2013 Egyptian Coup D'état

The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected
President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi. The move came after the military's ultimatum for the government to "resolve its differences" with protesters during widespread national protests. The military arrested Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders, and declared Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour as the interim president of Egypt. The announcement was followed by demonstrations and clashes between supporters and opponents of the move throughout Egypt.

There were mixed international reactions to the events. Most Arab leaders were generally supportive or neutral, with the exception of Qatar and Tunisia who strongly condemned the military's actions. The US avoided describing the action as a coup. Other states either condemned or expressed concern over the removal of Morsi. Due to the regulations of the African Union regarding the interruption of constitutional rule by a member state, Egypt was suspended from that union. There has also been debate in the media regarding the labeling of these events. It has been described by some global media outlets as a coup or as a revolution. Egyptian media outlets mainly referred to the ousting as a revolution, and this term was also favoured by a majority of the Egyptian public.

Ensuing protests in favour of Morsi were violently suppressed culminating with the dispersal and massacre of pro-Morsi sit-ins on 14 August 2013, amid ongoing unrest; journalists and several hundred protestors were killed by police and military force. Muslim Brotherhood members claim 2,600 people were killed. Human Rights Watch documented 904 deaths, describing it as crimes against humanity and "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history," while the government puts the figure at 624.

Background

In February 2011, Hosni Mubarak resigned after 18 days of mass demonstrations that ended his 29-year rule of Egypt. In July 2011 the caretaker government approved an election law, leading to election of a Parliament in December 2011 – January 2012, and an advisory council in January–February 2012. An alliance led by the Freedom and Justice Party won the most seats in each election. An additional 25% of the members of the advisory council were to be appointed by the President. In June 2012, Mohamed Morsi won the presidential election with 51.73% of total votes to become the first democratically elected president of Egypt. In June 2012, prior to Morsi being sworn in as President, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the election law was unconstitutional and ordered the elected bodies dissolved. After assuming office, President Morsi appointed additional members to the advisory council from 35 political parties and invited the elected bodies to meet to discuss the ruling of the court.

The elected parliament determined that the constitutional court did not have authority to dissolve an elected parliament, then referred the matter to the Court of Cassation. The elected parliament could not pass any laws, but the advisory council continued to give advice on proposed Presidential Decrees. Parliament also proceeded with the creation of a new constitutional committee to draft amendments to the Egyptian Constitution, replacing the committee created in March 2012 but dissolved by the constitutional court. Proposed constitutional amendments were approved in December 2012 by a national referendum. New elections were scheduled for April 2013 under a law approved in draft by the constitutional court, but were postponed to October 2013 to comply with a technical order of an administrative court.

In November 2012, following the protests against the Constitutional Declaration by Morsi, opposition politicians – including Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabahi, according to ''The Wall Street Journal'' – started holding confidential meetings with army leaders, in order to discuss ways of removing President Morsi.

On 28 April 2013, Tamarod was started as a grassroots movement to collect signatures to remove Morsi by 30 June. They called for peaceful demonstrations across Egypt especially in front of the Presidential Palace in Cairo. The movement was supported by the National Salvation Front, April 6 Youth Movement and Strong Egypt Party.

In a poll published by PEW research center in May 2013, 54% of Egyptians approved of Morsi against a 43% who saw him negatively, while about 30% were happy with the direction of the country, 73% thought positively of the army and only 35% were content about local policy authorities. In the lead up to the protests, a Gallup poll indicated a drop in approval of the national government from 57% in November 2012 to 24% in June 2013. About a third of Egyptians said they were "suffering" and viewed their lives poorly.

At a conference on 15 June, Morsi called for foreign intervention in Syria. According to Yasser El-Shimy, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, this statement crossed "a national security red line." The army rebuked this statement the next day by stating that its only role was to guard Egypt's borders. Although the Egyptian constitution ostensibly declares the president as the supreme commander of the armed forces, the Egyptian military is independent of civilian control.

As the first anniversary of Morsi's presidential inauguration approached in 2013, his supporters such as the National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy started demonstrations at multiple places including El-Hossari Mosque, El-Nahda Square, outside Cairo University, outside Al-Rayan Mosque in the posh suburb of Maadi, and in Ain Shams district. They had started open-ended rallies. The largest protest was planned for 30 June.

Causes

The removal of Morsi from office by the coalition was a result of a coup d'état following protests, that were instigated by frustration with Morsi's year-long rule in which Egypt faced economic issues, energy shortages, lack of security, and diplomatic crises. Some of the issues that might have caused the protests and lead to the later removal of Morsi include:

* Claims by the National Salvation Front and other opposition organizations that there were irregularities in the 2012 referendum on changes to Egypt's constitution. Various members of the Constituent Assembly including church representatives subsequently withdrew due to their dissatisfaction with the content of the changes.
* Unprecedented economic crises including power, fuel and foreign currency shortages.
* Worsening state security with incidents including the murder of 16 border guards in Sinai, kidnappings and the blowing up of a gas pipeline supplying Israel and Jordan on numerous occasions.
* Egyptian military economic interests. Estimates of the military's share of Egypt's economy range from 5% to 40% and include industries such as mining, real estate, farming and the production of household appliances. The military has long opposed modern economic policies such as privatization that threaten their position in the economy.
* Foreign interference: In 2015 secret audio recordings of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and members of his inner circle were leaked that indicated that during Morsi's presidency the UAE provided funds to the Egyptian Defense Ministry to launch a protest campaign against President Mohamed Morsi and funded the Tamarod protest movement. The recordings contained other highly controversial contents.

Planning

Leaked tapes from the summer of 2013 that were later verified by J. P. French Associates recorded figures of the Egyptian military, including former General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, suggesting that the Egyptian military was involved in the mass-protests preceding Morsi's ouster. In one of the leaked tapes, the generals are heard discussing rigging the legal case against Morsi, and in another, authorizing the withdrawal of a large sum of money for the army's use from the bank account of Tamarod, the ostensibly independent grassroots group that was organizing protests against President Morsi. The tapes also suggest high-level collusion between the coup plotters and the Government of the United Arab Emirates as the money that was to be transferred from Tamarod's account into the army's account was provided by the UAE. The tapes were first released on the Turkish Islamist channel ''Mekameleen'', a fact that the Egyptian government says discredits the tapes as fakes. American officials later confirmed that the United Arab Emirates was indeed providing financial support for the protests against Morsi that preceded the military coup. There is also evidence on the support of the military coup plotters by the Egyptian economic elites. Egypt’s Interior Ministry was seen as most influential in the lead-up to the coup d’état as a revenge for powers lost during the Egyptian revolution of 2011 according to a Reuters analysis.

Events

On 28 June, protests against Morsi started to build throughout Egypt including in such cities as Cairo, Alexandria, Dakahlia, Gharbiya and Aswan as a "warm up" for the massive protests expected on 30 June that were planned by Tamarod. Pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood supporters started counter demonstrations at the Rabia Al-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City.

Prior to the protests, Christians, particularly in Upper Egypt, received threats from pro-Morsi protestors, pressuring them not to take part in the protests. Sheikh Essam Abdulamek, a member of parliament's Shura Council, said in an interview on television that Christians should not participate in the protests and warned them "do not sacrifice your children ince thegeneral Muslim opinion will not be silent about the ousting of the president."

According to information that came out after President Morsi was removed from office, officials claimed that Morsi stopped working at the Egyptian Presidential Palace on 26 June and moved with his family to El-Quba Palace.

On 29 June, Tamarod claimed that it collected more than 22 million signatures from a petition calling for Morsi to step down as president.

On the other hand, the coup was preceded by the reconciliation of military and economic elites who organized shortages of fuel to provoke discontent of general population toward the Morsi administration.

30 June: Anti-Morsi demonstrations

On 30 June, according to unverified military sources, 14 million protesters demonstrated across Egypt against Morsi. The protestors expressed their anger at the Brotherhood, which they accuse of hijacking Egypt's revolution and using electoral victories to monopolize power and impose Islamic law. However, independent observers raised concerns about the wild exaggeration of the number of actual anti-Morsi protestors, with one crowd statistical expert study indicating that a little over than 1 million people protested against Morsi across the whole country. Hundreds of thousands in support of Morsi gathered in Rabaa Square in Cairo and other cities. In Damietta, 250 fishing boat sailors demonstrated against Morsi by sailing through the Nile and chanting against him. The president moved that day from Quba Palace to the Republican Guard headquarters, while protesters thought he was at Ittihadeya Palace.

1 July: Deadlines and options

On 1 July, again more than 1 million demonstrators against Morsi gathered in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace, while other demonstrations were held in the cities of Alexandria, Port Said and Suez. Some police officers wearing their uniforms joined the anti-Morsi protests and chanted: "The police and the people are one." In clashes around the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Mokattam, eight people died. Their headquarters were ransacked and burned while protesters threw objects at windows and looted the building, making off with office equipment and documents. Tamarod gave President Mohamed Morsi until 2 July at 17:00 to resign or face a civil disobedience campaign. That was followed by the Egyptian Armed Forces issuing a 48-hour ultimatum that gave the country's political parties until 3 July to meet the demands of the Egyptian people. The Egyptian military also threatened to intervene if the dispute was not resolved by then. Four ministers also resigned on the same day: Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou (who previously offered to resign a few months earlier after Morsi appointed an Islamist member of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the group allegedly responsible of the Luxor massacre, though the group has denied this charge, as governor of Luxor), Communication and IT Minister Atef Helmi, State Minister for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Hatem Bagato, and State Minister for Environmental Affairs Khaled Abdel Aal, leaving the government with only members of the Freedom and Justice Party.

On the same day, it was reported that Barack Obama called Morsi. The call went along the United States' vision that the only option out of the stressed situation would be to call for an early general presidential election in which Morsi is not a candidate. Morsi replied, "the Egyptian people decide," before he closed the line.

2 July: Morsi speech

On 2 July, opponents and supporters of Morsi gathered in the capital, Cairo. The deadline set by the military for Morsi to solve the escalating political problem approached. The military said that they would intervene without eliminating either side, but they betrayed their word by engineering a coup the next day. Helicopters were also present around Cairo with armored vehicles taking up positions. On 3 July, clashes between protestors and local residents erupted around a pro-Morsi rally near Cairo University, leaving 18 people dead. Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr also resigned, in support of the anti-government protestors. The presidency rejected the Egyptian Army's 48-hour ultimatum, vowing that the president would pursue his own plans for national reconciliation to resolve the political crisis. Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was also said to have told Morsi that he would impose a military solution if a political one could not be found by the next day. Incidentally, the Court of Cassation ordered the reinstatement of former general prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud who was replaced with Talaat Abdallah following the constitutional declaration on 22 November 2012. The presidential spokesman and the spokesman for the cabinet resigned as well.

The newspaper '' Al-Ahram'' reported that if there were no political resolution, the military would suspend the constitution of Egypt and appoint a new council of experts to draft a new one, institute a three-person executive council, and appoint a prime minister from the military. Morsi's military advisor, Sami Hafez Anan, also resigned and said that the army would not "abandon the will of the people."

In a late-night television address Morsi declared that he would "defend the legitimacy of his elected office with his life." He added that "there is no substitute for legitimacy" as he vowed not to resign. Morsi accused supporters of Hosni Mubarak of exploiting the wave of protests to topple the government and fight democracy. After Morsi's statement, an official Facebook page of the Egyptian Armed Forces wrote a post under the title "The Last Hours" saying in response to Morsi: "The Supreme Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces had mentioned before that it's better for us to die rather than seeing the Egyptian People being threatened or horrified, and we swear that we would sacrifice our lives and our blood for Egypt against every terrorist or extremist or ignorant. Long live Egypt."

3 July: Day of Action

As the deadline of the Armed Forces' ultimatum approached on 3 July, there was renewed expectation of an increase in violence, according to the media. As in other days, there were both anti-Morsi and pro-Morsi protests, the latter particularly in Nasr City and near Cairo University. Army tanks were reported to surround two smaller pro-Morsi rallies as the demonstrators vowed to defend the government with their lives.

As the 16:35 deadline set by the army approached, the coalition met with the military leaders for emergency talks, with the expectation that the army would issue a statement when the deadline passed. Mohamed El-Baradei, who was chosen to represent the National Salvation Front, was also said to have met army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

That same day, shortly before the deadline, Morsi offered to form a consensus government. An army statement read: "The General Command of the Armed Forces is currently meeting with a number of religious, national, political and youth icons...There will be a statement issued from the General Command as soon as they are done." At the same time the Freedom and Justice Party's senior leader, Waleed al-Haddad, said: "We do not go to invitations (meetings) with anyone. We have a president and that is it."

At about 17:30, the head of the Republican Guard Mohamed Ahmed Zaki, joined Morsi with some of the Republican Guard officers and conducted the arrest. It was reported from Morsi's assistant Yahya Hamed the flow of conversation took place as Morsi saying "Mohammed (the head of the of Republican Guard) you know well you are going to be tried for that." And Mohammed Zaki replying: "I know, however I had already told them I don't want in, because of my special good relations with the president."

3 July military coup

On 3 July, General Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi, Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, announced that there would be new presidential and Shura Council elections. The coalition appointed Chief Justice Adly Mansour as the interim president and charged him with forming a transitional technocratic government. Military vehicles drove throughout Cairo. Morsi was put under house arrest, and was believed to be at the Republican Guard barracks. According to other sources he was taken to a military base and his travel was restricted. Army troops and tanks were reported to have surrounded key facilities and installations. At noon, the Republican Guard, who had Morsi in their care, left his side to allow Army commandos to take him to an undisclosed Ministry of Defence building. He offered no resistance.

General al-Sisi said: "The president's speech last night failed to meet and conform with the demands f the people, prompting the armed forces to consultwith some of the symbols of the national forces and the youths without excluding anyone. hey agreed on a road mapthat includes initial steps that realize the building of a strong and coherent Egyptian society that does not exclude any of its sons and currents and that ends the state of conflict and division." He added the army was standing apart from the political process but was using its vision as the Egyptian people were calling for help and discharged its responsibility. Al-Sisi named former Chief Justice Adli Mansour as the interim president and added that he would be sworn in on 4 July. The Shura Council was also dissolved.
Morsi condemned his removal as a "full coup" by the general. He also urged everyone to "adhere to peacefulness and avoid shedding blood of fellow countrymen."
The Office of Assistant to President of Egypt on Foreign Relations called Morsi's removal a "military coup", and said "there is no democracy without the ballot box".

The announcement of the removal of Morsi was met with cheers in Tahrir Square. Anti-Morsi protesters shouted "Allahu akbar" and "Long live Egypt" and launched fireworks as green laser lights held by those in the crowd lit the sky. Mohamed el-Baradei says the coup was to rectify the issues of the revolution. The Coptic Pope Tawadros II, Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, Mohamed ElBaradei and some of the youth leaders of Tamarod, Mahmoud Badr and Mohamed Abdelaziz, spoke in support of the military intervention. The al-Nour party also commented in saying that the events occurred as they were not heard in their call for dialogue. Party Secretary-General Galal Murra commented that: "we took this position (on agreeing to the army political road map) and we took these decisions only so we stop the bloodshed of our people." Pro-Morsi protesters heard a statement from Morsi, which was published on his Facebook page. He called the move a "coup" and rejected the Armed Forces' statement.

The Freedom and Justice Party's Gamal Heshmat said: "There is absolutely no direction towards violence. The Brotherhood are not raised on violence. Their cause is a peaceful one, defending their rights, which is stronger than a "military coup". The army has perpetrated a "shameful coup". We are still in the street, we still don't know if all of the armed forces will accept what Sisi has done." A party spokesman said that what started as a military coup was "turning into something much more." The National Salvation Front, an alliance of multiple political parties, stated on 4 July that "what Egypt is witnessing now is not a military coup by any standards. It was a necessary decision that the Armed Forces' leadership took to protect democracy, maintain the country's unity and integrity, restore stability and get back on track towards achieving the goals of the 25 January Revolution."

Arrests

According to Morsi, he was abducted by the Armed Forces and held at the Republican Guard headquarters one day before the army announced his removal, and held there until 5 July 2013, after which he and his aide were forcibly moved to a naval base for the next four months. His family had stated earlier Morsi was kidnapped on 3 July 2013. The spokesperson of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Colonel Ahmed Ali later denied allegations that Morsi was badly treated, saying they had nothing to hide. The Egyptian Army later gave Catherine Ashton the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union permission to meet Morsi. Ashton later stated that Morsi was doing well: "Morsi was keeping up with the latest developments in the country through television and newspapers. So we were able to talk about the situation, and we were able to talk about the need to move forward. The people around him do care for him. I looked at the facilities." Morsi later met an African Union delegation also.

The army arrested the former speaker of parliament and the head of Freedom and Justice Party Saad El-Katatni, along with Rashad al-Bayoumi, a Muslim Brotherhood deputy, as well as other top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. ''Al-Jazeera'' quoted unnamed security officials saying that "more than a dozen" members of the Muslim Brotherhood had been arrested, while '' Al-Ahram'' reported that the Egyptian police had been ordered to arrest more than 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood. A travel ban was also put on Morsi, the head of his Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badie, Badie's deputy Khairat El-Shater, the Muslim Brotherhood's former leader Mahdi Akef, another Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed Beltagy, Salafi preacher close to the Muslim Brotherhood Safwat Hegazi and the leader of the al-Wasat Party Abou Elela Mady and his deputy Essam Sultan. Badie and Akef were arrested for "incitement to murder."

In December 2013, Morsi as well as high-echelon Muslim Brotherhood leaders were charged with "terrorism and plotting with foreign militants against Egypt" while the Muslim Brotherhood was officially classified as a terrorist group.

By May 2014, approximately 16,000 people, mostly Brotherhood members or supporters, have been imprisoned since the coup.

Media restrictions and violence against journalists

Police and military forces made statements against four television channels and took them off the air. Misr 25, a channel owned by the Muslim Brotherhood, was shut down and officials said that journalists working for the channel were arrested. The Al Hafez and Al Nas channels were shut down as well. A few hours later, ''Al Jazeera'''s '' Mubasher Misr'', which had been criticized for its alleged pro-Morsi slant, was also taken off the air, its offices raided and its employees detained. Five staff were arrested, including managing director Ayman Gaballah, who was still in custody after the others were released. It was also prevented from broadcasting a pro-Morsi rally in northern Cairo. ''Associated Press Television News'' was ordered not to provide ''Al Jazeera'' with footage of protests in the country or with any filming equipment, while the '' Cairo News Company'' was warned against providing broadcasting equipment. Al Jazeera Media Network's acting Director General Mostafa Souag condemned the move, saying "regardless of political views, the Egyptian people expect media freedoms to be respected and upheld. Media offices should not be subject to raids and intimidation. Journalists should not be detained for doing their jobs."

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that two journalists and one student were killed while covering Egyptian unrest in the two weeks leading up to 8 July 2013. According to CPJ research, before those deaths only four journalists had been killed in Egypt since 1992. One of the journalists killed while documenting the 2013 clashes was 26-year-old photographer Ahmed Assem el-Senousy, also known as Ahmed Samir Assem. The photographer was shot by a sniper after he recorded security forces firing on protestors. According to media reports, el-Senousy may have captured his own death on film. A video clip posted on his Facebook page shows a sniper firing on crowds before turning toward the camera, at which point the clip abruptly ends.

While reporting for the BBC
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