A report by a commission of inquiry shows that the former president ordered security forces to shoot at crowds engaged in peaceful protests. Snipers were used in shooting at demonstrators.

Cairo (AsiaNews) – Hosni Mubarak is responsible for the death of 846 civilians during February’s anti-regime demonstrations in Tahrir Square, this according to a report released by a fact-finding commission set up to investigate the violence that occurred during the Jasmine Revolution. Egypt’s former president ordered security forces to fire on crowds as well as kill those who were recording what was happening.

The report notes that security forces fired at the crowd, targeting people videotaping events from nearby balconies. It says that tanks and men on horses and camels were used to crush protesters. It also found that snipers shot at protesters in the head and in the chest as evinced by the wounds on bodies.

"What is confirmed is that Mubarak's permission (to use live fire on protesters) must be obtained. The shooting lasted for several days, and he did not hold accountable those who fired live rounds," Judge Omar Marwan, the commission's secretary general, said.

Marwan noted that protests lasted several days, and that the order to shoot must have been given ahead of time. The judge also confirmed that the names of those responsible have been identified and that they would face charges.

In addition to Mubarak and his two sons, a growing number of former regime figures, are on trial for the violent crackdown in Tahrir Square. They include former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and ten officials from the police and the president’s now dissolved ruling National Democratic Party. 

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