국재엠네스티는 지난 2008년 9월 최소 119명의 사망자를 발생시킨 암석미끄럼사태를 방치한 혐의로 기소되어있던 카이로(Cario)시 공무원에게 이집트 법원이 무죄 판결을 내린 것과 관련하여 빈민가의 주민들을 보호하기 위한 단호하고 포괄적인 조치를 취하라고 요구했다.
지난 9월 21일에는 카이로시 부시장과 다른 1명의 공무원이 업무태만으로 사망과 상해를 입힌 것에 대하여 형을 선고받았던에 대해서 항소 법원이 무죄 판결을 내렸다. 또 만시에트 나사르 주민청(Manshiyet Nasser Neighbourhood Authority) 청장과 그의 전임자를 포함한 6명의 공무원들은 1년형 으로 감형되었다. 이 여덟명은 지난 5월에 유좌판결을 받았다.
최소 199명의 사망자와 55명의 부상자를 낸 에즈벳 백히트(Ezbet Bekhit) 비공식 정착지에서 발생한 암석미끄럼사태는 주민과 전문가들이 당국에 위험성에 대해 경고했음에도 불구하고 일어났다.
국제앰네스티 하시바 하지 사라위(Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui) 중동및북아프리카국 부국장은 “이번 판결은 완전한 진실이 아닌 일부분의 답만을 제시하고 있다. 이것은 이집트 위험지역과 비공식 정착지에 살고있는 주민들의 효과적인 치료를 받을 권리를 보장할 기회를 놓친것이다”라고 밝히고 “오직 이집트 정부의 주민들과의 의견들과 합하며 단호한 조치만이 미래의 재해를 막을수 있다”고 덧붙였다. 
EGYPT URGED TO PROTECT SLUM-DWELLERS AFTER ROCKSLIDE OFFICIAL ACQUITTED
22 September 2010Amnesty International has called for decisive and inclusive action to protect people living in slums in Egypt after a senior Cairo city official was cleared of negligence over the deaths of at least 119 people in a rockslide in September 2008.
A vice-governor of Cairo and a local authority employee had their sentences for causing deaths and injuries through negligence quashed by a Cairo appeal court on Tuesday.
Six other local officials, including the head of Manshiyet Nasser Neighbourhood Authority at the time of the rockslide and one of his predecessors, had their sentences reduced to one year. The eight had been convicted in May.
At least 119 people were killed and 55 were injured in the rockslide in Ezbet Bekhit informal settlement, in Manshiyet Nasser, east Cairo, in spite of attempts by the residents and experts to alert the authorities of the risk.
“This ruling provides some answers but not the full truth to the survivors of the rockslide. It is a missed opportunity to ensure the right to an effective remedy is guaranteed for those living at risk in Egypt’s informal settlements and to ensure that officials act promptly to protect the lives of thousands of families living in Egypt’s ‘unsafe areas’,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa programme.
“Only decisive action by Egyptian authorities in consultation with communities at risk can avert further disaster.”
Ahmed Gharib Hamed, a survivor who lost eight relatives in the rockslide told Amnesty International: “The engineers deserved a greater punishment because they knew of the mountain’s danger… As well we wanted the big people who sit in their comfortable office [to be punished]…We hoped from God that all of them will be punished”.
On 26 May 2010, the Manshiyet Nasser Court of Misdemeanours sentenced the vice-governor of Cairo to five years in prison. The seven other defendants were each sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. They all remained free on bail pending appeal.
An investigation by the public prosecution found that local officials had been warned about the danger of a rockslide by expert reports in 2007 and 2008. These reports had recommended that residents be evacuated for their safety.
Survivors of the rockslide and relatives of those who died or were injured can now file compensation cases before civil courts for physical harm. However, those who lost their homes after they were evacuated from the area where the rockslide took place are not able to seek civil compensation.
Amnesty International has campaigned for justice for the victims of the Al-Duwayqa rockslide and for the evacuation of thousands of poor residents who are forced to live in inadequate and unsafe housing in unstable hillside locations.
Such forced evictions have led to many people being left homeless or receiving only inadequate alternative housing. No consultations over resettlement have been carried out, while evictees don’t get prior notice of eviction or told whether they will be provided with alternative housing.
“A full remedy requires Egyptian authorities to alleviate the threats to lives in areas in Greater Cairo that city planning authorities have designated as unsafe. City authorities must also act to protect residents’ rights to health and adequate housing,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
The Egyptian authorities have identified 35 “unsafe areas” in Egypt that require immediate intervention to safeguard people’s lives, 16 of which are in Cairo, mostly in Manshiyet Nasser and Old Cairo’s informal settlements. Plans to deal with these areas are developed without genuine consultation with the affected communities.
By June 2010, 14,800 families were living in imminent danger of death in Manshiyet Nasser alone, according to the estimates of Cairo authorities. About 9,100 families from the neighbourhood have been relocated to alternative housing since the rockslide of 2008, although in many cases there were concerns that they had been forcibly evicted.
