Cairo - Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on
Thursday ordered the release of 572 people detained by the military, the
official MENA news agency reported.
Morsi, who was sworn in last
month as Egypt's first elected civilian president, "issued an order to
pardon 572 people convicted by the military justice", MENA said.
The Egyptian president had ordered the formation of a committee to review the cases of civilians tried by the military.
A
total of 11 879 Egyptians have been detained by the military since last
year's uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, according to figures issued
by the committee. Of these, 9 714 have since been released.
Activists and international rights groups have repeatedly called for the end of military trials of civilians.
"International
law is crystal-clear on this: no civilian, regardless of the crime,
should be tried by a military court," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East
and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said this week.
She urged Morsi to take a "principled human rights stance and pardon all civilians convicted by military tribunals."
Morsi was sworn in on 30 June, taking over from a military council which oversaw the transition from Mubarak's rule.
But
the president has been locked in a power struggle with the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces which issued a constitutional declaration -
that acts as a temporary charter- giving the military sweeping powers.
"Military
trials and arrests of civilians by the military have continued despite
the 30 June handover to civilian authority," Human Rights Watch said.
The
committee formed by Morsi does not however have the mandate to look
into cases of military trials and arrests of civilians after the
handover date.
Military trials have been criticised for not meeting the requirements of independence and impartiality.