CAIRO - The year 2010 has witnessed a lot of controversial incidents, drawing much domestic and international attention to the file of human rights in Egypt. Analysts and human rights activists view what has happened this year differently. "It has witnessed a crackdown on human rights but also an enormous step forward for civil engagement," Hafez Abu Seda, an activist and head of the non-governmental Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, told the Egyptian Mail in a phone interview. "What happened to Khaled Saeed [a young man who was allegedly beaten to death by two policemen in Alexandria last June] was a major human rights violation. However, the fact that scores of youth and civic activists hit the Egyptian streets proves that something still can be done." The death of Saeed prompted human rights activists to hold several protests in Cairo and Alexandria, as well as drawing international attention. Investigations concluded that Saeed had died of asphyxiation after swallowing a packet of drugs, while, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior, he was a wanted criminal, having been sentenced twice in absentia ��" once for theft and another for illegal possession of weapons. The statement also described him as a draft dodger. Yet this hasn't affected the position of human rights activists: Human Rights Watch has issued a number of reports stressing the responsibility of the Minister of Interior for the young blogger's death. "Even if Khaled Saeed had been wanted in connection with some earlier offence, that does not give licence to police to attack and murder him in cold blood," says Joe Stork, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. "The Interior Ministry statement is grossly irresponsible, implicitly condoning police brutality." After numerous campaigns on social media websites and several protests, many of which witnessed police intervention or mass arrests, the two policemen were put on trial on charges of “ill-treating” Saeed while arresting him. The final ruling has yet to be passed. Yet more emergency
Shortly before Saeed's death, probably the biggest human rights issue of the year, the Egyptian Government extended the Emergency Law in May for two more years, breaching again its 2005 promise to end the state of emergency and repeal the law. The law, in force since 1981, gives the executive (in practice the Interior Ministry) extensive powers to suspend basic rights by prohibiting demonstrations, censoring newspapers, monitoring personal communications and detaining people indefinitely without charge. Egyptian defence lawyers and human rights groups say that at least 5,000 people currently remain in long-term detention without charge or trial under the Emergency Law. Some have been in jail for more than a decade. "The renewal of the Emergency Law isn't only considered a violation of human rights, as it has also called attention to the fact that the Government isn't really accountable for what is promises," Abu Seda added, citing promises made by President Mubarak, during his 2005 election campaign, to replace the Emergency Law with counter-terrorism legislation. Since then, the Government has renewed the Emergency Law three times: in May 2006, May 2008 and again last May. Egypt has been governed under Emergency Law almost continuously since 1967 and without interruption since Mubarak became President in October 1981 after the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat. A number of protests and fewer demonstrations expressed activists' opposition to the step, which led the Government to say it would limit the use of the Emergency Law to terrorism and drug-related offences, subject to judicial supervision. Activists released Among the other big human rights cases that riveted the attention of the media and public in Egypt and internationally, was that involving the release of an Egyptian blogger who had served the longest prison term in the Arab world for his writings. Abdel-Kareem Nabil, known by his blogging name Kareem Amer, was arrested in March 2006 and convicted of insulting Islam and the Egyptian President in his blog. He served four years in prison and was released on November 16. "It was a really cruel experience," Nabil told the Egyptian Mail. "One police officer beat me up then tried to force me to smile, while filming me with his mobile." Another time, he lost a front tooth when he was attacked by a fellow prisoner, who was also working as a police informant, according to Nabil, whose conviction the United States described as "a setback for human rights". During his imprisonment, he told reporters, he was beaten up, slapped in the face, deprived of visits and insulted by police. "If I go back in time, I will not change a bit. I have no regrets. It was a cruel, tough experience,” said Nabil, now 26, who plans to pursue his studies, stay away from Al-Azhar University, where he was a law student and continue his writings. All in all, 2010, for a lot of activists, has been a year that has brought more violence from the Government and more defiance from human rights activists, as well as crackdowns on freedom of expression and the right to demonstrations. "All eyes are on Egypt as it enters a critical election period," Stork of Human Rights Watch adds. "The Government's performance so far this year bodes ill for human rights in the year ahead."
