Egypt: Stop arrests, crackdown on LGBT individuals

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Egypt: Stop Anti-LGBT Crackdown, Intimidation
‘Rainbow Flag’ Arrests Violate Privacy, Freedom of Expression

September 30, 2017

Egypt should stop arresting and harassing people suspected of homosexuality using trumped-up “debauchery” and “inciting debauchery” charges, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces rounded up at least eleven people in the days following a September 22, 2017 concert in Cairo at which young concertgoers waved rainbow flags, a symbol of solidarity with  lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people, a defiant act in a country known to persecute gay men and transgender people.

After concertgoers shared photos of the rainbow flag display on social media, pro-government media went on an overdrive attack and conservative politicians and religious leaders demanded that the government take action. Police arrested one man on September 23 through entrapment on a dating app, a common police technique in Egypt, and claimed he had been among those to wave a flag.

On September 25,  the government said that it had arrested seven people identified through video footage of the concert. Several Egyptian activists questioned the veracity of this claim, but they documented additional arrests on September 27, when police picked up six men from the streets, charging them with debauchery and claiming they were all involved in the rainbow flag incident.

“Whether they were waving a rainbow flag, chatting on a dating app, or minding their own business in the streets, all these debauchery arrest victims should be immediately released,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Egyptian government, by rounding people up based on their presumed sexual orientation, is showing flagrant disregard for their rights.”

The Dokki Misdemeanor Court in Giza sentenced the first victim on September 26 to six years in prison and a fine for “debauchery,” based on his presumed sexual conduct, and “inciting debauchery,” as prosecutors alleged he was among those who raised the rainbow flag at the concert. The court sentenced him to an additional six years of probation which will require reporting to the police from 6p.m. to 6a.m. until 2029. No lawyer was present at his trial.  He now has legal representation, and his appeal will be heard on October 11.

The six men arrested on September 27 are scheduled for trial on October 1. At least two more men were arrested on September 28 because of their presumed sexual orientation, and Egyptian media reported that another six men were arrested on September 28 in a raid on a home, although Human Rights Watch has not independently verified that report.

At the September 22 concert, people raised rainbow flags during the performance of the Lebanese group Mashrou’ Leila, which has an openly gay lead singer and has performed songs addressing same-sex relationships and gender identity. The Egyptian Musicians Syndicate opened an investigation into the event and banned future Mashrou’ Leila concerts in Egypt.

In Egypt, police routinely round up gay and bisexual men and transgender women, actively seeking them out and entrapping them on dating apps and through social media. One Cairo-based organization has documented the prosecution of at least 34 people for consensual same-sex conduct in the last 12 months. Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came into power in 2014, several hundred people have been imprisoned on charges of consensual same-sex conduct.

Egyptian activists told Human Rights Watch they fear that the past week’s arrests could signal the beginning of an even harsher crackdown on LGBT people and those who publicly support them.

Egypt’s Forensic Medicine Authority also routinely subjects people to forced anal examinations. The archaic technique was devised in the 19^th century to seek “evidence” of homosexual conduct,  but forensic experts around the world have condemned the practice as lacking any scientific validity and violating medical ethics. The UN  special rapporteur on torture,  the UN Committee Against Torture, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have described the exams as a form of torture or ill-treatment, prohibited under international law. The Egyptian Medical Syndicate has taken no steps to prevent doctors from conducting these degrading exams.

Egypt is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the rights to privacy and to freedom of expression. Egypt’s constitution also protects these rights.

“Egypt should stop dedicating state resources to hunting people down for what they allegedly do in their bedrooms, or for expressing themselves at a rock concert, and should instead focus energy on improving its dire human rights record,” Whitson said.



*Photo by Jamal Saidi, courtesy of Reuters

Former prez. candidate sentenced to jail, in bid to bar him from 2018 elections

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Egypt: Former presidential candidate given jail term in bid to stop him running in 2018 election

25 September 2017

Today’s conviction of Khalid Ali, a former presidential candidate and prominent human rights lawyer who is widely viewed as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s top contender for the 2018 presidential elections, is politically motivated, said Amnesty International.

Khaled Ali was sentenced to three months in prison which would prevent him from standing in the 2018 presidential elections if the verdict is confirmed on appeal. The court found him guilty of “violating public decency” in relation to a photograph showing him celebrating a court victory after successfully reversing a controversial Egyptian government decision to hand over control of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

He was released on a bail of 1000 Egyptian pounds pending appeal.

“Khaled Ali’s politically motivated conviction today is a clear signal that the Egyptian authorities are intent on eliminating any rival who could stand in the way of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s victory in next year’s elections. It also illustrates the government’s ruthless determination to crush dissent to consolidate its power,” said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s Head of North Africa Campaigns.

“It beggars belief that Khaled Ali, a prominent human rights lawyer and political activist, has been given a jail term simply for celebrating his victory in a court case. His conviction on this absurd charge must be quashed.”

The trial in Khaled Ali’s case was also riddled with flaws; the court issued its decision without hearing the defence lawyers’ final pleadings or allowing them to cross-examine witnesses for the prosecution about disputed video evidence submitted against Khaled Ali, which his defence lawyers argued was fabricated.

Earlier this year Amnesty International warned that the Egyptian authorities have intensified their crackdown on opposition activists ahead of the 2018 presidential election by rounding up activists from opposition parties. 



*Photo by Mohamed El-Shahed, courtesy of AFP/Getty Images

Egypt authorities now blocking 405 websites, VPNs & proxy servers

Egyptian Streets
Egypt Blocks More Websites Raising the Total Number of Blocked Sites to 405    

August 31, 2017

The blocking of websites still continues with banning 261 VPN and proxy websites on 29 August raising the total number of blocked sites to 405, according to the latest report by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE.)

On 24 May, the Egyptian authorities started blocking news websites on alleged claims of “supporting terrorism.”     In a span of 3 months, the blockade expanded from news websites to banning VPN sites, websites of non-profit organizations and personal blogs of journalists.

Among the blocked websites are the independent news website Mada Masr and the privately-owned Daily News Egypt.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and Reporters Without Borders (RWB) websites have also been blocked.   

Also, the blog of Ahmed Gamal Ziada, a writer for Masr Alarabia, researcher, and photojournalist, has been blocked preventing readers in Egypt from accessing his blog.

The blocked VPN websites are Tunnelbear,  Cyberghost, Hotspot Shield Elite VPN (Hsselite), Tigervpn and Zenvpn among many others.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aloáin, today raised grave concerns with the Government of Egypt over its ongoing assault on freedom of expression.

“Limiting information as the Egyptian Government has done, without any transparency or identification of the asserted ‘lies’ or ‘terrorism’, looks more like repression than counter-terrorism,” they said in the report.

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UN rights experts express concern over blocked websites in Egypt  

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Egyptian authorities now blocking over 100 websites

Quartz Africa
Egypt has blocked over 100 local and international websites including HuffPost and Medium

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Abdi Latif Dahir

The list of blocked websites in Egypt keeps growing, as the government widens what some say is an unprecedented crackdown on both local and international digital outlets. So far, 114 websites have been blocked in the north African nation since May 24, according to the latest figures from the non-governmental organization Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.

A majority of these are news websites, but also included are platforms that can be used to access blocked sites or that allow for anonymous browsing and communication.

The affected websites include sites like Mada Masr, the financial newspaper Al Borsa, and Huffington Post Arabic. Twelve websites linked to Al Jazeera were also been blocked. Medium, the online publishing platform, was also banned.

The outage also affected Tor, the free software that provides users with online anonymity, and Tor bridges, which helps users circumvent the blocking of Tor itself. The website of the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), an international network that monitors internship censorship and surveillance, was also blocked.  

The growing censorship comes as the government says it’s cracking down on websites that are “publishing false information” and “supporting terrorism.” (Link in Arabic) Egypt is currently in the midst of a three-month state emergency, following twin attacks on churches that killed almost 50 people in April.

The country is also part of a Saudi-led coalition that has put a blockade on Qatar, demanding, among other things, the closure of the Doha-based Al Jazeera media network which it considers to a be a propaganda tool for Islamists. The government of president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is also embroiled in a maritime demarcation agreement over its decision to vote on the transfer of two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia—a move that has angered many Egyptians.

However, journalists and activists say the campaign is suppressing free expression and voices critical of the government. Some are accusing the regime of failing to disclose any judicial or administrative decision to block the sites—or whether emergency law provisions were applied.

“Even in the darkest days of the repressive Mubarak era, the authorities didn’t cut off access to all independent news sites,” Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s north Africa campaigns director, said.

In a June 19 report, OONI stated that deep packet inspection technology was being used to monitor and block these websites. Mada Masr, one of the blocked sites, also reported that the decision to block the sites was carried through a “centralized decision” by the government rather than by the country’s telecoms or internet service providers.

Since going offline, sites like Mada have been publishing articles on Facebook. Lina Attallah, the editor of the site, said the strategy of blocking the sites works to the government’s advantage for now.

“If they did something more grave like arresting team members or me it would make big noise, whereas blocking the website is the best way to paralyze us without paying a high price for it,” Attallah told Reuters.


*Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany, courtesy of Reuters

At least 60 opponents arrested in connection to Tiran & Sanafir handover

Mada Masr
Rights Monitor: Police have arrested 60 opponents of the Tiran and Sanafir agreement 

Friday, 16 June 2017

Police have arrested a total of 60 people connected to political action against the agreement to concede sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia, according to the Freedom for the Brave campaign.

The nationwide arrests commenced after Parliament approved the agreement on Wednesday night, with police moving to detain political activists and party members in Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta, Sharqiya, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Luxor, Port Said and Suez.

Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Aziz told Mada Masr that those arrested come from several political parties, including the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Constitution Party, the Bread and Freedom Party, the Popular Current Party and the Karama Party, as well as from Egypt’s independent activist community, all of whom voiced their opposition to the agreement.

According to Abdel Aziz, security forces arrested many of the activists and party members from their homes, including Hassan Ahwany who is being questioned by the Dokki prosecution in Cairo and is being represented by Abdel Aziz.

Many of those arrested will be questioned by prosecutors on Friday, including six people who were arrested in Port Said and Tanta, according to the Front to Defend Egyptian Protesters.

The FDEP has added that activists Mahmoud Nagib and Israa Fahid face charges of incitement to protest and obstructing public transportation, and that three people arrested in Luxor on Thursday are in the National Security Agency’s custody. In Ismailia, Constitution Party member Ahmed Santos was questioned by the prosecutor, who has issued Santos a 15-day detention order pending an NSA report.

According to lawyer Abdel Aziz Yousef, the prosecutor issued Egyptian Social Democratic Party member Islam Marei a 15-day detention order pending investigation into charges of incitement against the regime; insulting state institutions, including the Armed Forces, police and the judiciary; distributing anti-government flyers; and using social networks for incitement against state institutions.

Abdel Aziz described the arrests as “ferocious,” saying security forces are attempting to prevent any mobilization against the Tiran and Sanafir agreement. The scope of the arrests, he asserted, is disproportionate to the protests that have taken place in reaction to the agreement.

Police arrested eight people in the proximity of the Journalists Syndicate’s headquarters in downtown Cairo on Wednesday night, which was the site of a protest against the Tiran and Sanafir agreement. All eight were released yesterday on LE10,000 bail.

Police also dispersed a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party’s headquarters in downtown Cairo, barricading the protesters inside the building, according party member Ziad al-Eleimi.

Egypt blocks 21 websites for "terrorism" & "fake news"

REUTERS
Egypt blocks 21 websites for 'terrorism' and 'fake news'

Thu May 25, 2017

Egypt has banned 21 websites, including the main website of Qatar-based Al Jazeera television and prominent local independent news site Mada Masr, accusing them of supporting terrorism and spreading false news.

The blockade is notable in scope and for being the first publicly recognized by the government. It was heavily criticized by journalists and rights groups.

The state news agency announced it late on Wednesday. Individual websites had been inaccessible in the past but there was never any official admission.

Reuters found the websites named by local media and were inaccessible.

The move follows similar actions taken on Wednesday by Egypt's Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which blocked Al Jazeera and other websites after a dispute with Qatar.

Qatar said hackers had posted fake remarks by its emir criticizing U.S. foreign policy but Saudi and UAE state-run media reported the comments anyway.

An official from Egypt's National Telecom Regulatory Authority would not confirm or deny the blockage, but said: "So what if it is true? It should not be a problem."

Two security sources told Reuters the 21 websites were blocked for being affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood or for being funded by Qatar.

Cairo accuses Qatar of supporting the Brotherhood, which was ousted from power in Egypt in 2013 when the military removed elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi following mass protests against him.

Ties between Qatar and Egypt were badly damaged after Mursi's fall. Doha welcomed a number of senior Brotherhood figures, although since then Qatar has asked several to leave.

Mada Masr, an Egyptian news website based in the country which describes itself as progressive and has no Islamist or Qatari affiliations, was also inaccessible.

Journalists at Mada Masr said the website was publishing articles on Facebook for now. It remains accessible outside Egypt or via proxy.

"Nothing explains this blockade more than a very clear intention from the authorities to crack down on critical media in ways that bypass the law," Mada Masr Editor in Chief Lina Attalah told Reuters on Thursday.

The website is registered in Egypt and its journalists are based in the country, she said. No one from the government contacted the management before or after the 21 websites went down.

CLIMATE OF FEAR

Two other local websites, including that of a print newspaper registered with the authorities, were also down, as were several Brotherhood-affiliated websites and Egypt-focused ones that publish from abroad. 

The Huffington Post's Arabic website also was inaccessible, although the international version could be accessed.

State news agency MENA cited a senior security source as saying the websites were blocked because they supported terrorism and that the government would take legal action.

"A senior security source said 21 websites have been blocked inside Egypt for having content that supports terrorism and extremism as well as publishing lies," MENA said.

Mahmoud Kamel, who sits on the board of Egypt's official press union, said was a clear attack on freedom of speech.

"This move is unacceptable. We oppose all blocking of news websites but this is unfortunately part of the general climate of fear we are experiencing in Egypt," he told Reuters.

Egyptian authorities have cracked down on the Islamist, secular and liberal opposition alike since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, then the military chief, toppled Mursi.

Since then, hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested, including journalists. Sisi told CNN in 2015 that Egypt has "unprecedented freedom of expression."



*Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty, Eric Knecht and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan; Editing by Giles Elgood and Alison Williams

Two Red Sea islands are Egyptian, not Saudi territories: Court issues final ruling

Mada Masr
Final court ruling declares Egyptian sovereignty over Tiran and Sanafir islands

Monday January 16, 2017

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) issued a final ruling on Monday confirming Egypt’s sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, stating that the Egyptian government has not provided adequate evidence supporting Saudi Arabia’s claim to the land. According to the ruling, therefore, the executive branch of Egypt’s government does not have the administrative authority to cede the territory to Saudi Arabia.

Judge Ahmed al-Shazly, the vice president of the State Council, announced in court that “the Egyptian military was not an occupying force and the sovereignty of Egypt over Tiran and Sanafir is irrevocable,” in response to the Egyptian government’s claims that the uninhabited islands are Saudi Arabian territory but have been administered by Egypt since the 1950s upon the request of the Gulf monarchy.

In April, a lawsuit was filed in the Court of Administrative Justice (CAJ) to challenge the controversial agreement signed by Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohamed bin Salman during King Salman bin Abdel Aziz’s April 2016 visit to Cairo.

The CAJ ruled in June that Prime Minister Sherif Ismail violated the Constitution by signing the agreement and nullified his signature — the court could not rule on the legitimacy of the agreement itself, however, as international agreements fall outside of its jurisdiction.

The government challenged this ruling on several fronts: appealing the decision, filing a request for injunction to stay its implementation, preemptively submitting the deal to Parliament and attempting to circumvent and challenge judicial jurisdiction.

In November, the CAJ approved the request to force the state to implement the annulment of Ismail’s signature and denied the state’s counter-motion.

The report by the State Commissioners Authority on the case, an influence on today’s ruling, recommended that the SAC reject the government’s appeal, stating that “the treaty in question, which will result in giving up sovereignty of Egyptian land, is null and void as the party that signed it violated the Constitution.”

In a press conference following the ruling, prominent rights lawyer Khaled Ali — a member of the legal team who filed the case against the government — stated that Parliament cannot discuss a document nullified by the SAC, warning that if Parliament insists on pursuing this course of action, then it can be held legally accountable.

Ali read out the final paragraph of the ruling to the applause from the audience, saying the ruling would not have been possible without the support of the Egyptian people.

While Monday’s ruling was the final verdict in the appellate process within the State Council regarding the agreement, the state filed a separate appeal in August before the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) claiming the State Council has no jurisdiction over international agreements. This appeal remains pending, having been adjourned to February 12.

Opposition to the border deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has led to the biggest protest movement since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in June 2014, in which a large number of demonstrators have been arrested on charges of illegal protest.

Others have been prosecuted on charges of disseminating false information after publicly stating that the two islands are Egyptian, including prominent rights lawyer Malek Adly and journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka.



*Photo by Heba Afify

Good donkey!

Donkey eating poster of Egyptian dictator Sisi

 :-)

Sisi prepares clamp down on press freedom, sets up govt-picked council to oversee media

Agence France-Presse 
Egypt prepares to clamp down press freedom, sets up govt-picked council to oversee media

Tuesday Dec. 27, 2016

 
Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has approved a law to set up a council headed by his appointees that oversees the media and ensures compliance with "national security" requirements.

The law, passed by parliament and published in the official gazette on Monday, mandates the council to investigate media funding and fine or revoke permits of those deemed in violation.

The council will be composed of a head picked by Sisi and 12 members recommended by parliament and other institutions, and also approved by the president. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has accused Egypt of placing restrictions on media and being a "leading jailer of journalists."

The law says the council would guarantee the right of citizens "to enjoy a free and honest media". But it also tasks the council with "guaranteeing the compliance of media institutions to the requirements of national security."

Sisi has dismissed criticisms of media restrictions in Egypt, but he regularly complains of its performance and has suggested it occasionally harms the country with critical coverage.

The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate official Khaled Elbalshy said the law tightens government control on media. "The new law entrenches the status quo including control over the media through a council picked by the executive branch," he told AFP.

The law came days after police arrested a journalist with the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel on suspicion of fabricating news on the country.

Egypt accuses the channel of backing the Muslim Brotherhood movement, outlawed after the military toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and cracked down on his supporters.

Egypt had provoked international condemnation in 2013 when it arrested three Al-Jazeera journalists, including a Canadian and an Australian, and sentenced them to jail on similar accusations. They were later released.


*Photo of dictator Sisi courtesy of AFP 

Al Jazeera documentary on conscription in Egypt sparks uproar in mainstream media

Mada Masr

Egyptian press, MPs and social media bash Al Jazeera for Armed Forces conscript documentary

Monday November 28, 2016

The Doha-based Al Jazeera television channel and the Qatari government continue to face rebuke in Egypt following Sunday night’s broadcast of a documentary on the conditions of conscripts in Egypt’s Armed Forces.

While Egyptian media have been the principal figures leading the response, nationalist hashtags supporting the military surfaced on social media and members of Egypt’s Parliament called for an end to diplomatic relations with Qatar.

Anger toward the film, titled The Soldiers: Story of conscription in the Egyptian Armed Forces, began on Friday with the release of its trailer, which includes reenactment footage of soldiers crawling through a field in their undergarments.


The film consists of the testimonies of former military conscripts regarding the abuse they faced while enlisted. Many said that the training they received was futile and did not prepare them for combat.

Some of the media coverage became more incendiary on Monday, following the broadcast. The privately owned al-Bawaba newspaper’s Managing Editor Mohamed al-Baz wrote an article titled “A look at our mentally ill Qatari brother,” contending that Qatar’s jealousy of Egypt’s size and significance prompted it to betray its fellow Arab country to conspire with their common enemies.

In the same issue, Al-Bawaba columnist Nashat al-Deihy wrote an opinion article that begins with the sentence, “The prince is gay and his mother is a prostitute.” He proceeds to call Qatar, “The island of gays and prostitutes.”

Several daily newspapers also published accounts on Monday of reporters who were allowed to visit military training camps, using phrasing such as “the den of lions” and “the factory of saviors” for what the Al Jazeera documentary portrayed as places of abuse.

The privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper published a cartoon on Monday depicting Qatari nationals watching the film and asking one another, “What is a military?” a reference to the country’s smaller military. This follows a cartoon in Sunday’s issue featuring an Egyptian struggling to point out where Qatar is on the map due to its small size.

However, these gestures are only the most recent in a series of comments issued by a broad range of figures across Egyptian society in the days leading up to the broadcast.

During a telephone interview on Youssef al-Husseini’s “Sada al-Muhtaramon” (Respectable Gentlemen) on Sunday, Foreign Minister spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid stated that it was clear that the film aimed to destabilize public confidence in the Armed Forces, a goal he asserted it would not accomplish. While Egypt’s media could address the claims advanced by the documentary, the Egyptian government, he continued, would not respond to a news channel.

Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawky Allam also affirmed support for Egypt’s military, saying it stands like a “proud mountain” and would not be affected by the slander propagated by partisan media platforms.
Amr Adib took to the air on Sunday night, saying that Qatar’s military is dependent on foreign elements and that the country does not understand the structure of Egypt’s Armed Forces. “Al-Ashera Masa’an” (10 pm) host Wael al-Ebrashy argued that outsiders “may not understand that compulsory military service in Egypt is a national and humanitarian duty.”

Lamis al-Hadidy, the host of “Huna al-'Asema” (Here’s the Capital) appealed to how conscription unifies Egyptians from every class, religion and race in the service of a nationalist endeavor. “Our military is a great national army. It is not a mercenary army. It is an army whose members come from every household in Egypt. Sacrifice, self-denial and glory are the slogans of the Egyptian solider.”

Regime supporters rallied around the hashtag “We will beat Tamim with a shoe” ahead of the screening on Sunday, a reference to the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Ahmed Moussa is reported to have promoted use of the hashtag on his show “‘Ala Mas'ouliti” (My Responsibility.)

A photo depicting a military boot over Tamim’s head and bearing the caption, “Al Jazeera is under the boot of the Egyptian military” was widely circulated on social media. Another hashtag called on users to “Tweet in support of the Egyptian Armed Forces.”

A lawsuit was reportedly filed against Emad Eldin al-Sayed, the documentary’s director and an Egyptian national, on Sunday, claiming that he had defamed Egypt’s Armed Forces. Other media outlets reported that Sayed is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and an agent of Qatar. The director has denied these claims.

In an interview with the Huffington Post Arabic, Sayed explained that he is not attempting to tarnish the image of Egypt’s military. To the contrary, he told the Qatari-funded site that the “film is biased in favor of the Armed Forces,” adding that he is not opposed to military conscription.

“The film does not reject conscription. Rather, it discusses frequently-occurring incidents and accounts that are known to the Egyptian populace, including the punishment that conscripts face while enlisted, along with the exploitation of conscripted soldiers in labor markets outside the scope of military service.”

Sayed also told the Qatari-funded SasaPost news outlet that much of the documentary draws from footage either filmed by hidden cameras or leaked by conscripts who had captured it while on duty. However, other scenes feature reenactments based on testimony and archival documents.

Using the hashtag “These are Egyptian soldiers,” Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Mohamed Samir disseminated footage that emphasized the dignity of soldiers during Armed Forces training exercises.

Security forces raided Al Jazeera’s offices in Egypt during the June 30 revolution. The channel’s employees have been banned from operating in Egypt, with the last affiliate channel, “Mubasher Misr” (Live from Egypt), being shut down in December 2014.

Egyptian police arrested and jailed four members of the Al Jazeera English channel, claiming that the four used rooms in the Marriott Hotel in Cairo to meet with Muslim Brotherhood members. They were charged with broadcasting news that could harm national security and disseminating false information. The ensuing legal proceedings against Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste, Baher Mohamed became known as the “Marriott Cell” case. Greste, an Australian national, was deported in February 2015, and Fahmy, the Egyptian-Canadian bureau chief, and Mohamed, an Egyptian correspondent, were released from jail in September of the same year.

Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, is widely perceived in Egypt to serve as the mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Two Al Jazeera Arabic reporters – Abdallah al-Shamy and Mohamed Badr – were arrested on August 14, 2013 during the violent dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in, which resulted in the deaths of several hundreds of supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Military conscription in Egypt lasts between one and three years, depending on level of education.

Conscription is limited to able-bodied males between the ages of 18 and 30 years old and is pursuant to the completion of formal education. Conscripts with little or no formal education are often drafted into the Central Security Forces and typically serve for three years under the auspices of the Interior Ministry rather than the Armed Forces.

Sisi is a "Predator of Press Freedom" - RSF

Mada Masr
Reporters Without Borders labels Sisi a ‘press freedom predator’

November 2, 2016

The Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has included Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on a list of “predators of press freedom.” The list is a roundup of 35 presidents, political and religious leaders, militias and criminal organizations which censor, imprison, torture and murder journalists around the world.

RSF published the list to commemorate the United Nations’ International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, observed on November 2.

The register of global leaders is presented in gallery form, with satirical “hunting permits” issued for each of the so-called “press predators.” The data comes from RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom index in which Egypt ranked 159th place out of 180 states.

While Egypt ranked low on the index prior to the Arab Spring, the organization claims that it has fallen even further since Sisi assumed power. It states “under General Sisi’s leadership, the current authorities are orchestrating a ‘Sisification’ of the media and a witch-hunt against the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.”

The “hunting permit” for Sisi reads, “fans of mass round-ups and arbitrary detention include Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was elected president in 2014 after leading the military coup against the Muslim Brotherhood government in July 2013.” It also includes a “kill tally” of six journalists since July 2013, adding that he has jailed at least 27 journalists and media personnel during his time in office.

RSF states that “the regime hounds journalists with any kind of link to the Muslim Brotherhood,” likening Sisi’s government to Thailand’s military junta, adding that journalists in Egypt are often subject to mass arrests at the hands of state security.


The organization also comments on the state’s use of prolonged pretrial detention and long jail sentences,  and criticizes Egypt’s 2015 anti-terrorism law, which requires journalists to report official accounts of bombings and other attacks to preserve ‘national security.’ The report also adds that “many foreign journalists have been deported.”

According to the RSF’s World Press Freedom Index “the situation of media freedom in Egypt is extremely worrying. Successive governments have tried to control the media, and have not hesitated to impose measures restricting journalists’ freedom.”

The RSF concludes that Sisi’s modus operandi is “complete denial.” It cited his interview with CNN in September 2015, when he stated “I do not want to exaggerate, but we have unprecedented freedom of expression in Egypt. No one in Egypt can bar anyone working in media or journalism or on TV from expressing their views.”

Accompanying Sisi on the list of “press predators” are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Zimbabwe’s longtime President Robert Mugabe, Sudanese ruler Omar Bashir, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korean absolute ruler Kim Jong-un, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, along with the Taliban and Islamic State groups.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also commented on press freedoms in Egypt, listing it as the world’s second worst jailer of journalists in 2015, behind China. The CPJ wrote “perhaps nowhere has the climate for the press deteriorated more rapidly than in Egypt.”

Sisi regime undermines anti-corruption efforts

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Egypt: Prosecution Undermines Anti-Corruption Efforts

Exposing Graft Cost Official His Job, Led to Charges

August 9, 2016 

Egyptian prosecutors should drop a case against the country’s former chief corruption auditor that violates the right to free speech and harms efforts to combat corruption.

A Cairo court for minor offenses convicted Hisham Geneina of disseminating false information and gave him a suspended one-year sentence on July 28, 2016.

Geneina is appealing the verdict but had to pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (US$2,252) and 10,000 (US$1,126) for bail. Geneina’s defense said that the charges against him were based on a misquoted statement to the media about the cost of corruption.

“The abuse of free speech in Egypt has heightened to the point of turning a misunderstanding into criminal charges punishable by prison,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “This escalation can have a dangerous chilling effect, especially on officials responsible for reporting corruption.”

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi set a precedent by removing Geneina as head of the Central Auditing Organization, a key financial watchdog, in March, after Geneina made several statements to the media asserting that state institutions and prosecutors were ignoring or stymying action on his reports of corruption. Geneina was the only remaining senior official from the administration of President Mohamed Morsy, who was removed in a July 2013 coup led by then-Defense Minister al-Sisi.

Geneina has repeatedly alleged endemic government corruption and said that the country’s prosecutor general was not investigating many of his hundreds of corruption reports, including against the Interior Ministry. In December 2015, the independent newspaper al-Youm al-Sabaa quoted Geneina as saying that corruption had cost Egypt more than 600 billion pounds (US$67.6 billion) that year.

A few days later, Geneina issued a statement clarifying that the figure represented money lost due to corruption between 2012 and 2015, not just in 2015, and his office issued a 350-page report about corruption. But a committee formed by al-Sisi to investigate the claim accused Geneina of “defamation of state apparatuses,” and some members of parliament called for investigating him.

Independent reviews of Geneina’s report by economic journalists and researchers found that despite methodological weaknesses, it did not exaggerate the cost of graft and may have underestimated it.

On March 28, al-Sisi fired Geneina and replaced him with Hisham Badawi, his recently appointed deputy and a former senior member of the Supreme State Security Prosecution who, according to media reports, had investigated corruption cases against former President Hosni Mubarak and several business tycoons, most of which ended with their acquittal.

On May 17, Geneina’s lawyers filed suit at the Administrative Court to contest his dismissal, saying it was unconstitutional and unlawful. They also claimed he was fired after pro-government TV anchors systematically targeted him. A court postponed a hearing on the lawsuit until September 5.

On June 2, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Geneina to trial before the New Cairo Minor Offenses Court on charges of disseminating false news that harmed the national interest.

Geneina called the case retaliation for speaking out and challenging his dismissal and refused to pay a 10,000-pound (US$118) bail to avoid pretrial detention. He was detained briefly before his family paid the bail.

On June 28, Geneina’s defense team asked the court to suspend his trial until a verdict was reached in a separate lawsuit Geneina had filed against al-Youm al-Sabaa for misquoting him, since the outcome could affect the charges against him, but the court released its verdict as planned on July 28. The judge imposed the maximum sentence under Article 188 of the penal code for disseminating false news.

By law, Egypt’s president appoints the head of the Central Auditing Organization and other independent agencies but cannot fire them before their term ends. But in July 2015, in the absence of a parliament, al-Sisi issued Decree 89 of 2015, granting himself the authority to dismiss agency heads in certain cases, including if they pose a threat to national security, fail to perform their duties, or lose trust.

According to various studies by economic researchers, Egyptian government corruption is widespread and was one of the main drivers of the 2011 uprising. World Bank research found that firms with political connections to the Mubarak government enjoyed policy privileges that not only made them more profitable, but also suppressed aggregate economic growth and catalyzed unemployment.

One study by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a prominent local human rights group, found that Egypt lost US$10 billion in gas revenues between 2005 and 2011 as a result of corrupt contracts that allowed gas to be sold abroad for below-market prices. Egypt subsequently faced a drastic energy shortage that has caused daily blackouts in parts of the country, interrupting the lives and work of millions of Egyptians, including at vital facilities such as hospitals.


After Mubarak’s ouster, prosecutors charged many of his high-level officials with corruption offenses, though few have been convicted. Mubarak’s interior minister, Habib al-Adly, was acquitted in corruption cases that could have led to 45 years in prison, though he was convicted and served a three-year sentence for forcing Interior Ministry conscripts to work for him and his family without pay. In May 2016, an aide to Egypt’s health minister was arrested after allegedly receiving bribes worth 4.5 million pounds (US$507,000) from a medical device company.

The charges against Geneina violate international human rights laws that protect free speech. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Egypt is a party, guarantees freedom of expression and opinion. Limitations are only permissible when they are stated clearly by law and necessary for the protection of the rights or reputation of others, or the protection of national security, public order, public health or morals.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors the implementation of the ICCPR, has stressed that freedom of expression “is a necessary condition for the realization of the principles of transparency and accountability that are, in turn, essential for the promotion and protection of human rights.”

The firing and prosecution of Geneina raise concerns about government attempts to undermine the independence and efficacy of anti-corruption bodies. The Egyptian government should uphold its obligation to foster the autonomy of investigating authorities under its 2005 ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

As the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights asserts, “corruption is an enormous obstacle to the realization of all human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural, as well as the right to development.”

Transparency International, which ranks Egypt 88^th out of 168 countries in terms of corruption, found that bribery is also pervasive both within Egypt and the entire Middle East and North Africa region. It stated that nearly one out of three citizens who try to obtain basic services in the region must resort to paying bribes, which clearly violates the principles of nondiscrimination and equal access embodied in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which Egypt ratified in 1982.

Another study by Transparency International found that two out of three Egyptians believe the parliament, media, judiciary, police, and education system to be corrupt, with more than 80 percent believing that corruption either stayed the same or increased following the 2011 uprising.

“If Sisi is serious about fighting corruption within Egypt, as he has said time and again, he should empower the regulatory agencies charged with investigating graft instead of single-handedly weakening the autonomy they depend on,” Houry said. “Protecting the independence of anti-corruption organizations and their officials protects the freedoms and rights of Egyptians.”

*Photo courtesy of AFP/Getty Images

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Top clerics reject state decree for unified prayer sermons

Mada Masr
Al-Azhar picks battle with the state over written sermons

Al-Azhar says that directive to follow ministry sermons does not apply to its preachers

 

Monday, July 25, 2016 

 

Mai Shams El-Din

 

 

Anger over the decision to unify the Friday sermon throughout Egypt’s mosques has extended from ministry to imams to the leadership of Egypt’s prestigious Al-Azhar whose deputy last week said that the directive to imams to read ministry-issued sermons does not apply to Al-Azhar preachers.

“Al-Azhar was not officially notified about what is being reported on the written sermon,” Abbas Shouman wrote in a statement on his Facebook page last week. “It is not binding to Al-Azhar preachers, who are provided with a library enabling them to pass on their knowledge. This is apart from the fact there is a careful process through which the preachers were selected and the experience most of them have gained through preaching locally and internationally.”

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Endowments announced the formation of a committee to draft Friday sermons to be distributed to imams across the country, after it had previously moved to unify the topics of each sermon but left the articulation of their particular points to individual imams.

In its statement, the ministry said the decision aims to facilitate imams’ work and guarantee the optimum delivery of the salient points of assigned topics. The ministry justified its move with harsh criticism of imams’ delivery of Friday sermons.

A member of Al-Azhar’s Council of Senior Scholars told privately owned Al-Watan newspaper that the minister is attacking Al-Azhar scholars and lamented the ministry’s position.

“The ministry’s position saddens me,” Mahmoud Mehanna said. “Engaging in conflict with Al-Azhar will negatively affect the country. Egypt is worth nothing without Al-Azhar, it is what brought Islam to the six continents.”

Mehanna raised questions over the source from which the minister receives orders, implying security involvement.

He added that Al-Azhar’s preachers might abandon the Endowments Ministry’s mosques if they are bound by the decision to unify the sermons.

Head of the ministry’s Quranic affairs department in the Qalyubiya directorate, Mohamed Nassar, explains that the ministry uses up to 3000 Al-Azhar preachers to give Friday sermons - on a bonus system. The preachers also regularly give lessons in ministry mosques.

Nassar says that the ministry took this decision on its own without consulting with Al-Azhar, since it sees itself as a superior ministry that can take decisions independently and enforce them on whoever preaches in its mosques.

“The point of contention is that Al-Azhar sees the written sermon as a step backwards with regards to religious discourse in Egypt. Al-Azhar leaders believe that educating imams is the right step towards renewing the country’s religious discourse.”

Nasser expects the conflict between Al-Azhar and the Endowments Ministry to escalate, until Al-Azhar preachers are banned from preaching in the ministry’s mosques unless they adhere to the unified sermon.

Amr Ezzat, religious freedoms researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, says that both sides are competing over control over the religious scene in Egypt.

“Al-Azhar’s Sheikh has the scientific and religious status, but the control over the religious space is in reality and administratively in the hands of the Endowments Ministry,” he adds.

Ezzat explains that the conflict dates back to Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb’s participation in the June 30 alliance that ousted former President Mohamed Morsi and paved the way for his control over the religious space after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Gomaa, the current minister, used to work in Tayeb’s office and Tayeb is the one who recommended him for the Endowments Minister position, but the competition between them intensified after that,” he said.

The move to unify Friday sermons dates back to 2013 when the Endowments Ministry was a principal player in the struggle between the post-June 30 regime and the Muslim Brotherhood, following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi. It was one of Gomaa’s first moves, made minister in July 2013.

The ministry was working toward controlling the religious sphere in order to disarm the Brotherhood of one of its strongest weapons: religious discourse.

Ezzat suggests that the diversity of Al-Azhar preachers’ political ideologies might be the reason behind the state’s mistrust in them, as opposed to the Endowments Ministry imams who are under its administrative control.

The common idea that Al-Azhar represents moderate Islam, at the top of which is the Council of Senior Scholars, with Tayeb at its head, is misleading, he says.

“The Council of Senior Scholars is a minority who are carefully picked,” Ezzat explains. “The majority of Azharis belong to Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood groups, some of whom have opposing positions to Al-Azhar and are thus not in line with either the state or the leadership within Al-Azhar.”

Top Lebanese TV anchor arrested, deported from Egypt

Associated Press 
Top Lebanese TV presenter detained, deported from Egypt

Daoud's TV show was critical of the Egyptian government

June 28, 2016

 

 

A prominent Lebanese journalist who hosted a talk show on Egypt’s private ONTV critical of the government of President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi arrived in Beirut on Tuesday after authorities in Cairo briefly detained and then deported her, her lawyer said.

Lilian Daoud could not immediately be reached for comment. Her lawyer, Zyad Al Elaimy, wrote on his Twitter account that her first comment after landing in Beirut was that she will challenge the decision to deport her.

There was no formal explanation for Daoud’s deportation from Egypt.

An Egyptian security official, speaking on Monday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to reporters, said Daoud’s residency permit expired after her contract with the ONTV station was terminated.

Al Elaimy said eight men in plainclothes had escorted Daoud from her home in an upscale suburb in Cairo, where she has lived for years, late on Monday, after she announced on her social media account that the network had ended her contract.

Her 10-year-old daughter was there when the men took Daoud away, allowing her no time to pick up luggage. She only called her family from the plane before it headed to Beirut, Al Elaimy said.

The decision to abruptly deport Douad shocked her colleagues and other public figures.

Mohammad Al Baradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the Egyptian uprising’s spiritual fathers who now lives in self-imposed exile, applauded Daoud for her professional reporting.

“One day we may have enough self-confidence to understand the value of having different opinions,” he said in a subtle jab at the local authorities.

Daoud formerly worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation, and lived in London before moving to Egypt.

Her talk show aired critical views of Egyptian President Al Sissi’s government. Since the military overthrow of President Mohammad Morsi in 2013, the government has shown little tolerance for criticism, banning protests and taking programs off the air.

Satirical TV host Bassem Youssef — once described as the Jon Stewart of Egypt and whose program was taken off the air for his criticism of the government — said her arrest is “just the beginning.”

“Egypt ... can’t tolerate the rest of the world,” Youssef, who has also left Egypt, wrote on his Facebook.

Free the jailed members of satirical YouTube group

Human Rights Watch 

Egypt: Free Satirical YouTube Group

Video Performers Who Mocked Government Risk Terrorism Charges 

June 23, 2016

Egyptian authorities should drop their investigation into six young men who posted satirical videos commenting on Egypt’s politics on YouTube and release four of them, who have been detained since May 10, 2016. The investigation appears to be based purely on their satirical videos and violates the right to free speech.

Prosecutors are investigating the men, of a group called Street Children, after the Interior Ministry’s National Security Agency alleged that they are “instigators against the ruling regime” who plotted to use “the internet, social media sites and YouTube” to spread video clips that would undermine the country’s stability by inciting citizens to protest. Prosecutors also investigated the four men in custody about terrorism-related accusations. On June 20, the East Cairo Public Prosecution Office sent the case to the Supreme State Security Prosecution, saying it was out of its jurisdiction.

“Egypt under Sisi is losing its legendary sense of humor when it locks up young men for making satirical videos,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “This kind of blanket repression leaves young people with few outlets to express themselves or joke about their daily hardships.”

Security forces arrested Ezz al-Din Khaled, 19, the group’s youngest member, on May 8. A judge released him on bail of 10,000 L.E (US$1,125) on May 10, after prosecutors charged him with inciting protests and using online platforms to insult state institutions. Security forces arrested Mohamed Dessouky, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Gabr, and Mohamed Yehia on May 10 and are holding them in Cairo’s Heliopolis Police Station on suspicion of the same charges. Prosecutors most recently renewed their 15-day detention order pending investigations on June 18.

Under international law, a judge, not a prosecutor, should promptly review any arrest. However, Egyptian law allows extended periods of pretrial detention without judges’ orders. The sixth member of the group, Mostafa Zein, is under investigation but has not been arrested.

The week before the arrests, Street Children released a satirical music video in which they mocked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and called on him to leave office.

Their lawyer, Mahmoud Othman, of the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, an Egyptian human rights group, told Human Rights Watch that East Cairo district prosecutors have interrogated the four detained men about additional accusations. They include establishing a group that calls for resisting the authorities, disseminating false news to undermine public order, and inciting to overthrow the “ruling regime.”

These accusations, under penal code articles 171 and 174, carry possible 5-year prison sentences. The lawyer said that prosecutors also threatened to use terrorism charges, including articles 86 and 86 bis, which might lead to much longer sentences.

Prosecution reports reviewed by Human Rights Watch showed that prosecutors are relying heavily on a two-page National Security Agency report on Street Children, written by Major Ahmed Abd al-Rahman on May 6. The report, reviewed by Human Rights Watch, cites “trusted confidential sources” who identified the group as “instigators” who “distort the words of some national songs and replace them with verbal abuse against the state.”

As is often the case in National Security reports, Major Abd al-Rahman did not describe the sources, and prosecutors have not questioned the officer further, said Othman, the lawyer. Based on the memo, the Supreme State Security Prosecution granted National Security officers a warrant to raid and inspect the men’s houses and arrest them.

The prosecution reports also showed that prosecutors questioned the four men about “indirectly” inciting “terrorist crimes” and indirectly disseminating terrorist thoughts by participating in videos that contained terrorist ideas.

The six members of the group, most in their 20s, met at a theater workshop and decided to move their performances to the street to make them more accessible to people who cannot afford the theater, one of their project coordinators told Human Rights Watch. In January, they began posting their selfie-style videos, in which they sing about topics including the Muslim Brotherhood, religious preachers, the value of the Egyptian pound and the decision to cede two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, and have attracted more than 1.1 million views on their YouTube Channel.

The group is also facing possible accusations of contempt of religion, which prosecutors have used more often in recent months and which led to 5-year prison sentences in absentia for four children in February because of their involvement in a short YouTube video mocking the extremist group Islamic State.

Reports in local newspapers stated that the Alexandria Minor Offenses Prosecution began separate investigations of Street Children based on a report, filed by lawyer Tarek Mahmoud, that accused the group of insulting Islam in their videos. Othman, the group’s lawyer, said that no one has been interrogated on this accusation yet.

Following the arrest of the four group members, journalists, professors, and other public figures began an online petition calling for the four men’s unconditional release and “free rein to freedom of opinion, imagination, and satire.”

Al-Sisi’s government severely restricts expression. Authorities have arrested and prosecuted dozens of journalists and confiscated journalistic material, according to a 2015 report by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression. In late January, security officials briefly arrested a cartoonist, Islam Gawish, for his satirical comics that criticized the presidency and government policies.

Asked about the government’s troubled relationship with youth activists, al-Sisi admitted during a televised interview on June 3 that state institutions, including the presidency, had failed to create mechanisms to effectively communicate with youth.


The investigations against the Street Children violate international human rights laws. The resolution on the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2002 prohibits arbitrary interference by governments in freedom of expression.

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a party, guarantees freedom of expression and opinion. Limitations are permissible only when they are stated clearly by law and are necessary to protect the rights or reputation of others or national security, public order, public health, or morals.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the covenant, stressed that “the mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties” and that “all public figures, including those exercising the highest political authority such as heads of state and government, are legitimately subject to criticism and political opposition.”

“Egypt’s youth have been a driving force for change since the 2011 uprising,” Houry said. “Upholding human rights and free speech is the best way for al-Sisi to begin to repair the government’s relationship with them.”