Insights into the Repressive Character of the Government in Egypt

The response of the Egyptian government to the investigative report "All According to Plan" [حسب الخطة  Arabic link] by Human Rights Watch is extremely revealing and provides insights into the mentality of the al-Sisi regime.  In short, as reported by the flagship al-Ahram, HRW is biased, serves U.S. interests, is in cahoots with the Muslim Brotherhood and had no authority to conduct research in Egypt.  There is a deep-seated suspicion of foreign NGOs in Egypt. I have witnessed it numerous times over the past 35 years.

The latest episode, of course, serves a double purpose, viz., it stifles open discussion of the report and its serious accusations that Field Marshal al-Sisi sits at the helm of a repressive security apparatus that very likely committed crimes against humanity by conducting deliberate mass killings of demonstrators in 2013 following the toppling of Muhammad Mursi as President; and, it serves to warn indigenous rights oriented groups that--unlike HRW officials--they cannot escape reprisal arrests, torture and jail.  You can be sure that while many educated Egyptians with social media access are well aware of the HRW report, but would also confirm that the message to tread very carefully is indelibly received.

The government reaction is addressed by Egyptian Chronicles.

Even in comparison with the worst years of the Mubarak era, this is a very dark chapter in Egypt's modern history.

For official statements in Arabic.

Walter Armbrust, who knows Egypt quite well, offers a thoughtful essay on the strategy of rope-a-dope strategy of the Egyptian generals.

The essay was published in al-Jazeera English.

It is noteworthy that the satellite TV station al-Fara'ayn, which figures importantly in the essay, apparently has been allowed to re-open after being shut on June 30 for criticism of the army commander.  The station has been a platform for Taufiq 'Ukasha, the Mubarak leftover who has been compared to the U.S. conspiracy monger Glenn Beck.  'Ukasha frequently lambasted President Muhammad Mursi for a surfeit of real and imagined failures and motives.

[With the Constitution suspended, the Ministry of Social Affairs has reclaimed it power to ban NGOs and may seek to move against the MB for its use of violence in defending its Cairo Guidance Bureau from being ransacked by demonstrators.

Islam in the West: a good selection of essays in the new Harvard Review

The essays are, for the most part, conference papers that have been nicely edited for publication. Pieces by Richard Bulliet on Islamic reformation, Jytte Klausen on the Danish cartoon episode, Lucia Volk on youthful returnees to Lebanon and the cultural contradictions they confront, and Michael Freedman on promoting political reform and civil society are among the several that I found valuable.

Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry: Implicit repudiation of Bahraini government's narrative

Commission website (in Arabic) and link to the full report in English.

Rosa Parks would approve

Alain Gresh on the Palestine Spring

Human Rights Watch on Crimes against Humanity in Syria

The report may be downloaded in full (for free) in English.  The Summary and Conclusions are available in Arabic.

[Added: Hamza Ali el-Khatib is the 14-year old whose savage murder has enflamed anger against the Syrian regime.  Links to relevant social media may be found here.]

Syria

My comment from April 15:


Bashar al-Asad and many Syria watchers share a fixed notion : Syrians prefer order to chaos and the strong arm of the regime has a firm grip on Syrian society.

There are elements of truth to this notion; however, the currents of change roiling the region are proving irresistible.  Dignity (karama) and freedom (hurriya) have been denied for years in Syria, as in so many other Arab states, and now it both in sight.  Equally important, the regime may have drawn blood but now people see in Tunis, Cairo and Benghazi that change is truly possible.

The 'Alawi who hold the reins of power in Syria may account for 10 or 11 percent of the population (and there are divisions within the 'Alawi community as well), so the challenge is for the regime to build alliances in wider society and to do that there much be compromise and change.  Will the regime succeed in loosening its grip yet keeping the reins?  We'll see.

As in so many Arab states, toppling the sitting regime may be more feasible than quickly constructing a participant, peaceful society.  We should not presume that places like Syria are simmering cauldrons of inter-sectarian hatred, but much depends on how the process of change is managed and how wise the ruling autocrats can be.  If they are certifiably stupid, as we are seeing in Bahrain, then hold on to your seats, but the Syrian may prove less bent on instilling hatred than their Gulf colleagues.

Bahrain Center for Human Rights Debunks Government Claims

[Added: Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières calls upon the Bahraini government to stop using medical facilities as instruments of repression.  

"A report released today by MSF illustrates how Bahrain’s hospitals and health centers are no longer safe havens for the sick or injured, but rather places to be feared.

"“Wounds, especially those inflicted by distinctive police and military gunfire, are used to identify people for arrest, and the denial of medical care is being used by Bahraini authorities to deter people from protesting,” said Latifa Ayada, MSF medical coordinator. “Health facilities are used as bait to identify and arrest those who dare seek treatment.”"]

119 Arab civil society organizations condemn the suppression of peaceful demonstrations

Also see the March 17, 2011 condemnation of military intervention in Bahrain.

Too little, too late and too often

Crown Prince Salman has offered a dialogue once calm is restored to Bahrain.  This is a familiar tune, unfortunately.  

Several major questions will determine whether productive dialogue is feasible:

• Will moderate opposition leaders continue to hold sway in light of the government's response to peaceful demonstrations?  Genuinely peaceful men, such as Sheikh 'Ali Salman who heads Wefaq, have been steadily discredited by their inability to show rewards for moderation and for participating in the system.
• The demonstrators have included Shi'i and Sunni Muslims, although the majority are Shi'a. This is not simply a sectarian struggle.  For those demonstrating, a key concern is the privileged status of the al-Khalifas and their close tribal allies.  No reform substantial reform is possible unless the special privileges of the al-Khalifa will be addressed.  These privileges include a stranglehold on the limited territory of Bahrain.
• The notoriously corrupt Prime Minister has been in power for 40 years.  His hands are all over the thuggish response to the demonstrations.  Will he be forced to step down prior to a dialogue?
• Does the King or the Crown Prince have a free hand to negotiate, or is their flexibility held in check by Saudi Arabia?  Hard-knuckle diplomacy from the U.S. may be necessary to convince Saudi Arabia to back off.
• What was the level of Saudi involvement in the violence of February 18th?  The Saudis have worked hard to keep the skids on substantive reform in Bahrain, not least because they worry that it will prove contagious among its own Shi'i Muslims.
• Will the government be able to create more jobs to reduce unemployment?  Presently, most blue-collar labor is being performed expatriate workers, with firms hiring only enough Bahraini workers to comply with Bahrainization requirements. 
• Will the government take quick steps to improve living conditions in cities such as Sitrah or major villages such as Diraz, where public services and facilities are dreadful?

Police attack the behaved Pearl Roundabout Sit-in, Manama, Feb. 17, 2011: amateur video

Demonstrators held a “Day of Wrath” in Bahrain on February 14th. After initial clashes with police, including two deaths of civilians, the protests were allowed to continue

Then in the bleak hours of the morning, on Feb. 17, the police moved in with batons, truncheons and tear gas to roust the sleeping demonstrators, who comprised young and old, and fairly representative sample of the population.  Initial reports indicate that two were killed, and others were injured seriously.

An amateur video of the police action.  Try this link: http://youtu.be/BAS-JHkr0tE

CNN report

With the exemplars of Tunisia and Egypt in plain view, not to mention the previous patterns of protest in Bahrain, it would seem quite doubtful that King Hamad’s police have quelled the
demonstrators desire to see substantive change.

The BBC summarizes what the Bahraini demonstrators say they want:

Prisoners to be released.
More jobs and housing.
The creation of a more representative government and empowered parliament.
Release of political prisoners.
Replacement of the famously corrupt Prime Minister Shaykh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who has been in office for 40 years (he is the only prime minister has ever had)

Local web sites of note:

Bahrain Center for Human Rights
bintbattuta in bahrain

Mahmood

Silly Bahraini Girl

The faces of those Egyptians who paid the highest price, some known by no more than their first names..

Wael Ghonim Interview with English subtitles

Ghonim reputedly played an important role in organizing protests on Facebook.

A close Egyptian observer's report--Important

"The Mubarak regime shows no intention of stepping down, reforming, or even returning to the status quo ante. It has unleashed thousands of armed thugs and plainclothes policemen to terrorize the peaceful demonstrators in downtown Cairo and other cities. They may be planning to inflict heavy casualties on the protesters to break their sit-in, and intimidate other Egyptians from partaking in the revolution.

"I urge you to please utilize whatever contacts you may have to inform officials and the media of the truth of what is happening in Egypt at the moment. These are not pro- and anti-Mubarak protests. This is an outright armed assault by thugs and policemen on peaceful demonstrators."

Exceptional photos from Cairo (warning! some are brutal)

Friday, Jan. 28, 2011

Egypt's thirty year wait for a vice president ends, but then what?

“My analysis is, the government will leave them until they reach a level of exhaustion---Abdel Moneim Said, who heads the state publishing house al-Ahram.

Egypt is in a moment of enthusiasm when the people are propelled by adrenalin, coffee and anger.  Don’t stay up waiting for them to nod off to sleep in exhaustion.  The Mubarak regime has relentlessly worked to depoliticize society, but the people are now highly politicized, meaning that they share the view, many of them at least, that there is a political solution—Mubarak must go.

One impact of the Days of Anger gripping Egypt is that the plotting to put Husni Mubarak’s

Egypt's Yaum al-Ghadib: Speaking Truth to Power.

Thanks to J.
 Overview (in Turkish) of the reverberations of Tunisia's revolution in the Arab world.

Read Yasmine al-Rashidi's essay on NYReview of Books blog.  She cites the gutsy rap by Egyptian rapper Rami Donjiwan. The song is "against the government" song, for which the opening lines are:

Against the the government, against the Government.
Against the government, against the thugs and injustice.
Against the ruler and the government, and the long road of injustice.
Against the government and I have a 1,000 proofs.
...............

Closing with:
Against the government and the one who accepts humiliation.

Meanwhile, VP Joe Biden calls on Pres. Mubarak to respond to the legitimate demands for change, and adds that he does think of Mubarak as a dictator.  Let's be serious: The prospect that Mubarak will respond substantively to widespread demands for change is very unlikely.  

Compelling photographs by Timothy Kaldas from Tahrir during the January 25 demontrations

Thanks to JN