Egypt rights groups voice misgiving about army’s call for ralliesEgyptian rights organisations unsettled by army’s call for a popular mandate to tackle terrorism, fear unlawful crackdownAhram Online, Friday 26 Jul 2013PrintSendShare/BookmarkViews: 621RelatedEgypt army gives Brotherhood 48 hours to join roadmap: officialUS concerned as Egypt army chief calls ralliesEl-Sisi protest call ’not pretext for army to use violence‘: Military SpokespersonEgypt army chief calls on Egyptians to protest against ‚terrorism’Egyptian rights groups have expressed deep concerns over the army’s call to Egyptians to take to the streets to grant a mandate to tackle terrorism, fearing that an unlawful crackdown is imminent.On Wednesday, Egypt’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called for nationwide rallies on Friday to support the military’s efforts to tackle „violence and terrorism“ that has surged following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi early in July.Al-Sisi’s call followed an overnight bomb attack on a police station in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, north of Cairo, killing one person and injuring more than twenty others. The incident signified an escalation in methods of violence since the outbreak of unrest after the army’s overthrow of the country’s Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.The authorities and anti-Morsi camp have accused Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of inciting violence and his loyalists of using weaponry.In a joint Thursday statement, seven human rights organizations voiced alarm about current Egyptian laws which they say not only criminalize terrorism, but, in effect, criminalize what is regarded as freedom of expression.“Flawed laws do not necessitate granting to the army or police a popular mandate to act against the law, but rather require the consolidation of the sovereignty of law through introducing necessary amendments by the president, his aides, lawmakers and rights campaigners,“ the statement read.The statement urged re-examining laws regulating political parties and the way it has contributed to an upsurge of violence amid mounting political and religious polarization by stoking religious and factional xenophobia, seen in parties‘ statements and media outlets. Among groups endorsing the statement are the Cairo Institute for Human Rights, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, and the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights.Rights organisations raised doubts about what they described as „selective absence“ of police from scenes of violence, a strategy police have pursued since the 2011 uprising that ended the decades-long rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, the statement added.“Such selective absence does not require a mandate outside the context of law, but rather obliges the police – in accordance with law – to perform their duty against violence and terrorism,“ the statement added.Rights groups argued that rising militancy in the restive Sinai Peninsula is not an impulse for granting the army a mandate. They charged that the lack of legal measures in clamping down on militants in the desert peninsula under Mubarak’s rule along with marginalization and persecution of its residents has made the province a hotbed of militancy.
via Egypt rights groups voice misgiving about army’s call for rallies – Politics – Egypt – Ahram Online.
Egypt: Arrests of Syrians Raise Deportation Fears
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/25/egypt-arrests-syrians-raise-deportation-fears
Asylum Seekers, Legal Residents Taken from Checkpoints
„[…] Der ägyptische Armeechef und Verteidigungsminister, Abdel-Fattah as-Sisi, hat am Mittwoch die Ägypter dazu aufgerufen, ihm in Massenkundgebungen ein Mandat zum Kampf gegen den Terror zu geben. Damit tönt as-Sisi an, dass die Armee die Proteste gegen die Entmachtung des Muslimbruder-Präsidenten Mohammed Mursi mit Gewalt zu beenden beabsichtigt. Strassenschlachten zwischen Anhängern Mursis auf der einen Seite sowie Antiislamisten und Sicherheitskräften auf der andern haben in den letzten drei Wochen über hundert Tote gefordert. […] Damit gibt die Armee ihre neutrale Position über den politischen Parteien auf, die as-Sisi bisher immer unterstrichen hatte. Die Tamarod-Bewegung, welche die Massenproteste gegen Mursi organisiert hatte, schloss sich auf ihrer Facebook-Seite as-Sisis Aufruf an und erklärte, worum es geht, nämlich «um einen Prozess gegen Mursi und die Unterstützung der Streitkräfte in ihrem bevorstehenden Krieg gegen den Terrorismus». Der grösste Teil der ägyptischen Medien fährt seit dem Militärcoup eine chauvinistische Kampagne gegen die Muslimbrüder, die als Freunde der Amerikaner, Landesverräter und Terroristen verschrien werden. Im Gegensatz dazu werden die Armee und die Polizei als Verkörperungen ägyptischer Grösse und Zivilisation gepriesen. […] Hunderte von Muslimbrüdern, unter ihnen Führerfiguren, wurden festgenommen. Militärgerichte haben wieder damit begonnen, Demonstranten abzuurteilen; am Mittwoch wurden in Suez acht von ihnen zu zwei Jahren Zwangsarbeit verurteilt. Der abgesetzte Präsident und zehn seiner Berater befinden sich im Gewahrsam der Armee und können nicht mit der Aussenwelt kommunizieren. […]“
Egypt army chief calls on Egyptians to protest against ‚terrorism‘
Head of Egyptian armed forces calls for nationwide demonstrations on Friday to authorise army to take action against ‚terrorism,‘ following escalating violence across the country
Ahram Online , Wednesday 24 Jul 2013
Egyptian army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called for nationwide rallies on Friday to mandate the armed forces and police to crackdown on „violence and terrorism,“ following a series of violent clashes across the country.
„Nevertheless this does not mean I am advocating for violence or terrorism,“ El-Sisi said in a speech at a military graduation ceremony in Alexandria on Wednesday.
„I call on all political powers to join the efforts for national reconciliations,“ El-Sisi added.
The first round of national conciliation talks, which will start on Wednesday under the auspices of interim President Adly Mansour, will not be attended by the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which the ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails, or its political arm the Freedom and Justice Party.
A number of Islamist groups and parties that form the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy also decided to boycott the meeting.
The meeting will be attended by several political forces including the National Salvation Front, the Wafd Party and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
Thousands of Morsi supporters are holding an ongoing sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square in Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza demanding his reinstatement.
More than 100 people have been killed in violent clashes since Morsi’s removal, pitting his supporters against his opponents and security forces.
Marches from both sides have been repeatedly attacked by armed men. The use of live rounds has been common in recent weeks amid an increase in violent protests across the country.
„El-Sisi and the intelligence service are instructing the interior ministry to commit those crimes against peaceful protesters who are being punished for merely saying no to the military coup,“ Brotherhood leading member Mohamed El-Beltagy said.
El-Sisi’s call comes a few hours after an explosive device went off at a police station near the security directorate in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, the capital of Daqahliya governorate, killing at least one conscript and injuring 19 late on Tuesday.
Clashes in the restive Sinai Peninsula between the army and Islamist militants have also left dozens dead since deposed president Morsi was removed from his post by the military on 3 July amid massive protests.
Morsi supporters accused El-Sisi, who was appointed to his post by former president Morsi, of betraying and conspiring against him, calling the army’s move a „military coup.“
„I did not deceive the former president,“ El-Sisi said, denying accusations of betrayal.
„We advised the former president several times since the November constitutional declaration,“ he said, adding that his advice was ignored by Morsi.
„The former president was advised, directly and indirectly, either to step down or hold a referendum to see if the people want him or not,“ El-Sisi stated. He added that he sent former prime minister Hisham Qandil, former head of the Shura Council Ahmed Fahmy, and former Islamist presidential candidate Selim El-Awa to Morsi with the suggestions.
„I made it clear that the army is under his commandership only as the president according to the legitimacy he was granted from the people,“ El-Sisi added.
„We are ready to have the whole world supervise the elections, including the UN and the EU,“ he stressed, referring to presidential elections expected to be held within six months. „We are not retreating from the roadmap we adopted.“
The commander-in-chief denied that there are any splits in the Egyptian army.
Morsi has been held incommunicado at an unidentified location since his ouster. The army said that such a measure was taken to protect him.
via Egypt army chief calls on Egyptians to protest against ‚terrorism‘ – Politics – Egypt – Ahram Online.
UN says Egypt crackdown closes 80 percent of Gaza tunnels
Gazan economy hit hard by Egypt’s move to close most of the tunnels used to smuggle goods into the territory
About 80 percent of tunnels used to smuggle goods and arms into the Gaza Strip from Egypt are „no longer functioning“ due to a crackdown by the Egyptian military after it ousted President Mohamed Morsi this month, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.
U.N. Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry told the U.N. Security Council that the Gaza Strip was experiencing „some serious shortages of fuel and basic building materials for which the tunnels had become the primary entry point due to severe restrictions on imports via the official crossings and the higher cost of fuel available from the West Bank and Israel.“
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„Das ist nicht gerade eine Linkskoalition“
Interview mit Professor Joel Beinin über die neue Regierung, Gewerkschaften und soziale Bewegungen in Ägypten
Ägypten hat eine neue Regierung. Der laizistische Pol, bestehend aus Liberalen, Sozialdemokraten und Nasseristen, jubelt, die von Saudi-Arabien abhängigen Salafisten lavieren und die Moslembruderschaft setzt ihre Massenproteste gegen die Absetzung ihres Präsidenten Mohammed Mursi mit friedlichen wie militanten Mitteln fort. Dabei fordert der angeblich so „sanfte Staatsstreich“ des Militärs täglich neue Todesopfer vor allem auf Seiten der Demonstranten.
Liebe alle,
in Ägypten geht es aktuell wieder drunter und drüber, nachdem das Militär Präsident Mursi abgesetzt hat. Nach mehrmonatigen Recherchen und Interviews mit Akteur*innen vor Ort und hierzulande hat das Anarchistische Radio Berlin jetzt eine knapp einstündige Sondersendung zur Revolution in Ägypten fertiggestellt.
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Is the Egyptian Revolution Dead?
[On 25 January 2013, a protester leads chants amidst clashes with police, on the second anniversary of Egyptian revolution. Ultras Ahlawy (hardcore football fans) clashed that day with Central Security Forces guarding the Interior Ministry, in revenge for the killing of their colleagues in Port Said stadium last year, alleged to have been intentionally killed by police. Image originally posted to Flicker by Jonathan Rashad]
„[…] Seit der Revolution 2011 steckt das Land in einer Wirtschaftskrise, die die Muslimbrüder und ihr politischer Arm, die Partei für Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit FJP von Expräsident Mohammed Mursi nicht in den Griff bekommen hatten.Der neue Premierminister Hasem Beblawi gilt als liberaler Wirtschaftsfachmann, Finanzminister Ahmed Galal arbeitete 18 Jahre für die Weltbank, und die neuen Minister der Industrie-, Telekommunikations- und Wohnungsministerien kommen aus der Privatwirtschaft. Außenminister Nabil Fahmy war Ägyptens Botschafter in den USA. Mansur ernannte zudem Kamal Gansuri, von 1996 bis 1999 Premierminister und eine Schlüsselfigur bei der Öffnung der ägyptischen Wirtschaft, als Wirtschaftsberater. Letzteren hatte die Armee bereits nach dem Sturz des langjährigen Machthabers Hosni Mubarak 2011 kurzzeitig als Regierungschef eingesetzt, auch unter Mursi war er als Berater an den Regierungsgeschäften beteiligt. Vier Minister der alten Regierung bleiben auf ihren Posten, unter anderem Verteidigungsminister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, der führende Kopf hinter Mursis Absetzung. Al-Sisi wird zudem das Amt des stellvertretenden Premierministers ausüben und damit zusätzlichen Einfluß auf die Regierungsgeschäfte haben.Während Salafisten und FJP nicht beteiligt sind, tummeln sich zahlreiche Vertreter des säkularen und wirtschaftsliberalen Lagers in der Übergangsregierung. Neben Vertretern der Sozialdemokraten, der liberalen Wafd-Partei und der Verfassungspartei Mohamed ElBaradeis sitzt auch Kamal Abu Eita von der sozialistischen Karama-Partei als Minister für Angestellte im neuen Kabinett. Abu Eita ist Vorsitzender des Verbandes unabhängiger Gewerkschaften EFITU, der seit 2011 durch unzählige Streikaktionen sowohl die Militärregierung, die Ägypten von Mubaraks Sturz bis zu Mursis Amtsantritt 2012 regierte, als auch die Regierung Mursi kontinuierlich unter Druck setzte. […]“