CAIRO: An annual report issued by renowned US think tank Freedom House, harshly criticizes Egypt for poor governance on a number of levels. "Countries at the Crossroads 2007: Country Report - Egypt, authored by Dennis J. Sullivan and Kimberly Jones of Northeastern University in Boston, examines several key indicators of democracy in Egypt, broken down into four sectors. On the first, accountability and public voice, Egypt received a score of 1.88 out of 7, with 0 representing the weakest performance and 7 the strongest. On civil liberties it received 2.06; on the rule of law it received 2.65; and on anticorruption and transparency it scored 1.72. Overall Egypt received an average of 2.07, with 5.00 representing the basic standard of democratic governance. The report draws on a wide range of data, including statistics and information issued by both the Egyptian government and international bodies, reports from NGOs, articles from the local and international press, and expert analyses. It points out that although Egypt could not be classified as a military dictatorship, a combination of executive authority (security and secret police), supported by legislative and judicial mechanisms that serve the regime rather than the population -is used both to prevent the exercise of human rights and to curtail them. The regime, it says, "routinely violates its citizens' civil and political rights, including freedoms of assembly and association, as well as the right to participate in the political process as a candidate or elector. The government is also castigated for its refusal to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood as a political party, though it acknowledges that membership is, for the most part, tolerated. On press freedom the report notes that the government rhetorically supports freedom of the press while quashing it in practice "through detentions, criminal charges, and media closures. It cites the case of the Al Jazeera's bureau chief who was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment for "harming Egypt's national interest and "falsely depicting events. It also mentions the arrest of Abdul Kareem Suleiman Amer, an Egyptian blogger who was sentenced to prison for offenses related to public order, presidential insult, and incitement against Muslims. Emad Gad, researcher at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, expects the report to illicit a scathing response in Egypt, due to the validity of its criticisms. The government and the state-owned media, he argues, will portray the report as a cultural and religious attack, rather than objective critique. "They will argue it is derogatory of the Muslim and Arab world, Gad told Daily News Egypt. "Religion is used to tell us we are paying a price because we are Muslims. But in reality we know this criticism is true. Incidents of torture by state agents, the report continues, are common in Egypt due to "weak legal controls and rare repercussions. The case of Imad El Kabir, a bus driver who was sodomized with a broomstick by two police officers following an altercation, is used to highlight the issue. A number of other incidents are included in the report where techniques such as electric shocks, beatings and sleep deprivation are alleged. Several other important issues such as the social, political and constitutional discrimination against women and ethnic (primarily Bedouin) and religious (Christian) minorities are examined in the report. Amidst the criticism, there are some words of encouragement. Despite numerous obstacles, both legal and political, the report commends Egypt's judiciary for its efforts to promote democratization and achieve its own independence, as well as pushing for the accountability of other branches. It notes that in the past judges have been threatened with dismissal for voicing criticism of corruption and flaws in the electoral process. It also noted that although there is a distinct lack of public access to information, Egypt is making some headway in terms of corruption and transparency, and as a result of the constitutional amendments of March 2007, greater parliamentary scrutiny of budget is envisaged, including the ability to amend expenditures. This, however contradicts Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, which lowered Egypt's ranking in its most recent release.
