Egypt ended yesterday the controversial decades-old State of Emergency, which was imposed in 1981, following the assassination by Islamists of Anwar Sadat, Egypt's former president. Under the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, it was repeatedly renewed despite protests from rights groups and regime opponents and governmental pledges it would be replaced by new legislation. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement declaring that the State of Emergency came to an end after its last renewal expired. For three decades, the State of Emergency, usually enforced when a given country is going through a period of danger such as a war or a natural disaster, has been one of the main causes of human rights violations in Egypt. According to the statement, the ruling SCAF pledged to continue protecting the nation and will be shouldering its national and historic responsibility. "In the meantime, SCAF will be taking into consideration that the State of Emergency has ended, in accordance with the constitutional declaration and with the law," it said, adding that it would continue its role until it hands over power to an elected president on July 1. The SCAF statement said that the State of Emergency had ended even if the new anti-terrorism law intended to replace it was not ready. During Mubarak's 30-year rule, the police used the State of Emergency to suppress political opponents, including the country's largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood whose members dominate the People's Assembly. "I welcome the ending of the State of Emergency, which has been part of the Egyptians' daily life since the assassination of Sadat in 1981, because there is a strong justification to abolish it after the January 25 Revolution," Ahmed Ragheb, a Cairo-based human rights activist, told The Gazette by phone. Ragheb added that there is no longer any basis for renewing the State of Emergency, which gave police under the Mubarak regime extraordinary powers to detain people without charge and try them in extra-judicial courts? "Nothing any longer justifies the extension of the State of Emergency because a new Egypt has come into being after the Revolution," he said, calling for rescinding the Emergency Law as well. The Emergency Law contradicts the comprehensive social, economic and political reforms and developments under way in Egypt, he said. In May, 2010, the People's Assembly extended the Emergency Law for two years when Mubarak was still in power, limiting its application to persons alleged to be involved in terrorism and drug crimes. The ruling military council extended the law to enforce it only on persons accused of being thugs. The SCAF statement said that the People's Assembly (the Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament) had the right to proclaim a state of emergency, at the executive's request.
