America, Egypt, Italy and the Kidnapping Business

The Middle East Times begins its report today with the line "America is in the kidnapping business." The line has shock value, but it's accuracy is getting harder to deny. All of this unfortunately is making the work of human rights activists in Egypt more difficult.

Three different events occurred this week to bring the kidnapping business into light. One, Amnesty International and a number of other HR organizations issued a joint statement citing evidence that 39 people had been "disappeared" by the CIA. It's not just terror suspects. Our documentation indicates that suspects' relatives, including wives and children as young as seven, have been held in secret detention.

Second, in Italy this week, a number of Italian intelligence agents and 26 CIA agents went on trial for the kidnapping of Egyptian national Abu Omar. Omar was taken to Egypt, held in detention for almost four years and tortured on several occasions before being released. Here's the BBC report on the first day of the trial.

Finally, today the European Union released its report on CIA jails in Europe. Investigators uncovered proof that jails in Poland and Romania held secret detainees outside of the legal system. Here's Amnesty's reponse to the report.

Together, the picture is painted of a system where individuals, both suspect and innocent, are subject to kidnapping and secret detention with no access to legal rights or to anyone outside of the prison for that fact. It's a system that has been tried in many places before, such as Egypt, and frankly I don't believe it's been all that effective, or at least any more effective than traditional and standard legal techniques. What is clear is that when it comes time to taking a stand against torture, against illegal and prolonged detention and against secret trials, a country that builds the system as described in these three reports doesn't have much credibility... or effectiveness.

Human Rights and the Muslim Brothers

Karim Amer has attracted some attention in the American media and from some American politicians, as well as he should. The heavy-handed and politically motivated arrest and conviction of the Egyptian blogger for his peaceful exercise of freedom of speech is just another example of how this government seeks to muzzle civil society and is determined to shut down the Internet as a force for civil society and democratic change.
But fewer Americans know about Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, and they should. Like Karim, Abdel is an Egyptian blogger who has brought attention to human rights abuses in Egypt. Like Karim, Abdel now is in detention and faces criminal charges for his activity. Like Karim, Abdel has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International
Abdel in particular has done much to publicize abuses about torture in Egypt, which as I've mentioned I believe to be one of the core human rights concerns in the country. He's met with Amnesty International officials previously on the topic, and the organization is concerned that meetings with AI and other international groups may be one of the reason for his arrest.
But Abdel is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that may be one obstacle to Americans speaking out on his case. It shouldn't.
I don't agree with basic MB positions on a lot of issues, and the organization has a past history that is connected to violence. But since the mid-1990s, the organization has renounced violence, and pledged to seek political change through non-violent means, specifically the ballot box. And they've been somewhat successful, and for that success it has faced significant oppression from the government, Abdel's arrest just being the latest in a long line of detentions.
And frankly its success has some American policymakers scared. It's hard for Americans to take on support for political Islamists.
But Egyptian human rights activists have no such reluctance, as seen by this statement from a consortium of Egyptian HR groups, and they're watching us to see if we're following.
This is a clear example of why it's important to have a single standard in applying human rights. Doing human rights work requires setting priorities to be effective, but if those priorities are skewed by non-human rights concerns, such as fear of political Islamists, it's not going to be credible. Credibility is essential to the effectiveness of this work. That doesn't mean we have to work on every possible case -- we can't. But over the long term, that work must reflect the general pattern of HR concerns in a region.
For more about the Abdel's case, click here.
Please write a letter to the Egyptian ambassador declaring Abdel Moneim Mahmoud to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release. Also ask that Egyptian officials stop the continued harassment of Egyptian bloggers, reminding them of their responsibilities under international agreements and the Egyptian constitution to protect citizens' peaceful expression of their freedom of speech.
Address
Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington DC 20008

Keeping Up the Pressure on Blogger's Case

Amnesty today released a web feature on Karim Amer, the blogger facing a 10-year sentence for his blogging activities. Here's a link to the feature and a link to a previous statement on the case. And here is a link to Karim's own blog (in Arabic).

Charges against Karim Amer include "spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country's reputation", "incitement to hate Islam" and "defaming the President of the Republic".

Amnesty states, "His trial is particularly worrying as the Egyptian blogsphere is expanding as an area of free expression and bloggers have increasingly been posting information about human rights abuses in Egypt, including allegations of torture and police violence against peaceful protesters. Their writings and postings of information on human rights violations, including graphic evidence of such abuses, have been relayed by international media and highlighted by national and international human rights organizations, putting pressure on the Egyptian authorities to open investigations into some of these allegations."

Amnesty has declared Karim to be a prisoner of conscience. If you want to take action on this case, in the U.S. you should write letters of support for Kareem to the Egyptian ambassador:

Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Court N.W., Washington, D.C., 20008
202-895-5400

You can also support Karim by adding comments to his website, or by adding comments to the Free Kareem website here.

Retribution for Torture Complaint?

A prominent Egyptian blogger is reporting that Ihabd Magdi Farouk, a 19-year-old Egyptian who is reporting that he was tortured by Egyptian police, was sentenced to three months in jail for mobile phone theft. Activists fear that the conviction was part of the police's efforts to force him to retract his allegation of torture. The police officers have been arrested and face a March 3 court date.

One thing that's interesting and different about this case is when police went looking for Farouk after he made the torture allegation, they detained family members in order to convince himself to turn himself in. This egregious behavior is not unheard of in Egypt, (see "Women Targeted by Association") but it violates all kinds of legal standards.

Here's a previous posting I made on this case.

Here's what the Egyptian blogger, 3arabawy, is writing about the update.

Rendition Case Released

An Egyptian who is at the heart of a CIA controversy in Italy was released by Egyptian officials after nearly three years in Egyptian detention. The BBC is reporting that Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr ("Abu Omar") was now with his family. Click here for the BBC story. The Washington Post story adds that Abu Omar is considering a lawsuit against those involved in his kidnapping.

In mid-2004, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr was abducted on a street in Milan and allegedly driven to the US air base in Aviano, Italy, interrogated, drugged and taken to the US military base in Ramstein in Germany. From there he was flown to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured, including with electric shocks. A year later, an Italian judge ordered 25 CIA officials to be indicted for involvement in the illegal rendition; however none have been arrested and are ever expected to be so.

The BBC story says Abu Omar continues to allege he was tortured while in detention. He was said to have been charged with membership in an illegal organization, but he never was convicted of anything while in detention.

Now that Abu Omar has been released, it's time to ask what did the United States gain from his rendition and torture? The world isn't any safer, but it is different. Reportedly, the rendition interrupted an ongoing Italian investigation into Abu Omar, which could have brought appropriate criminal charges against the cleric. But these days, waiting for legitimate judicial processes to do its work seems, well, quaint.

Later this month, the U.S. State Department will release its annual human rights report, which likely will criticize Egypt for its record of systematic torture. The HR report used to be something Egyptian activists looked forward to and something that brought angry condemnations from Egyptian officials. This year, reading the section on torture can only bring sadness to activists and laughter from the government officials; both will know the depths of U.S. complicity in the very abuses it criticizes.

It's hard to figure out whether to focus on moral concerns about rendition or the straight-forward political nuts-and-bolts aspects of the policy. On either end, the policy is a loser.

Click here to see a "Denounce Torture" Amnesty action on this case.

Reports of Labor Strife

Al-Ahram newspaper reports a number of strikes in recent weeks in Egypt, perhaps a sign of more vigorous opposition by the labor movement. The headlines calls the sweep of strikes "unprecedented," which is probably overstating it, but certainly the government has taken measure to ensure the stifling of the growth of an independent labor movement.

The strikes included 4,200 workers at factories at Misr Shebin Al-Kom Spinning and Weaving Company in the Delta region comes following the sale of the company to a private Indian firm. One thing that is interesting about the case is that the workers are striking to force the government and company to fulfill promises about bonuses. The workers aren’t protesting the sale to the private investor. In fact, the newspaper quotes one worker as saying, “We welcome the new owner, but we must receive our financial rights.”

Click here for the al-Ahram’s report.

The pace of privatization of companies in Egypt has been pretty slow by most standards, but still fast enough to case dislocation. For a government so keen on "stability" as the Mubarak government, it has faced down much of the pressures to modernize a pretty old and slow economy. But the real problem here is that the workers themselves have been frozen out, muzzled just like other aspects of civil society. As the pressure to modernize the Egyptian government gets stronger, the easiest and least disruptive way of doing this would be to ensure labor involvement. But that would mean loosening control over Egyptian civil society. The government is doing its best to ignore the dynamics of this balance -- a more vigorous labor movement would certainly be one key event to force them to confront it.

Here's an interesting post on labor struggles in Egyptian history, including the theory that the first recorded strike occurred in 1500 BC in Egypt.

Police Officer Goes on Trial for Torture

A trial worth watching: an Egyptian police officer is going on trial for the torture and murder of the prisoner Mohammed Abdel Qader El Sayed.

The trial started last week -- Feb. 3, in Cairo Criminal Court. The defendant is State Security Investigation officer Captain Ashraf Mostafa Hussein Safwat.

As with many political Egyptian trials, the testimony lasted for only part of the day. The first day's testimony focused on evidence presented by the head forensic doctor, and then adjourned for three months to May 5, when the defense will present arguments.

For more on the case, click here.

This is an important trial because of the long history of impunity that has defined security officials and police's relationship with the use of torture. Amnesty International has noted a few cases such as this, in which officers were brought to trial, but generally these cases are marked by minor sentences that are not always carried out. The vast majority of torture allegations never receive any public investigation at all.

We can end torture. There isn't anything essential or inevitable about it. Amnesty has developed a 12-point program for the elimination of torture. Point 5 is independent investigation of torture allegations, and Point 8 is bringing torturers to justice. Egypt has traditionally done neither. Here's hoping this trial can provide momentum for changing that.

No Welcome for Human Rights Activist

I'm a little late on writing on this, but it's worth mentioning as an example of what the Egyptian government thinks about human rights activists.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) and Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (APHRA) reports that Mohamed Al-Maskati, human rights activist and Director of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), was prevented from entering Egypt Jan. 31. The Cairo Airport Security Service held Al-Maskati in custody for more than 12 hours at the airport before he was deported back to Bahrain.

Al-Maskati (20 years-old) arrived at Cairo airport to participate in the seminar titled "The Role of Youth in Supporting Freedoms and Democracy" which is to be hold by BYSHR and APHRA. For more details, click here.

One of the things that might have prompted the Egyptian action was that Al-Maskati recently participated in a peaceful rally before the Egyptian embassy in Bahrain in protest on the detention of Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer. But the government probably didn't need any "provocation." I wouldn't expect the Mubarak government to treat a Bahraini human rights activist any better than they treat an Egyptian. They've been harassing and detaining Egyptian activists for years.

I hope there is a time soon when Egyptian organizations can invite foreign activists from all over the world to come share their stories and not worry whether they will be allowed in without harassment. Fortunately, Mohamed Al-Maskati is a young man, young enough that it might happen in his lifetime.

Going After the Press

It's bad enough with Egyptian authorities use the law to prevent freedom of the press, but it's worse when they violate their own laws to do so. That's the opinion of several human rights organizations who have criticized the Supreme Council of Press (SCP) , which is preventing publication of al-Badiel. For more, click here.

The SCP is shutting down the paper without adhering to the rules, which require them to announce their objections within a 40-day period. To date, the organization is refusing to publicly disclose the reason for their action, despite the requests and demands of the paper's editors.

Don't expect this case to be resolved anytime soon. Freedom of the Press in Egypt plays out to the whims of the government and of the allegedly independent organizations, such as the SCP, that it sets up to do its bidding. Whenever professional organizations, such as the lawyers and medical associations, show any independence, the government changes the rules and comes in to exert authority.

It's an old report -- 1996 -- but its concerns on muzzling civil society in Egypt are still valid. Click here to see the AI report. Just as I wrote yesterday torture seems to be at the core of a system of legal rights violations, I believe you will find that the crushing of the freedom of the press is at the core of any muzzling of civil society.

Why is Torture So Important?

Once again we are confronted with another serious allegation of torture in Egypt, one gaining the attention of human rights groups in Egypt. Here's a brief excerpt from a statement released Friday by a coalition of HR groups:

"As this statement is being written a number of policemen from Imbaba police station are present in Ihab Farouk's residence waiting for him to return. This development followed a night long interrogation of his father and wife, followed by taking his younger brother, Mohamed Magdi Farouk, hostage until this moment.

Less than 24 hours after the release of today's issue of the daily El Masry El Yom (Thursday, 1 February 2007) featuring the story of torture of citizen Ihabd Magdi Farouk, 19 years, at Imbaba police station, the police started looking for him at his residence. Not finding him there, they arrested his father and wife, took them to the same police station and interrogated them for 5 hours – from 2a.m. until 7 a.m. asking about the whereabouts of Ihab. Why do they want him? In order to settle some matters between him and some police sergeants, as claimed by the Imbaba police.

When Ihab did not show up the police arrested his younger brother, Mohamed Magdi Farouk, as hostage until the appearance of Ihab. At the same time a number of Imbaba police force remained at his residence waiting for his return."

I believe we always have to keep a focus on torture. I believe it is at the core of any system that abuses human rights. You can not improve a human rights situation without getting rid of torture; at the same time, ending torture brings significant improvements in a whole range of human rights abuses. Let me just count a few -- prolonged incommunicado or administrative detention, military and security courts, unfair trials in general, the death penalty, arrest of family members or friends of suspects and impunity for human rights abusers.

When you look at these abuses in Egypt in particular, you almost always find evidence of the presence of torture. The legal and political edifice created to facilitate torture and to protect torturers inevitably ends up being used in other violations.

When you hear debates, post-Abu Ghraib, about the necessity of the use of torture to fight "bad guys" or as Vice President Chaney allegedly said "to work the dark side a little bit," please remember that this is a path that always leads in places that we don't want to be.