By Hafez Abu Seada| Referring civilians to military courts is a breach of international conventions on human rights. Military justice is for the military, not for civilians. The latter have a right for fair trial, which means that they have to be tried at lawfully approved courts and by their natural judge. A natural judge is one that cannot be dismissed by executive authorities and who answers only to the rules and regulations of an independent judiciary. The right to fair trial for civilians is recognised by the constitutional declaration released by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) following the 25 January Revolution; Article 25 of the said declaration states that all citizens are entitled to trial by their natural judge. The 25 January Revolution has been an inspiration to the whole world, but it is yet to deliver the public freedoms one would have expected to see. One would have expected all forms of discrimination to be abolished, all international guarantees concerning human rights to be recognised, including the right to fair trial. These are just the building blocks of the democratic society we wish to create. Since the SCAF took power, nearly 12,000 civilians have been referred to military courts. Many received prison and death sentences. Those tried at military courts included activists, bloggers and journalists, among whom were Rasha Azab, Louai Nagati, Asmaa Mahfouz and Michael Nabil. Their crime was that they criticised the policies of the SCAF. Admittedly, they may have used scathing words in their criticism, but voicing opinion -- however harsh -- must not lead to military trial. Again, trying civilians in military courts is a grave breach of human rights. According to the constitutional declaration, the SCAF is in charge of both the executive and legislative branches of government. Therefore, its actions and policies must come under public scrutiny, and it must not resort to silencing opinion by military trials. This week's Soapbox speaker is president of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights.
