Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi finally indicated he would make a bid for Egypt’s presidency on Tuesday, saying that he could not turn his back on the “majority of Egyptians” that want him to run. This is a race Sisi is widely expected to win. Yet even as the army’s commander-in-chief prepares to take the country’s top political post, hundreds of protesters continue to gather across Egypt to protest the military’s rise to power, despite a heavy crackdown by security forces.At least seven people were killed on Friday in Alf Maskan, in the Ain Shams district of Cairo, Al Jazeera Misr and Islamist websites reported. Alf Maskan is a frequent site for violent clashes. On the third anniversary of the Egyptian uprising on January 25, 29 people were killed and 176, according to health ministry data.Egypt’s Ministry of Interior did not confirm the deaths or respond to a request for comment for this article. The ministry warned journalists to “take caution” while covering Friday protests, claiming the Muslim Brotherhood supporters were armed, according to MENA state news agency.The government and state media refer to all anti-military protesters as members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist organization since December 2013.At a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Friday, 27 UN member states condemned Egypt’s use of force against protesters.“The international community will not ignore their crackdown on dissent and impunity for repeated, unlawful killings of protesters,” said Julie de Rivero, Geneva Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement. “After killing hundreds and arbitrarily detaining many more, Egypt needs to act to address serious concerns about its human rights record.”Amnesty International estimates 1,400 people have been killed in clashes since Morsi’s ouster last year. Separate protests took place in cities across Egypt, including Cairo, Alexandria, Fayoum and Suez, on Friday.One anti-military protester in Ain Schams held a kofta kebab, mocking the army’s recent claims that they had found a cure for AIDS. In a presentation on February 23, an army representative compared the simplicity of its medical cure to feeding a patient a kebab.The current protests are not as numerous as before or immediately following Morsi’s exit, but they quickly turn into violent clashes with police.“The numbers are getting smaller every week,” Alshaimaa al Anadoly, an activist, told VICE News. “But there are more events from different groups.”Leaders of the political Islamist opposition have been imprisoned or exiled and their movement has splintered.On Friday, the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy kicked off a week of protests against Sisi. The group planned separate demonstrations in support of women for the International Women’s Day and imprisoned activists. They also commemorated the hundreds of demonstrators killed by government’s violent dispersals of the Rabaa and Nahda sit-ins last year.Other people have stopped going to protests altogether, resigning themselves to frustration and an inability to voice dissent against the new government.Just a year ago, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamists were the biggest victors of the January 25 uprising, mobilizing their support and catapulting their candidate to presidency. The Islamists occupied top posts across the government and financial institutions.But Morsi’s failure to secure an inclusive government, a constitution, and get the economy back on track angered many Egyptians and spelled the end of his dramatic rise to power, as well as the Islamist influence in Egypt.Since his Morsi’s ouster, the Islamists have become social pariahs. The acute polarization of Egyptian society has pitted family members, colleagues, business partners, and neighbors against each other.Still, most Egyptians continue to back the military and Sisi, viewing him as a savior in a state of war against the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters.
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