Category: Analysis

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/07/26/Is-public-breaking-of-Ramadan-fast-illegal-in-Egypt-.html

The storming and closure of three cafes in Alexandria, the fining of their owners, and the arrest of some of their customers for publicly breaking the Ramadan fast have stirred a wave of legal, religious and ethical debates across Egypt. The controversy was not just triggered by the action itself, but also by the official response to the criticisms levelled at it.

Ibrahim al-Naggar, head of the Investigations Bureau in the district of Al-Dekhila – where the incidents took place – defended the clampdown. “Opening cafes and breaking the fast in public during the day in Ramadan is a legal offense and we are in charge of applying the law,” he said in a statement.

Al-Dekhila, he added, is home to large numbers of Christians and ultra-conservative Muslims, which makes daytime eating and drinking during Ramadan “likely to cause tension among the residents and even trigger sectarian strife.”

According to Naggar, the opening of the cafes was already a nuisance to the residents. “We received several complaints from people living in the neighborhood that those cafes are open during fasting time.”

He denied that police officers damaged the cafes or assaulted any customers, as was reported by several media outlets. He also insisted that the targeting of cafes had no sectarian basis. “We apply the law on everyone without any discrimination,” he said.

The Popular Front against the Brotherhoodization of Egypt was among the first groups to respond to the incidents, seeing it as proof of the remaining influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Despite the toppling of the Muslim Brotherhood regime, groups that assume the role of moral police still infiltrate the Interior Ministry and impose their own laws,” the front said in a statement. “We demand an immediate and firm response from the Interior Ministry before this phenomenon spreads to the rest of Egypt or did the ministry lose control of those junior cops who are forming separate forces?”

The Maspero Youth Union, which confirmed media reports that the cafes were destroyed by security forces, said the clampdown was unprovoked and unjustified. “The cafes had curtains in respect for fasting passersby,” the union said in a statement.

It expressed concern about the future of personal freedoms if similar incidents take place. “Where is the civilian state mentioned in the constitution? What about citizens’ right to personal freedom?”

In his article “The Interior Ministry penalizes fast-breakers,” Mohamed Salmawi sarcastically expressed his indignation at the clampdown. “I was exalted to see the Interior Ministry no longer paying attention to terrorists who threaten our lives and focusing, instead, on others who are far more dangerous: those who publicly break the Ramadan fast,” he wrote.

“I was very happy to see security forces supposedly in charge of maintaining law and order turn into religious police,” he added. Salmawi accused the ministry of promoting an extremist version of Islam. He quoted Salafist preacher Adel al-Sayed in his praise of the clampdown on the cafes: “He said that the police did the right thing because they are promoting virtue and prohibiting vice.”

Salmawi called on the ministry to issue an official statement on the Alexandria incident, and similar ones in other cities, to make its stance clear. “We want to know if these illegal actions represent the ministry’s official policy now, because if they don’t then an immediate investigation should be opened to penalize those policemen who are stirring away from the main duty of the police, which is protecting citizens from outlaws including those groups that pose as religious police.”

Dar al-Iftaa, the body in charge of issuing religious edicts in Egypt, said breaking the fast in public is a sin, and “is not personal freedom. It is a violation of the sanctity of Islamic practices.”

Its statement said it is also improper to break the fast publicly while the majority is fasting. “If non-Muslims make sure they don’t hurt Muslims’ feelings by eating and drinking while they are fasting then this is the least non-fasting Muslims can do.”

Muslims who make it known that they are not fasting, the statement said, are committing two sins: the sin of not fasting, and the sin of indifference to the holiness of the practice. The statement called on the government to “take the necessary measures to ban public breaking of the fast in the streets and all public places.”

Sheikh Mohamed Abdullah Nasr, coordinator of the Azhar Scholars for a Civilian State Front, said there is no proof in the Quran or the Sunnah – the prophet’s teachings – of the presence of an entity that penalized people who did not fast during Ramadan. “The prophet himself said Muslims fast for God so only God can penalize those who don’t,” he said. “The prophet never even scolded those who did not fast.”

Nasr said the clampdown on cafes is bound to give rise to a society of hypocritical Muslims “who will comply with God’s orders for fear of the government rather than for fear of God.”

Legal experts confirmed that there is no law prohibiting daytime eating or drinking in public during Ramadan. Judge Farid Nasr, head of the Giza Criminal Court in Cairo, said breaking the fast in public could be seen as a religious crime, but definitely not a legal one.

“This means that only God can punish those who do not fast, but legally speaking there is no law that prevents people from eating and drinking in public during fasting time, especially that the constitution grants people the right to freedom of faith,” he said.

Judge Ahmed Shoeib said the clampdown cannot be justified under the offense of inciting debauchery, as some police officers suggested. “Inciting debauchery is related to sexual crimes, and cannot be applied to not fasting during Ramadan,” he said.

“Plus it is impossible to punish people who do not fast in a country that also includes Christians, Bahaais and atheists. How can police officers know people’s religious affiliations when arresting them?”

Shoeib said closing cafes is only legal if ordered by the governor, which was not the case in the Alexandria clampdown. “In this case, the closure becomes an administrative decision since the governor has the right to regulate the working hours of stores and cafes.”

Nour Farahat, constitutional expert and professor of the philosophy of law, said the clampdown constitutes a flagrant violation of the constitution. “This kind of action adopts the principle that faith is the source of security and not legitimacy,” he wrote on his Facebook account. “This is the same logic adopted by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”

To bridge the gap between what is considered a religious crime and a legal offense, Mohamed Raafat Othman, a member of the Center for Islamic Research at Al-Azhar, called for new legislation that would punish those who break the Ramadan fast in public under the Islamic principle of “tazir.”

This denotes punishments for crimes that do not have a fixed punishment in Islamic law, and which are to be decided by a judge or, in the modern context, the government or parliament.

“Not fasting in Ramadan is a crime in itself but doing that in public makes it worse because it no longer stops at the offenders, but extends to people around them,” he said in a statement. “First, they are tempting others to follow suit. Second, they are hurting the feelings of fasting Muslims.”

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/07/10/With-Sisi-in-power-will-Egypt-hold-sway-over-the-Gaza-flare-up-.html

Following two major uprisings and the regime changes they brought about, along with the death of late intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s stance on Gaza has been shrouded in increasing uncertainty.

The remarkable policy discrepancies between former President Hosni Mubarak and former Islamist President Mohammad Mursi has left the third regime to follow, that of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in a precarious position and have given rise to speculations as to which path the newly-elected president is more likely to take amid the current Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Another important factor that has made the Gaza issue more complicated now is the absence of one of the most important players, if not the most important— Omar Suleiman, who for years had been in charge of this file and is still seen to have been the most familiar with its minutest of classified details and the most able to handle its ordeals.

“Sisi reassured [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas that Egypt is keen on protecting the Palestinian people in Gaza and stopping the aggression and will exert its utmost effort to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible,” reported the Palestinian news agency WAFA in reference to a phone call that took place on July 8 between the presidents and in which the Abbas asked for Sisi’s mediation to stop Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip after updating him on the latest escalations in the offensive known as Operation Protective Edge.

A statement with the same content was issued by President Abbas’s office. According to the statement and press reports on the call, Abbas praised Egypt’s “historic role” in defending the right of the Palestinian people.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri had also made an earlier statement about Egypt’s involvement in the mediation of a truce even though he gave no details. “There are contacts between Hamas and Egyptian officials concerning the Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “We clarified and reiterated our position that we are not interested in escalation and the occupation is responsible.” Several Israeli press reports read Abu Zuhri’s statement as an expression of Hamas’s inclination towards a truce.

“Hamas has communicated to Cairo its desire to end the current round of fighting in the south,” said the Jerusalem Post. The Egyptian presidency also issued a statement stressing that Cairo is holding intensive negotiations with all parties involved “in order to spare the Palestinian people the grave consequences of Israeli military operations and to hold Israel, as an occupying power, responsible for the safety of Palestinian civilians in accordance with the Geneva Convention and international law.” This made speculations rife about when and if an Egyptian-brokered truce would materialize and how far such mediation would determine the new regime’s approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Testing the waters

The assault on Gaza is seen by many experts as Israel’s way of testing the waters with Egypt’s new regime as far as its policies on Israel are concerned.

For Mokhtar Ghobashi, deputy director of the Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, the reaction of Egypt’s new president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to the aggression on Gaza would determine Cairo’s take on the Palestinian cause. “Egypt’s foreign policies are not clear yet,” he said in a press interview. “Will Egypt mediate between both parties and broker a cease fire? Or will it declare its absolute support for the Palestinian cause and embark on a set of measures that would put pressure on Israel to stop the attacks?” Ghobashi added that immediate intervention to end the aggression is the only way to show that Egypt is not willing to give up its regional role, yet noted that the political and economic conditions in the country are likely to play a major role in determining the regime’s next step.

In his article “Sisi faces first test with Israel,” journalist Mohamed al-Beheiri argued that the Israeli aggression on Gaza placed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on top of the president’s foreign policy agenda. “In fact, the Palestinian people are looking to him for rescue, especially that he said in his inauguration speech that the Palestinian cause would be one of his topmost priorities,” he wrote. The situation, however, is more complicated than it seems, Beheiri adds, for while it is in Egypt’s best interest to maintain calm on its eastern borders, its current relationship with Hamas, which grew sour since the group declared its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, would make mediation a tough task. “Add to this the already unstable situation on the domestic level and the economy that is struggling to stay afloat,” he explained. “Not to mention the general regional chaos whether in Syria or Iraq.”

Leaning towards Israel

What complicates the matter even more is a series of reports that imply Egypt’s inclination towards cooperating with Israel. Several Egyptian media outlets have been circulating news of the visit Egyptian Intelligence Chief Mohammad al-Tohami paid to Israel a few days before the start of the attacks. Emphasis was especially laid on reports by the national Israeli radio about meetings Tohami held with Israeli military and security officials over “the latest escalation between Israel and Hamas.”

Israel National Radio also reported that mediation efforts have been reduced to the minimum on the part of Egyptian authorities owing to Tohami’s failure to reach an agreement with Hamas “because Hamas did not respond to Egypt’s request that it stops the violence,” according to some reports, or “because Egypt rejected a list of demands Hamas presented in return for stopping the firing of rockets.” According to the Israeli military intelligence website DEBKAfile, approving Hamas’s demands would come at a high cost for Egypt. “Egypt would have to retract all the military measures it had taken in the past half year along the border with Gaza and which basically aimed at undermining Hamas’s military power,” the website reported.

The reduction of mediation efforts is, however, seen by many as a euphemism for failure. In his article, “Aggression on Gaza: Israel’s and Hamas’s bets on Sisi,” Islam Abul Ezz argues that the situation is different this time owing to the extreme intransigence of both parties. “Israeli intransigence stems from its need to vent its anger at the abduction of settlers and this will only be done through a strike on Gaza while Hamas’s intransigence stems from losing a major ally after the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood and the financial damage it sustained following the closure of cross-border tunnels which made it keen on proving it at least retains military prowess,” he wrote.

Sisi and Hamas

Sisi’s complicated relationship with Hamas since the June 30 protests that toppled Islamist President Mohammad Mursi, Abul Ezz added, might have also contributed to the failure of the talks. “It is true that the ice started breaking after Sisi’s election and it seemed Hamas was willing to turn a new leaf, yet Sisi still keeps Cairo’s contact with Hamas through the General Intelligence Agency as the regime has done for years,” he explained, in reference to the handling of the Gaza file by Mubarak’s late intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. On the other hand, Abul Ezz noted, Israel had higher expectations as far as Sisi’s stance on Hamas is concerned.

“Israel expected the deteriorating relation between Hamas and Sisi to be in its best interest and believed that Sisi would want to get back at Hamas for its support of the Muslim Brotherhood, but turns out Sisi has different priorities which focus more on security in the Sinai Peninsula than on the situation in Gaza,” he explained. According to Abul Ezz, the Egyptian regime is currently in a middle position between that of Mubarak, which sided more with Israel and closed the crossings to humanitarian aid, and that of Mursi, which allied with Hamas and made a media show of it, and it remains to be seen how this position will translation into actual action, if any, to get over this failure.

Egypt and Israel

Even though Sisi followed in Mubarak’s footsteps when he sent his intelligence chief to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the new man has so far been unable to match the success of his predecessor Omar Suleiman, who served in that position for 18 years.

Suleiman, known as Mubarak’s “black box,” was involved in several agreements between Israel and Hamas, the first known of which was the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in the famous 2011 prisoner swap deal in addition to several ceasefire agreements. Suleiman was generally regarded as a favorite of Israel especially after Wikileaks released cables that showed the Israeli government sees him as an alternative to Mubarak: “[Israeli Ministry of Defense Arab Affairs Advisor David] Hacham was full of praise for Soliman, however, and noted that a ‘hot line’ set up between the MOD and Egyptian General Intelligence Service is now in daily use.”

Hacham said he sometimes speaks to Soliman’s deputy Mohammad Ibrahim several times a day. Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim President if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated. (Note: We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman).

In fact, former Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezaer said after Suleiman death that “he was the one who served Israel best.” Senior Hamas member Moussa Abu Marzouk argued that despite his close relationship with Israel, Suleiman was not out to destroy Hamas as he was commonly thought to. “When Hamas won the elections in 2006 and Gaza seceded from the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. and Israel wanted to attack Gaza and kill the leaders of Hamas but it was Suleiman who convinced them it was unwise to do so,” he said in a TV interview following Suleiman death.

“He warned Americans that Gaza is a gunpowder barrel that was bound to explode in their face and the face of their interests in the entire region.” Abu Marzouk also praised the role Suleiman played in ending the 2008 Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the pressure he put on Israel to lift the blockade. “It was his continuous lobbying that made Israelis sometimes allow the passing of humanitarian aid through the crossings,” he added. “He also used the natural gas Egypt exported to Israel as a bargaining chip.”

Egypt does not seem to have given up on the mediation process, though, and chances of a renewal of negotiations are still there. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he called Sisi recently and stressed that the latter assured him that Cairo is working on brokering a ceasefire. Cairo’s role is, obviously, not over yet. The questions is, will Sisi keep his “around the corner” promise, as activists call it, in reference to his pre-election pledge to intervene in case the security of any Arab country is threatened?

“If the security of any Arab country is threatened and we are called upon for him, we will respond immediately. It’s around the corner,” he once said. It’s crunch time and we will just have to wait and see.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/07/05/Protesting-Egypt-s-protest-law-Activist-detentions-reignite-debate.html

The detention on June 21 of Egyptian activist and human rights lawyer Yara Sallam, along with 22 other demonstrators, has reignited debate over the controversial protest law that was issued in Nov. 2013.

Sallam, in charge of the Transitional Justice Unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was referred to court for protesting without prior permission from the Interior Ministry, vandalizing public property, terrorizing citizens and destabilizing security. The trial, scheduled for Sept. 13, may see Sallam and the other defendants face the same fate as others who have violated the protest law.

Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah – whose sister Sanaa was among the protesters arrested with Sallam – was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Ahmed Maher, cofounder of the April 6 Youth Movement, was sentenced to three years. Revolutionary Socialists member Mahinour al-Masry was sentenced to two years. These sentences are seen by activists as part of the government’s attempt to stifle dissent, while the state holds firmly to its right to maintain law and order.

The EIPR says all the measures taken against Sallam and her fellow detainees are punitive rather than legal. “We believe that they were arrested and are now being tried for practicing their right to freedom of expression,” it said in a statement. “We are concerned that Sallam in particular was arrested because of her work in human rights since her cousin, who was arrested with her in the same protest, was released on the same day and faced no charges.”

The statement contested the legality of the procedures taken against the defendants, especially the court’s decision to keep them detained until the trial. “The lawyer demanded that the defendants be released but the judge denied their request, which we see as a punishment for them since there is nothing in the case that necessitates detaining them for more than three months.”

The EIPR questioned the validity of the charges. “The defendants are, for example, charged with attacking a police car at a time when they had already been arrested and no weapons were found with them to prove they engaged in any acts of vandalism or violence. Add to that that the only witnesses are police officers.”

The statement also accused the authorities of depriving the defendants of their basic rights, and of hindering any assistance they could get. “The defendants were not allowed to contact their families and lawyers when they were arrested and the venue of the court session was changed without notifying the lawyers. The lawyers also faced huge challenges as they tried to gain access to the case files and to information on the whereabouts of their clients.”

The statement concluded: “We believe that the way the case is being handled puts into question the fairness of the trial.” These sentiments were echoed by Amnesty International in the case of Masry: “There is absolutely no evidence” that she “was involved in violence against the security forces. Her case is just the latest in a series of examples of the Egyptian authorities’ systematic attempts to stifle dissent, including by using the repressive protest law enacted last November.”

Masry “is a prisoner of conscience, convicted and sentenced solely for protesting peacefully,” Amnesty said. “The protest law allows the Egyptian authorities to ban demonstrations at their discretion and gives security forces a free rein to use force, including firearms, against peaceful protesters – a blatant violation of international law. It sends a clear message that there is no space in Egypt today for activism that is not directly sanctioned by the state.”

Several opposition parties issued a joint statement against the protest law days before the arrest of Sallam and her fellow activists. “In the context of the repeated court sentences, that come out almost daily… the undersigned parties cannot but renew their firm condemnation of the infamous and unconstitutional protest law, especially when it targets peaceful demonstrators who were seeking to express their opinions freely, which is a basic right in a developing democracy.” The statement objected to the authorities treating peaceful protestors as they do armed or violent groups, referring to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Support for the protest law

However, according to General Ahmed Gad Mansour, deputy interior minister and director of the Egyptian Police Academy: “Absolute freedom equals absolute chaos. There is a huge difference between protesting and practicing freedom in accordance with the law on one hand, and committing violations on the other hand. In fact, protest laws in many Western countries are much stricter than the one we have now in Egypt.”

Mahmoud Kubeish, professor of law and former dean of the School of Law at Cairo University, said. “We will never reach stability if people keep protesting without permits. Revoking the protest law is a crime and anyone who supports that is a party to incitement of chaos whether intentionally or unintentionally.”

Professor of international law Ayman Salama says the state has the right to take all necessary measures to maintain stability when national security is at risk, including passing laws in the absence of a parliament until one is elected.

“These laws could even violate the constitution or other existing laws, but become urgent at a certain time to preserve the existence of the state against a serious threat,” he said, referring to the Brotherhood, which “extracted itself from the national fabric and alienated all Egyptians.”

Salama slammed human rights groups and activists for objecting to the protest law while not reading its counterparts in other parts of the world. “In fact, international law does not recognize the right to protest, but only the right to peaceful assembly, which happens to be the means of protesting in other countries. The case is different in Egypt, where Molotov cocktails become the means of protesting.”

Lawyer and former presidential candidate Khaled Ali filed a lawsuit against the protest law, citing its violation of the constitutional right to peaceful protest. According to journalist Khaled Dawoud, the fact that the Administrative Court referred the case to the Supreme Constitutional Court means the argument against the law is valid, and gives newly-elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a way out.

“If the SCC finds the law unconstitutional, this will be a face-saving solution allowing Sisi to amend the law, while saying he respects the judiciary and did not simply bow to pressure from the opposition,” Dawoud said.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/06/24/Supermarket-sweep-Why-Egypt-is-clamping-down-on-MB-businesses.html

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/06/14/Does-Egypt-have-what-it-takes-to-stop-sexual-harassment-.html

A few days after the incident that sent shockwaves across all Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited the victim of sexual harassment incident that took place during the celebrations of his inauguration in downtown Cairo. She had sustained serious injuries as a result of the assault.

“I apologize to you and to every Egyptian woman,” he told the woman in her hospital bed as he presented her with a bunch of flowers. “And I promise that this will never happen again.” The visit, the first of its kind, was met with positive reactions on the part of rights organizations. For director of the Egyptian Center for Women Rights Nehad Abul Komsan, the visit heralds the beginning of “the new state,” one in which women issues will be given priority.

“I have witnessed three eras,” she said in a TV interview. “First the [Hosni] Mubarak era when we raised the issue of sexual harassment and were told to shut up, then the [Mohammad] Mursi era when harassed women were held accountable for the assaults they were subjected to. Finally, now women are beginning to have their restores.”

For Hafez Abu Saeda, chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the visit’s significance mainly lies in the president’s acknowledgment of sexual harassment as an alarming phenomenon.

“The president now admits to the danger sexual violence is posing to Egyptian society and has highlighted urgency of fighting it,” he said in a press interview. Mohamed Zarea, director of the Cairo-based Arab Penal Reform Organization, sees the visit as an initial deterrent. “Criminals have recently been escalating their assaults owing to the absence of a deterrent, but the visit is a message to them that this will no longer be the case.”

Law too lenient

However, neither the visit nor the positive reactions to it managed to assuage the concerns of a large number of activists and organizations who are still questioning whether the new sexual harassment law, officially added as an amendment to the Egyptian penal code a couple of days before the incident, will be capable of effectively curbing the phenomenon. In fact, objections to the law started well before the inauguration day incident. Mounira Sabri, a member of Egypt’s New Woman Organization, said that the law does not mention mob attacks or the use of weapons.

“The punishment stated by the law is also extremely lenient, especially that it makes it up to the judge to choose either a jail sentence or a fine as punishment,” she said. Sabri added that the law renders stalking a main component of the crime of harassment, which, she argues, is a major problem. “This will open the door for many interpretations of the action of ‘stalking’ plus harassment can be committed without following the victim at all.”

Fathi Farid, coordinator of the “I Saw Harassment” initiative, which encourages Egyptians to come forward if they spot any incidents, pointed out that one of the major problems of the law is the fact that the victim has to take the harasser with two witnesses to the police station. “The law did not also make it clear how the crime of harassment can be proven,” he said. Farid criticized the law’s failure to protect the victim properly.

Jail sentence, fine or both?

“The law mentioned nothing about the support offered to victims after the crime and nothing about specific cases like if the offender is the victim’s father or uncle,” he added. Farid also criticized the punishment, which he argued should be both a jail sentence and a fine that are determined in an ascending order in accordance with the severity of the crime. While Farid did not deny that issuing the law in itself is a step on the right path, he still questioned its ability to end sexual harassment. “It is a positive step no doubt, but it is a law for adapting to the crime rather than eliminating it.”

Mazan Hassam, director of Nazra for Feminist Studies, called for dedicating an entire chapter in the Egyptian penal code to sexual assaults on women. “This chapter should be entitled ‘Crimes of sexual violence’ and should include everything related to those crimes instead of having them now scattered across three chapters.”

Following the sexual assault incident, a group of women and human rights organizations issued a joint statement underlining the shortcomings of the current sexual harassment law and demanding amendments that would guarantee stricter penalties. “We demand adding a clear definition of rape that includes oral and anal rape and rape with knives and fingers as well as a clear definition of sexual assault,” said the statement. The signatories also called for an amendment that protects victims from other forms of harassment that follow reporting the crime, especially by the families of offenders.

Ibaa al-Tamimi, a spokesman of the Harass Map initiative, argued that the problem lies in the implementation rather than the text of the law and cited the police as the major challenge. “The police often tend to sympathize with harassers or be harassers themselves,” she told the Guardian. “Even when someone manages to get to the police station to report harassment, she will still encounter resistance from police officers, who will try to deter her from going through with filing the police report.” Two policemen interviewed by the Guardian had different views on the issue.

Ashamed

The first, Colonel Ahmed al-Dahaby, said that the problem is not the police as much as the society. “Our traditions are what stop people from filing charges. The girls are scared—they’re too ashamed,” he said. The second, who spoke on condition of anonymity, partly blamed women for the crime of sexual harassment. “The fault is a shared one between the guy and the girl—the girls because of the way they dress,” he said.

On the other hand, the sexual assault was seen by many as part of a conspiracy to tarnish Egypt’s image and ruin the inauguration day celebration. This view was supported by head of the National Council for Women Mervat al-Tellawi who accused the Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating the incident. “Women were dancing in front of polling stations on election days and nobody harassed them so what happened on the inauguration day is suspicious,” she said in a TV interview.

Conspiracy theories

“Those criminals were paid by the Muslim Brotherhood to ruin the happiness of the people.” Tellawi supported her argument with a tweet written by the daughter of senior Muslim Brotherhood leader and which read, “Even Tahrir Square, the icon of revolution and struggle for freedom, is now the square of dancing, harassment, and vice.” Hayat al-Shimi, member of the executive bureau of the National Front of the Women of Egypt, agreed with Tellawi. “This was a conspiracy to tarnish Egypt’s image in front of the world and the culprits infiltrated the square for this purpose,” she said. Sheikh Mazhar Shahin, the imam of Omar Makram Mosque in Tahrir Square, also accused the Muslim Brotherhood. “This is a trap,” he wrote, “We have taken part in a hundred protests before and this never happened. The timing shows that this is a conspiracy to embarrass Sisi.”

Talk about a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy was scoffed at by a number of activists and groups, who expressed their indignation at the denial of a problem as pressing as sexual harassment. In response to conspiracy theories about the sex attack, writer Mai Nour prepared a report that included U.N. statistics about sexual harassment in Egypt. “According to a U.N. Women study conducted in 2013, 96.5% of Egyptian women were subjected sexual harassment and in 93% of the cases the police do not come to their rescue even when being asked by the victims,” she wrote. Nour also mentioned virginity tests conducted on female protestors in March 2011 in the military prison as a form of state-sponsored sexual harassment.

Amid grave concerns, conspiracy theories, and alarming statistics state officials stress that the new law would gradually prove its effectiveness in curbing then eventually eliminating sexual harassment.

For Ahmed al-Sergani, deputy interior minister for human rights, criminalizing sexual harassment is in itself a major step. “For the first time the word ‘sexual harassment’ is mentioned is the penal code as a crime,” he said. Sergani also said that there is a plan for supporting victims of sexual harassment.” A special fund will be established in coordination with the National Council for Women for all sorts of violence against women including forced marriages and sexual exploitation,” he explained. “We are also working on establishing special sexual violence units in police stations where trained female cops can receive the victims.”

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/06/05/Egypt-s-new-president-an-incomplete-victory.html

On June 3, former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was officially declared Egypt’s president. His victory was not a surprise, but the percentage he scored, an overwhelming 96.9 percent, was.

Yet, the results, like the elections, remain controversial for while Sisi’s supporters see the number of votes he obtained as the ultimate proof of his entitlement to the presidency, his critics and several analysts prefer to look at the circumstances surrounding the results. And while the first camp views Sisi’s coming to power as a promising start to a new phase in Egypt’s political scene, the second foresees another era of state repression. Both parties, meanwhile, try to figure out the reasons and significance of such a victory.

More to Sisi’s victory

While admitting that unlike his rival Hamdeen Sabahi, Sisi did not offer a clear electoral program, former MP and political analyst Amr al-Shobki argued that there is more to Sisi’s victory than what he promised to do during his presidency and that analyzing the 2014 presidential elections through candidates’ platforms is rather unrealistic at this stage. “Egyptians overlooked the candidate who had a platform and instead voted for one who did not have one,” he wrote in part two of a series of articles entitled “Landslide victory,” which he dedicated to analyzing elections results. “Even though victory was expected, this percentage and in free and fair elections was really striking.”

According to Shobki, the slogan Sisi chose for his presidential campaign, “Long live Egypt,” although too broad, played a major role in earning him people’s support. “Many Egyptians were emotionally affected by this slogan since it came at a time when they felt that Egypt was under a real threat.” The Muslim Brotherhood, Shobki added, constituted a decisive factor in Sisi’s victory whether during their rule or after their ouster. “The fact that Sisi responded to the will of the people and ousted Mohammad Mursi made him very popular,” he explained. “The violent rhetoric of the Muslim Brotherhood following Mursi’s ouster enhanced this popularity and confirmed Sisi’s role as the nation’s savior.” Shobki also argues that for a large number of Egyptians, Sisi defied the United States when he ousted the Islamist regime it supported, thus creating a general sentiment of sovereignty. “Egypt had been a subordinate of the United States throughout the 30 years of Mubarak’s rule and the same happened when the Muslim Brotherhood came to power, so Sisi was for Egyptians the man who defied this subordination.” The turmoil witnessed by neighboring countries, Shobki noted, made Egyptians more convinced that Sisi is the right person at this stage. “Egyptians chose to support the state because they realized that its demise would be disastrous and for them Sisi was the one capable of keeping this state afloat.”

The number of votes

For writer Emile Amin, the number of votes Sisi got, as impressive as it was, is not the most important issue when examining why his victory is not an ordinary one. According to Amin, the 2014 presidential elections constituted the first real democratic practice since the 2011 revolution. “This was an election that used neither religion nor money to blackmail the Egyptian electorate,” wrote Amin, in reference in the Muslim Brotherhood’s campaigning tactics in parliamentary and presidential elections. Amin explained that for the first time, Egyptians went to the polls without being manipulated by the religious discourse or bribed with money and foodstuffs. In attempting to understand the reason for Sisi’s overwhelming victory, Amin cites Syrian thinker Hashem Saleh who interprets the rise of radicalism in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in the light of Hegel’s concept of “the cunning of reason” or “the cunning of history,” that is the way regressive powers play a role in introducing a progressive path. This, Amin argues, is what the Muslim Brotherhood did in Egypt and what eventually triggered the rise of Sisi. “The word “cunning” here is used in the positive rather than negative sense,” wrote Amin the article he called “Sisi’s victory and history’s ‘cunning’ with the Muslim Brotherhood.” “What does this mean in relation to the story of the Muslim Brotherhood and Sisi’s landslide victory? It means that history uses unexpected tools, like reactionary movements, to achieve progress and sometimes even needs those tools for higher ends and long-term plans.” Therefore, Amin explained, Egypt had to suffer from a wave of radicalism in order to pave the way for a new era of enlightenment and progress.

Sisi’s victory is also seen as a glimmer of hope for Egyptian Christians, who were subjected to waves of violence at the hands of radical Islamists during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. Bishop Adel Zaki, Egypt’s vicar for Latin Catholics, pointed out that Sisi’s era is expected to be one of stability for Christians. “Sisi has never said anything to show that he discriminates between Muslims and Christians and sectarian tension is not expected while he is in power,” he said in an interview. “It is well known that he is a religious man, but for him religion is a personal matter and his topmost priority is Egypt.” This was proven, Zaki added, when Sisi ousted the Muslim Brotherhood to save the country. “Hadn’t it been for him, a civil war would have broken out and we would have become another Iraq.”

Mara Revkin, while agreeing that Sisi’s victory dealt a strong blow to the Muslim Brotherhood, does not see an end to radicalism in Egypt in the near future. In her article “Brotherly love: Why Sisi’s win is good for al-Qaeda,” published in Foreign Affairs magazine, Revkin argues that Sisi’s victory gives militant Islamist groups a pretext for stepping up their jihadist activities now that they are certain that taking part in politics, as in the example of the Muslim Brotherhood, proved a failure. “From al-Qaeda’s perspective, the election results have validated its core ideological claim that violence—rather than peaceful participation in politics—is the way to build an Islamic state,” she wrote. Revkin supports her argument through citing al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri and other jihadist leaders who blamed the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood on choosing politics over militant jihad and predicts that Sisi’s coming to power might signal a joining of forces between al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood members still at large. “That leaves thousands of disillusioned Brotherhood supporters susceptible to recruitment by radical groups… Sisi’s victory is likely to perpetuate a vicious cycle of violence and retaliation between the military and the Islamists.”

Problematic victory

Political activist and chairman of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party Mohammad Abul Ghar sees the victory problematic in a different way. He first criticizes the way the state dealt with the electoral process especially as far as the low turnout is concerned. “The results of the elections were a foregone conclusion,” he said in his article “Sisi as president: A reading of the elections.” “That is why there was no justification for the state’s exaggerated agitation and which drove the presumably independent elections committee to extent voting for a third day, close several shopping malls, and threaten to impose a fine on boycotters.” Those measures, Abul Ghar noted, not only tarnished the image of the committee, but also revealed that extra efforts were made to attract more voters contrary to expectations. “Sisi’s campaign and others expected that at least 80 percent of registered voters would go to polling stations and vote for him and were surprised to see that less than half of them took part and that more than one million spoilt their votes in objection.”

This, Abul Ghar argued, puts into question Sisi’s popularity, which was thought to be overwhelming following his ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abul Ghar lists the problems that, from his point ofview, led more than half the voters not to support Sisi. “First, there is an obvious problem in Sisi’s relationship with the youths, who constitute 50 percent of the voters. Second, Sisi is surrounded by several figures from the Mubarak regime who think they can regain their power. Third, Sisi is totally neglecting all political powers including ones that supported him. Fourth, Sisi’s campaign was too over-confident.” Abul Ghar added that leading members in Sisi’s campaign might have been from the military and those had already proven their limited political expertise while results could have been better had the campaign been run by veteran politicians. Another obstacle that stands between Sisi and a sizable portion of Egyptians, Abul Ghar explained, is his stance on the shape of the next regime. “Many Egyptians fear the return of Mubarak’s dictatorship and Sisi did not say explicitly that he supports democracy, human rights, the constitution, and the separation of powers.” Sisi’s electoral economic plans, Abul Ghar added, are not applicable. “An economic program that depends on internal and external aid is unrealistic.” Abul Ghar also commented on the fact that Salafi factions declared full support for Sisi in the presidential elections then “stayed at home” as he put it.

In “When facts are falsified through song and dance,” Tarek Mustafa Salam saw the elections as having dealt a “fatal blow” to Sisi despite the victory. For Salam, the reaction of the media to the low turnout proves Sisi’s failure to garner the support he expected. “We saw TV presenters in different pro-Sisi satellite channels getting hysterical as they insulted Egyptians and called them unpatriotic and Muslim Brotherhood agents,” he wrote. “And we saw them giving lame excuses for the low turnout like the hot weather.” According to Salam, celebrations that swept Egyptian streets following the declaration of Sisi’s victory were only a way to cover up the failure to rally all Egyptians behind Sisi. “Only in Egypt are facts falsified through dancing and singing,” he wrote. In fact, Salam argued that the circumstances surrounding Sisi’s victory only confirm that ousted former-President Mursi is still Egypt’s legitimate leader, yet he denies being a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. “My stance does not mean that I support t Muslim Brotherhood rule… I only support justice wherever it is and democracy no matter what its results are,” he concluded.

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“As presidential elections approach, it is more than likely thatEgypt will continue to see attacks,” said David Barnett, analyst at the U.S.-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, in anticipation of rising violence by extremist groups opposed to the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood and the candidacy of former Defense Minister and Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Barnett’s predictions started materializing when three Egyptian soldiers were killed in a drive-by shooting on May 20, one day after the conclusion of overseas voting, in which Sisi scored a 94 percent victory. With the number of Egyptian police and army personnel killed by militiamen reaching at least 500 since the toppling of Mursi and with homeland elections, scheduled for May 26 and 27, going on, fears of intensified attacks are growing and so are the state’s precautionary measures to counter them.

Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim had announced on May 4 that the ministry has prepared a comprehensive plan in coordination with the army to secure the electoral process. ” I promise the people that we will pass this critical stage until the elections are safely completed,” he said in a press conference. “All that I ask of them is to report anything suspicious even if it proves unreal in the end.” While reassuring voters, Ibrahim noted the practical impossibility of installing surveillance cameras in every street. “We don’t have that kind oftechnology but we will do our best.” It was not until the last attack took place, however, that the ministry started giving more details. Deputy Interior Minister General al-Shafei Abu Amer announced on May 21 that “deterrent forces” from the army will start deploying around polling stations two days before the start of the elections. “Those forces are used for the first time for immediate intervention in emergency situations,” he said in a press interview. “They will be especially stationed in restive areas where groups that aim to destabilize security and undermine the democratic process are influential.” The army, Abu Ameradded, will provide explosives experts and advanced equipment that detects bombs from a distance and allow immediate action. “All forces will be in contact with operation rooms that will be run by police and army leaderships.”

Ready for all sorts of scenarios

On May 25, Abu Amer said the ministry is ready for all sorts of scenarios including the worst, by which he meant violence and bombings that aim at stopping the elections. “Other than that, our general plan includes securing not only all polling stations but all the streets surrounding them and different routes voters are expected to take on their way in and out,” he said in a press interview. “This is a big challenge that we have to face.” Interior Ministry official spokesman Hani Abdul Latif said that police checkpoints points will be present in streets and highways across the country and security will be tightened in areas surrounding strategic facilities like police stations and prisons. AbdelLatif echoed Abu Amer’s statement about the ministry’s readiness for different scenarios while giving more details on what these scenarios are expected to be like. “We are ready for riots like those practiced by the Muslim Brotherhood during their protests, terrorist operations like detonations and booby-trapped cars, and direct attacks on polling stations,” he said in a press interview. “I am warning all those who dare think of disrupting the elections and I am telling them that they will only have themselves to blame.” The Egyptian Air Forces will take part in monitoring the elections through taking aerial pictures of the polling stations and sending them to the main operations room as well as serving as ambulances in cases of violent clashes and emergency situations. Air Forces planes will also transfer more than 1,100 judges in charge of monitoring the elections to the polling stations to which they were assigned in remote areas across the country. On the regional level, a delegation from the Egyptian Interior Ministry received 15 armored vehicles from the United Arab Emirates to help in securing the electoral process and countering any possible attacks. “This step comes against the backdrop of escalating terrorist attacks that targeted Egyptian forces since the ouster of Mohammad Mursi and in anticipation of more attempts to disrupt the presidential elections,” wrote journalist Mahmoud Sabri on the news website erem.com.

The minister of communications and information technology said that 2,000 digital readers will be used in the upcoming elections to identify eligible voters. “Those readers were used before in proxies for potential presidential candidates and changing voters’ addresses as well as in oversees voting,” he told Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency (MENA). The Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), affiliated with the Egyptian Cabinet, will form a central operations room fully equipped to be in contact with another subsidiary 27 operations rooms throughout the country. “The operations room will also be connected to several ministries like defense, interior, health, and local development as well as other relevant bodies like the Ambulance Authority,” said IDSC chairman Sherif Badr. “Our role in monitoring the elections is part of the state’s effort to facilitate the process and deal with any upcoming obstacles.” According to MENA, official representatives of Egypt’s governorates met on May 24 to confirm that all preparations for the elections have been completed with special focus on services that ensure the smooth progress of the voting process like electricity and the installation of generators in areas where blackouts are frequent in addition to ensuring easy communication among polling stations. Minister of Local and Administrative Development AdelLabib confirmed the readiness of all governorates to carry out the elections. “All the polling stations are now ready,” he said in a statement. “Everyone is on duty and officials in each governorate will pass by the polling stations to ensure the process is going on smoothly.” Labib added that all details have been taken care of, including the availability of enough chairs for senior citizens. The Ministry of Health declared a state of alert as it readied itself for possible injuries in case of attacks and/or clashes. ” The Crisis Management Committee will be working nonstop throughout the two days,” said Health Minister Adel Adawi during the meeting he held with members of the committee to oversee the final preparations for elections.

“Ministry officials will be making tours in hospitals to make sure all the required equipment and medicine are available.” The ministry had announced earlier that all hospitals will be on alert to receive emergency cases and 2,500 ambulances will be made available throughout the country.

Anti-riot forces

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim surveyed the anti-riot forces that are to take place in securing the elections. “I have come to convey to you the gratitude of all the Egyptian people,” Mehleb addressed the officers. “Egypt appreciates all the sacrifices offered by police officers at this critical stage in order to keep it safe and fight terrorism,” Mehleb added. He further added that he is sure that the police and the army will together be able to secure the elections and Ibrahim seconded his opinion as he praised the role of the police in “protecting the people and the land.”

A large number of non-state bodies are also getting ready for securing the elections, though in a different manner. The Journalists’ Syndicate announced forming its own operations room to monitor the elections and to receive instant reportsfrom field journalists as well as any complaints in case they are subjected to harassment or violence while doing their job. Several rights organizations declared a state of emergency as they prepared to detect any violations. More than 6,500 monitor from 38 organizations that obtained monitoring permissions are preparing to spread across polling stations after receiving training by the National Council for Human Rights. The council also formed an operations room to monitor the elections under the leadership of deputy chairman AbdelGhafar Shokr. “The operations room will receive complaints and violation reports from voters and representatives from both presidential campaigns” said the council chairman Mohammad Fayek. “Its members will also meet with delegations from different local and international organizations that will take part in monitoring the elections so that the council can make sure their job is done smoothly.” The Network for the Protection of Egyptian Children formed a team that will be in charge of detecting the use of children in any form of campaigning or violence or for any political purposes during the two days of the elections.” After the results are out, we will report all the problems we traced to the president elect and present to him our vision for the future of Egyptian children,” said a statement issued by the network.

Logistical obstacles

The Ibn Khaldoun Center for Developmental Studies focused on logistical obstacles that might be facing a sizable portion of voters. Dalia Ziyada, the center’s executive manager, called upon the Higher Elections Committee to solve the problem of Egyptians living outside their hometowns. “Egyptians living far from the governorates in which they are registered are required by the Higher Elections Committee to register at their governorates of residence if they want to vote there,” she said in a press interview. “The problem is that many of them did not register and are unable to go back to their hometowns.” Ziyada demanded that the committee allows those voters to register at the polling station or online. The center, Ziyada added, will contribute to the monitoring process with 3,500 monitors.

The European Observation Mission (EOM), affiliated to the European Union, announced it will take part in monitoring Egyptian presidential elections after an impasse caused by the confiscation of its telecommunication equipment and medical kits by Egyptian authorities was finally resolved. The confiscation had led the mission to earlier announce it was unable to monitor the elections and would only send a team to evaluate the electoral process, yet the situation changed after Egyptian customs released the equipment. “Our equipment has been released from customs,” announced European Parliament member and chief of observers Mario David “EOM is able to continue to observe the presidential election in Egypt as widely as possible throughout the country.” David, however, mad sure to stress that monitoring the elections does not in any way reflect the EU’s political views on the elections, but will only monitor the process. “The EOM neither legitimatizes the elections nor validates the results,” he said in a press conference.

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On May 5 and 6, former army chief and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made his first TV appearance after officially announcing his intention to run for president. The lengthy interview, in which the man who toppled former President Muhammad Mursi spoke of his electoral platform, has been the subject of much analysis in the Egyptian media.

The focus has not been on the retired Field Marshal’s manifesto as much as his attitude. Commentators laid more emphasis on analyzing his character through his answers and reactions, as well as predicting the interview’s impact on the results of the elections, to be held on May 26 and 27.

While a sizable portion of analysts seem to see Sisi as another dictator who would crush opposition and curb freedoms, others consider his firmness as a much-needed advantage. In both cases, little is said about what he actually has to offer if he becomes president.

Journalist Wael Eskander was one of the first to comment on the interview in his article “Sisi in the hot seat: reading between the lines,” published on May 7 by the Atlantic Council.

While saying Sisi “came out a hero” when he talked about the ouster of Mursi and complying with the will of the Egyptian people, Eskander added that he was not able to handle many of the discussion topics, either by not giving direct answers, or avoiding some issues altogether.

“Even though he was only pressed lightly, there was an air of impatience in his tone and mannerisms,” wrote Eskander. “At one point he rebuked the presenters saying, ‘Do you want to listen or do you want to talk?’” According to the journalist, Sisi offered nothing new because he was addressing his “fan base,” rather than attempting to gain more supporters.

“As he tries to build on past popularity, he must realize he will have to offer something new if his popularity is to be sustained,” wrote Eskander. “His answers indicated that the height of his ambitions is to restore order through existing institutions, keep the Muslim Brotherhood at bay and keep the country afloat.”

Eskander’s views are shared by many commentators whose apprehensions about Sisi’s possible ascension to power have intensified following the interview. For writer Fahmi Howeidi, there were two major concerns. First, Sisi maintained a military tone that contradicted the fact that is he a civilian presidential candidate.

“The general in him was much more present than the presidential candidate,” Howeidi wrote in his article “Idealizing the president of Egypt.” Sisi “might have taken off his military uniform and put on a civilian suit, but this was only a matter of appearance… 45 years of military service cannot be wiped out in a few months.”

Secondly, while sounding strict domestically, Sisi seemed very conciliatory towards countries currently seen as adversaries, such as Qatar and Turkey, and others that are viewed as enemies, such as Israel.

“This lenient tone… became very firm and unyielding when he talked about democracy, protests, and political Islam and when he rejected any form of dialogue with factions he stated clearly would have no place during his rule,” wrote Howeidi.

Military tone

Tamer Abu Arab seconded Howeidi’s opinion regarding Sisi’s military tone. “I won’t allow you to say the word ‘junta’ again,” said Sisi during the interview, adding that the Egyptian army should be referred to as “the military institution.” Abu Arab says this gives an insight into the type of president Sisi will be if he wins the elections.

“Now he is – supposedly – a civilian candidate who has not become president yet and has not yet possessed any tools of power, yet he says to a prominent anchor, who is also one of his supporters, ‘I will not allow you’,” wrote Abu Arab. “Just imagine what he would do to a humble member of the opposition when he becomes president and all state institutions come under his control.”

He attributes Sisi’s attitude to his army background, and says military leaders in general do not believe in the power of the people. “We don’t have one example of a military leader who respected the people or shared power with them,” wrote Abu Arab. “He might sympathize with the people or work on making their living standards better… but he would do that in a patriarchal, condescending manner.”

Balshi added that Sisi “said he consulted his family, but said that when it comes to the country he does not pay attention to family concerns. He wanted to make it clear that he has the final say even if he consults his family. He is the man of the house.”

Sisi displayed the same attitude, Balshi wrote, when asked whether he took the army’s permission. “He said it clearly and more than once: ‘The army chief notifies and does not obtain permission’.”

For Balshi, like Eskander, Sisi was only speaking to his supporters. “He was not concerned at all with addressing his critics. To me he looked like he only cared about keeping his already existing supporters while totally ignoring all the others.” Balshi added that those “others” constitute a sizable portion of Egyptians who demand real democracy and more freedoms.

Blaming the interviewers

Other critics of the interview shifted the blame to the TV presenters. Journalist Ahmed al-Saeidi lists 50 questions about security, society, politics, diplomacy, economics and the environment that should have been asked but were not.

“Sisi said it hurts him to see Egyptian women insulted. What about virginity tests conducted while he was head of military intelligence?” asked Saeidi. “What would he do as president that he was unable to do as minister of defense and vice president for security? Why were most Jihadists released… while he was head of military intelligence?”

Egyptian director Mohamed Khan accused the interviewers of siding with Sisi or being “too soft on him.” However, writer Mohamed Habib saw the interview as an important step towards establishing a closer relationship between Sisi and the Egyptian people. He said the interview revealed Sisi’s human side, as well as a strong personality, determination and firmness.

“His tone became angry when he talked about threats to national security, terrorism, and the return of the Muslim Brotherhood. The spirit of the army with all its history, victories, and dignity was very present at that moment,” Habib wrote.

He praised Sisi’s approach to the Palestinian cause: “He said he is committed to the peace treaty [with Israel] but will not be able to receive the Israeli prime minister or visit Israel until a Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Habib did not see a problem in Sisi scolding the interviewers for not listening. “I agreed with Sisi when he told presenters that he is the one who is supposed to talk. Most presenters ruin interviews through interrupting their guests unnecessarily which makes the audience unable to follow.”

Abdullah al-Mughazi, spokesman for Sisi’s presidential campaign, refuted claims that the interview did not contain anything new. According to Mughazi, Sisi talked about several main points in his electoral program, including projects concerning the Suez Canal, the development of the Sinai Peninsula, and the re-mapping of Egypt’s administrative divisions. “These are all projects that were very well-studied,” the spokesman said.

This interview, and others to follow, will be the means by which Sisi’s program is made public, Mughazi added. “Sisi’s electoral program won’t be printed, but will reach the people through a series of interviews since interaction is always more effective,” he said. Mursi “had a printed program that contained big dreams, none of which came true. Sisi, on the other hand, is a man of action.”

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“An open invitation to an outlawed assembly” is the name the April 6 Youth Movement gave to the protest it held on April 30 against the controversial court ruling that banned the group’s activities and ordered the closure of all its offices. The April 28 verdict was issued by the Court for Urgent Matters in response to a lawsuit filed by Egyptian lawyer Ashraf Saeid, who accused the group of espionage and defamation of Egypt’s image.

“We’re gathering here today to declare that the ban is of no value to us,” said Amr Ali, April 6 coordinator from the protest in downtown Cairo. “No judge has the right to ban a group with the history and influence of April 6 in 24 hours.” Such verdicts, Ali added, have become a tool used by the state to crush opposition since the June 30 protests that toppled the Muslim Brotherhood and brought the military back to power.

Ali was reiterating the main points in a statement issued by the movement after the ban. It said April 6 was not only a movement, but also “an idea,” and so cannot be outlawed. It pledged to continue its activism as part of its belief in “freedom of expression as a basic human right granted by the constitution as long as it is done peacefully.” The state “has become so fragile that the chants of protestors would defame its image.”

Al-Dostour party said in a statement: “The April 6 ban constitutes a serious threat to democratic progress and a violation of the principles of the January 25 and June 30 revolutions.” The rule of law, the statement argued, is being compromised through levelling unfounded accusations. “Where did these charges come from? What is the evidence that April 6 is guilty of such grave crimes?”

The Free Egyptian Party posed the same questions, and demanded a detailed public account of the legal bases on which the verdict was issued. “We are extremely concerned that such rulings are only motivated by political animosities,” said the party’s statement. “In this case, being silent about it would constitute a political and ethical crime, especially that in the future all is bound to suffer the same fate.”

Ziad al-Eleimi, former MP and member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, wrote: “How could you ban a group that is not a legal entity to start with? And how are they going to closethe ‘offices’ of April 6? Will they close all the coffee houses in downtown Cairo?”

For leftist presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, the April 6 ban is detrimental to freedom of expression. “The verdict is in violation of the entire chapter on freedoms in the constitution that was approved by the Egyptian people,” he said. Sabahi’s presidential campaign issued a statement warning of the potential return of “the state of repression, banning, and confiscation,” and of undermining the goals of the revolution.

“The campaign is against the April 6 ban not only because restriction of freedom of expression is a characteristic of non-democratic regimes, but also because it is likely to bring about violence and extremism,” said the statement. “We do respect the independence of the judiciary, but we would never accept its politicization.”

The Revolution Path Front declared its solidarity with April 6, whose members it described as “partners in the struggle for freedom.” The front said Egyptian revolutionaries would never give up their right to protest until the goals of the Jan. 25 revolution are reached.

“We will keep fighting and will not be hampered by laws that have nothing to do with the law,” it said in a statement, referring to the new protest law under which founding members of April 6, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel, are serving three-year jail sentences.
The April 6 ban, the statement added, is part of a series of verdicts that prove the damage that has befallen the judiciary. “This is, in fact, the same damage that can been seen all over state institutions at the moment.”

For the Muslim Brotherhood, declared a terrorist organization by the state, the April 6 ban places the two groups in the same position. “Welcome to the camp of the outlawed,” said Brotherhood leading member Gamal Abdel Sattar, addressing April 6.

Support for the ban

Activist and former MP Hamdi al-Fakharani said: “Banning the activities of April 6 was a matter of national urgency. Several of the movement’s leaders maintained suspicious ties with foreign entities that worked on undermining Egypt’s security.” The ban should be applied to any group that operates outside the law and outside state control, he added. “Those groups infiltrate Egyptian society in order to inflict harm upon it.”

Mohamed Abu Hamed, former MP and current leader of Al-Sisi Supporters Movement, which campaigns for presidential candidate and former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, described the ban as “patriotic,” citing the movement’s alleged role in threatening national security.

“Banning illegal and suspicious groups is necessary to protect Egypt and its people, and to prevent those groups from recruiting Egyptian youths for foreign organizations.” Abu Hamed urged the Foreign Ministry to issue a “strong-worded” statement rejecting any interference in Egypt’s affairs and court rulings, referring to international condemnation of the ban especially by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.

Tarek al-Kholi, a former April 6 member who is currently part of Sisi’s presidential campaign, attributed the court ruling to a series of mistakes committed by the group, which had cost it popularity. “This ban was imposed by the people before the court,” he said.

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On April 21, Ali Reda, head of the Touristic Investment Authority in the Red Sea, voiced the objection of the authority’s board of directors, the owners of hotels and tourist facilities, and tourism sector staff to the Egyptian government’s plan to use coal as an alternative source of energy. He underlined the damage that would specifically befall this coastal part of the country if the plan is implemented.

“Coal will be detrimental to tourism in the Red Sea,” he said in a press statement. “It will pollute the environment, harm people’s health, and destroy marine life especially coral reefs.” Reda specifically objected to importing coal through Safaga, a major Red Sea port, since, he argued, the resulting damage would also extend to the infrastructure.

“The highways in this area are not fit for the transportation of coal from Safaga so the roads will be substantially damaged,” he said. “Add to that a remarkable increase in road accidents.” Ahmed Droubi, coordinator of the Egyptians Against Coal movement, agreed with this last point: “Eight million tons of coal a year would require 250,000 to 500,000 trucks on our roads carrying coal. Can you imagine that?”

Coal critics

Reda and the tourism sector he represents constitutes the latest addition to a long list of critics of the Egyptian government’s decision to import coal for powering cement factories.

Approved by the Egyptian cabinet on April 2, the decision followed a significant cut in natural gas supplies to cement factories to solve the problem of frequent power outages that, occurring almost on a daily basis, had been subjecting government performance to scathing criticism.

During the meeting in which the decision was made, the cabinet stressed its “commitment to all precautionary measures recommended by the World Health Organization and to enforcing those measures on all facilities that manufacture, import, transport, store, or use coal,” according to the cabinet’s official statement.

The government, the statement added, would also work on modifying the environmental law so that violating facilities would be penalized. “A tax will also be imposed on factories that use coal.”

Minister of Environmental Affairs Laila Iskander said: “I have failed to convince the government to retract its decision to import coal. My team and I were unable to make them see the magnitude of the hazards of importing coal and the environmental disaster that would follow.”

Iskander, who warned that using coal as a source of energy would turn Egypt into “a carbon state,” said that despite the objections, the ministry will have to do its part if coal is to be imported anyway.

“We cannot allow divisions within the government and have to work together,” she said. “What can be done now is setting the environmental rules that should regulate importing, transporting, storing, and using coal. We are working on that now.”

Iskander explained that three teams in the ministry are working on a plan to minimize the harm of coal.

“The first team is working on modifying the environmental law, the second on setting requirements and regulations, and the third on preparing for the measurement of harmful coal emissions,” she said. Commenting on the third team’s job, Iskander said the ministry still needs to procure the necessary equipment. “This needs to be done as soon as possible.”

Iskander is to be subpoenaed on May 10 by the Administrative Court for the lawsuit filed by leftist activist and rights lawyer Khaled Ali against the cabinet’s decision to import coal. Ali’s lawsuit is part of an expansive campaign launched by a number of activists and rights organizations to stop the import of coal.

Blind eye to the disaster

A joint statement by several rights and environmental groups accused the government of giving in to pressure by cement factories while turning a blind eye to the disastrous impact of coal on Egypt and its citizens.

“Cement investors are waging a political and media war to push the government to overlook the hazards of using coal through taking advantage of the current energy crisis and promising to reduce cement prices in return,” said the statement. “The cabinet is siding with those investors and ignoring the studies that underline the grave consequences of such a decision.”

In addition to the general environmental hazards, the statement specifically highlighted the impact of using coal on residents of areas surrounding cement factories, and which is expected to last for several generations. The signatories expressed their surprise that while the world’s biggest industrial countries are moving away from coal, Egypt insists on using it.

“In Germany, 61% of energy used in the cement industry is generated from waste and in the Netherlands, the percentage rose to 98% in 2009.” According to the statement, several developing countries are also working on long-term plan to discard polluting sources of energy. “Kenya is expected to generate 50% of its energy from solar energy by 2016 while Morocco will generate 42% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.”

Egyptians Against Coal, one of the signatories of the above statement, emerged as the most vocal opponent to the use of coal. Comprised of rights activists and environmental experts, the group launched a campaign to underline the damaging effects of coal.

According to a statement issued by the group, the only beneficiary of the cabinet’s decisions are cement investors whose profits will skyrocket after using a cheap source of energy such as coal. The main loser is the Egyptian people, whose health will suffer drastically.

“Coal affects the brain, the nerves, the lungs, and the blood. Research proved that inhaling coal dust causes redox reactions and increases chances of lung cancer, blood viscosity, and narrowed blood vessels.” All these effects, the statement explained, are the result of being around coal, and before even starting the process of burning it to generate power.

The group questioned the government’s allegations about the use of coal being a temporary solution. “The use of coal requires a significant change in the infrastructure, which would make Egypt dependent on it for at least the coming 40 years. We can already see other industries like iron and steel and tiles asking to use coal, too.”

Minister of Trade, Energy and Investment Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour was among the most prominent senior officials who supported the cabinet’s decision. Abdel Nour said Egypt is facing a real energy crisis and coal offers a realistic solution. “Energy shortage is a major challenge to economic and industrial development, especially with oil and natural gas being unable to meet all demands,” he said.

Several developed countries have had positive experiences with coal as long as regulations are applied, he added. Abdel Nour, who announced that coal will start to be used as of September, argued that while depending on new and renewable sources of energy is vital, it does not offer an immediate solution.

“Those offer medium- to long-term solutions, while we need alternative sources of energy as soon as possible to supply industrial needs, attract investment, and create more job opportunities,” he said.

Minister of Electricity and Energy Mohamed Shaker adopted the same view, as he unraveled plans to construct a coal-operated power station in the Red Sea to solve the problem of blackouts, and downplayed fears of harmful effects. “Power-generating stations have now reached the highest levels of technology so emissions are reduced to the minimum,” he said.

Owners of cement factories see importing coal as the only available way to save their businesses, which had for a long time depended on subsidized natural gas. “My factories completely stopped operating for almost a month last summer,” said Moataz Mahmoud, who owns cement factories in the Upper Egyptian cities of Qena and Aswan. “We have a huge energy crisis.”

In response to the argument about the effect on coal on residents in neighborhoods close to the factories, Mahmoud said this only applies to a few cases. “Most of the factories are far away from residential areas, so why don’t they give at least approval now to the factories that are far away?”

Ramah Taha, managing director of a cement factory in Aswan, said the cement sector submitted a study that details the plan cement factories are to follow in order to ensure the safest use of coal.

“The study included all the precautions that we would take in order to use coal, the specifications of the filters, mills, and ports, and all the involved ministries agreed, including the prime minister, except for the minister of environmental affairs,” he said.