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Temporary monuments are erected in Tahrir Square on Wednesday as thousands of Egyptians gather to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

They are scenes reminiscent of Egypt’s 18-day revolution that toppled the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak.

Men and women, young and old, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, secular and conservative … all back in the symbolic heart of Egypt’s revolution, Tahrir Square. They are also in cities all across the country.

But the unity seen during Egypt’s revolution in 2011 has been replaced by widening differences over where the country stands one year later.

The difference revolves around the transition to democracy. Is it on the right path? Led by the right people? Genuine or simply cosmetic? Actions versus promises. Accomplishments versus rhetoric.

Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the uprising that ousted Mubarak.

Some gathered in the square to celebrate that revolution. They said the past year had been one of transformation. They cited a newly elected lower house of parliament, new individual freedoms and an explosion of political parties running the gamut.

Those gathered Wednesday celebrated the accomplishments of the revolution. Those accomplishments cannot simply be dismissed. The pace of reform may be slow, but change has been tangible.

Those here commemorating the revolution argued change has been cosmetic. One regime has simply been replaced by another.

“We have changed the driver in the car, but you have not changed the car or its direction,” one protester told me. “Only when the direction of the car changes will the revolution be considered successful,” he added.

Related: Obama wants to boost Egypt aid quickly

Those commemorating the revolution said the anniversary should serve as a reminder of what Egyptians can accomplish when they are united. The past year has not lived up to its potential. They cited thousands of civilians in military trials as evidence that the ruling military council — all appointed by Mubarak coincidentally — has resorted to the same draconian measures as its predecessor. They said that in the past year, not a single senior officer of the internal security forces or minister has been convicted in the killings of around 800 protesters. So for them, Wednesday was about renewing demonstrations against the ruling military council.

The military council said it’s holding the ship steady on the course to democracy. And while it has changed the timetable to elections a few times, it has done so only when events on the ground rapidly deteriorated and protests flared up. On one hand that showed it had been responsive to public sentiments and street protests; but on the other hand, it continued to act unilaterally when it came to fundamental issues concerning the process of reform. It retained exclusive power over the security services and the judiciary. It has refused to delegate powers and authority to the military-appointed prime minister or the newly elected lower house of parliament. At the same time, the military has issued a declaration of constitutional principles that many interpret as an attempt to retain powers after a new government is directly elected.

Related: Huge crowd in Cairo

And of course… there are the new democratic realities that have emerged in post-revolution Egypt. New political parties, but not necessarily new political voices. The loudest so far has been that of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafist movement. Between the two of them, they overwhelmingly won the majority of seats in parliament. Will their mandate from the people be seen as a direct order to challenge the military? Some argue the Islamists are content with the democratic process undertaken by the military because it has paved their way to power. They fear the two have cut backroom deals. The military will move the democratic process at a pace and under conditions favorable to Islamist parties at the expense of the lesser and weaker secular and liberal forces. In exchange, the Islamists will not mobilize their massive street support against the military or hold them accountable for past misdoings going forward.

So whether Egyptians celebrate, commemorate or reinvigorate their January 25 Revolution, one thing is for certain, it has been a remarkable year in the history of this country.

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LONDON – At London’s Old Bailey, the highest criminal court in Britain, a desperate family tragedy is unfolding in courtroom number five.

It involves torture, death – and witchcraft.

Harrowing sobs have echoed round the old courtroom as different members of one family have given evidence in the case of Magalie Bamu and her boyfriend Eric Bikubi, both accused of torturing Magalie’s 15-year-old brother, Kristy Bamu, to death because they believed he was a witch.

Tale of torture
A horrifying picture has emerged of the last days of the boy’s life.

Kristy came to Britain with four brothers and sisters from his home in Paris to spend Christmas 2010 with his older sister Magalie. They stayed with her at the flat she shared with Bikubi, 28, in a section of eastern London.

That, prosecutors allege, is when things went bad.  The court heard that Bikubi accused three of the young visitors of witchcraft, and started taunting and beating them. Then he found some urine soaked underwear hidden in the flat’s kitchen, which Kristy admitted was his. At that point, prosecutors said, Bikubi allegedly started to focus his accusations on Kristy and began to torture and beat the teenager in an attempt to oust out the evil in him.

Details of the torture have been spelled out to the jury by the children. They say Bikubi pulled Kristy’s ears with pliers, rammed a metal tube into his mouth to dislodge his teeth, hit him with a hammer, and dropped tiles on to his head while forcing some of his siblings to hold him down and take part in the attacks.

Prosecutor Brian Altman described the pitting of sibling against sibling as “a staggering act of depravity and cruelty.”

One child, who has not been named, told the court the attacks wore Bikubi out to the point where he said he needed a rest and asked his girlfriend Magalie, Kristy’s 28-year old sister, to take over.

“He said ‘I’ve had enough, I need to have a rest.’ And Magalie hit him hard and quickly.’”

Eventually Bikubi filled a bathtub and instructed Kristy to get into it. According to the same sibling, as the water level rose Kristy tried to lift his body out, but was too weak. Eventually he slipped under the surface of the water, and drowned. It was Christmas Day.

One sister, Kelly Bamu, 21, told the court that Magalie could have stopped the abuse, but did nothing.

“Kristy asked for forgiveness. He asked again and again. Magalie did absolutely nothing. She didn’t lift a finger,” she said. “Magalie deserves to die for what they have done. I have no pity for her. She had no pity for us.”

According to police, Kristy’s body was covered in cuts and bruises; they say he had 101 injuries.

Bikubi denies murder, but has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Magalie denies murder.

Belief in witchcraft
Kristy’s family is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The jury has been told that witchcraft, or “kindoki,” is widespread there and that it is condoned by some Christian churches across Africa and by their affiliated congregations worldwide.

Quite often if a family is experiencing setbacks, adults turn on a child in the belief that he or she is a vehicle for witchcraft and is responsible for their misfortunes. If the breadwinner loses a job, for example, and the family is struggling financially, or a family member has a car accident – this may be attributed to the bad spirits that have taken hold of the child.

The response can be to abuse the child physically and emotionally, or to inflict suffering through starvation and neglect. There is a belief that the child will benefit from punishment, that they may be cured, without considering the harm this may cause.

Experts say cases often occur in situations of informal fostering – where a child has been sent to live with an aunt, uncle or distant relative. But the extent is hard to quantify, according to Stephanie Yorath of the Victoria Climbie Foundation, an organization that promotes child protection, because of under-reporting. 

Yorath says very often the information detailing abuse is not recorded by investigating authorities, or the symptoms go unrecognized, or even more commonly, unreported by the child victims.

Autistic children are particularly vulnerable, said Thomas Bikebi of London’s Congolese Family Center, who added that they are frequently picked out as witches and, along with others, can be sent back to Congo for exorcism. They often do not return.

The sanctioning of this abuse by some Christian churches is particularly alarming, according to Debbie Ariyo of AFRUCA (Africans Unite Against Child Abuse). She says some pastors are known to encourage adults to slap children or to make them fast, to rid them of evil spirits.

Bikebi believes the “problem is huge … and fueled by poverty.” These rogue pastors are “exploiting the belief system to make money. Many people go to church to seek help with the economic situation they are facing. The pastor finds a scapegoat: the child. Parents have to pay for the pastor to perform the exorcism,” said Bikebi.

And there is concern that negative attention arising from an explosive trial like this one has the unwanted effect of driving improper practices further underground.

Such criminality occurs in many cultures and ethnic groups, including some in South America and Asia, but the majority of cases recorded in Britain occur in African communities.

Meanwhile, advocates are hoping the trial will raise awareness of the issue. Rachael Takens-Milne of the Trust for London, an organization funding solutions for vulnerable children, says there are programs to train caregivers and social workers to recognize when witchcraft is motivating child abuse.

It’s a view certainly shared by Kristy’s mother, Jacqueline, whose suffering throughout the trial has been heart-wrenchingly evident.

Toward the end of giving her evidence, she sobbed and said that she wants “to make people aware of what has happened between her children so such things don’t happen to another family.”  

Updated at 7:15 p.m. ET: Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, also rescued an American and a Dane held hostage in Somalia, U.S. officials said, but the same service members were not involved in both missions, U.S. officials said. Wednesday.

Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET: The Navy SEALs that rescued the American and Danish hostages in Somalia on Tuesday were not the same individuals who killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials told NBC News, contradicting an earlier news service report.

Published at 1:15 a.m. ET: In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held. 

As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.

Danish Refugee Council

Poul Hagen Thisted, a Danish national who was taken hostage in Somalia alongside American Jessica Buchanan in October 2011. The pair were freed by a U.S. Navy SEALS raid.

The SEALs gathered up Buchanan and Thisted, loaded them onto the helicopters and flew them to safety at an undisclosed location. The two hostages were not injured during the rescue operation and are reported to be in relatively good condition.

The two had been working for the Danish Refugee Council on a demining project in northern Somalia. The humanitarian group has been providing relief to some 450,000 refugees in the Somalia-Kenya border region.

News reports at the time said the two were kidnapped Oct. 25 along with a Somali colleague when their three-car convoy was stopped on the way to an airport. A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said they had been kidnapped for ransom by pirates stymied by Western nations’ efforts to stop the seizure of ships off the coast. The fate of the Somali colleague was unclear.    

STORY: Second American, a writer, held in Somalia; rescue next?

The first indication of the rescue operation came Tuesday night in Washington from President Barack Obama himself. 

As the president entered the House chambers to give his State of the Union Speech, he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta standing in the crowd and said, “Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight.”

The president made no mention of the hostage rescue, but finished his speech with a reference to the killing of Osama bin Laden last May in a similar operation to the one conducted by Navy SEALs Tuesday night. 

Updated at 5:57 a.m. ET: In a statement sent to NBC News and other media, Obama says that he authorized the operation to rescue Buchanan.

“Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations Forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home,” he says. “As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts.”

Obama, who spoke to Buchanan’s father Tuesday night, says she was “selflessly serving her fellow human beings when she was taken hostage by criminals and pirates who showed no regard for her health and well-being.”

He says he told her father that “all Americans have Jessica in our thoughts and prayers, and give thanks that she will soon be reunited with her family.”

“The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice,” Obama adds. ”This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people.”

Updated at 6:50 a.m. ET: A statement from U.S. Africa Command says U.S. forces had received “actionable intelligence” about Buchanan and Thisted and decided to take action.

“During the course of the operation, the rescue force patrolled to the location and confirmed the presence of Mrs. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted guarded by nine captors,” the statement says. “All nine captors were killed during the assault.”

General Carter F. Ham, of U.S. Africa Command, says in the statement that the raid, which took place near Gadaado, was “boldly conducted by some of our nation’s most courageous, competent, and committed special operations forces.”

“Thanks to them a fellow American and her Danish co-worker are safe and will soon be home with their families,” he adds.

Updated at 6:55 a.m. ET: A statement from Panetta says he is “grateful to report that there was no loss of life or injuries to our personnel.”

He says the rescue – ”undertaken in a hostile environment” — showed the “superb skills of courageous service members who risked their lives to save others.” 

“They are heroes and continue to inspire all of us by their bravery and service to our nation,” he says.

Updated at 10:35 a.m. ET: Pentagon officials told NBC News that they are characterizing the people who took Buchanan and Thisted hostage as “criminal suspects,”  rather than pirates. They said the U.S. military has no firm information about whether the captors were connected to pirates or an Islamic militant group like al-Shabaab.

See more of Jim Miklaszewski’s reporting on the SEALs raid tonight on NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams.

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