Human rights groups charge government trying to crush dissent
Egyptian courts have sentenced more than 150 people to jail temrs since the beginning of this month for participating in peaceful protests or spreading false information, according to Human Rights Watch. Earlier this week, an appeals court replaced the prison terms for 47 others who had started hunger strikes with a fine of $11, 270 which they will have to pay before they are released.
Human Rights Watch says the Egyptian government should release hundreds of activists and protestors immediately.
“What we are asking is very basic – for Egypt to respect international obligations and allow people to protest,” Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch told The Media Line. “The government is using the court and national security provisions to crack down on all forms of protest and unfortunately the judiciary is complicit in this crackdown.”
Since General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected in 2014, he has done whatever possible to crack down on protestors. Egyptian human rights organizations say that in the two-week period between April 15 and May 2, more than 1300 people were arrested and half of them are facing charges.
“Egyptian authorities have made the cost of peaceful protest extremely high,” Michele Dunne, the Director and Senior Associate of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC told The Media Line. “The fact that Egyptians are again going out to the streets to protest, despite the cost, shows that repression can only succeed for so long when citizens are deeply unhappy with the economic, security and political situation in their country.”
In 2011, millions of Egyptians thronged the streets protesting against the authoritarian three-decade rule by then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Those demonstrations caused Mubarak to step down. The following year, Egyptians chose Mohamed Morsi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, as their president. Morsi was overthrown by Sisi the following year.
Since then, freedom of expression in Egypt has withered. Protestors are arrested, and journalists say they do not feel free to criticize the regime.
Hisham Kassem, the founder of Al Masry Al Youm, a privately-owned independent daily founded in 2004, said his shareholders were always trying to slant coverage, which caused him to quit.
“The limits on freedom of expression are greater than they were under Mubarak,” he told The Media Line. “Many journalists also practice self-censorship, and refrain from writing scathing pieces criticizing the president or the judiciary.”
Human rights groups say that the crackdown is meant to make sure that Sisi retains power.
“Egyptian authorities are using national security threats to crush dissent among Egypt’s youth,” Houry said. “This is a policy of insecurity, not security, leaving young people unable to find the smallest space for peaceful dissent that won’t land them in jail.”