Comment: Suicide family It is the crippling effect of emergency law on rights and democracy that drives terrorism in Egypt, writes Galal Nassar Once again, scenes of explosions and mutilated bodies are back in our streets. Everyone, inside and outside the country, had thought that such times were over. Most observers had assumed that the Khan Al-Khalili attack, which took place in Al-Azhar neighbourhood, was a passing occurrence with a minimal effect on the tourism business, which brings $6.5 billion annually to this country. But when the scene was repeated at mid-day last Saturday, people began looking closer into the causes of the violence, and their conclusion was that the bombings were neither individual acts nor a coincidence, as the Ministry of Interior would have us think. A few weeks ago, the National Council on Human Rights (NCHR) issued its first report. The semi-official report mentioned a number of torture cases in police stations and prisons. It cited unjustified cases of individual and mass detentions, which constitute a flagrant violation of human rights as well as a challenge to the country's security and stability. In its objective report, the NCHR warned that citizens could turn into human bombs as a result of cruelty, torture and humiliation tactics. Our security policy, the NCHR stated, overlooks the principles of citizenry and human rights. Al-Arish, in north Sinai, has been the scene of a large campaign of detentions and torture. Hundreds of people were rounded up in the aftermath of the Taba bombing, according to eyewitness and human rights reports. Shobra Al-Kheima, in northern Cairo, was also the scene of detentions and tortures, with relatives of the Khan Al-Khalili bombing suspects being the subject of mistreatment. When one of the relatives died under torture, other members of the suspected families turned into potential human bombs. According to a Ministry of Interior statement, one of the suspects in the Khan Al-Khalili attack blew himself up in Abdel-Moneim Riyad Square in downtown Cairo, wounding a number of tourists and pedestrians. Moments later, according to the statement, two women related to that latest bomber shot at a tourist bus and then committed suicide. Yet, pursuing the same tactics, the Ministry of Interior responded by rounding up dozens of people in Shobra Al-Kheima, thus depriving more people still of their human rights and consequently of the will to live. If there is anything to learn from the NCHR report and the recent incidents it is that the government and civil society organisations should immediately open the dossier of political detainees and review the way the security services are treating citizens in prisons and during investigations. The security services must no longer be given a free hand in dealing with sensitive topics. If we're serious about fighting terror, we have to look at its sources; namely, we have to look into unemployment, poverty and political tension. Repression has led to the emergence of a "suicide family" in our midst, complete with women taking to the streets with guns blazing. This is a serious development and those who brought it about must be held responsible. It would be improper for the government to use the recent attacks for propaganda purposes or to justify the extension of emergency law. It was that law that created the climate of political corruption and encouraged the emergence of that latest brand of terror. The government and the Ministry of Interior have clung to emergency law since the assassination of president Anwar El-Sadat 24 years ago, giving us one argument after another to keep the law in force. But emergency law has not prevented any of the violence that happened since. It neither prevented the assassination of People's Assembly speaker Rifaat Al- Mahgoub, nor the spate of attempts on the life of our security officials, including former interior minister Hassan Al- Alfi. Emergency law did not stop the attacks in Luxor, Taba, Al-Azhar, Abdel-Moneim Riyad and Al-Sayida Aisha from happening. What we need to do, in response to these evident security mishaps, is begin a serious and extensive democratic dialogue on national issues. We need to bring together all political currents and start talking in a climate that is free from the distortions inherent in the state of emergency. And for the sake of democracy, let's limit the role of security services in political life. Such a dialogue, I am confident, could furnish a consensus and give birth to a mechanism capable of isolating and ultimately eliminating extremism. Terrorism flourishes when dialogue, equality and transparency dwindle. Terrorism thrives when poverty and unemployment spread. Terrorism triumphs when human rights are quashed and living conditions worsen. Let this be a wake-up call for all Egyptians, government and opposition. We need to revive politics and encourage thinking. We need a march of peace in Egyptian streets, squares, cities and villages. We need dialogue, not emergency law and the terror it induces.
