Egypt, America and Human Rights, Part I

Last Friday the Al’Ahram electronic portal, which has close ties to the government, reported that Kamal al-Ganzouri, the Egyptian prime minister, is following with great interest the current investigation into the issue of external financing from Gulf States for Egyptian civil society organizations and civil associations. It also reported that he requested speedy approval from the cabinet on the results of the investigation. Additionally, the portal revealed that the judges presiding over the investigation went as far as to link over 90 associations and civil and human rights organizations with receiving external “funding” without legal permission, both before and after the revolution on Jan. 25, with the aim of destabilizing and creating chaos and destruction in the country.

These leaks come amidst the diplomatic battle being waged between Cairo and the West following the release of statements by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, which condemned the actions of both the Egyptian security and legal services, claiming that they raided and searched the headquarters of many human rights organizations and seized computer equipment, documentation and papers which were important for the case, then sealed these headquarters, particularly those of the American democratic and republican institutes which had been operating in Egypt for years without a license. They have recently been considered, along with other Egyptian organizations, to have spread chaos and strife in the country under the guise of supporting democracy.

According to the information provided, the searching of the American democratic institute in Asyut and its closure took place as part of the practical Egyptian response to American and European statements rejecting a review and inspection of externally funded organizations and those foreign elements working in Egypt without a license, undermining Egyptian sovereignty on Egyptian soil. Similarly, these leaks from the cabinet are intended to confirm that Egypt is addressing the external funding issue and they are an indirect rejection of the statements attributed to an American official who declared that the U.S ambassador in Egypt, Anne Patterson, had received assurances to leave these organizations to continue their activities, to return confiscated equipment to them, to stop prosecuting those implicated in external funding and, as this American forgot to include, apologizing to those who broke the law.

It also seems that these statements from the U.S. official were intended to re-establish trust in the minds of their people and their staff amongst those people whose headquarters were subjected to the inspection and were held to account. These are statements devoid of any significance except for registering the positions of media consumption. In essence, the United States, which strongly supported Ayman Noor, failed to save him from a five-year term in prison, a sentence which was issued by the criminal court, after he fell into the crime of forging the Ghad party powers of attorney which were submitted to the parties’ committee at the time of the founding of the Ghad party. This was despite the U.S., the European Union and the human rights organizations publishing a great deal of statements strongly criticizing the committee, in what they described at the time as a campaign against Ayman Nour as a rival to Mubarak for the presidency which was repeated in verbatim. With him as an important social scientist who gave central importance to rights, he was going against the fading Egyptian regime, based on its close relationship with the Americans and their subsequent presidents, so he quickly and easily met with the U.S. president, just as our university dean would meet his president, the world education minister. Despite this, this learned man did not give up, after three years in prison following accusations related to receiving external funding but America couldn’t save him either, however special Mubarak’s relationship with the Americans was judged to be. The case was such that it didn’t interfere with the workings of the judicial system.

In any case, these commitments the American official is talking about, if there are true, may have come from the junta, and in that case they do not commit the government, which got its president Ganzouri to delegate the exercise of his powers in full, particularly if we take into account the statements made by the foreign minister Muhamad Kamil ‘amour to the Cairene newspaper al-Gomhuriya last Saturday (Dec. 31) and in which he indicated that there were no raids by the police on human rights organizations, but that it was an investigation which judicial bodies and men of law were carrying out and that the police presence was simply to ensure the safety of these men and at no point did the police participate in searches or raids.

Going back to the leaks from the “al-Ahram” portal which is linked to the government, concerning Ganzouri’s following of the investigations, these carry a double message, inside where the people are, its meaning is that the government is making progress in addressing this security breach in the country and is pursuing it to the end, especially the fact that that it may be linked to recent events which led to the burning of the academy and nearly led to the burning of Cairo. With regards to the other aspect of the message, the one that is shown externally, particularly to the United States, this consists of the fact that the pledges of the army, if they were true, were from an actor with no power and no right to make them and these pledges do not bind the government. This is logical, if we go back it will remind us that, at the head of the priorities of the current government is the restoration of security and that Ganzouri requested permission to use his powers in full and got what he wanted. The army’s hands were then effectively tied, preventing them from dealing with this security file at all. Since any disturbance or violence, modeled on Maspero’s actions and after them those of Muhamad Mahmoud cannot happen freely without someone to finance the gunfire, discord and events in general.

An important point remains which shows that the military junta and the government are both one actor in addressing the issue of external financing and it is the fact that Fayiza abu al-najah has been kept as minister for international cooperation in the new cabinet despite the fierce campaign waged by the April 6 movement, the organizations against her and the pressure not to appoint her again. Ganzouri nearly bowed to this pressure but was prevented from it by the army, who strongly rejected her being removed from the ministry and striking her out. Ganzouri was informed by the army about the role abu al-najah played in uncovering the external financing and addressing it diplomatically with the Americans and the Europeans as well as contributing to the fact that the “criminal” file is now in the hands of the judiciary system.