SUMMARY

In 2011, following mass protests during the Arab Spring, President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign. A Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took over and ruled until elections were held in June 2012. The presidential election was won by Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The election was Egypt’s first competitive presidential election and was recognized internationally as free and fair. When Morsi took office on 30 June 2012, many hoped that the turbulent period since the ouster of Mubarak was over.

One year later, in June 2013, many people were discontent with President Morsi’s failure to improve the country’s economy as well as his attempts to increase his own power. Fuel shortages coupled with rising food prices as well as steeply increased crime levels due to a shortage of police officers, resulted in many arguing that the country was worse off than before Morsi assumed office. Supporters of Morsi argued that the Morsi administration had been undermined from the start by members of the former Mubarak regime.

In November 2012, Morsi put forward a declaration that gave him immunity from judicial oversight. This was met with wide-spread protests and Morsi was eventually forced to retract the declaration. The following month, a new constitution, drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly was approved by the public through a referendum. The new constitution emphasized the role of Islam and restricted freedom of speech and assembly. While it was approved by a majority of the voters, it was nonetheless widely criticized by many, including secular opposition leaders, Copts and women’s groups.

The situation in Egypt grew increasingly tense during the spring and early summer of 2013. In June hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protested against the sitting president. There were also demonstrations in favor of the president and several people were killed when the two sides clashes on multiple occasions, mainly in the larger cities. Following the mass demonstrations and violent clashes, the military, led by Defense Minister General Abdul Fatah al Sisi, decided to remove the president from power. Morsi was ousted on 3 July 2013, the constitution passed by him was suspended and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Judge Adli Mansour, was installed as interim president.

The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the military’s actions and called it a coup d’etat. Violent clashes between the Supporters of Morsi and the Opponents of Morsi continued and in mid-August, the military launched a large-scale crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters. Hundreds of people were killed in the violence. These deaths were however not included in UCDP data since they did not fulfill UCDP’s criteria for inclusion for neither state-based nor one-sided violence. Only deaths related to clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi are included in the non-state conflict.

In September 2013, a court banned the Muslim Brotherhood and ordered its assets to be confiscated. A few months later, in December, the government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

While the majority of the clashes between the Supporters of Morsi and the Opponents of Morsi took place around the ouster of the president, violent clashes were reported throughout the remaining part of 2013.

The non-state conflict between the Supporters of Morsi and the Opponents of Morsi is first included in UCDP data in 2013. In late June of that year opponents and supporters of Morsi had clashed on several occasions, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.