CAIRO - The head of the military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has ordered an investigation into allegations about abuses perpetrated against two blacklisted criminals while they were being arrested by soldiers and policemen. Minister of Interior General Mansour el-Essawi also ordered an investigation into the role of his men, who were caught on video. The public became aware of the incident when a video clip downloaded on Facebook showed the two criminals being tortured by the soldiers and policemen. The arrest of these two criminals – not suspects – came after police in the village of Brinbal in the Delta Governorate of el-Daqahliya received an appeal for help from more than 20,000 locals to protect them from these two criminals, who are brothers. The two ‘blacklisted' criminals have been previously convicted of running an armed gang; kidnapping people and holding them for ransom; aggravated burglary; and raping and robbing women and girls. They have also been convicted for weapons and drug offences. According to a reliable police source, the two brothers had been sent down for 10 and 15 years respectively, but managed to escape during the revolution, when prisons were stormed by armed gangs, which set prisoners free. At the same time, police stations across the country were torched and service revolvers stolen. Since escaping, these fugitive prisoners, mostly hardened criminals, have been attacking people in their homes, raping women and stopping motorists on highways, in order to kill them and steal their cars. In their defence, the suspected soldiers and policemen said that the two brothers and their accomplices refused to give themselves up when they busted their lair in the village. They added that the criminals opened fire on them and attempted to escape. The video caused a furore among local human rights organisations, whose outrage would be healthy and correct if the video's alleged victims were ‘suspects', who, for example, had been arrested during mass demonstrations, sit-ins, protests for democratic changes, etc. I must say that I was provoked when human rights activists, interviewed on television talk shows, ignored the fact that the alleged victims in the video were blacklisted criminals and insisted on identifying them as ‘suspects'. Further, I was appalled when an outspoken rights activist, Negad el-Bourai, compared the alleged victims to prisoners of war. The comparison is foolish and insulting to POWs. Irrespective of their nationality and religion, POWs are fighters defending their nation and their land against ‘the enemy'. They are members of society motivated by their sense of belonging to their land, their people, their children and their families. They pledge to sacrifice themselves to defend their people's values and principles against alien ones. When these warriors return from the battlefield, only to turn against their own people, they become criminals and outlaws. The human rights activist was blasted by callers to the talk show for his intimidating comments about the video. He was reminded that he should also campaign for the human rights of the victims and their families. More than 1,500 years before the Geneva Convention was penned, the Prophet Mohamed ordered Muslims to guarantee the safety and dignity of their prisoners of war. The Prophet must have appreciated the cause the Muslims' enemies were fighting for. But why should any society allow blacklisted criminals to enjoy the blessings of human rights? We must be doing much injustice to ‘suspects' accused of bloodless crimes when we put them on an equal footing with serial killers, rapists, paedophiles, arsonists and hardened criminals, who, as soon as they're released from prison, start re-offending. Anyone who deliberately breaks his community's laws and traditions, terrorises his neighbours or refuses to comply with reformist measures should not be allowed to claim the protection of human rights. Human rights should protect the dignity and honour of people who agree to live peacefully, constructively and co-operatively together. They should also protect peaceful demonstrators and protesters, striking workers, political activists and religious preachers, who tout ideas or slogans that contradict those of mainstream society, despite the ruler's outrage.
