CAIRO: Independent members of parliament and Muslim Brotherhood MPs in the People's Assembly early this week, rejected amendments to Articles 76, 77 and 88 of the constitution, while human rights activists declare their fears of the anti-terrorism law. The MPs claimed that changes to Article 88, which gave the judiciary the authority to supervise elections, meant a return to the supervision of elections by government officials, which repeatedly proved its failure. This is a step backward, we used to adopt this system before and it failed, Diaa Rashwan, analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt. MPs also objected to the fact that no amendment was slated for Article 77 that gives the president an indefinite number of terms in office. Amendments to Article 76, which regulates presidential elections, were criticized for giving more chance to political parties to field candidates, while making it increasingly difficult for independents whom, according to Rashwan, comprise most parliamentary representatives. Hosam Bahgat, President of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, blames both MPs and the public for the lack of attention they are giving to Article 179 pertaining to ending the state of emergency and drafting anti-terrorism legislation. According to Bahgad, this is the most serious change. "By making this particular amendment, the security apparatus has the green light to violate the most fundamental human rights, Bahgat told The Daily Star Egypt. The president proposed amendments to three articles in the constitution related to the protection of privacy and civil rights that, if passed, would be the most radical human rights amendment in Egypt s history, Bahgat said. The three articles he refers to are Article 41, which deals with rules for detention; Article 44, about house searches; and Article 45, concerning the interception of telecommunication and mail. The definition of the word terrorism as set since 1992 is extremely vague, which will make the violation of the three rights not only restricted to real terrorist activities but can also apply to human rights activists, Bahgat said. These three articles, he laments, will be exploited by the ministry of interior and the government which may define anything as an act of terrorism.
