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A battle in the Nile between the fishermen and the police forces, which has led to the death of 3 fishermen, dozens were injured and more than 30 were arrested
Yesterday, police forces have killed 3 fishermen in Demyat governorate. During this clash, dozens of fishermen were injured, 4 men and 2 women of them were put into intensive care in El Zarqa hospital. Police forces have also arrested 30 fishermen and are searching for 20 more who have disappeared in the Nile during the clash.
This battle has started when the police forces were implementing a decision to remove the fish cages from the Nile in El Saro and El Zarqa area in Demyat. The police surrounded the cages and forcibly tried dismiss and separate the fishermen who were in a sit-in in their boats. When the fishermen's boats were turned over and some of them almost drowned, people on the shore started to throw stones at the police, which made the police use extreme and unjustified force against the fishermen and their families by shooting at them, bombing them with tear gas and making random arrests, which have led to this tragedy.
The fishermen were demanding 3 months of extra time before removing their fish cages, in order to finish the fishing period and not to loose all of their life savings put in these cages. But the officials at the governorate did not respond and ordered the police forces to implement the removal decision.
LCHR fears that the police forces could head today to other areas in Demyat, Behira and Kafr El Sheikh Governorates to do the same thing. An official at the governorate stated that 500 fish cages were successfully removed and the removal campaign will continue for 3 more days starting from today, in order to remove all fish cages as a process to clean the Nile and protect it from pollution.
The officials are forgetting that factories, drainages, sewage systems and tourist boats are throwing their wastes in the Nile for decades now, causing more pollution than what these fish cages will ever make.
We guess that the owners of these factories and tourist boats have their ways with the government by bribing its employees to be excluded from the implementation of the law. We really do hope that the government cleans the Nile, the streets and the homes from pollution, but not kill, injure and humiliate citizens during this process.
One of the fishermen said "we thought that the removal decision would be postponed till our challenge filed before the administrative judiciary court against the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation is settled to compensate the fishermen and prevent their families from displacement, but I guess we thought wrong".
Another fisherman said "what has been done against us by the police forces is only for the favor of big businessmen who want to monopoly the fishing business. This is the only explanation for the brutality that we were treated with".
Another fisherman said "the governorate refused to respond to out demand to postpone the removal decision for 3 months, which made us go the head of the security forces a few hours before the raid to calm the situation, but he refused to listen to us and gave his orders to start the removal process".
We think that the Governorate Prosecutor instead of killing, injuring and humiliating the fishermen and their families, he should have negotiated with them, gave them the extra time they needed, and compensated them for the losses that they will face after removing their fish cages. He shouldn't have accepted the interference of the police forces, because these are poor people who strive to earn their living, they are not terrorists who seek to seize power.
The LCHR condemns the violence practiced by the police forces against these fishermen by humiliating them, arresting them randomly, firing random shot at them and their families causing many injuries, sinking their boats and breaking their nets and fishing equipments, without any respect to the law or their humanity.
LCHR has presented the complaints of Demyat, Behira and Kafr El Sheikh governorates to the governors of the three governorates, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of the Interior demanding them to stop the removal decision till the fishermen's challenge is settled or the end of the fishing period. LCHR also demands them to interrogate those responsible for the death of the three fishermen and the injury of dozens. LCHR also demands them to compensate the fishermen for their losses resulting from the violence practiced against them.
LCHR calls all CSOs to unite in solidarity with these fishermen and support their demands by forming a committee to investigate these events to guarantee their rights to safety and decent living.
For more information, please contact the Center.