Egypt’s Unchecked Repression
On August 2007, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) reported that it had confirmed more than 500 cases of police abuse since 1993, including 167 deaths (three of which took place in 2007 were the result of torture and mistreatment). According to the EOHR, while Egypt’s population nearly doubled during the 25 years of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, the number of prisons increased by fourfold and that the number of detainees held for more than one year without charge or indictment grew to more than 20,000.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have corroborated chilling accounts of torture in Egyptian prisons. The independent daily El-Destour recently published two important facts: that the annual budget for internal security was $1.5 billion in 2006, more than the entire national budget for health care, and that the security police forces comprise 1.4 million officers, nearly four times the size of the Egyptian army. “Egypt has become a police state par excellence”, the paper’s editor noted.
Yet Mubarak’s regime has gone unchecked for years, since long before the September 11, 2001, attacks and the “war on terror” and despite the billions of dollars in foreign aid the United States continues to give Egypt each year. The question is: why? Part of the answer lies in Mubarak’s skillful use of Egypt’s role in the Arab-Israeli peace process. Despite Egypt’s proximity to Gaza and its potential to contribute, the regime has not advanced the status quo far beyond what the late president Anwar Sadat accomplished. Another reason is Mubarak’s exploitation of the fear of Islam, rampant in many Western nations.
Despite the Egyptian Government’s announcement that it intends to improve the human rights situation in Egypt through a bundle of reform initiatives, torture in its various forms still afflicts Egypt. It is a common practice in police stations, detention centres and prisons encouraged by the lack of adequate control of, and legal repercussions against, those who perpetrate it. As a result those who commit acts of torture do so with the conviction that they are beyond the reach of the law. In addition the penalty for torture under Egyptian legislation in no way reflects the seriousness of this crime, which offends not only the victim but humanity itself.
The EOHR accordingly urges the Egyptian authorities to amend domestic legislation to bring it in line with the Convention against the Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT) which Egypt has ratified, and whose Article 4(2) provides that all States Parties “shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature”. Egypt’s jails contain some 80,000 political prisoners and that disappearances are routinely ignored or reported as accidents. The physical and psychological damage of torture makes it one of the most serious violations of human rights. Articles 42 and 57 of the Egyptian Constitution and Article 41 of the Criminal Procedures Code criminalise torture. Egyptian anti-torture legislation was further strengthened through Egypt’s ratification of the CAT in 1986.
However, a review of Egyptian legislation shows that many provisions in Egyptian Law grant vast powers of arrest and detention to the authorities. Moreover, the penalties defined by the penal codes against those who perpetuate torture are weak and provide no deterrent. These administrative and legal restrictions combine to form a legislative obstacle in the fight against torture. As a result of the ease with which its perpetrators escape punishment, torture has changed from being a minor excess carried out by some officers into a widespread phenomenon.
The regime remains strong and is quick to silence and condemn critics who are accused of undermining the national interest and committing high treason. These abuses will spread if Egypt’s allies and friends continue to stand by silently while this regime suppresses the country’s democratic reformers. We must campaign against torture, which sadly in Egypt, remains an unchecked repression.
