Month: December 2014

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2014/12/18/Egypt-s-latest-homosexual-raid-AIDS-and-sensationalism.html

The Egyptian AIDS Society (EAS) announced its intention to file a lawsuit against TV anchor Mona Iraqi for a report she ran on her show “Al-Mistakhabi” (“The Concealed”) on a recent raid on homosexuals in a Cairo public bath, which she claimed was part of a campaign against AIDS.

“The channel where Iraqi works did contact us to take part in a special episode on the occasion of World AIDS Day,” the EAS said. “We agreed and the society’s director gave an interview answering several questions related to awareness.”

The society said it was surprised that the interview was used for “unethical purposes,” and was aired together with videos and other interviews that “are totally against the society’s codes.” The EAS added: “We did not know about the details that were later inserted and the channel manipulated the interview.”

The controversial episode included a report on 33 homosexuals arrested in a public bath in downtown Cairo, as well as a video from inside the bath where, according to the report, male orgies took place. Iraqi said a member of the show’s crew sneaked into the bath to take the video after the owner confirmed that “orgies are being held all day.”

The show played a recorded phone call between the crew member and the owner, in which the latter said: “People who frequent the bath can’t bring strangers to their houses for fear of being exposed, so they come to the bath to do that.”

Iraqi said she contacted one of the bath workers for more information: “He told me that the price of one night can amount to $100, and that businessmen come from abroad to have sex with men there.” She said she reported the issue to the Interior Ministry, and security forces subsequently raided the bath and arrested the customers.

“This place is a pigsty and it had to be closed,” she said, promising to dedicate the following episode to “more causes of AIDS.” Iraqi posted photos of the semi-naked customers on her Facebook account, which she deactivated following the heated debate caused by the report.

Allegations

Rights groups across the Middle East and North Africa issued a joint statement condemning the raid and Iraqi’s role in it. “Iraqi did not only file a report with the police, but also accompanied security forces in the raid and took pictures of naked men trying to hide their faces,” said the statement.

According to the rights groups, Iraqi violated ethical codes of journalism, as well as articles 58 and 75 of the Criminal Procedures Law, which prohibit the disclosure of police procedures by unauthorized individuals or institutions. “Therefore, we ask that Iraqi be accordingly prosecuted.”

The signatories said Iraqi used AIDS as a facade for the report she ran on her show. “Such reports and raids will only lead to further stigmatization of AIDS patients and will, thus, discourage most of them from seeking advice or undergoing medical examination.”

Iraqi has denied all accusations leveled against her, saying she was only doing her job. “I am not a detective as people claim. I am working in investigative journalism and this necessitates reporting any crimes I come across to the police,” she said in a statement. “I did the same before the episodes on drug dealing and medical waste.”

Iraqi denied allegations that the episode and the police report constituted a violation of privacy. “I did not violate anybody’s personal privacy. I went to a public place where prostitution is openly practiced,” she said, adding that the customers were having unsafe sex, which is why the incident was relevant to the episode about AIDS.

Iraqi said even in countries where prostitution is legal, such places are constantly monitored, while this is not the case in Egypt, where those men’s families could easily contract AIDS. “I have done what my conscience dictated upon me on both the personal and professional levels,” she said.

Legality

Interior Ministry officials confirmed the legality of the raid and the charges. Ali al-Demerdash, director of the Cairo Security Bureau General, said the raid was “100% legal and arrest warrants were issued in advance.” District Prosecutor Mohamed Hetta said the owner of the bath would also be prosecuted for “turning a public bath into a homosexual brothel.”

Brian Whitaker of British newspaper The Guardian wonders why the customers in the bath, even if homosexuals, were arrested if there is no law in Egypt criminalizing homosexuality. He said defendants in such cases are charged with debauchery “under an old law originally intended to combat prostitution.”

Whitaker said the latest raid was conducted for the same reasons as one in 2001 known as the “Queen Boat Case,” in which 52 men were arrested for engaging in homosexual activities: diverting public attention.

The governments of former President Hosni Mubarak and current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are acting in the same way, Whitaker wrote. “It seems very likely that the crackdown under President al-Sisi is occurring for similar reasons: to distract attention from bigger issues, to show that while suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood the regime is still capable of playing the ‘morality’ card, or a combination of both.”

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/2014/12/11/Insulting-Egypt-s-revolutions-Between-criminalization-and-free-speech.html

“The Jan. 25 revolution is a reality that no one can ever question,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told journalists, adding that a law to criminalize insulting the revolution would be issued shortly. The decision came in response to demands by activists and political factions following a rise in accusations that the Jan. 25 protests were a conspiracy, as was the acquittal of toppled President Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister.

“The law is the only way to show respect to Egyptians who sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy,” said the joint statement issued by revolutionary and youth movements, including the Revolutionary Youth Coalition, the Revolutionary Powers Bloc, and the Egypt MPs Union. Sisi’s announcement has been warmly welcomed and heavily criticized.

Professor of political science Hazem Hosni says the law complements the constitution. “Even though the constitution mentions the Jan. 25 revolution, it doesn’t say anything about insulting it,” he said. “That’s why the law was much needed.”

Professor of political science Ahmed Darrag says the law is the only way to counter allegations that the revolution was a conspiracy plotted by external powers: “Through protecting the revolution from its enemies, the law would make it easier to fight corruption.”

Amr Hisham Rabei of Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies says the law is necessary to assuage fears that members of Mubarak’s regime might return to politics. “The acquittal of Mubarak and his top aides intensified doubts about the authenticity of the revolution, and raised concerns that the country might be heading back toward the pre-revolution era,” Rabei said. “This is a message to everyone that there’s no going back.”

Magdi Morshed, vice-chairman of the Congress Party, welcomed the decision, but said it should have been made much earlier. “Both revolutions have been severely reviled by supporters of Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said, referring to the protests of June 30 last year that led to the ouster of President Mohamed Mursi, which will also be included in the law. “The trial and acquittal of Mubarak and his aides, and the fact that none of them was harmed, prove how civilized these revolutions are, so they deserve to be honored.”

Legal expert Essam al-Islambouli says journalists will not be jailed just for criticizing the revolution. “Article 71 of the constitution bans the imprisonment of journalists,” he said. “The law can be applied in case such anti-revolution statements by journalists are linked with the crime of inciting violence.”

Islambouli supports the inclusion of the June 30 protests in the law. “Those who call June 30 a coup should definitely be penalized,” he said, referring to the Brotherhood, whose members were the first to call the protests a “military coup.”

Objections

Lawyer Samir Sabry said the law “violates the constitution, which gives every citizen the right to freedom of expression. Therefore, everyone has the right to criticize the revolution.” Sabry said if such a law is passed, it should also apply to the July 1952 revolution that toppled the monarchy.

Similarly, Refaat al-Said, former head of the Cairo Court of Appeals, asked: “Why should we single out the January revolution? The law should then apply to all revolutions that took place in Egypt, starting with the First Cairo Revolution.” He was referring to the 1798 revolution against the French invasion of Egypt.

“This is all so childish,” he said, adding that every revolution has positive and negative sides. “Even the French revolution that changed the world had many unacceptable downsides, despite the principles of democracy and freedom it called for,” he said. “The same applies to the Egyptian revolution. Let history decide this, not the law.”

Pro-government journalist and TV anchor Ibrahim Eissa slammed the law. “Is the revolution like the Quran now? Nobody is allowed to question it?” he asked on his show. “We’re dealing with double standards here. How can we be calling for freedom while telling people what to say and what not to say?” Eissa said everyone should have the right to criticize the revolution, and even question whether it was a revolution to start with. “This law will be a huge mistake,” he added.

There are also objections from activists and revolutionary movements. Haitham Mohamadeen, a member of the Revolutionary Socialists movement, wrote: “The only purpose of this law is to legitimize the June military coup. The January 25 Revolution does not need a law since it acquired its legitimacy from the masses that took to the streets and the martyrs that sacrificed their lives.”

Human rights activist and lawyer Khaled Ali wrote that the revolution “cannot be protected through laws but only through policies and legislations that achieve its goals and principles.”

Activist Ahmed Hassan says June 30, rather than Jan. 25, is the reason behind the law. “The main purpose of this law is to clamp down on those who oppose June 30 and refuse to call it a revolution,” he wrote. Hassan added that those who call Jan. 25 a conspiracy will stop doing so on Sisi’s orders, while those who call June 30 a military coup will not follow suit. “Therefore, only the latter would be penalized under this law.”

Journalist Abdel Qader Shoeib says the law may backfire. “We have enough laws and enough penalties for those who violate them,” he wrote. “We don’t want more laws to monitor what we say. If this happens, we will all end up behind bars just for having different opinions.”