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News Release Archive | Egypt | Accuracy.Org

Rise of the Egyptian Junta

June 20, 2012

PHILIP RIZK, rizkphilip at googlemail.com, @tabulagaza
Rizk is an independent blogger and filmmaker based in Cairo. He has been warning of the actions of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces since the uprising last year. See Institute for Public Accuracy news release: “From Cairo: Egypt’s Military Leading the Counter-Revolution?”

Also, see: “Egypt One Year After the Uprising, Protests Continue Against Junta.”

SEIF DA’NA, dana at uwp.edu
Seif Da’Na is an associate professor of sociology and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside specializing in the Mideast and North Africa. He said today: “Egypt’s SCAF [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] exploited the transitional period and people’s faith in the armed forces to abort the revolution through a slowly, but well-planned coup. The outcome is a major setback to the revolution in Egypt and the region, but might result in significantly weakening the Muslim Brotherhood, whose performance during this period not only divided the revolution camp but also enabled SCAF to carry out its premeditated scheme.

“On June 14, 2012, SCAF initiated what most commentators, as well as Egypt’s activists, believe was nothing less than a coup d’etat. Egypt’s High Constitutional Court, whose justices are remnants of Mubarak’s regime, dissolved the newly democratically elected parliament. Later, the Minister of Interior Affairs issued a decree empowering military police and intelligence to indefinably arrest any person considered a threat to public order, which restores the 30-year-old emergency law that was revoked a few weeks ago due to activists’ pressure.

“On the eve of the run-off election, the coup was completed with SCAF’s second constitutional declaration that basically revokes the president’s power and places him under its power, in addition to taking over the legislative power of the dissolved Parliament. This renders an expected victory of Mohammad Mursi (the Muslim Brotherhood candidate) rather insignificant (the official results of the runoff elections are scheduled to be announced on Thursday, but both campaigns contest the claims of the other).”

See on twitter.com/accuracy/egypt.

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Middle East, Philip Rizk, Seif Da'Na,

Egypt: Behind the Chaos

June 14, 2012

The Guardian headlines their Mideast blog “Egypt’s Transition Plunged into Chaos.” The Wall Street Journal reports: “Egypt’s highest court ruled on Thursday to allow a former regime loyalist to run in presidential elections starting Saturday and to dissolve both houses of Egypt’s parliament, in verdicts that could add another pressure point to Egypt’s already fraught transition from military rule to democracy.

“The verdicts come only two days before run-off elections for Egypt’s next president start on Saturday, and only two weeks before the ruling council of generals had promised to hand over its executive authority to the newly-elected head of state.”

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera is reporting: “Egypt’s justice ministry has issued a decree allowing military police and intelligence officers to arrest civilians suspected of crimes, restoring some of the powers of the decades-old emergency law which expired just two weeks ago.”

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN, amadea311 at earthlink.net,
Loewenstein is faculty associate in Middle East Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She said today: “The Supreme Court ruled that Ahmed Shafiq can run in the election even though he was part of the Mubarak regime — he was the last prime minister — and even though the court has ruled that others associated with the Mubarak regime cannot stand for office. Meanwhile, the other candidate, Muhammed Morsi, is the candidate put forth by the Muslim Brotherhood — though they initially said they would not field a candidate. While the Brotherhood represents the oldest and most well-organized political party in modern Egypt, it nevertheless sat on the sidelines of the uprisings in Tahrir Square when they were at their most popular and intense. There is real irony in the fact that neither of the two contenders for president of a new, democratic Egypt represents the people and organizations whose energy and motivation set the Egyptian Revolution in motion. The ramifications of this situation could be profound.”

JIHAN HAFIZ, fahema22 at gmail.com
REED LINDSAY, reedlindsay at yahoo.com
Hafiz is The Real News correspondent in Cairo. Lindsay is bureau chief there. See their recent reports.

KHALED BEYDOUN, khaled.beydoun at earla.org
Beydoun is with the Egyptian American Rule of Law Association. He said today: “The Egyptian Courts, and SCAF [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces], are not only undermining the self-determination millions of Egyptian’s marched and rallied for during the January 25th Revolution, but also manipulating a result advantageous to a select few of elites — many of whom are remnants or proxies of the toppled government. Much of what SCAF’s strategy is an extension of what Mubarak did for decades: If not for us, the nation will degenerate into chaos.”

See on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/accuracy/egypt

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Egypt, Egyptian Election, Jennifer Loewenstein, Jihan Hafiz, Khaled Beydoun, Middle East, Reed Lindsay,

* U.S. “Hard Line” on Iran * Egyptian Election

May 25, 2012

GARETH PORTER, porter.gareth50 at gmail.com
Porter is an investigative journalist and historian specializing in U.S. national security policy. He has been writing extensively about the Iranian nuclear talks, including the new piece “U.S. Hard Line in Failed Iran Talks Driven by Israel,” which states: “Negotiations between Iran and the United States and other members of the P5+1 group in Baghdad ended in fundamental disagreement Thursday over the position of the P5+1 offering no relief from sanctions against Iran. The two sides agreed to meet again in Moscow Jun. 18 and 19, but only after Iran had threatened not to schedule another meeting, because the P5+1 had originally failed to respond properly to its five-point plan. The prospects for agreement are not likely to improve before that meeting, however, mainly because of an inflexible U.S. diplomatic posture that reflects President Barack Obama’s need to bow to the demands of Israel and the U.S. Congress on Iran policy.”

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS, sharif at democracynow.org, @sharifkouddous
Sharif Abdel Kouddous is Democracy Now! correspondent in Cairo. See his reporting on the election.

JIHAN HAFIZ, fahema22 at gmail.com
Hafiz is The Real News correspondent in Cairo. See her recent reports.

MATTHEW CASSEL, justimage at gmail.com, @justimage
Cassel is an Al-Jazeera journalist in Cairo.

Tagged With: Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Gareth Porter, Iran, Jihan Hafiz, Matthew Cassel, Middle East, nuclear, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,

Egyptian Election: Will the Military and Establishment Retain Power?

May 23, 2012

SEIF DA’NA, dana at uwp.edu
Seif Da’Na is an associate professor of sociology and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside specializing in the Mideast and North Africa. He said today: “The Egyptian presidential election are being held today and tomorrow, with a highly possible run-off on June 16 and 17, is a significant step in Egypt’s political and democratic transformation. However, the multi-candidate presidential election, including two high ranking officials of the ousted Mubarak regime (Ahmad Shafiq, former prime minister, and Amr Mousa, former foreign minister and secretary general of the League of Arab States) might not put an end to the control of the SCAF [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces].

“The new president will have to take on serious challenges from day one (regional, economic, political, and administrative, etc.) but the president faces the ambiguity of his role and limits of his power. The new constitution has not been drafted and SCAF will still hold the real power. It is unlikely that the presidential election will put an end to the ongoing protests in Egypt, as long as people realize that SCAF is still the real ruler of Egypt and that their demands have to be negotiated in the street.”

On Jan. 25 of last year, the day the Egyptian uprising began, Da’Na was featured on an Institute for Public Accuracy news release stating that the protests represented the “beginning of a new era.“

See report by Sharif Abdel Kouddous from Cairo on Democracy Now.

Tagged With: Ahmad Shafiq, Amr Mousa, Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Middle East, Seif Da'Na,

Drop Egypt’s Debt: IMF Loan May be “Odious”

April 20, 2012

Reuters is reporting: “The International Monetary Fund said on Friday Egypt’s government and political partners have made good progress in agreeing on the content of an IMF funding program for the country. … Egypt and the IMF are in discussions on a $3.2 billion loan program. The IMF is insisting that any agreement on financing is backed by Egypt’s government and political partners ahead of June elections.”

As the IMF and World Bank meetings begin Friday in Washington, D.C., the Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debt sent a letter to both expressing its reservations about the interim government’s intent to take more loans — and most explicitly the $3.2 billion IMF loan. In its letter, the PCDED highlights the unelected Egyptian government’s lack of transparency — “the government continues to conceal the details of the economic program that is associated with the loan that Egypt is currently negotiating with the IMF” — and state that such a loan may constitute illegitimate odious debt.

AHMAD SHOKR, shokr.ahmad at gmail.com
SALMA HUSSEIN, salmaahussein at gmail.com
Shokr and Hussein are members of the the Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debt, which sent the following letter to Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF:

Dear Ms. Christine Lagarde,

The Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debt is writing you to raise concerns on the way the IMF loan is being negotiated and propose actions by the IMF to correct the problems.

Unfortunately the Egyptian government continues to pursue the same style of the pre-January revolution loan handling. For example, the government continues to conceal the details of the economic program that is associated with the loan that Egypt is currently negotiating with the IMF. This approach is reflected in that:

1. The government has not disseminated the economic reform program through media outlets at any stage during its preparation. The details of the initial draft of the program were unveiled to the public only after the Campaign leaked the document to the media.

2. Thus far, the parliament and the Ministry of Finance refuse to disclose the details of the economic reform program after it has been amended.

3. The economic reform program has not been subject to any form of public debate.

4. The economic reform program was never discussed in any public sessions in the parliament. It was only discussed behind closed doors among members of the parliament’s planning and budget committee, and representatives of the government and the IMF.

5. The parliamentary planning and budget committee had announced initially its refusal to accept the economic reform program. It then reversed its position and told the press it approves of the program, without any explanation to the public of the reasons for shifting its position.

These practices are in direct contradiction to the transparency and accountability principles of both the IMF and the Egyptian governments. The Egyptian people will bear responsibility for the obligations of this loan for years to come, and thus they must actively participate in formulating its terms.

Therefore, the Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debts urges the IMF to:

- Disclose the details of the economic reform program and the details of previous drafts of the program so that the IMF would not be complicit in sidelining the Egyptian people. Inaction from the IMF would signify its tacit approval of negotiating a loan in isolation from the Egyptian people and of continuing the non-transparent, unfair practices of the Mubarak regime.

- Cease negotiations associated with the proposed loan to Egypt, because the government engaged in these negotiations is unelected and its key figures belong to a corrupt and non-democratic old regime. The Egyptian people continue to struggle to change the old regime in order to establish a society and economy based on transparency, accountability, and citizens’ participation in decision-making affecting their lives. Egyptians are striving for a society and an economy that address the needs of the majority of the people and that distribute burdens among its members according to their respective financial capabilities and obligations.

- Finally, the Campaign believes that the persistence of secrecy surrounding the negotiations of the details of the agreement with the IMF will render the proposed loan suspect of being “odious.”

Filed Under: Tagged With: Ahmad Shokr, Egypt, IMF, Middle East, Salma Hussein,

Egypt’s “Torturer-in-Chief” Running for President

April 9, 2012

Omar Suleiman, Egyptian AP is reporting: “Hosni Mubarak’s former vice president and spy chief said in comments published Monday that he would not attempt to ‘reinvent’ the regime of his longtime mentor if he is elected president of Egypt.

“Omar Suleiman, who is running in the presidential elections slated for May 23-24, told state-owned Al-Akhbar daily that restoring security would be his top priority as president.”

LISA HAJJAR, lhajjar at soc.ucsb.edu
Hajjar is a professor in the sociology department at the University of California-Santa Barbara. She wrote the piece “Omar Suleiman, the CIA’s Man in Cairo and Egypt’s Torturer-in-Chief.”

The piece states: “At least one person extraordinarily rendered by the CIA to Egypt — Egyptian-born Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib — was tortured by Suleiman himself. … A far more infamous torture case, in which Suleiman also is directly implicated, is that of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi. Unlike Habib, who was innocent of any ties to terror or militancy, al-Libi allegedly was a trainer at al-Khaldan camp in Afghanistan. He was captured by the Pakistanis while fleeing across the border in November 2001. He was sent to Bagram, and questioned by the FBI. But the CIA wanted to take over, which they did, and he was transported to a black site on the USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea, then extraordinarily rendered to Egypt. Under torture there, al-Libi ‘confessed’ knowledge about an al-Qaeda-Saddam connection, claiming that two al-Qaeda operatives had received training in Iraq for use in chemical and biological weapons. In early 2003, this was exactly the kind of information that the Bush administration was seeking to justify attacking Iraq and to persuade reluctant allies to go along. Indeed, al-Libi’s ‘confession’ was one the central pieces of ‘evidence’ presented at the United Nations by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to make the case for war. As it turns out, though, that ‘confession’ was a lie tortured out of him by Egyptians. …

“According to Evan Kohlmann, who enjoys favored status as an ‘al-Qaeda expert’ among U.S. officials, citing a classified source: ‘Al-Libi’s death coincided with the first visit by Egypt’s spymaster Omar Suleiman to Tripoli.’ Kohlmann surmises and opines that after al-Libi recounted his story about an al-Qaeda-Saddam WMD connection, ‘The Egyptians were embarrassed by this admission, and the Bush government found itself in hot water internationally. Then, in May 2009, Omar Suleiman saw an opportunity to get even with al-Libi and traveled to Tripoli. By the time Omar Suleiman’s plane left Tripoli, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi had committed ‘suicide.””

See in The New Yorker by Jane Mayer “Who is Omar Suleiman?”

Hajjar was quoted in USA Today: “Suleiman’s reputation holds dread for some in Egypt .”

Tagged With: Arab Spring, Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Lisa Hajjar, Middle East, Omar Suleiman,

Egypt: Attacking Protesters and Military Convicting Over 5,000

May 17, 2011

AP is reporting: “Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will issue an apology to the Egyptian people on-air in a bid for amnesty.”

Democracy Now this morning featured a report on Egypt about the “military court system, which has been used to convict and jail more than 5,000 civilians since January 25, the first day of massive protests at Cairo’s Tahrir Square.”

The program also featured a report on “Egyptian police violently crush[ing] a Sunday protest … at least 350 people were injured outside of the Israeli embassy in Cairo when police reportedly fired live ammunition, tear gas grenades … at the crowd.”

Dr. MOSTAFA HUSSEIN, mostafa at gmail.com, @moftasa
Hussein is a doctor at the Task Force Against Torture, which brings together non-profits, bloggers and activists highlighting the continuation of torture in post-Mubarak Egypt on the new webpage against-torture.net.

Hussein said today: “Mubarak should get a fair civilian trial — and so should the thousands who are now getting unfair military trials and being sent to jail. Mubarak and others need to be held accountable, especially for the over 800 killed during the uprising.

“There’s no evidence to the claim that protesters wanted to storm the building where the [Israeli] embassy is situated. The army was already geared up with gas masks and the building was protected with two APCs [armoured personnel carriers]. I reached the scene after the clashes broke out, hundreds of protesters where treated for tear gas injuries, tens where taken by ambulance to hospitals.”

Hussein’s video of the protest and government attack on it: youtube.com

He added: “We know that one protester is in a very critical condition. One-hundred and sixty-eight were detained at around 2:30 in the morning when the army ambushed them. Two activists and bloggers (@tarekshalaby [Tarek Shalaby] and @mosaaberizing [Mosa'ab Elshamy]) I know were detained and now are facing military trials. They joined the scene very late, Tarek managed to record and stream a very distressing video of his arrest.”  (Video very poor, audio is in Arabic, but other videos are also available on his page.)

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Tagged With: Egypt,

From Cairo: Egypt’s Military Leading the Counter-Revolution?

April 18, 2011

As media have turned their attention elsewhere, breaking news of Egypt’s uprising has fallen into the shadows. Local activists report that in Egypt the military is banning the local press from covering any of its activities. So Egyptian activists are turning to other methods — including testimonial videos on YouTube — to reach the public with such information.

The following are available for interviews in Cairo, 6 hours ahead of U.S. ET:

MONA SEIF, tahrirdiaries.wordpress.com
Seif is an activist and one of the organizers of a recent conference against military trials of citizens. On April 14 the group No Military Trials of Civilians, in coordination with the popular committee of the Imbaba district of Cairo, held a conference to address military violations. The following is a short excerpt from human rights lawyer Ahmed Rageb speaking at the conference about the rights of civilians (press CC button to get English subtitles for all videos): youtube.com

Many former detainees and relatives of current detainees were present to tell their testimonies. One of them was Salwa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnZQUp4gxIM

Dr. AIDA SEIF AL-DAWLA
Al-Dawla is with Nadeem Center for Victims of Torture. She was profiled by Time magazine as a global hero in 2004. The Nadeem Center is among a group of non-profits, bloggers and activists highlighting the continuation of torture in post-Mubarak Egypt on the website against-torture.net.

Al-Dawla said today: “While the news of the arrest of Gamal and Alaa Mubarak and the interrogation of the ousted president have been met with nationwide cheers, several points worthy of observation have escaped or are being ignored by public attention. With the joy of ‘justice being done’ to representatives of the old regime in past weeks, we seem to have forgotten the hundreds of young people detained and prosecuted by military trials. And we need to question why the figureheads of the old regime are being prosecuted by judicial procedures while ‘the youth of the revolution’ are receiving military trials.

“Not only was a promise to open closed files of torture and maltreatment rejected by the same public prosecutor who was appointed by Mubarak, but the claim, supported by videos and live testimonies of extremely courageous survivors, was met with a categorical denial by the military council. Meanwhile, these authorities accused the sources of trying to disrupt the relationship between the people and the army. Justice remains incomplete if not applied to all.”

PHILIP RIZK
Rizk is a writer and filmmaker and part of the collective that runs the channel youtube.com/user/intifadatintifadat that provides short videos and testimonials like that of the Zaghloul family linked to below. He is also a contributor to the site against-torture.net. In recent months Rizk has focused on military trials and torture as well as the ongoing labor protests and strikes.

He said today: “As of Thursday April 15 Hosni Mubarak remains under guard of the military pending investigation. The former president is known to have been involved in widespread corruption and overseeing the draconian security apparatus that abused Egyptians for three decades. Meanwhile, since January 29 when the military deployed its forces to control Egypt’s streets, the army in turn has carried out vast violations including putting thousands of civilians on military trial while arresting and torturing thousands of these without legal warrant.

“The military trial of thousands of innocent citizens is proof that this transitional government is merely a facade of a regime with the same logic as the one just overthrown during the recent uprising in Egypt. Not only are military tribunals illegal by any global legal standard, but the new authorities are now banning the Egyptian press from covering any such military actions. While the former president who oversaw a system that made it possible for economic exploitation, corruption and systematic torture to flourish, is only being ‘investigated,’ tens of thousands of Egyptian civilians have no recourse to legal representation before a civil court. All possible forms of pressure — locally and globally — must be applied to bring this process to an end.

“For example, Mohamed Zaghloul was detained by the the military police on his way home from work on January 28 and subsequently tortured. In early April he was sentenced to one year in prison before a military court without recourse to a lawyer. Here is a short video of his case.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Tagged With: Egypt,

Egypt: Army Still Torturing People a “Red Line”

March 21, 2011

Dr. AIDA SEIF AL-DAWLA, Dr. MOSTAFA HUSSEIN, @moftasa
Al-Dawla is with the Nadeem Center for Victims of Torture. She is a psychiatrist. Hussein is a doctor at the Task Force Against Torture, which brings together non-profits, bloggers and activists highlighting the continuation of torture in post-Mubarak Egypt on the new webpage against-torture.net.

Hussein said today: “The army is engaging in massive and brutal torture. Civilians, many of them pro-democracy activists, are being detained and beaten. Then, many of them have been brought before military courts. These courts are conducted in secret, limit access to lawyers and do not allow appeals. People are getting sentences of three to five or even seven years for ‘thuggery.’ These civilians are sometimes shown on the nightly news on state TV in an apparent attempt to intimidate the public and ensure ‘order.’ We have testimony of people being beaten, electrocuted, whipped and seeing others beaten to death.

“Perhaps most distressing, the media in Egypt, even the independent newspapers, are largely ignoring army torture and abuse. The army is a red line. If we’re going to have a meaningful democracy in Egypt, this has to change. It’s critical that outside media now cover this; we’ve translated video and testimony from individuals.”

See testimonials: against-torture.net/node/146

The case of Rami Issam (“singer of Tahrir Square”) has received some coverage.

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Filed Under: Tagged With: army, Egypt, torture,

The U.S. and Egyptian Army Are One?

March 15, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Cairo.

RASHA AZAB
Azab is spokesperson for the Liberties Committee at the Press Syndicate in Cairo, which is holding a news conference tomorrow on the “hundreds of Egyptians protesting in Tahrir Square who have been subject to detention and torture by members of the army and Republican Guard … and the arrest of several of them and referral to military prosecution to stand military trials.”

Dr. AIDA SEIF AL-DAWLA
El-Dawla is with the Nadeem Center for Victims of Torture in Cairo. She was profiled by Time magazine as a global hero in 2004. She notes the beating of Rami Issam, known as the “singer of Tahrir Square,” by the army as part of a broader problem. Graphic video

NUBAR HOVSEPIAN
Hovsepian is an Armenian from Egypt who teaches political science at Chapman University in California. He said today: “Revising the constitution quickly seems to be leading to maintaining much of the old constitution, including authoritarian structures.

“Labor unions are organizing groups independent of state control. Time is also needed for the formation of national political parties before elections are held.

“We’ve seen protesters beaten up by the military.

“The Egyptian military is dependent on the U.S. government, which wants change to be limited and controlled, rather than substantial and deep. The latter is what most of the people who protested actually want.” Hovsepian recently wrote the piece “The Arab Pro-Democracy Movement: Struggles to Redefine Citizenship” for the new journal Jadaliyya.

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Filed Under: , Tagged With: Egypt,
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