Methodology

This report is based on statements collected by a fact-finding mission sent by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) to the Naga Hammadi district on 12-13 January 2010; the mission comprised two researchers, Ahmed Mahgoub and Ishaq Ibrahim. The investigators visited the city of Naga Hammadi and the villages of Bahgoura and Izbat Tarkas, where they collected statements from eyewitnesses, the injured, relatives of the victims and clerics. The report also relies on statements from Nader Shukri, a journalist and an advisor to EIPR’s Freedom of Religion and Belief Program, who was present in Naga Hammadi and Bahgoura from 7 to 9 January 2010. EIPR researchers conducted telephone interviews with some witnesses who could not be personally interviewed by the fact-finding mission, as well as with several people injured in the attacks on 6 January who were receiving medical treatment in the city of Sohag.

The EIPR has maintained anonymity for most witnesses who gave statements, either at their own request or to ensure their personal safety. It has provided the full names of the victims, the injured and shop owners who came under attack as documented in official police reports. This report relays witnesses’ statements verbatim, with occasional interventions only to replace colloquial usages with standard Arabic and English expressions.