Human Rights Watch says dispersal of last year's Egypt sit-ins could be crime against humanity

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 file photo, Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi run from Egyptian security forces firing towards them during clashes in Cairo's Nasr City district, Egypt. At least 624 people were killed during 12 hours of mayhem in Cairo’s Rabaah el-Adawiyah Square, though rights groups have said the toll may be several hundred higher. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 file photo, A supporter of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi throws a drinking glass during clashes with Egyptian security forces in Cairo's Nasr City district, Egypt. The scene on Aug. 14, 2013, was the start of the biggest massacre in modern Egyptian history, as security forces crushed the sit-in by Islamist supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the elected president who had been removed by the military a month earlier. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File) (The Associated Press)

CAIRO – The New-York based Human Rights Watch says that the mass killings in Egypt last summer that left hundreds dead likely amount to crimes against humanity and there should be an international commission of inquiry.

Tuesday's report based on a year-long investigation, calls for an inquiry into the role of the military chief at the time, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, now the president, in the dispersal of the citizens protesting his removal of elected President Mohammed Morsi.

The report also calls for investigations into the senior military and security officers it holds responsible for the killings of 1,150 protesters in July and August last year, particularly the break up the sit-in in Cairo's Rabaah al-Adawiyah square.

HRW executives were barred from entering the country Monday to launch the report.