of four Shiites comes after two years of hate speech against the minority religious group, which the Muslim Brotherhood condoned and at times participated in,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at HRW.

“This horrific incident in Abu Musallim shows that Shiite can’t even gather in the privacy of their homes to celebrate and heightens fear of persecution among all religious minorities in Egypt.” [Al Arabiya] Read more