Security forces prevented female political activists from organizing a protest in front of the Kuwaiti Embassy in Cairo yesterday. The activists intended to deliver a memorandum to the embassy against the arrest of 33 Egyptian supporters of Mohamed ElBaradei in Kuwait. Security forces reportedly closed off roads leading to the Kuwaiti Embassy in Dokki. Approximately 16 female activists headed to the Kuwaiti Embassy in Cairo to find out why Egyptians had been "dismissed arbitrarily from their jobs on the grounds of their political orientation". After the activists were denied access to the Kuwaiti embassy they staged a protest nearby and chanted slogans against the Kuwaiti and other Arab regimes. Gamila Ismail, vice president of the Ghad Party accused Arab regimes of "coordinating security affairs on the highest levels." She added that the Egyptian interior ministry could "give lessons" to its Kuwaiti counterpart. Rights organizations in Egypt and internationally criticized the Kuwaiti government for arresting more than 30 Egyptians met to support ElBaradei's pro-reform coalition the National Association for Change. Twenty one Egyptians were deported from Kuwait. Human Rights Watch urged the Kuwaiti government yesterday to stop "persecuting the Egyptian opposition," to release all arrested Egyptians immediately, and to cease deportations. The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession is planning to submit a report condemning the Kuwaiti government's actions to the United Nations. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights sent a letter yesterday to the Kuwaiti ambassador in Cairo requesting an investigation into the deportations. Finally, the Kuwaiti Association for Human Rights issued a statement in which it described security measures adopted by the Kuwaiti security authorities as "arbitrary" and in violation of basic human rights. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
