Voices from the Egyptian Crisis

 

 

 

 

“Which direction the country will take is still open, certain is that it appears Egypt and its inhabitants are not yet ready to embrace true democracy. What this means for civil society is obvious and bodes no good. Democracy may well be a (difficult) process, but it is one which has to be espoused by all those in society. This point still has not been reached in Egypt. With officially 500 dead and counting and unofficially very many more an end is not in sight.”  (Read the full post here.)

 

 

 

“The burning of churches and attacking members of law enforcement agencies are some examples to show that Egypt is not facing a peaceful movement. Egyptians will not accept this and will ultimately prevail and establish a secular and modern democratic State.” (Read the full post here.)

 

 

 

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Tahrir's Elusive Promise

The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) expresses its concern about the high death toll from all sides, because of the events taking place in Egypt at this time and due to dispersing sit-ins, which began on Wednesday, 08/14/2013.

 

The ACIJLP condemns all forms of violence and counter-violence, which represents a grave threat to the right to life, especially that there is exacerbation in all forms of violence which threatens the increase of its risks and its effects.  For instance,  the events took place in Kerdasa police station, resulting in the killing of a number of police officers by unknown persons and mutilating corpses, does not only represent a grave threat of right to life, but also refers to the continuity of these threats and the dander of criminal perpetrators, which puts on the Egyptian authorities the responsibility of to take all necessary measures to prosecute and bring accountable those involved in this crime and bring them to trial as soon as possible.

 

The ACIJLP expresses its concern about the high number of deaths and victims of all parties in Egypt, both among the protesters or among the forces in charge of dispersing sit-ins. the ACIJLP also refers to the outstanding performance of the forces in charge of dispersing these sit-ins where they took into account the relevant international standards in many ways, where the process of dispersing these sit-ins was implementation of a decision issued by a public prosecutor. Moreover, when these forces implemented the order of the prosecution, they took into account directing an early warning through loudspeakers to the protesters stating that they will broke up their sit-in peacefully. The forces also opened a bridge for the protesters to cross safely and they promised the protesters that they will not be prosecuted and they deal humanely with them.

 

The ACIJLP points out that the presence of weapons in peaceful gatherings, does not constitute a threat to the peaceful protestors, but the effects of this threat will extend to the right of peaceful assembly, as an inherent right surrounded by legislative protection by legislation and international covenants, as well as by national legislation in Egypt.

 

In this context, the ACIJLP believes that the events which called for the declaration of a state of emergency on 14th August 2013 in Egypt must not be manipulated by the authorities to extend the imposition of a state of emergency. Furthermore, the emergency law must not be misused to restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms.

 

The ACIJLP calls upon all the forces in Egypt, as well as all governmental and non-governmental organizations to take urgent and necessary measures for the immediate cessation of all forms of violence, as well as the prosecution and accountability of those involved in the acts of violence taking place in Egypt at this time, and bring them to trials taking into account the standards of fair and equitable trials.

 

 

The Association of Egyptian Female Lawyers watched the four-week sit-in of the former president Mohamed Morsi supporters and who belong to Muslim Brotherhood group in both Rabaa El Adawya square in Cairo and Al Nahda square Giza.  

 

The association condemns the user of religion in an attempt to "abort" the public revolution which was out broken by the Egyptian people in 30th June and being stressed in 3rd and 26th July against the tyranny of the former president and his group who were against all the democracy principles and have tried to delude that all what is happening is a conflict between Islam and blasphemy! In addition, Muslim Brotherhood group incited its supporters to assault opponents the matter which led to the death of tens from Bin El Sarayat, Giza and El Manyal in addition to others in other governorates such as in Alexandria, Sharkya and Dakahlya. Besides, the group has sought to besiege places affiliated to military, security and media institutions and clashing with security forces, they also besiege the residents of Nasr City and prevent them from going to their jobs and took the role of the state in inspecting the residents and sometimes prevent them from going in or out and force them to use their houses.   

 

The Muslim Brotherhood group bears the responsibility of the victim protestors by their insistence on using the protestors in achieving their political goals, since the group leaders were keen on using violence and committing crimes against their opponents and their frequent calls that they are ready to fill the squares with "martyrs". The association also condemns the political exploitation of children and women by the group in the sit-ins and demonstration and exposing them to what threatens their personal security. 

 

This was apparent during the last period as the association has monitored a number of exploitation forms which are banned by The Child Rights Convention which came into force in September 1990 and ratified by the Egyptian government, and also the Egyptian Child Law no. 12 of 1992.

 

This was represented in the following indications: 

 

- Children carry political banners distributed by the sit-in organizers. 

- Children wear t-shirts on which "Martyr Project" is written. 

- Using those children in demonstrations to support political goals which they do not know about just to bring the sympathy of others. 

- Using children and women as human shields to protect them when attacking any military or security building. 

- The possibility of exposing children and women to danger in the case of fighting between protestors and the residents or between them and the security forces, and this was actually happened when three women were killed in Al Mansoura during a demonstration organized by the former president supporters. The existence of children and women in such demonstrations threatens their right to life and body safety. 

 

The association asserts that the violations to which the children are exposed in the sit-in contradict with number of the principles stated by the Child Rights Convention such as the best interests of the child and child has the inherent right to life which stated in the article no. 3 and article no. 6. 

 

They also contradict with the article no. 16 in the convention which states that "No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation, the child has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks"; and the article no. 32 which states "States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous… be harmful to the child's health."

 

The association also considers what is going in both Rabaa Al Adwya and Al Nahda Squares as a form of children trafficking according to the article no. 35 of the convention which states "States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form."

 

These practices also contradict with the Convention of Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour which has been issued by ILO no. 182. The convention identifies the Worst Forms of Child Labour to be the forced labor including forced recruitment of children to use them in armed conflict. Also the recruitment of children, transporting them or receiving them to exploiting them is "human trafficking" according to article no. 3 in the protocol of banning human trafficking and punishing its committers especially trafficking with women and children.  

 

The existence of those children in these sit-ins, about which there is information saying that there are many hidden weapons in them and there is a possibility of clashes and fighting between protestors and security forces, is "danger exposing" which is banned by article no. 96 in the Egyptian Child Law. 

 

The association condemns what has been rumored of using some NGOs which work on the filed of caring orphans and which run by members belong to Muslim Brotherhood to transport them to the both sit-ins in front of gifting them with material and monetary privileges exploiting  their monetary need.   

 

The Association of Egyptian Female Lawyers condemns the frequent inciting calls of using violence by the leaders of the both sit-ins which represent crimes according to penalty law, since the number of the dead because of torture reached 11 dead.  

 

The association also claims the attorney general to investigate in these crimes especially exploiting children and immediately referring the committers of those crimes to justice.   

The Association of Egyptian Female Lawyers calls the protestors in both Rabaa El Adwyaa and El Nahda Squares to stop using children and women to achieve their political goals.

 

 

Lubna Azzam, August 18, 2013

 

One thing that the recent developments in Egypt did not evoke is surprise. Sadness, depression, yes but they were for Egypt observers of Egypt not really surprising. All the more depressing that the small glimpse of democracy which was witnessed from 2011 onwards, seems to be waning! If we take stock of the events which appear to be changing on an hourly basis, one fact is indisputable: military rule is here and appears to be here to stay. They have, after all, enjoyed 60 odd years of authoritarian dominance in the country. This means that all official structures have been formed and infiltrated by these structures. This makes their influence very strong, not only among the elites, the deep state, the state security service and some administrative bodies: all without accountability. No civilian may take a look into the military budget or its internal structures.

 

But the story starts a lot earlier. It commences with the failure of the Muslim Brotherhood to govern and Morsi’s incompetency and lack of support from within society. Egypt it now seems is a sectarian society. Divided between the haves and have-nots, secular and religious, military and civilians, men and women, the list is long. Governing a country with these givens and lacking democratic tradition is a formidable task: a task Morsi was not up to – although in his defence he only had a year, which is not a long time to prove his worth but certainly long enough to prove incompetency. Taking stock of this period one is confronted with a faulty constitutional process, boycotted by the important interest groups in the country including liberal women. A presidential decree and the sacking of the attorney general, who was subsequently reinstated! Even in a stable democracy these events would have seen to be damning and almost have guaranteed one’s overthrow at the polls.

 

So where does Egypt go from here? Blood is already on the streets and the very fabric of society has suffered immensely. This divisiveness makes it difficult to gain cohesion and unity in this largest of the Arab states with a population of almost 90 million. It is difficult to convince people who have been interned to return to the tables to talk. This state is also nothing new for the Muslim Brotherhood having been persecuted in the past and only deemed to deepen their renomee in society. Sisi has managed to make a martyr of Morsi, despite attempts to the contrary. This spectre may be difficult to combat once released. 

 

Which direction the country will take is still open, certain is that it appears Egypt and its inhabitants are not yet ready to embrace true democracy. What this means for civil society is obvious and bodes no good. Democracy may well be a (difficult) process, but it is one which has to be espoused by all those in society. This point still has not been reached in Egypt. With officially 500 dead and counting and unofficially very many more an end is not in sight.

 

 

 

Khaled El Shalakany, August 16, 2013

 

I will start by reproducing below the editorial that I wrote in my Firm’s publication ‘The Advocate’ (Issue 16 - Winter 2012 can be found online on our website www.shalakany.com):

Last year my editorial following the Egyptian revolution of January 2011 was very positive. This year as the end of 2012 approaches I am not that optimistic. The progress to a more democratic and open society is facing a tremendous and potentially deadly challenge. One born out of two factors; firstly the high level of ignorance and poor education afflicting a large portion of the population, particularly in rural areas, following 60 years of incompetent military rule, and secondly the short-sightedness and brutalized secretive approach of the Muslim Brotherhood (MBH) to the political process. The latter is of course the result of over 80 years of existing in the shadows as a secret society, hounded and persecuted by the State. President Morsi, a senior member of the MBH was elected with a narrow 51% margin and with the strong support of many of the parties and political groups of the so-called ‘civil’, ‘secular’ and ‘liberal’ persuasion, who preferred Morsi to the other candidate General Shafiq, who for them represented a return to the Mubarak regime. Unfortunately the MBH has used this victory to put in place a program intended to transform the Egyptian so far secular State into an Islamic Republic. There is no room in this brief editorial to list and explain the many steps that they are taking to move the country into this direction.  There is, however,  very strong resistance to this program from the more educated classes in the major cities. We have witnessed over several months now huge demonstrations and protests by all the political forces opposed to the islamization of the State. The polarization between the promised dream of an Islamic ‘solution’ to poverty and all worldly problems, sold to the rural population by the MBH on the one hand and the urban more realistic and secular approach to moving the country forward on the other has created a terrible and massive political and economic deadlock. With the most productive elements of society in the cities up in arms, the country is on a fast track to bankruptcy. Still the MBH refuse to compromise or deviate from their program. I cannot really say whether or not the MBH will finally see the ‘light’ and understand the need to compromise, but all indications so far do not support such an outcome. Obstinacy and a misguided belief that militias, fear, intimidation and outright blatant lies will see them right, will probably keep the MBH on the current track with disastrous effects for the country.

 

Unfortunately in hindsight what I wrote many months ago now appears eerily prophetic. The MBH did not see the light and continued on its merry way to try and turn Egypt into an Islamic Republic (in the Iranian model eventually to be equipped with revolutionary guards and tribunals). The Egyptian people, and rightly so, felt that their revolution and efforts to establish true democracy were being high-jacked. The President issued decrees rendering all his actions above any judicial review and the new constitution was literally written overnight by MBH appointees to lay the basic foundation for an Islamic Republic with an ayatollah like single source to decide on the legitimacy of any law (by reference to Sunni Islamic theology). Women’s rights were made subject to Islamic principles (thus losing women in Egypt precious rights they have gained over the past few decades), children and minorities were not adequately protected. Countless demonstrations and appeals by the rest of Egyptian Society (80% who are not MBH and their supporters) to review the new constitution and to establish a government of national unity to oversee parliamentary elections (to avoid elections rigging by the MBH) were simply ignored. A group of young activists under the banner of ‘REBEL’ collected 22 million signatures calling for early presidential elections. Again this plea was ignored by the MBH. June 30, 2013 was set by the ‘REBEL’ movement as a day for national demonstrations across Egypt to hammer home the message ‘call for early elections!  The Egyptian army itself sent a public televised and media published plea to the deposed President to heed the people’s request and to compromise to find a political solution prior to June 30, 2013. A few days before the date in question, the deposed President made a lengthy speech rejecting any compromise.

 

On June 30, 2013 more than 30 million Egyptians took to the streets (no amount of discussion or denial by the MBH and some media that supports them will dissuade Egyptians like myself or convince us otherwise-  we were in the streets and saw the unbelievable turnout with our own eyes). The army made another publicized appeal to the deposed President to find a political solution giving him 48 hours. Again he made a speech rejecting any compromise. Then came the July 3rd decision by the army to hand over power to an interim government of national unity headed by the highest Judge in the land as an interim President and a distinguished Professor of Economics (a social democrat) as Prime Minister. A map for the future was announced clearly confirming that the Constitution will be reviewed and parliamentary elections will take place within 6 months to be followed by presidential elections. The army made it very clear that it will not assume power. In the face of escalating acts of terrorism in Sinai by the Qaeda and other Islamic radical groups supporting the MBH, the army called upon the Egyptian people to confirm their support of the July 3rd action and to delegate the interim government to confront the wave of terror that was threatened publicly by the MBH (we are experiencing this wave of terror right now).  On July 26, 2013 again more than 30 million Egyptians again took to the streets fully endorsing the July 3rd action and providing a mandate to the interim government to confront terrorism. Numerous pleas were made to the MBH to rejoin the political process and sit to negotiate a political solution. The MBH refused to engage in any negotiations unless the deposed President was re-instated. 

 

I write the above to show the reader the facts that the vast majority of Egyptians, including myself, know to be true. I write this commentary as an Egyptian who has been actively involved as a demonstrator in both the January 25, 2011 revolution (I was in Tahrir square since day one on January 25th and later became a member of the People’s non-governmental Fact Finding Committee investigating the violence against demonstrators) and then as a participant in the countless demonstrations against the MBH power grabbing tactics and exclusionary anti-democratic policies culminating of course in the June 30th and July 26th massive demonstrations against the MBH and their project to set up an Islamic Republic. 

 

In my opinion the MBH true to their history have now embarked on a campaign of terror effectively against the vast majority of the Egyptian people. An armed campaign in Sinai and other provinces is felling casualties every day. This now includes the burning of churches and the murder of Police officers (using grenade launchers – the Kirdasa Police station south of Cairo was destroyed and all occupants killed) and the horrible mutilation of their bodies. A police vehicle was thrown off a bridge again killing all occupants. These are just some examples to show that Egypt is not facing a ‘peaceful’ movement. Egypt is facing a determined, organized and armed group intent on destabilizing the country with the ultimate goal of establishing a totalitarian Islamic Republic. Egyptians will not accept this and will ultimately prevail and establish a secular and modern democratic State.