Witness Magazine: For a homeland that protects our humanity by Witness Magazine

Editor in Chief

For a homeland that protects our humanity

: Jehad Rajab

1st issue. April 2015

Content 4

The First Freedom: Journalists and Freedom of Expression

The Dilemma of ISIS

Freedom of Press

Syrian Refugees in Egypt

about 28 Concerns Egyptian Courts:

Explosions of the Month

in Egypt 30 Invest and Get a Tailored

Individualism Instead of Nationalism

32 War on Civil

Jews Extinction

PROSPERITY

RULE OF LA

DIGNITY

FREEDOM

EQUALITY

Human Rights and its Defenders

Talk to the Hand A Reply to President Sisi Last Speech

Extremism Leads to Human Rights Violations ?

Women and Sexual Harassment in Egypt

The Case of Ahmed Douma

Legislation for Free

Society

Qarnafeel Experience to Obtain Sewage

This is a free non-periodical print magazine Issued by: The Egyptian Commission For Rights and Freedoms under the creative commons licence. Distribution and re-publication is allowed under the same licence not under any profitable reasons.

Witness. April 2015

Letter From Editor in Chief We live in a society where Human rights is a concept only those who work in human rights know its meaning. It is a society where citizens do not know their rights and which violations are against their simple rights as humans. The goal of this magazine is to spread the culture of human rights outside of the activism community to the outer society. It is to teach people about the basic things that should be respected and cherished. The amount of human rights violations that happen in Egypt since a very long time is increasing and passing without any punishments for the violators. People tend to follow the easier path in life and to choose to walk- as we say in Arabic “beside the wall” in order to avoid any problems. But, this method proved its failure hundreds of times and hence, to speak up and try to change is the other -not safe yet- effective path we should be taking. We all have the responsibility of protecting each others’ rights and if we did not do that, none will ever do. To change a life, we need to change the wrong doings and keep up with the right doings. There has to be laws that punish those who violate others’ freedoms and rights. As we say, knowing the problem is the first and most important step in solving it. So, Witness magazine will work on spotting and showing the problems of human rights violations in Egypt to open the door for solutions and cures.

Editor in Chief

Jehad Rajab

is a human rights magazine aims to spread the culture of defending human rights.

: Jehad Rajab Designed by: Asem Kamal Editor in Cief

Witness. April 2015

The First Freedom:

Journalists and Freedom of Expression

In many countries today, the right to freedom of expression faces great challenges. Threats from terrorism, extremism and sometimes from states themselves are ‘chilling’ freedom of expression. Even freedom of thought, the threshold Denis Edwards right which it is never permissible to limit under international human rights law, is often endangered by state and non-state actors which wish to suppress views that they find dangerous. In some parts of the world, it is journalists who face the greatest risks. Their work takes them to some of the most dangerous places so that they can report to the rest of us on what is happening. But the danger is not just geographical; it also arises from what seems like an increasing trend to confuse the message with the messenger. For journalists, they risk being identified with the views of who they are reporting. Yet if journalists suppress their work, whether out of fear or a wish to favour the powerful, not only is freedom of expression harmed but it is all of our liberties which are damaged. In these dangerous times for journalists exercising freedom of expression, it is worth remembering what international human rights law says about freedom of expression and, in particular, the rights and privileges of journalists. The International Covenant on Civil and Political

Witness. April 2015

Rights The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is expressed in more detail in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is part of the international bill of rights. Article 19 of the Covenant first makes clear that freedom of thought and opinion is an absolute right. It can never be limited by a State. Nor can States tolerate private organizations, such as media companies or employers, discriminating against people on the basis of their views and opinions, whether real or imagined. Article 19 emphasizes that freedom of expression includes the “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice”. In this way, article 19 confirms that all journalists everywhere are to be guaranteed the right to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is guaranteed in similar terms in the European Convention on Human Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights. Under the European Convention, the European Court of Human Rights has developed a rich case law in which the free expression rights of journalists are highly protected. In particular, the Court has stressed the importance of a free press for a democratic society,

its main role being to supervise the States party to the Covenant to ensure that they are complying with their international human rights obligations. The Human Rights Committee stressestoseveral matters required journalists and newspapers be protected which are important for journalists. First, states must from pre-publication restrictions and repeatedly avoid andhave sedition lawsright in order to decidedusing that treason journalists a basic to keep punish for speaking sourcesjournalists of their stories secret.and writing about antigovernment stories. The Committee has said that it will very closely such laws in order to ensure The look Human Rights atCommittee’s Standards for that they are not being used as a means to suppress Freedom of Expression speech which is critical of government. In international law, one of the most significant Secondly, has stressedofthat libel laws discussionstheofCommittee the requirements freedom of must not be used to punish or deter journalists who expression for journalists is in the UN Human Rights criticize publicGeneral figures. Comment The Committee’s Committee’s number approach 34. The in this area recalls the US approach to free speech, Human Rights Committee is established under the in which the US Supreme Court has stated that International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,a vibrant democratic and human rights culture requires a modified libel law, under which public figures can only complain about defamation if the words used were spoken or written maliciously. Being wrong is not enough: public figures must accept that they will often be subjected to erroneous and even vitriolic comment. Thirdly, in addition to the importance of journalists normally being allowed to keep their sources secret, the Committee has highlighted the need for States to protect journalists from harassment. A particularly insidious risk to journalistic free expression is that journalists, their homes and families could be

threatened with harm, whether from state or nonstate actors, as a way of influencing or deterring their work. The Committee has made clear that article 19 imposes positive obligations on States to ensure that journalists are themselves free from threats and that legal measures must be in place – and enforced – to ensure that those who threaten journalists are subject to legal penalties. The Future International human rights law contains many guarantees of freedom of thought and freedom of expression. International and regional courts and agencies have also published a large number of decisions and guidelines on what freedom of expression means for journalists and what States are bound to do to protect journalists exercising the right to freedom of expression. In some states where freedom of expression is threatened, including Egypt, there is a need for more international guidance on what international human rights law means for journalists. Journalists, lawyers and NGOs must be alert to using the law and international human rights standards in order to protect the fundamental right of journalists to freedom of expression. Only when bad State practice is brought to light, ideally before international organizations, will there be a real chance of improving the effective guarantee of the right to freedom of expression which international human rights law offers to everyone.

Witness. April 2015

Freedom of Press

Nermin Gerges

Egypt unlocked new international records. According to a newly published article on Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Egypt had a number of 46 arrests to journalists and reporters in 2014, 16 of which are still imprisoned for various reasons.

RSF also ranks Egypt the 158th country over 180 countries in freedom of the press. According to an article published on the Daily News, RSF published their annual report in which Egypt came the second

country in the world for the number of reporters and journalists arrested, and the fourth biggest prison for journalists. RSF is a non-profit organization known internationally for defining specific criteria for freedom of expression,

Witness. April 2015

then ranking 180 countries according to these sets. It publishes an annual report about the state of freedom of expressions in the world countries and the violations and restrictions on the media in different parts of the world. According to the Egyptian Constitution amended in 2014, article (65) states that “Freedom of thought and opinion is guaranteed. Every person shall have the right to express his/her opinion verbally, in writing, through imagery, or by any other means of expression and publication”. Furthermore, Freedom House stated Egypt as a “Not Free” country when it comes to freedom of the press. Freedom House is another international independent organization that is fully committed to sustain the rights to freedom around the world. They rank countries according to the level of freedom of press, their economic state, their political atmosphere and their legal environment. The serious question now comes to mind; what kind of press do we have in Egypt, if it was not as “free” as it should be? On another hand, Investigative reporter and Multimedia Journalism Professor Firas Al-Atraqchi believes that, “There is greater space for media and social media in Egypt, and more people are expressing

themselves. However, it is not necessarily free per se.”

necessary issues, says Professor Al-Atraqchi.

Professor Al-Atraqchi stated that access to information that is intentionally buried and “undisclosed” is one of the challenges that face journalists everywhere, especially in a society like Egypt where “things are preferred hidden or undisclosed”. Therefore the task of good journalists is to go through this “culture of privacy”.

“Good journalists know how to get issues covered thoroughly by being unbiased and balanced. Fairness and balance in a story whereby you get both sides to express themselves.” Professor Al-Atraqchi continued that this would not stop the threats that follow publishing stories, saying he received threats after publishing some stories.

« Furthermore, Freedom House stated Egypt as a “Not Free” country when it comes to freedom of the press » Reporting news in Egypt is quite a difficult task to do with all the censorship and regulations that hinders most of the journalists from speaking their voices loud for the people they represent. However a good journalist should know their way around to cover the

The press was, and has been and will continue to be, the Fourth Estate for any country; they are the voice of the voiceless, the eyes of the blind and the watchdog that hold people accountable for their actions. So silencing the press is killing the country’s hope to achieve anything. Al-Atraqchi says that “It begins with education…” He adds, “The press as fourth Estate should not be against the regime, but for the people. You can be for the people and the regime at the same time. The role of the press is to highlight wrongdoing and by bringing these issues to the forefront, enlighten the public for their ultimate good.”

Witness. April 2015

Human Rights and its Defenders “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.”Article 1 of the Mohamed Lotfy UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders of 1999 If you came across a beggar carrying her sick child in the street and she asked you for help to cure her child and you give her a pound, you might feel you have done something noble. But you won’t be solving the problem of access to health services to the poor. It is the same if you are a lawyer and came across a victim of medical negligence and helped him file a lawsuit, as in this case you sort an individual problem but don’t tackle comprehensively the healthcare system which needs reform. However human rights defenders and human rights organizations volunteer their time and work in the field of human rights as a profession carried out in a continuous manner whether as being lawyers,

PROSPERITY

RU L E O F L A W

DIGNITY

Witness. April 2015

HOPE

FREEDOM

EQUALITY

researchers, journalist, trade unionists, doctors or social workers or other professions. They aim at producing a positive change in the lives of victims of human rights violations either through mobilization of supporters, reforming laws and policies and practices of the government mainly. Another thing is bringing to account those responsible for violations, so that all people enjoy their human rights without any discrimination whether on the basis of religion, thought, ethnicity, sex, or social or cultural backgrounds. To keep the right to health as an example, indeed the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights succeeded in 2008 to obtain an administrative court ruling to cancel a 2007 decision by former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to transform the General Health Insurance Authority into a Holding company. The court found that this transformation would violate the constitution and Egypt’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights as the decision would deprive healthcare from those who cannot afford it, saying that the government›s right to take new administrative procedures has is conditioned by the right to receive healthcare with reasonable prices is

The main human rights instruments also underline the principle of non-discrimination. for citizens to remain protected. Defending human rights may take several forms such as: 1.Legal aid in courts and in prosecution to offer remedy to victims. 2.Publications of reports and studies on patterns of human rights violations identifying failures and proposing recommendations to solve them. 3. Mobilization for human rights campaigns and advocacy to influence decision makers and policy makers. 4. As well as using films and video reports and publications and press conferences as a tribune for stakeholders to reach out to the public and public opinion. These are the means used by the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms and many other human rights organizations. Among human rights there are for example the right to freedom and security, the right to a fair trial, the right to an adequate standard of living including food, clothing and housing, the right to education, the right to health, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to a fair minimum wage, the right to strike, the right to physical integrity, the right to form associations and trade unions, academic freedoms and the right to peaceful assembly. All these rights are stated in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Right of 1966 and the International Covenant on Economic and Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 which Egypt ratified in 1982 and became legally binded by it. The principle of non-discrimination is the cornerstone of the human rights doctrine and discourse as without this principle there would be differences and ranks between humans, which would empty the idea of “human” being equally attributed to all mankind. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 highlights the principle of equality as it states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.» Article 2 of the UDHR highlights the principle of nondiscrimination stating that “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color,

sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.” The main human rights instruments also underline the principle of non-discrimination. After this introduction on human rights and its defenders, one wonders from the state of animosity of many people when they hear “human rights”. You find those attacking “human rights” without mercy in public describing it of being a conspiracy against the nations, accusing those who hold its banner of being traitors or infidels in some cases. One wonders also when some people avoid saying “human rights”, including among its supporters, as if it were a shame better avoiding it. As if we were living in a country where announcing that one defends victims of injustices is a matter that requires precautions, while attacking and targeting those who defend them is a proof of patriotism. Perhaps the animosity of some people to human rights is born from their refusal of the rights discourse which often holds the state responsible for most injustices. Or, perhaps it is their hate of the world order and the policies of some western countries that adopt a rights discourse but has double standards ignoring violations in some countries and threatening with penalties and military intervention in other cases. It might also be the despise for the human value whom they look at as a number or unit that can be sacrificed for the sake of society or the state as a whole. The state with its different governments has been targeting human rights groups and human rights defenders through harassment, judicial harassment, and imprisonment as well as smearing them in media and destructing them morally by burning the bridges of trust they have with people. At the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms we believe that protection of human rights for everybody is the way and ultimate goal to develop Egypt and that there is no conflict between the high national interests and protection of human rights. Actually Egypt’s interests represented by its people and government will not be achieved without respect of human rights. When the dignity and rights of the most miserable, poor and marginalized child in Egypt will be respected, then we will have achieved our slogan:

“ For a homeland that protects our humanity ”

Witness. April 2015

Talk to the Hand A Reply to President Sisi Last Speech On the 22nd of February 2015, eight months after ascending to power formally after the elections, and 18 months after ascending to power informally after the popularly backed coup, President Abd El Fattah El Sisi talked Taher Almotaz Bellah to the Egyptian people in a 40 minutes pre-recorded televised speech that addressed pressing domestic and international issues. The events precedent to the speech helped raise its view rates. Air strikes in Libya, the death of football fans in the Air Defense stadium along with scandalous, yet highly revealing leaks regarding nature of relations with the Gulf States have all drove the Egyptian community into a deep state of agony, segmentation and confusion. The president announced that this talk will be scheduled monthly, in an attempt to communicate directly with the nation and address its concerns. The initiative was meant to reassure the nation and stop the growth of misleading rumors and clueless speculations that could further destabilize the country. The talk was more of a monologue with the president reading a pre-recorded speech rather than engaging in a dynamic, live conversation with one or more of the many regime friendly, domesticated TV presenters that accompany the president in his foreign trips and meet with him like he meets his ministerial cabinet. Thus, as the president was the only one talking, and communication is understood to be a two way road, he might as well try to listen to a brief reply to the main points mentioned in his speech. Air Strikes in Libya: The president started by offering condolences to the martyrs who were brutally slaughtered by ISIS in Libya, and stated that he would not have been able to offer those condolences if the armed forces hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t avenged their deaths through air strikes on the 16th of February. The air strikes were a much needed response

Witness. April 2015

Remember Khaled Saeed Mr. president, for inside dark, chilling, and overcrowded police stations, a new Khaled Saeed is dying every day to ease the pain of the fallenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; families and deter the occurrence of similar incidents in the future. In addition, it was very comforting to hear the president firmly deny any intention to engage in a long war or initiate a highly risky ground invasion. While it was alleged that the strikes resulted in the death of 64 ISIS fighters, however, reports of Amnesty International stated otherwise. Amnesty reported that the strikes resulted in the death of seven civilians including a woman and three children. Civilian casualties are very dangerous as they result in increased support for ISIS from the locals, without which ISIS would not be able to survive for long in Derna, one of its strongest holds in Libya according to the CNN. The Ministry of Defense must ensure safety of civilians to ensure that military action is helping eradicate terror and not strengthen it. Moreover, last August, reports emerged about joint Egyptian-Emirati air strikes on Libya to aid Haftarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forces in its battle with the Islamists in Libya. This risky, unacknowledged involvement has gravely endangered Egyptian workers in war torn Libya and only worsened the political turmoil. The Ministry of

Defense should not engage in military action without warning Egyptian residents beforehand, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should spare no effort to ensure the safe evacuation of approximately 800,000 Egyptians currently working in Libya. Announcing a hotline number for distressed Egyptians that doesn’t answer doesn’t really help. With two governments fighting over limited resources and wide territory, the situation in Libya is much more complicated than the Islamists Vs. nonIslamists dichotomy that is being falsely propagated by the media. Claims that the Egyptian intervention is backed by the legitimate government is both ignorant and deceptive for both Libyan governments lack legitimacy and are fighting to rule by defacto, at the point of a shotgun barrel. The Islamist backed government lead by Omar Al Hassi is comprised of members of the previous expired parliament. While the Gulf backed government lead by Abdullah Al Thinni is comprised of members of the more recent parliament which was deemed unconstitutional and dissolved by the Libyan supreme constitutional court. Libyan stability is vital for Egypt’s national security, therefore it would be wise to refrain from siding with either government over the other and try instead to bring them both to the negotiations table. Without reaching a fair and inclusive political solution it would be impossible to eradicate ISIS; a parasitic cancer that flourishes in conflicts, glows in despair and can only grow by feeding on a torn social fabric rotted by war and blood. The easiest way to win the war on ISIS is to stop the civil war. Social Development: The president stated that in order to develop slum areas, 500 million EGP are going to be donated from the Long Live Egypt fund with the state expected to contribute the rest of the amount needed. With more than 16 million Egyptians living in it, developing slum areas should be at the top of the priority list of any policy maker. But one must question the magnitude of the funds available at the 306306 account that have received deposits from both patriots and opportunists alike. How much is the account worth? According to an earlier report released by the Central Auditing Organization in 2010, there are more than 9800 private funds in Egypt amounting to 1.1 trillion Egyptian pounds, an amount that exceeds the annual state budget. While these funds were established initially to promote decentralization and delegate some financial decision making, they were abused and According to AssemAbd El Moaty, President of the Egyptian Center

for Transparency and Fighting Corruption, they were mostly used to reward officials with bonuses and benefits outside of the state budget. The state budget must be reformed to include those funds as this would help reduce corruption and could remedy the budget deficit without resorting to the politically costly and socially disruptive solutions, such as fully abolishing subsidies, which is scheduled for next July. Unemployment: The president also mentioned that cars equipped with refrigerators are being prepared to be handed to youths to help them earn a living. Resorting to micro projects is understood in a country with an unemployment rate of 13%. Moreover, promoting entrepreneurship to an alarmingly unemployed youth population with an unemployment rate of 29% in 2014 is both needed and appreciated. Knowing that half of Egypt’s population is under 24 years old, one must ask how many cars do you think would end unemployment Mr. President?short term solutions are only effective when accompanied by a long term vision to eradicate the problem and not just cover its syndromes. The budget allocation for education should increase proportionally to the increase in population and professional development must be facilitated for graduates. Egyptian youth don’t need cars, they need education. Despite all the president’s efforts to establish a regular communication channel with the nation and gain the trust of its alienated youth, those efforts are doomed to failure as long as the president continues to ignore the number one enemy of the state; its inflated, unchecked, untrained, underequipped, politicized, heavy handed, and trigger happy security apparatus. Instead of revising the status of unjustly detained prisoners Mr. President, you should reform the entity that has unjustly detained them in the first place. It is understood that the MOI is left unchecked so that it can keep repressing all forms of dissent before they gain momentum. This aims to promote false stability to foreign observers and most importantly, to ensure regime survival despite lacking any organized political support, apart from the many paper parties lead by the opportunist, aging, and isolated elite eagerly looking for their share of the electoral pie, while their electorates have nothing left to eat. Don’t be fooled by the Ministry Of Interior (MOI) Mr. president, it will only protect you as long as you feed it. And while you may regard it as your guarding shield, it will not be before long before it proves to be your Achilles heel. Remember Khaled Saeed Mr. president, for inside dark, chilling, and overcrowded police stations, a new Khaled Saeed is dying every day

Witness. April 2015

Extremism Leads to Human Rights Violations ? «The war against terrorism» has been always used to explain a lot of actions and violations, which if had happened under another justification; they would have not been tolerated by the people. Recently, the Egyptian media used a discourse that implicitly justifies human rights violations Mohamad Ashraf since the country is threatened by extremists or terrorists. Thus, we have a hidden assumption that human rights violations are a consequence and reaction to extremism, but this is dangerous, the fact that both extremism and human rights violations do exist in the same time does not mean that we have a causal relationship. This discourse puts no attention to try to understand what the reason for the rise of extremism is; and hence, overlooks the methodologies through which extremism can be fought back. Extremism in all its forms, religious or other is an obstacle in the evolution of any society that has much diversity in its sphere. It is a nutritious condition for polarization where the people are classified into two categories; what is like us and the «other», usually the evil other. Furthermore, this environment of polarization can simply embrace violence and violations of human rights; but the thing is that when we talk about violations of human rights, we usually tend to look at the state as the only violator disregarding other possible violators. Let us examine some examples of extremism in the Egyptian context; in the 70s and 80s, the rise of Islamic Extremism in politics occurred in a time of a governmental Iron fist over a lot of activities that can be categorized under activities of freedom of

Witness. April 2015

It is a nutritious condition for polarization where the people is classified into two categories; what is like us and the «other», usually the evil other. expression and political opposition. A lot of Student activities were banned or at least monitored by secret police. Later during Mubarak›s rule, Extremism rose even more, especially in the 90s, taking more violent ways; which suggests that something in this era led to more extremism. What happened in the 90s? On the economic side, there was a widening gap of income, contraction of the middle class and overall increase in poverty rates. At the same time, there was more extremism. Also there was no real space for effective or actual opposition. Thus, there was an uneffective political system and no political activism; a political vacuum was created. In addition, the social role practiced before by Nasser has diminished starting the era of Sadat and amplified more in Mubarak’s era, leaving a vacuum of social actor. Islamic extremists fill this vacuum by establishing schools and NGOs that help the poor and they widened their existence

in underprivileged and underdeveloped regions like Upper Egypt. Currently, the situation is not exactly the same after the revolution; however, there are enough similarities, there are still political vacuum, the non-Islamic political actors are not as effective as the wing of extremists which have better basis in the underprivileged classes of the society, which are the majority; in the same time, there is no space for NGOs to work in a proper functional way due to the relatively restrictive laws issued since less than a year. Therefore, one can say that extremism prevails and nourish in such times of social and political vacuum. The lack of political space and expression, based on this, can prime us towards the rise of extremism; this lack of freedom of expression can then be attributed to the rise of extremism. Then, as a drawback, more violations of human rights are used to counter fight the rise of extremism, leaving a self-assuring cycle that keeps generating human rights abuse and extremism reciprocally. Fighting physical extremism definitely requires physical response. However, this is only a short term strategy, what is more important, I believe, is a long-term plan that should include presenting more space for social work and political opposition to fill those vacuums, which if were left, unpleasant consequences might reproduce again and even an exaggerated extremism might arise.

Witness. April 2015

The Dilemma

of ISIS

Witness. April 2015

An entity of terror not entirely new to the Middle East has recently gripped headlines across the world with their staggering array of human rights violations and ability to which they have rapidly spread across the region. Sarah Mohamad According to the Middle East Monitor, “Before appearing in Syria, ISIS were found in Iraq but under various names and formats, most notably as [a branch of] Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 until he was killed in 2006 by US forces.” When the US withdrew from Iraq in 2011, ISIS officially emerged, lead by Abu Bakr AlBaghdadi, as they expanded from Iraq to Syria. As the years went on, ISIS’s goals grew more ambitious; Baghdadi declared himself as the new ‘Caliph’ as he worked towards the goal of dismantling the Middle East and North Africa in order to form a modern day Caliphate. Religious and ethnic minorities, such as Shia’aa, Yazidis, Kurds and Christians were frequent targets of the violence of ISIS since its inception. Lately, ISIS, also

known as Daesh in Arabic, has also effectively enacted systematic and widespread terror against not only non Muslims but also Muslim civilians and infrastructure in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Lebanon. Their deliberate attacks against civilians seem to follow no laws that are inherent to Islam, despite their self identification as the ‘Islamic State’. Within Islam, clear cut rules are outlined that Muslims are compelled to observe during times of war: Non-combatants are to be spared, of which include women, children, elderly people, priests and the civilian population. Destruction of water sources and vegetation is prohibited. Punishment by fire is prohibited, as well as destroying whole villages and towns, fields and cattle. It is also obligatory for Muslims to exercise patience when encountering an enemy during times of war. Thus it can be seen that the conduct of war followed by the so called “Islamic State” has no roots in Islam at all whatsoever, following their own perverted, bastardized version of the religion as they carry out methodical executions of religious and ethnic minorities and Muslims, destroying places of worship and civilian infrastructure, raping women and children, and utilizing unorthodox and unIslamic methods of execution such as immolation and

impalement. According to the UN report published in October 2014, ISIS “directly targets civilians and civilian infrastructure, executions and other targeted killings of civilians, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against women and children, forced recruitment of children, destruction or desecration of places of religious or cultural significance, wanton destruction and looting of property, and denial of fundamental freedoms,”. These actions are in direct opposition to the teachings of Islam regarding conduct during times of war, and can be categorized as “amount[ing] to war crimes or crimes against humanity,” according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. Although ISIS has been terrorizing Syria, Libya and Iraq for well over a year now, another country that has silently fallen victim to the effects and actions of Daesh over the recent months is Egypt. During February 2015, Daesh released a horrific video execution of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya. Within a few hours, President Sisi of Egypt gave a speech addressing the nation and international community, in which he draws parallels between the vicious actions of ISIS and what one can only hypothesize as the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic

« Thus it can be seen that the conduct of war followed by the so called “Islamic State” has no roots in Islam at all whatsoever, following their own perverted, bastardized version of the religion »

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political group which ousted former Egyptian president Muhammed Morsi belonged to that has since been labeled a terrorist organization in Egypt since 2013. Following the speech, Egypt launched air strikes against Daesh in Libya as retribution for the execution, resulting in enemy and innocent civilian casualties. This air strike marked Egypts first military venture in about 25 years, which begs the question: why now? And more importantly, is there another ulterior motive behind the attack on ISIS for the murders of the 21 Egyptian Copts? Although some individuals may think this attack is a manifestation of President Sisi’s genuine concern over protecting and exacting retribution for the Coptic Christians in Egypt, others have argued that, when put into context along with the president›s past actions since his official rise to power, the air strikes against ISIS in Libya has an alternative agenda all together. Since the summer of 2014, Sisi has called for a religious revolution in Egypt, with a focus on working towards improving the rights and treatments of religious minorities, as well as improving religious tolerance for all. Thus it can be seen that Sisi’s attack in retribution for the massacre of Coptics by ISIS is a step in the right direction at recognizing this religious revolution by a seemingly progressive and tolerant regime. Yet, when one weighs in the political motives of Sisi’s military regime, another agenda begins to come to light. According to Henry Clements, an international graduate fellow of Arab and Islamic civilization at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Sisi’s “military move aims to pit Egypt against a monolithic Islamist threat and allow the government to continue its harsh repression of domestic political dissent.” This opinion gains ground when examining Sisi’s actions towards Egypt›s most prevalent religious minority; since his rise to power, the president has yet to express genuine concern through action for the rights of Coptic Christians in Egypt, persecuting the already persecuted minority instead of working to preserving their rights and representation that Sisi has advocated

“ISIS wants to forcefully create a caliphate and calls for the annihilation of all non-Muslims as well as Muslims who do not comply with or submit to their ideology.”

Witness. April 2015

for during his call for a religious revolution in Egypt under his rule. In June of 2014, a Coptic teacher was sentenced to serve time in prison for insulting Islam. Military representation in Supreme Council of Armed Force (SCAF) seems monochromatic when it comes to the analysis of represented religious ideologies; SCAF is exclusively Muslim; there are no Christian representations. When one factors in Sisi’s political agenda and actions, in light of the strike against ISIS in Syria after the massacre of the 21 Copts, we can see the regimes true agenda for not only Egypt, but the MENA region emerge. “Sisi hopes to position himself as a regional leader in the fight against Islamism, and in doing so equate the dangers of the Islamic State with that of the greatest potential threat to his domestic political authority: the Muslim Brotherhood”, says Clements. By attacking ISIS in Libya and calling on the world to fight against terrorist organizations that share the same fundamental goals of terror, he begins to equate ISIS to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as “two manifestations of the same radical Islamism which so gravely threatens the region”, in order to rationalize and justify political oppression in the eyes of those domestic and abroad. If Sisi can get the international community to view the MB as a similar threat as ISIS – both under the same umbrella of terrorism that must be defeated in order to fully eradicate the global threat – then Egypt›s political repression against dissidents with and without affiliation to the MB goes unchallenged with impunity. Similarly, by casting the MB in the same light and as an offshoot of ISIS, Sisi aims to exploit the pariah status that the MB already holds in the eyes of the Egyptian public; enhancing the fear already prominent among citizens against the MB in order to rationalize and justify the regime political repression against brotherhood members and other political dissidents. As noted by Clements, “retribution and national security aside, direct conflict with Daesh adherents in Libya aligns favorably with Sisi’s political interests. The Egyptian president will instrumentalize

the conflict to bolster his image as a religious reformer and silence criticism of his repressive policies at home and abroad.” This is important to keep in mind when discussing the regimes actions and political agenda regarding ISIS; ever since August of 2014, the regime, particularly the Ministry of Religious Endowments in this instance, has compared the Muslim Brotherhood to ISIS, stating that “They are both waging a war against their homelands with vandalism, destruction and murder.”This demonstrates a history of the Egyptian military regime trying to draw parallels between the brotherhood and ISIS, in order to exploit the fears and hatred that Egyptians have towards the brotherhood in order to justify the regimes political repression against brotherhood members and other political dissidents. Although the Brotherhood in Egypt is now an unpopular group for many valid reasons, the fear mongering tactics pushed by the Military regime is not one of those valid reasons. As such, it is imperative to deconstruct these false reasons that Sisi’s regime is attempting to spread. It is important to note the differences between the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS: The Muslim Brotherhood gained its popularity in Egypt by providing social services that the state government failed to adequately provide to the people, such as helping those in poverty, creating hospitals, schools, and other welfare services, in order to spread social and moral reform. ISIS on the other hand, is quite the opposite on all accounts. According to the Middle East Moniter, “IS wants to forcefully create a caliphate and calls for the annihilation of all nonMuslims as well as Muslims who do not comply with or submit to their ideology.” Additionally, another difference that separates the Muslim Brotherhood from ISIS is ISIS’s methods of violence, which shows how their ideology and actions are clearly adverse from traditional Islamic rules that the Muslim Brotherhood abides by. As stated by the Middle East Monitor by Dr. Walaa Ramadan, “The IS stands apart from other «extremist» organizations, most notably in that they are not bound by the structures

of traditional Islamic warfare. The IS are attempting to sell their battle for a traditional caliphate, but their deeply intolerant definition of a caliphate and desire to violently oppress those who do not share their beliefs is inconsistent with Islamic history and any Islamic teachings.” In conclusion, as said by Dr. Ramadan, “It is imperative to make the distinction between political Islam (Muslim brotherhood) and violent Islam (ISIS), where the former is deeply embedded within Arab and Muslim societies, regardless of how socially and religiously conservative they are, and the latter is a total anomaly to the culture, belief, ideology, and faith of the region.” This analysis, however, is not to dismiss nor ignore the vast atrocities committed by ISIS against Egyptians, it serves merely as a point to which align ones thought process in how we as individuals should categorize social and religious groups. It is of utmost importance to realize through what prism the facts are being pushed through, in order to detect bias, and thus separate fear mongering and hidden political agendas from facts. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt can be seen as traitors of the revolution and the people since 2011, but to align them as equals to ISIS - in order to justify the political repression and violence against the Brotherhood in Egypt by Sisi’s regime or to use the Brotherhood as a scapegoat for Sisi to continue his repression and violence against political dissidents and revolutionary youths- is not acceptable, and if allowed to continue, shall lead to a very slippery and dangerous slope for all voices of political dissent in Egypt, be it from the Brotherhood, Revolutionary groups, religious minorities or journalists. If you want to dislike and not support a political or religious entity, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, by all means, do so; but take delicate care to base your opinions for or against the brotherhood on verified facts and not to fall victim to the political agenda of fear mongering and fact twisting bias that the regime is trying to pass off as facts.

Witness. April 2015

Syrian Refugees in Egypt We are in the fourth anniversary of the Syrian revolution which is not completed yet. Syrians are still looking for their beloved ones dead or survivors under the rubble due to Assad fighters’ continuous raids on the cities. And Mohamad Saeed refugees are still suffering till their Translated by: numbers increased to 5 million Ahmed Sherif which is more than 25% of the Syrian population. Their numbers in Lebanon only reached up to 2 million which is half the Lebanese population. Therefore we had to clarify the refugees’ situations in Egypt and their increasing difficulties due to the deterioration in their standard of living and the problems they face in Egypt. First: brief history about the Egyptian-Syrian relationship since the fifties of the last century. the United Arab Republic was the official name to the unity between Egypt and Syria which was a start to unite the Arab countries which was one of president Gamal Abdel Nasser’ dreams. The unity was announced in February 22, 1958 by signing the Charter of the United Republic by the Syrian President Shukri Al-Quwatli and the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Abdel Nasser was the one chosen as a president and Cairo, the capital of the new republic. In 1960, the two parliaments were unified in the National Assembly in Cairo and regional ministries were canceled in favor of a unified Ministry in Cairo as well. Unity was terminated on September 28, 1961 by military coup in Damascus, and Syria announced the establishment of the Syrian Arab Republic, while Egypt retained the name of the United Arab Republic until 1971. Second: causes of the Syrian crisis up till now leading to the current situation of refugees in Egypt. Since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution: the events began in the city of Daraa, where the security arrested fifteen children after drawing signs calling for freedom and demanding the fall of the regime on the wall of their school on February 26, 2011. In the midst of it, there was a call for demonstrations on a Facebook page that no one knew who was behind it and a group of activists responded to it on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 and this demonstration included figures from different areas

Witness. April 2015

such as Homs, Daraa, and Damascus. These protests were against tyranny and oppression, corruption and suppression of freedoms and following the arrest of children of Daraa and the humiliation their families suffered from. Things got out of control at the end of March 2011 as protests broke out more against the existing regime after the success of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions to get rid of the authoritarian regimes as part of the Arab Spring. It soon expanded in all the country to include most of the provinces. The authority’s reaction included different human rights violations as torture, firing live bullets at the protesters, and pushing the Syrian army to suppress them. This led to the division of the Syrian army and emerging an organizationally decentralized armed resistance that is called the Free Syrian Army from dissidents from the Syrian National army and civilian volunteers. This resulted in militarizing the protests and the outbreak of civil war in a form of battles that use heavy weapons. The crisis eruption led to widespread destruction of the infrastructure in multiple Syrian cities. Third: the Syrian refugees crisis inside and outside, the destruction of archaeological sites, the collapse of the economy, and the increasing numbers of killed, injured, detained disabled, kidnapped and disappeared people. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the deaths of 210,060 people since the start of the Syrian crisis in the 15th of March, 2011. This dates the killing of the first martyr in Daraa till the 5th of February, 2015. They are categorized as following: Martyrs Civilians: 100 973, including 10 664 children and 6783 females over the age of eighteen, and 35 827 of the combat groups of the Islamic fighters, and 2498 of dissidents Fighters. Syrians moved to the neighboring countries as Lebanon, Jordan, the borders of Turkey and Egypt. They also moved to the Palestinians refugees in the Syrian camps specifically Yarmouk camp (Syrian-Palestinian). The total number of Syrian refugees registered in the UN for 2013 was more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees in the neighboring countries, especially Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. There are also probably other tens of thousands of non-refugees that are not registered, and the estimated number of refugees waiting for

registration is about 227 thousand people. Forth: the situation of refugees in Egypt. Egypt is considered one of the first countries to sign the Convention on the status of Refugees and the African Charter. There are two offices in Alexandria and Cairo to help refugees following the UNHCR. The number of Syrian refugees registered in the UN in Egypt is 1,500,000 (October 2012) and there are unregistered numbers in UNHCR. Syrian refugeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; crisis went through 3 stages. It started in 2011 during the SCAF period after the revolution of 25th of January, then the Muslim brotherhood period from 2012 till June 30, 2013 during the protests against the brotherhood administration in which the army had control over everything (considered the worst period for refugees), and finally 2014 after law was set to deport foreigners to their countries. The new law gives the president the right to deliver accused and on trial people to their countries. This law will threaten the independence of judiciary and also threaten the Egyptian sovereignty if any country demanded deporting any of their citizens who committed any internationally recognized crimes in Egypt. In addition, Egypt should respect the banning principle of forced deportation of foreigners to countries where they will be exposed to torture or persecution as stated in article 3 of Convention Against Torture CAT of 1986. More than 3000 Syrians and PalestinianSyrians have been arrested between 2013 and 2014 for trying to escape from Egypt through irregular migration. Around 2500 Syrians have been already deported; most of them have already registered a temporary asylum application from the UNHCR. Moreover, Syrians who are accused of irregular migration or an expired residency are being deported to Qanater 2 jail to be delivered to their ambassador. This is considered a death sentence for them as they will be delivered to the regime they already escaped from. The Syrian community also is becoming more unwelcomed due to the unstable security and the slander of media against Syrians after ending Rabaa and the following protests.

The crisis eruption led to widespread destruction of the infrastructure in multiple Syrian cities.

Witness. April 2015

Qena

Sinai

unknown

Sharqya 0

unknown

Fayom 0

1 in Fayom 3 in Qaliobia

1 in Fayom 5 in Sharqiya

courts complex in Alexandria

unknown

Explosions

of the month

unknown

Court building in downtown Cairo`s Ramses Street 2 dead

March 2014

By: Mariam Rajab

Witness. April 2015

unknown

11 injured

3 in fayom 1 in sharqia 1

Sinai 0

Cairo Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s metro station 6

13 Maadi and Stad square

Hadaek El-Koba and october unknown

5 in Maadi and 1 in Tanta

unknown

- Structural bombs were found in front of schools compound in Shubra El-Kherima - Explosion in The Real Estate in Masr El-Gededa 4

Court building in downtown Cairo`s Ramses Street unknown

unknown

Cairo and Giza

Alexandria

Alexandria 5

Witness. April 2015

Individualism instead of

Nationalism Egyptians have been unconsciously accepting an endless list of social struggles and injustice. A combination of manipulative media, widespread misinformation and the lack of freedom of expression makes the whole nation appear Esraa Shalan paralyzed and unmotivated to change its believed to be faith. Moreover, Egyptians active in the struggle for social justice are being forgotten since they do not represent the typical national image. To solve the social struggles, first we must address what is holding us back from acting: Nationalism The comedian George Carlin stated once: «I could never understand ethnic or national pride. Because to me, pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn›t a skill, it›s a genetic accident. You wouldn›t say «I›m proud to be 5»11» or I›m proud to have a predisposition for colon cancer.» So why would you be proud to be Irish, or proud to be Italian, or American or anything?» The popularity of nationalism in the modern Egyptian society allows the government to control the country on the premise of protecting national pride. The state is trying to utilize an image of a unified nation to demonstrate its strength to the international

Witness. April 2015

community. Despite religious and ethnic diversity, the state actively hides the lack of a political unity through corruption and oppression. Rather than develop meaningful actions that prioritizes Egyptian citizens, the state devotes its energy to developing this national image. If we are genuinely interested in promoting a healthy image of our nation, we must improve ourselves as independent individuals. The goal should never be the pleasure of the western, as it has been demonstrated by the Egyptian government. A positive change in our society should be for our own well-being, regardless of international opinion. Also, it is not the goal to divide the nation, but rather to distinguish the victim from the guilty. Sure, we are a nation; however we are not one representing single personality. Therefore, I am not responsible for everyone›s actions and not comparable to the guilty. For instance, accepting the generalization that we are a society of sexual harassers permits those guilty of sexual violence to go unpunished. Instead, we should treat the guilty as an individual, forcing them to deal with the consequences of their behavior without having the rest of us punished with a generalized bad reputation. Even if my own experience of sexual harassment is valid, tossing out careless statements using bad

examples of stereotypes is not and only leads to a common acceptance. However, it is natural to classify based on elements of the truth to form an opinion or a judgment. During this process one can be wrong in their assessments, as they can also be right. At the end, it is a matter of fact, that a prejudice has been formed. Not being responsible for everyoneâ&#x20AC;şs actions surely does not mean alleging blindness. Witnessing someone committing an act against social justice makes us automatically implicated if we remain silent. Whether itâ&#x20AC;şs on a civil or a governmental level, saying the truth or criticizing an act in Egypt involves negative consequences which in some cases could lead to imprisonment or as we experienced: the death penalty. There is little space for criticism in our society which

The popularity of nationalism in the modern Egyptian society allows the government to control the country on the premise of protecting national pride

clarifies more the lack of freedom of speech and expression. In order to openly criticize and address our issues, we need national and international pressure to guarantee security from governmental repression while trying to achieve a moral and secure daily living in Egypt. As an Egyptian, one must recognize that Egypt is not the mother of the earth as we were taught; it is rather the little child that must be disciplined and loved the same time. Us, human beings, are the ones that must take care of the country, not vice versa. It is also us that have the ability to change ourselves. Starting with the right mindset, we could be able to conquer permanent alterations by setting the right goals. Nonetheless, we have to be patient, expect failure and disruption but also be open to give and receive criticism as individuals without feeling insulted of your national pride. Our Egyptian nationalism divides people and even creates mistrust among us. It is somehow expected from an Egyptian to be positively talking about the own country to spread love and enthusiasm which makes Egyptians criticizing their own nation suspicious. But to improve humanity and to secure human rights, we do not need nationalism. We need visible acts accomplished by Egyptian civilians starting by pointing out the issues with governmental support. Once we achieve that, we can start being proud Egyptians.

Witness. April 2015

Jews Extinction The Egyptian Jewish community is facing the ugly truth that Egypt will soon be without any more Jews. There are now only seven Jews left in Egypt. Most of them are elderly women, who need daily medical care. Within the last six Mina Thabet decades, we lost the oldest religious minority in Egypt, an important element of diversity, which was one of our unique cultural heritages. I met Nadia Haroun, the vice president of the Jewish community in Egypt for the last time in November 2013. I remember that day because I saw the last two Egyptian Jews together -- who used to have an ordinary, everyday life -- Nadia and her older sister Magda, president of the Jewish community in Egypt. Nadia was smiling while telling me “Magda told me a lot about you, I was looking forward to seeing you.” For me, I couldn’t quite believe it. “Today I met two Jews? I was the one looking forward to that.”

Witness. April 2015

The Jewish community is the oldest religious community in Egypt, and it has faced a wave of propaganda, defamation and hate speech. The legacy is still felt today through stereotypes, for example, “Are you a Jew?” is used to refer to greedy people in Egypt. I was criticized earlier for writing an article in Arabic entitled “We are sorry, Jews”. Critics wondered how a Christian could defend Jews, when they took part in the crucifixion of Jesus. Ironically, many of those critics are Muslims extremists, who may be discriminating against Christians. Egyptian minorities in general suffer from discrimination, but the situation of Jews in particular is miserable. Unfortunately, Egyptian history is full of violations of the essential rights of minorities and vulnerable groups. According to Dr. Abdel Azim Gamal El-Din in his encyclopedia “History of Egypt” which is based on the great historian Severus ibn al-Muqaffa’s manuscript

“History of the Patriarchs”; in the year 38AD a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms engulfed Alexandria. Alexandrian residents had offended the envoy of the Roman emperor, claiming that he was Jewish and Jews refused to honor the Emperor by set up statues of him. They sent the emperor flattering messages asking his permission to set up statues in his likeness, which pleased him greatly. The residents used the Emperor’s permission to break into Jewish synagogues and put up his statues. That was unacceptable to the Jews who tried to stop this violation. The residents used that as a motive to start a wave of violence which reached houses, shops and synagogues. The violence reached sectarian murder and rape of Jewish women, finally stopping after Roman authorities arrested about 38 member of the “Jewish Senate” and had them whipped. If what happened under the rule of the Roman Empire was deplorable, so too was what happened in the modern period under Egyptian rulers. After the 1952 coup, a hostile environment against Jews emerged which perceived them as a ‘fifth column’ for Israel. In the sixties, President Nasser started his policy of nationalization, which badly affected the Jewish community as they controlled a broad sector of Egyptian economy. Also, Egyptian authorities launched large scale detentions of Jewish men, and forced them to choose between jail or leaving Egypt. The situation became more complicated leading finally to the mass migration of Jews. Jews had almost vanished from Egypt.

«Unfortunately, the Egyptian history is full of violations to essential rights against minorities and vulnerable groups» A small number of Jewish families stayed in Egypt, among them leftist activist Chehata Haroun and his family. According to Haroun’s daughter Magda, when her father tried to fly her older sister to Paris for treatment, Egyptian authorities agreed only to give him an exit permission with no return, so he left his daughter to die but never left the country. When he died in 2001, his family had to bring a French rabbi to perform the ritual prayer for him, because they did not have a Jewish rabbi in Egypt. The same happened with the death of Nadia. Nadia died in March 2014, and I had the honor to attend her funeral, while Egyptian state officials did not attend it, although they typically attend funerals of Al-Azhar sheikhs or Coptic Church bishops. Nadia left her older sister Magda alone to carry the burden

of the Jewish community in Egypt. Early this month, it was the first anniversary of Nadia’s death, and Magda went to her older sister’s grave along with her current Christian husband and her Muslim daughters to perform their rites. She found that a group of youth had desecrated her sister’s grave. They also insulted her and insulted Judaism. I can’t imagine how Magda felt about that. It’s very hard for anyone to see his beloved ones insulted in life and death, just because they had a different religion. Despite the fact that we have the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the world, it has been left vulnerable to desecration and vandalism. Cemeteries are not the only neglected part of Jewish legacy in Egypt. According to Magda, there are about 12 Jewish synagogues in Cairo and Alexandria left without maintenance. The majority were closed because there is no one left to pray there. Furthermore, there are registers belonging to the Jewish community in Egypt, which are part of history that need to be digitalized and safeguarded. The original written Torah also needs to be restored and kept in a museum along with other parts of the heritage of this dying community. Magda told me once about her deepest fear -- that after she is gone, what remains of Egypt’s Jewish heritage will be lost. I remember Magda’s speech at her sister funeral; she just looked in my eye and said: “it’s your history Mina.” Then she turned to one of her friends and said: “it’s your history Mohamed.” About six decades of propaganda and hate speeches finally led to extinction of Jews. Same hate speeches led to forced evictions of Bahai’s from Sohag in 2009. Same hate speeches led to brutal murder of Shi’a in June 2013 at El Giza. Same hate speeches led to large spill of sectarian violence against Christians, where dozens of churches had been burned down, Christian’s houses and stores were looted since 2013. Hate speeches and lack of equal protection under the law inside the community creates hostile environment against minorities, where violence could be justified. Since 2011, at least 40 incidents of sectarian violence occurred in Egypt. Most of these incidents followed hate speech, which incited the perpetrators to commit the attacks. Since 2011, sectarian violence took the lives of at least 100 Egyptians, where the absence of accountability and lack of protection for vulnerable groups had become a common feature. Jews’ destiny is inevitable, but at least we should learn from our mistakes, we should start preserving our Jewish heritage and restore synagogues. We should face hate speeches, discrimination, stop sectarian violence and bring its perpetrators to justice.

Witness. April 2015

Women and Sexual Harassment in Egypt Women comprise half of the society. They are sisters, daughters, wives and participants in all forms of life. Egyptian women were pioneers in education, work, and public services. But the truth is we rarely show real respect for women Mai Abdo especially when exposed to sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is the practical manifestation of our contempt for women. In Egypt, most of people do not really think that harassment is a crime and they want to grab a woman`s body. They do not think of a woman as a human whose feelings had been insulted and whose dignity had been violated when she was harassed. They also think that a woman`s role is confined to her bodily functions, and majority of generations of Egyptians were raised to think that a woman is nothing but a pleasure machine that must be covered and hidden away from men so that they do not fall victims to her seduction. I would like to ask our gentlemen readers: when you deal with a woman for the first time, what does draw

Witness. April 2015

your attention more? Her mind or her body? We all know the answer! Women have been stripped of their humanity and this is the basic reason behind the spread of sexual harassment throughout Egypt. During the holidays, groups of some young men are roaming the streets like wandering animals seeking to harass any woman that they see. A study was conducted by the Egyptian Center for Women`s Rights in 2008, covering some 1,010 women, from both foreigners and Egyptians. According to the results it appears that 98% of foreign women and 83% of Egyptian women were subjected to some form of sexual harassment. This barbaric phenomenon is basically foreign to Egyptian society, even as some generally attempt to explain it but the argument is not convincing. 99.3 percent of women have suffered sexual harassment in Egypt. Slightly less (91.5 percent) have experienced unwelcomed physical contact. The study confirms that harassment and assault occur irrespective of a woman`s appearance, conduct or manner of dress. Sexual harassment of women in Egypt is on the increase and observing Islamic dress

code is no deterrent. Harasser` s definition Harasser`s definitions not limited only to the person who does that act, but is applicable also to people, men and women, who indirectly support harasser by their behavior and belief. For example: if someone who harassed a woman in front of passerby, she will try to stop him but while she’s doing that she knows that she will not fight the harasser only, but she will fight other people around her that would say that harassment is a result of her clothing. Unfortunately, this behavior holds the victim at fault while clearing the offender for committing the offense. If a woman wears clothes that reveal, say, her arms, this simply cannot be considered a justification for assaulting her or depriving her of the right to be treated with respect. Justifying harassment on the basis of what a woman wears will lead us to a logic that could be used to justify all crimes. For example, we hold accountable a man who steals a fancy car. He surely cannot buy such a car, when he sees it in front of him, how can he resist his urge to steal it? Or they say «Let the boy say he is sorry and go on his way. Better than ruining his entire future!» These people knew that the young man had harassed the woman. But none of them believed that the situation called for legal action against the harasser. Instead, they felt that protecting the young man`s future was far more important than punishing him for his crime. If the young man had been a thief or a murderer, would they have shown the same degree of forgiveness? From my point of view, they are involved in the crime»harassment crime» We all know the answer Egyptians are generally not forgiving toward any manner of crime, with the exception of sexual

when you deal with a woman for the first time, what does draw your attention more? Her mind or her body we all know the answer! harassment. Egyptians› tolerance for sexual harassment does not stem from generic kind-heartedness. In these cases; they consider «it›s not worth it.» Whoever harasses women does so because he considers

them no more than a body owned by a husband or a father or a brother. When someone who thinks in this way can`t buy themselves «a body» via marriage contract in order to satisfy their desires, and is merely looking for opportunities to grope other women and then flee from punishment, of course he won›t hesitate to harass them. Harassment «In the past and nowadays» For several decades, and until the 1970s, Egyptian women were generally unveiled. They wore clothes that left portions of their bodies uncovered, went to the beach and swam in the sea wearing swimsuits that showed off their legs. And despite all this, there was hardly any harassment. Why then are women wearing veils that cover the hair, or even the face, being subjected to sexual harassment? When the women of the 1970s who wore dresses and mini-skirts were not harassed, the answer is that we used to look upon women with a measure of respect, seeing them as people and not mere bodies. In the past, laws were not well enforced, and this has helped to create the idea that sexual harassment is not really a crime. The government recently moved to criminalize sexual harassment on June 4th 2014. A new law was passed which criminalizes sexual harassment for the first time in modern Egyptian history. According to the law, verbal, physical, behavioral, phone and online sexual harassment is punished by prison sentence of 6 months to 5 years, and a fine up to LE 50,000. Harassment “Globally” Sexual harassment is not a problem only in Egypt, of course. Worldwide, “rape culture” continues to enable sexual harassment and assault. In the U.S., one in four women reports being sexually harassed at work, and 65 percent report being harassed on the street. More than 250 mass assaults have been recorded between February 2013 and January 2014, and over 500 incidents. Message To every woman on earth especially from my country Egypt: Never allow others to treat you like a body. You have a lot to benefit the world and to change the way they look at you. Be yourself not a photocopy, and change the way you look at yourself and your ability. You just need to believe in the person inside you. To Harassers: You are granted a mind, a will and the ability to control your desires. If you cannot do so, unfortunately you are considered an animal, with all apologies to animals.

Witness. April 2015

Concerns about Egyptian Courts:

The Case of Ahmed Douma In December 2011, robust clashes took place between the protesters, who have struck in front of the cabinet headquarters to refuse the appointment of El-Ganzoury as the prime minister, and the security forces. Regardless the debate of Mohamad Ashraf who started these clashes, they resulted in major damages in public properties and the death and injuries of tens of people from both sides. Later, after more than three years, the Egyptian Courts sentenced around 230 Egyptians, in a mass-trial, for their responsibilities for the cabinet clashes. Ahmed Douma, the Egyptian activist, among them was sentenced for life and fined with 17 million pounds. This trial arouse a lot of worries about the fairness of the Egyptian Judicial system due to a number of considerable reasons. First, there are doubts about the accuracy of the verdicts since they were issued in a limited time, in less than five months specifically, compared to the large number of the suspects to be prosecuted and the massive numbers of papers and evidence to be checked. However, this was not the only example of an accelerated mass-trial, the same judge, Nagi Shehata, sent around 183 people to death for Kerdasa events. Similarly, a court in El-Minya governorate convicted more than 500 individuals to death-sentence. All these examples force many sectors in the society at least to question the accuracy of these trials in addition to their fairness. The trial of Ahmed Douma and others is really important to examine due to two reasons: the first is Ahmed Douma›s history of activism that is full of controversy, the second is that the trial itself involved a lot of question marks regarding the procedures and the main judge›s attitude towards the case. Ahmed Douma has been a fierce activist in almost

Witness. April 2015

every political occasion since the late time of Mubarak›s regime. Ironically enough, he has a history of arrests in all the previous regimes from Mubarak›s till the current one, suggesting that he was the target of the security in all regimes. In each of these regimes, he was part of fierce opposition manifested through strikes and protests Before the recent trial, he was sentenced in February of 2014 for three years imprisonment for violating the protest law in a protest against it. One of the main problematic issues with Douma›s profile is that he has always been accused of violence despite his repeated call for peaceful demonstrations; however, he acknowledges the rights of the demonstrators to Death defend themselves saying sentences that it is their right to fight back when they are being killed by the security forces. His appearances 183 «Kerdasa» event worsened his image due to his agitated attitude and 230 the cabinet clashes decelerations that later were used against him in «Matai» police 500 station storming the trial. Moreover, while the trial was taking place, the judge was interviewed by a newspaper in which he declared support to the major political leader of the country causing a rage among some Egyptians since the judge broke the rule of political neutrality, raising questions about the effect of his affiliation on the trials he is in charge of. This occurred in the incident when the defense of Douma asked the judge for a copy of the investigation reports done by the side of the prosecution, and the judge refused fiercely, leading to an altercation between the court›s body and the defense when the judge said «do you want the police

and the army to be beaten and not to respond», which the defense considered as pre-conditioned personal opinion regarding the suspects and asked to record this in the papers of the trial. The majority of news reported the day after that Khalid Ali,the leading lawyer in the defense body, was sent to prosecution for humiliating the judges. As a refusal to that, the defense body stepped down, leaving Douma and other suspects without defense. The syndicate of lawyers refused to supply the defense with lawyers in an action that is considered unethical by many, leaving the suspects without their basic right to have a lawyer to defense them. On the other hand, the judge insisted that he kept postponing the declaration of the verdict until the suspects have lawyers; yet, Douma at many sessions had to prosecute

Therefore, one can say that extremism prevails and nourish in such times of social and political vacuum.

for himself due to the absence of lawyers. More remarkably, the judges depended on a lot of videos of Douma›s declarations in television appearances to announce him guilty. On the other hand, the defense kept insisting that these declarations are not enough due to, according to the defense, the absence of material evidences that links the suspects directly to damages of the clashes. What Douma said basically was that the the protests responded back to the violence of the security forces and that the damages are the result of them defending themselves. However, the other side insists that the protests started the clashes by their «irresponsible behavior» and their kidnapping of a security officer. Regardless of all these details within, it is clear that there are some deformities in the judicial process that poses a dangerous question whether the recent trials are politicized or not. Judges announcing their political support is not a phenomenon that should be tolerated. The Judicial system gives a lot of authority to the judges that requires them to be completely neutral so that it is not misused. Leading to the question: Will the authorities start to consider the importance of reforming the judicial system as a part of a whole system that needs a lot of reform?

Witness. April 2015

Invest in Egypt

and get a tailored legislation for free In Egypt,as there are those legislations which have been tailored to serve a specific political purpose (which is usually related to establishing the foundations of an authoritarian system) such as the law which is banning protests, Beshoy Magdy there are also those legislations which are related to the economic affairs. They are also usually issued to serve a group of people who can be businessmen or investors local or foreign ones and those foreigners usually are from the Gulf, and most of those investors usually have mutually beneficial relationships with those who are holding the authority in Egypt. But this benefit is of course going to decision-making circles and in the same time it is harming the Egyptian state itself as most of these deals and contracts are lacking transparency measures and economic rationality. One of the most recent examples of such form of economic legislations in the law No.32 of 2014 which was issued by the formerpresident Adly Mansour. It is a law which prevents any party other than the contracting parties from challenging sales or investment contracts signed by the state with any entity or investor, including decisions to privatize real estate property. This law came in view of two important matters. First, the law suites which lead to annulment of many of the former public sector privatization deals such as Omar Effendi, Tanta linen company, Nile for cotton ginning and steam boilers companies. The second issue is that this law came after many requests by investors from the Gulf especially when we know that many of the companies which were mentioned above had been sold to investors from the Gulf region. The government justified issuing such law by saying that “the state of liquidity in raising the issues against contracts between government and investors made the investors reluctant to come and invest in Egypt,” but in fact all cases of privatizing public sector companies have witnesseda shameful financial corruption, this makes us ask if the government wasn’t straightforward in dealing with public money during the past, what

Witness. April 2015

will make it do that now? Also the argument that raises issues against contracts between government and investors is the reason for the reluctance of investors to come and invest in Egypt can be considered as a lame excuse. This is because if serious investor won’t seek contracts, it proves the lack of transparencyand that itstainted by many suspicions, contracts that include buying a company or a piece of land less than its real price. So I can say that the Egyptian state isn’t in need to such kind of investors, besides that, if the government wants to encourage investors to come and invest in Egypt and if it is afraid of the liquidity of raising issues against its contracts with investors, so it has to issue laws that guarantee more transparency and accountability not issuing laws that lead to more corruption. This law also came after a state of confusion that happened during the second half of the year 2013,

when the government declared its intensions to issue a law to immune governmental officials and was named “good intentions” law. The government defended its intensions to issue such law by saying that the governmental officials are afraid of legal accountability so they are reluctant to take decisions related to withdrawing financial allocations from the National Investment Bank (the same lame excuse). Also in the time of the former president Adly Mansour, the law NO.82 for the year 2013 about amending some provisions of tenders and outbidding law, an amendment which has allowed the governmental officials to allocate projects through direct order without any need to hold a tender, and this of course opens the door widely to corruption without any accountability. The Egyptian military institution was the most prominent beneficiary of this amendment as many mega projects were given to it after 30 June 2013. The military institution has many affiliated facilities that have been exempted from paying property tax after president Abd El Fattah El Sisi has amended the law to exempt these facilities which includes military forces clubs and weapon houses (for those who don’t know, these two facilities usually organize wedding parties and make sweets) and it was mentioned in the amendment that these facilities will be excluded from

this makes us ask if the government wasn’t straight forward indealing with public money during the past, what will make it do that now?

paying taxes for national security reasons! I don’t exactly know what is the relation between wedding parties that are being hosted by those facilities and national security? The legislation authority of state council objected to exempting these military affiliated facilities but the president didn’t take their objection into consideration. While the military forces attacked residents ofQursayaIsland (looks on the Nile) where at least 3 of the residents were killed arguing that they own the land of the island, the military institution also stated that it won’t give up this land because of its strategic importance as a fulcrum area for the military forces in Cairo, on the other side ministry of defense removed some of its camps which locates in the zone of Uptown Cairo, this Mega project which is being established by

Emaar Misr an affiliated company to Emaar Emirates ( the same company which was given the project of the new capital, a project which will cost $ 45 billion in its first phase).The engineering body of the armed forces was given the privilege of paving a road which will links Emaar square project (which is one of the phases of Uptown Cairo project) with the rest of Cairo; the road will cost about $ 44.9 million. From the previous example we can see that all obstacles can be overcome for the sake of the investor, but when it comes to normal people, the land on which they are living become a strategic piece of land although it is locating in the heart of Cairo not in Sinai for example. In September 2014, the current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb issued a decree about forming a committee to solve the disputes between the government and the investors. According to the article No.2 in the decree “the committee specializes in: considering all the cases of disputes between the government and investors aiming at reaching an amicable settlement for these disputes on basis of the rule of law to guarantee maintaining the public money”, in fact this article holds an obvious contradiction, how the public money will be maintained( which was wasted before through such contracts of selling public sector companies less than its real price) through an amicable settlement in the backrooms away from any social accountability, and all this happen in the framework of the law which was mentioned before about preventing third parties from raising issues against contracts between the government and investors. There are many other examples of such type of tailored economic legislations, what I’m sure of is that the government will continue to tailor the legislations according to the investors’ sentiment and against the sake of citizens. For example during the previous government’s Minister of Finance declared that the government will decrease the maximum level of income tax from 30% to 22.5%. The new regime in Egypt is following the same economic concepts which were applied during the past 10 years of Mubarak era, as the trickledown effect was the most prominent economic concept at this time and the income inequality wasn’t taken into consideration, what is important for the regime is that the economy records a high growth but it isn’t important if the number of poor increases as the regime will use the stick policy through its strong security grip to break any possible uprising and in the same time it will use the carrot policy through subsidies and money transfers, which are decreasing by time, clearing the field to the stick policy.

Witness. April 2015

War on Civil Society The relationship between Egyptian governments and the civil society has always been an uneasy relationship, characterized by ups and downs in the level of freedoms the state permits for civil society.Now, the Egyptian Hussein Magdy state seems all but intent on controlling, if not cracking down on all dissent. Under such circumstances, the Egyptian civil society is going through a severe human rights crisis. Egyptian authorities continue to monitor human rights NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and arrest human rights defenders (HRDs), while the Judiciary sentences tens of HRDs to harsh prison sentences, and investigates NGOs for foreign funding. These actions were institutionalized through the adoption of a number of laws, which criminalize receiving foreign

Witness. April 2015

funding, put NGOs under the control of the executive branch, and criminalize freedoms of association and expression. The current Egyptian government is intent on cracking down on freedom of association through closing, raids, intimidation and monitoring. Egyptian authorities closed 281 NGOs for alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. In addition, the police raided the offices of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights in December 18 2013, and briefly apprehended 6 workers from the center, before releasing 5 of them. Moreover, during the Universal Periodic Report of Egypt (UPR) in November 2013, the Egyptian government intimidated NGOs from travelling to Geneva to present their reports on the status of human rights in Egypt. Ministry of Social Solidarity issued an ultimatum for NGOs to register in accordance with the law or face legal action, the ultimatum was then extended in order to strong arm NGOs into refraining from travelling to Geneva, in exchange for not cracking down on them. The gamble succeeded, and the UPR session witnessed a number of governmental non-governmental organizations (GNGOs)and Muslim Brotherhood expats, without real representation from the civil society in Egypt. Finally, Egyptian police regularly stations undercover

police near NGOs and infiltrates NGOs’ activities. These actions are reinforced by repressive legislations, like In addition to the NGO law of 2002, which is presently one of the most restrictive NGO laws in the world – granting full authority to the state to impose unwarranted restrictions on freedom of association - there is now a new draft NGO law. The draft law will replace Law No. 84 of 2002 on Associations and Foundations, and if enacted, will practically make it impossible to peacefully associate for any human rights cause. The latest draft law seeks to provide overly broad powers to the state apparatus, some of which are the ability to shut down non-compliant NGOs, limiting their funding and imposing harsh penalties for violating the law including up to three years in jail and extremely heavy pecuniary fines. In addition, President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi amended article 78 of the Penal Code with a view to criminalizing foreign funding for CSOs with severe punishment.Also, Egyptian authorities recently started banning a number of HRDs from travel and it was soon revealed that an Egyptian court is continuing the foreign funding case of 2012, and preparing a list of HRDs for investigation. Currently this process is very secretive and the case, which has been dubbed “the 200’s case” is rumored to resume following the Egypt Economic Conference in

mid-March. Individual HRDs did not escape government repression, as the government passed a new law which virtually bans any sort of assembly. Law No 107 on the Right to Public Meetings, Processions and Peaceful Demonstrations, which regulates public assemblies in Egypt, empowers the Ministry of Interior and subsequently the police force to violently disperse protestors and impose harsh penalties on peaceful protests.Under the pretext of that law, Egyptian police arrested a number of prominent HRDs, including AlaaAbul-Fatah, Ahmed Douma, Ahmed Maher, Mohamed Adel, Sanaa Ahmed, Yara Salam, and hundreds of HRDs. The Egyptian judiciary followed up with years and years of jail time, which ironically coincided with the release of Egyptian policemen and politicians responsible for the death of protestors during 2011 events. With the recent passage of a new law on terrorist organizations, which gives authorities a clear reign on the designation of any organization as terrorist. These policies and legislations usher a new era for civil society in Egypt, and era of not mere attacks, but a full scale war. However, the Egyptian government war against civil society cannot be taken lightly, for only fascist states were able to break their civil societies.

The current Egyptian government is intent on cracking down on freedom of association through closing, raids, intimidation and monitoring. Egyptian authorities closed 281 NGOs for alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Witness. April 2015

Qarnafeel Experience to Obtain Sewage Since I was a kid, 20 years ago, I have been committed to attend the parliament candidates meetings with the people of my village, Qaranfeel, in Qalyubia, 30 kilometers far from Cairo. These meetings were basically speeches Mohamad Ali given by candidates claiming translated by: that their supreme cause behind Ahmed Sherif running for elections is serving people. Such speeches were met by warm support from the kind people especially when the candidates ask them to say all their demands so they can do them once they win. At that moment, someone gets on the stage and says the demands which start by finishing the sewage project for the village. Then elections pass and someone of these candidates win and the scenario repeats itself in every parliament elections and people get nothing but promises that never happen.

Witness. April 2015

By time, the issue of sewage became of great importance for people in Qaranfeel as ground water level increased and water tanks at homes spilled out, which costs a lot to fix, in addition to another environmental catastrophe which was throwing the flooded water of tanks in the yard adjacent to the village which caused spread of diseases and epidemics that infected kids every summer. By 2008, there was strong news that the Arab contractors intend to connect the outflow pipe of the nearby villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sewage, Aghor, through our village to the yard adjacent to our village. People of our village were so angry by this news and they felt insulted to be marginalized and considered lower class compared to the other villages in which the government implemented the sewage project. People were also worried that the village would drown in the sewage

water if the flow line exploded as it would pass through the center of the village. The youth refusing this decision started to support the people against such action and they drew some caricatures on the walls making fun of the administration and the members of the dissolved national democratic party in the village because of their disgraceful attitude from this issue. Kids in schools also organized strikes against the government, the administration and the national democratic party as they felt marginalized and suffered from the bad residences and their poor conditions. Things started to get worse and the village was divided into two parts, one of them in the side of the administration and the national party members of the other village claiming that the road belongs to the government and they have the right to implement what they want, while the other part represented the majority of the people who were against that line. The

administration tried to end the strikes by reporting to Criminal Investigation office and State Security Investigation office that there were rebellious youth in the village backing people against the government. I actually was one of those who were summoned by the security men. The administration thought that we would be arrested and no one would dare to object after that, but what happened was that the security men negotiated with us to end the crisis. Through negotiations we put two conditions to allow the passage of the line through our village. The first of them was the immediate start in implementing the sewage project in our village while the second was connecting us to the treatment plant of the adjacent village. They agreed on both conditions only if we provided them with a Land to be a lifting station within the village in order to pump in the direction of the treatment plant. We guided them to a piece of land owned by the state and suitable for the project. When the administration knew about the

We can summarize this by saying that Qaranfeel is only asking to live a normal life.

Witness. April 2015

negotiations, they tricked the man who occupied the state owned land that this land would be used for the other village’s purposes. The man refused to transfer the ownership of the land until we convinced him that the land would be used for our village’s purposes and he did so in minutes. The project started one week after the government received the land and the day the contractor came to our land was a memorable day in which the joy swept over the village and the young rebels cruised with their cars and scooters all over the streets celebrating their triumph. Then the government started digging in our village to allow the passage of the outflow pipe through our village, however, the youth refused this action until the government finish working in the treatment project of our village. The crisis started again and the adjacent village’s project broke down. The administration and the government managed to fool the people by telling them they got the approval of the governor to merge Qaranfeel with the treatment plant of Aghor and they photocopied many copies of the forged agreement and distributed them on people and the Imams in mosques

Witness. April 2015

started praising the administration through speakers for their efforts to obtain the approval of the governor. This trick already succeeded in breaking the strikes and we failed to persuade people that it was a trick, especially after the sewage project of our village had started already. The outflow pipe was implemented and started to throw the dirt at the entrance of our village and the government finished the sewage project of our village that costed 6 million Egyptian pounds. However, people discovered that we are not merged to the treatment plant of Aghor and they lied to us so we went to the media and newspapers to present our case and some famous talk show programs adopted our case and broadcasted reports about the people’s suffering and the rash of the tanks’ water into the houses that people had to abandon later. The youth of “make a change and change” movement organized a conference about the right to have adequate housing in April 2012 to publicize for our case and end the suffering of more than 20 thousand inhabitants, but unfortunately no one from the administration paid attention to it.

In the middle of 2014, the outflow pipe of Aghor exploded in our village and drowned the streets and houses during the drilling works of the electricity company. At that time, the government closed the treatment plant of Aghor to control the crisis and fix the outflow pipe but the youth who were against that line from the beginning prevented the government from fixing it. Some employers in the drinking water and sewage system organized a meeting with us to solve this problem but we refused and told them that we will not negotiate unless we meet senior officials. This is followed by the demand that we will not go to meet them but they have to come to hear our demands here. As the water was cut from Aghor for 10 days, the Head of drinking water and sewage system and the Sheriff of Qanater police station came to negotiate and hear our demands which were summarized in two demands, forming a committee to identify a piece of land technically valid for the establishment of a compressed treatment plant for Qaranfeel (providing that people will bear its cost) and extending the outflow line one kilometer outside the residential area

of the village borders. For the first demand, the mayor of the village promised to donate the piece of land or buy the suitable land for the project. In addition, the head of the company ordered an immediate extension of the outflow pipe in a week. Thus, we allowed the company to fix the pipe however; the government did not keep its promises and did not implement the sewage treatment plant even after we provided the land they were asking for. The flow line pipe is also still throwing its dirt at the entrance although the extension was done and costed 1 million Egyptian pounds and it only requires making a connection that will not take more than one hour. It seems that people of Qaranfeel are being punished for their repeating rebels for their rights, but it seems that the state only see them as rights for the people of the cities only. My village is still suffering to end this crisis and build a sewage treatment plant to protect it from diseases, bugs and rash of tanksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; water in houses that cause bad smell and destroy the foundations and furniture and also the cost of sweeping the tanks. We can summarize this by saying that Qaranfeel is only asking to live a normal life.

Witness. April 2015

Journalism can never be silent:

that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air Henry Anatole Grunwald