Egyptian Judges Assassinated following Death Sentence of Morsi

Two Egyptian judges and a court prosecutor were killed in El-Arish, located in the Sinai Peninsula on May 16 following the death sentenced handed down to former President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo just hours before. Also wounded in the attack were a driver and a second prosecutor. Gunmen opened fire on the car on its way to court.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, police believe the gunmen are Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt has designated as a terrorist organization, has been blamed for much of the past violence in the Sinai, a region that has seen a recent uptick in its number of terrorist attacks. Within Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned and hundreds of its former leaders and backers have been imprisoned.

The attack on May 16 comes as part of a series of increased attacks on Egypt’s judges. Although Egyptian police and military forces have been attacked since Morsi was ousted from his presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood lost its power in 2013, judges have more recently come under serious attack. Earlier this month, Motaz Mostafa Khafagy, who has sentenced multiple Islamists to death in the past, survived an assassination attempt when three bombs were set off near his home outside of Cairo.

In January, a bomb was detonated outside the house of Khalid al-Mahgoub, the judge who ordered a reopening of the investigation into whether or not Morsi orchestrated the 2011 jailbreak during the Arab Spring. Egyptian security officials have also stated that the car of another judge was burnt by unidentified attackers in Minya.

Increased attacks on judges have led many to either arm themselves or request increased security for protection. While the judges believe that it is their duty to deliver harsh sentences to Muslim Brotherhood members, its supporters have released statements saying that killing them is “a Shariah duty and a human necessity and a revolutionary desire.” The Egyptian judicial system, which claims to be apolitical, has come under criticism for pardoning the crimes of those who support current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi while clamping down on opposition activists and Brotherhood backers.

Although the Egyptian judicial system shows clear bias against supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, compromising its apolitical nature, the Muslim Brotherhood is deserving of its designation as a terror group and it therefore should not receive government support or be a part of the country’s political spectrum in the first place.

A terrorist organization is defined by the CIA as being a group that “practices, or has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism” while terrorism is defined as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.” The Muslim Brotherhood, which is Egypt’s largest and oldest Islamist group, advocates jihad against non-Islamic societies and Islamic societies that do not conform to its beliefs. It has been associated with numerous acts of violence and killings against members of the government and civilians since its founding in 1928; the organization is clearly a terrorist group and in December 2013 Egypt officially declared it as one.

Efforts to have the U.S. list the Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization have been proposed by members of the U.S. Congress, but has met resistance from the White House, which continues to mistakenly insist that the Muslim Brotherhood maintains a commitment to non-violence.  Despite Morsi being ousted by the military and subsequently arrested for numerous charges, the Brotherhood continues to have a strong national presence. It also receives tacit support internationally, as seen in the current Twitter campaign calling for Egypt to halt its executions of opposition activists who are often linked to the Brotherhood.

The U.S. must recognize the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization with high capability and connection to multiple other terrorist groups internationally, such as Hamas, al Qaeda, and Hezbollah. If this occurs, the organization will be treated accordingly and can slowly be destroyed. Additionally, policy makers and those with private interests in Egypt must understand that due to the Brotherhood’s strong domestic and international support, the organization will not disappear immediately or without extensive effort.