Three years ago, on 25 January, 2011, angry Egyptians demanded their ruler of 30 years step down. For 18 days, they demonstrated in central Cairo for Hosni Mubarak to go.<br /><br />Finally, after repeated clashing, on 11 February, 2011, the president caved in, and transferred powers to the army.<br /><br />The Mubarak regime finished, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, which the protesters had insisted on.<br /><br />By June 2012, the country held its first democratic presidential election in history and the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Mursi, won.<br /><br />One year later, he was presiding over a very divided Egypt, and the army removed him from office, on the grounds that a large part of the population were dissatisfied with his performance.<br /><br />Since then, there has been bloodshed and deadly violence. The interim military authorities cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood.<br /><br />Several thousand of its members have been killed or arrested since General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi took over from Mursi. The Brotherhood in December was declared a terrorist organisation.<br /><br />Just days ahead of the anniversary of the people’s uprising, Amnesty International published a report on Egypt’s instability, talking about unprecedented violence. The NGO said the Egyptian authorities have crushed dissidents and stamped on human rights. <br /><br />Khaled Mansour, at the head of an Egyptian initiative gives his view: “We have a long way to go to achieve the objectives of the January 25 revolution and even the demands of the people who went to the streets on 30 of June, and I think the first step is to genuinely and in a credible manner respect human rights — civil, political, social and economic. And always remember that it’s poverty and marginalisation that is the root of political disturbances and politically motivated violence or so-called ‘terrorism.’‘’ <br /><br />New presidential elections are expected to be held soon, following the recent adoption of a new constitution, confirmed overwhelmingly by a referendum a few days ago. General Sissi is expected to submit his candidature to become the elected president.
