Message to President Mubarak: MB Trials Must be Open

Amnesty International announced today that it has written to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, urging him to ensure that independent observers are permitted access to the trial of 40 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, scheduled to resume before the Supreme Military Court in Cairo on Sunday.

The organization made this call following two earlier trial hearings when legal observers sent by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations were barred from entering the court.

"We look to President Mubarak, as Egypt's highest authority, to open the doors to this important trial," said Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan. "He should clear the way for it to receive the scrutiny it deserves."

Amnesty International's trial observer, Jordanian lawyer Samieh Khreis, was previously among a number of international and Egyptian legal observers who were turned away by security officials when they attempted to enter the Supreme Military Court during its last session on 15 July. Observers were also turned away when they attempted to attend a previous session of the trial on 3 June 2007.

Egyptian authorities have given no explanation to date for their refusal to allow independent observers to attend the trial, adding to concerns about its fairness.

The 40 defendants facing trial on 5 August 2007 include leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who face charges of terrorism and money-laundering that could incur the death penalty.

All are being tried before a military court on the express instructions of President Mubarak -- using powers under a 1966 law -- although none hold any position within Egypt's armed forces.

Seventeen of the 40 were previously tried but acquitted on the same charges by a Cairo criminal court.

"We unreservedly oppose the Egyptian government's use of military courts to try civilians," said Irene Khan.

"In Egypt's military courts judges are serving members of the armed forces and military courts cannot be seen as independent and impartial tribunals for civilians. Their use for highly-charged political cases -- such as the current trial of leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood -- suggests that the defendants may be denied a fair trial."

"The fact that the government has so far denied international observers access to the court only exacerbates our grave concerns." Ms Khan said

It must be election time in Egypt. That's because political opposition candidates are getting arrested. This time around its the Muslim Brotherhood, again, considered to be one of the strongest opposition parties.

The BBC and the Middle East Times reports that 79 members of the banned party were arrested over the past three days. Two of those detained are candidates for the upcoming shura elections. According to MB representatives, the individuals are being charged with using religious slogans. Here's the Middle East Times story. And here is the Muslim Brothers' account of the arrest of one of the shura candidates.

This is a story repeated several times over the past decade. The Mubarak government's standard operating procedure has been to control the democratic process at election time through a series of attacks on opposition rallies, independent election observers, opposition press and sometimes the candidates themselves.

The people of Egypt deserve better. There are thousands of Egyptians working to have a better political system, to open it to more voices and to attempt to reach consensus in a positive political way. In the name of stability and the war on terror, we repeatedly are expected to look the other direction when these activist's efforts are thwarted by an aging and unyielding regime.

Crackdown on MB Deepens

Arrests of Muslim Brothers is a recurring story in Egypt, but the number and intensity of the current crackdown seems to indicate something different about this one. The organization announced Friday that 81 members were detained this week.

Among the detainees is Doctor Gamal Abdul Salam (Secretary-General of relief committee in Arab Doctors' Union and an ex-Muslim Brotherhood candidate in 2005 People's Assembly elections for Qasr Al-Neel constituency). The detainees were ordered held for 15 days pending investigation on charges of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood group and inciting the public opinion against the regime, according to the MB's website.

The arrests brings the total of MB arrests in recent months to 300.

As with all crackdown on the banned organization, the question always is why now? On some past occasions, the arrests have been a straightforward effort to prevent MB members from running for office. And that could be the case now. In April, Egyptians go to the polls to elect members to the shura council. The process will also effect proposed constitutional changes that are important to the Mubarak government.

One last thing: I want the underscore the charge of "inciting public opinion against the government." A lot of people don't like the Muslim Brothers. Their politics scare a lot of American policymakers. But when when people get arrested for things like "inciting public opinion against the government," that's when you need to put away political considerations and do the needed human rights and democracy activism.

For more on the story from the Muslim Brothers website, click here.

Here's the BBC's report on the arrests.