The mothers of Egyptian martyrs have demands ready for the new President
By Iqbal Tamimi
The Egyptian mothers, sisters,
wives of those who were killed, maimed or injured during the revolution of 25th
January, are waiting impatiently for the results of the elections. They have demands
about promises that have not been met.
{jcomments on}They demand a just and speedy punishment
of the killers of the demonstrators to achieve social justice. They say that
they are not settling in for financial compensations or patient enough to wait
for more lengthy procedures to offer the injured access to medical treatment and
going through lengthy routines and questioning the seriousness of their
children’s injuries or investigating the reasons of their loved ones deaths
during the demonstrations.
All the above mentioned obstacles
have raised women’s sense of unity and solidarity to demand rights and justice
for those who were killed or injured during the revolution that made this
election a dream come true. Many women are still campaigning, carrying placards
where their demands are written all over. The first thing they expect of the
new President of Egypt is to tackle those demands. They want an assurance that
the blood shed during the revolution to achieve freedom and justice was not
sacrificed for nothing.
Rania Shawki, Chairwman of the
Committee of Martyrs and Victims of the revolution herself was an eyewitness of
the tragedies the families of martyrs and injured went through. She believes the
first task for the next president is to meet those families’ demands.
‘I joined the civil society volunteers
following the government announcement that it will start the data collection of
families of the martyrs and the injured. We have suffered a great deal in this
arduous task because after collecting the database, there was a marked slowdown
in payment of dues and compensations to those families. It was estimated that
it would be about 100 thousand Egyptian pounds in total, but so far, only 30
thousand pounds were paid in total. The proceedings are going very slow , and for
that reason, families most important demand of the next president is to implement
a quick and immediate purge of the
judiciary system’ Shawki explained.
Hiba Hasan, a Journalist at
Alahram newspaper wrote an investigation about this subject, in which she
claims, ‘The Poison Centre at Aini Hospital reported that the inhalation of gas
bombs that were thrown at the demonstrators cause serious illnesses’. Hasan explains ‘All those who have inhaled
the gas during the January 25th demonstrations and the following events
of Mohammed Mahmoud and at the Council of Ministers, are recognized by name in
the National Council for Victims of the Revolution, but there was a resolution
issued that they will not be entitled to any compensation, even though they are
acknowledged as victims of the revolution’.
Mohammed Salim, is
a 29 year old worker who was one of the January 25th revolution participants.
He has lost his left eye and one arm. Salim says ‘The governments of Dr. Essam
Sharaf, and that of the National Salvation both given us a lot of false
promises, such as promising the injured and the families of martyrs full
compensation. The wounded who have lost their eyes were supposed to receive an
equivalent of 60% of the pension offered to the family of a martyr, the children
of the martyrs are also supposed to be exempt of all education fees. This applies
to the children of the injured, but the Welfare Fund for families of the
martyrs and injured is still suffering a great deal of neglect. The number of
students injured and whose names were listed on the electronic database are 3
thousand, while in reality they are more than 6 000. Besides, there are many
people who were not recognized by the authorities as injured because they were
considered thugs, and not revolutionaries’.
Salim adds ‘All we
want from the next president is to meet his promises and recognise the
legitimacy of the revolution and its success. And after 16 months of waiting, we
hope of restructuring the fund‘.
