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From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Date: 02 June 2001 06:55
Subject: News from Democracy Egypt: Al-Ahram Weekly, May 31st, 2001

On to the next chapter?
by Nadia Abu El-Magd

Human rights groups, at home and abroad, were in an uproar over the
seven-year sentencing of prominent NGO figure Saadeddin Ibrahim. As
the controversy seethes on, the sociology professor's case-file seems
far from being closed, reports Nadia Abou El-Magd.

Egyptian, regional and international human rights organisations have
said they were disturbed and dismayed by a State Security Court's
decision on 21 May to send Saadeddin Ibrahim, a sociology professor
at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and NGO activist, to prison
for seven years. Editorials in the American press went further, using
threatening language to condemn the verdict.

Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed denied that Ibrahim or any of
his colleagues had been subjected to any "extraordinary measures" and
insisted that their trial had been fair.

Ibrahim, 62, who has both Egyptian and American citizenships, is the
founder and director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental
Studies.

Ibrahim was arrested, and the Ibn Khaldun Centre closed, on 30 June.
Ibrahim was detained for 40 days before being released on bail. The
government charged Ibrahim and 27 others connected to the Ibn Khaldun
Centre with several alleged crimes, including accepting foreign funds
without government approval. After an earthquake hit Egypt in 1992
and relief aid poured into the country, a military decree banned
accepting foreign donations without government permission. The
foreign donor in question is the European Union, which provided money
to promote political awareness and participation in Egypt's general
elections. Other charges included compiling false reports about the
status of Copts in Egypt; attempting to embezzle money; and making
plans to bribe radio and television officials to broadcast programmes
about the Ibn Khaldun Centre.

The trial began last November.

The European Union audit published at the time declared that "there
is no misuse of funds."

And two days after the ruling, Gunnar Wiegand, a spokesman for the
European Union's Executive Commission, said: "The European Commission
is seriously disturbed by this development." He added that "we
strongly question the State Security Court's line of judging the
financial propriety of the voter education programmes and are very
worried to see an Egyptian court finding that EU financial support to
promote democracy and human rights constitutes a criminal offence."

Egyptian and Arab human rights groups called for the release of
Ibrahim, and said that they were "shocked and deeply disturbed"
arguing that the ruling was based on flawed emergency legislation. In
a joint statement, six human rights organisations said that they
believe that the arrest and trial of Ibrahim and his colleagues
were "a continuation of the state's hostile policies against civil
institutions in Egypt with the intention of silencing all
institutions that try to participate effectively in public action."

The six groups are: The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the
Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, the Human Rights Centre for the Assistance
of Prisoners, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), the
Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Al Nadim Centre
for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence.

Attorney Negad El-Borai, a member of the board of trustees of the
EOHR, believes that the verdict is a message to Egyptian civil
society. "Egypt is no longer a suitable place for NGO and human
rights activities," El-Borai told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The government
insists on considering and treating human rights organisations as
political opposition," he added.

In a separate statement, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights, a
regional group which Ibrahim helped found in 1983, said it would
assist Ibrahim's lawyers in making preparations for contesting the
judgement before the Court of Cassation, which is the only court
where rulings of the Supreme State Security Court can be appealed.

Ibrahim's lawyer, Ibrahim Saleh, told the Weekly that he has no plans
to submit a petition for clemency to President Mubarak but will take
the case to the Court of Cassation. "I am 100 per cent sure that this
judgement will be overruled," he said.

The US-based Human Rights Watch and the UK-based Amnesty
International condemned the verdict by saying: "We fear that the
decision to convict [Ibrahim] had already been made prior to the
conclusion of the trial."

Mahfouz El-Ansari, board chairman of the Middle East News Agency
(MENA), wrote that if some American circles consider Ibrahim to
be "an American hero, for sure he is not an Egyptian hero at all, he
is not a hero, period."

According to El-Ansari, there were reports that Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon instructed his foreign minister to express
Israel's "shock" at the ruling to the Egyptian chargé d'affaires in
Tel-Aviv. But Eyellet Yehiav, spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy in
Cairo, told the Weekly: "It never happened. PM Sharon has not
complained about Saadeddin Ibrahim's judgement or anything to the
Egyptians."

According to El-Ansari, the American media "should have first
explained to their readers the reasons why they imposed an
information blackout on what is taking place in the Palestinian
territories and the war unleashed by one side, using all kinds of
weapons, against an unarmed people."

Mohamed El-Sayed Said, deputy director of the Al-Ahram Centre for
Political and Strategic Studies, said that "any statement that
contains an allusion to America and Israel is now used to condemn
Saadeddin [Ibrahim] and to promote the government." He argued that
the government is using the West's declared support for Ibrahim as
a "proof of its nationalism and independence." But he added: "Why do
they have to prove that at the expense of justice?" Said considered
the whole affair "a tragedy but it is not the end of life."

A spokesman of the US State Department said on 21 May that the United
States government is deeply troubled by the outcome of the trial. A
spokesman for the US Embassy in Cairo added: "We have some concerns
about the process that resulted in this sentence. While the embassy
declines to comment on the specifics of the court's sentencing of Dr
Saadeddin Ibrahim, we have consistently stated our concern that the
rule of law be respected in this case and that the outcome of the
trial bring credit to Egypt's judicial system. The embassy shares the
concern of those in the international community who question the
conviction of an internationally-recognised advocate of civil society
and democratic reform in the region."

For the American press, however, the ruling seemed an occasion for a
virulent campaign, which local supporters of Ibrahim believe to be
motivated much more by the Egyptian government's position vis-a-vis
Israel than any real concern for democracy and human rights in the
country.

The Washington Post wondered in an editorial entitled An Insult from
Cairo why Egypt "thought it was worth delivering this slap in the
face to a superpower ally that has backed this government for 20
years." The editorial urged the American administration and Congress
to prove to Egypt that the jailing of Ibrahim would be reflected on
the $2 billion a year in aid.

"It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Mr Ibrahim was selectively
prosecuted for political reasons," said a New York Times editorial
entitled Injustice in Egypt.

Columnist Thomas Friedman, also writing in the New York Times,
considered the trial to be a "sham" and a "travesty," which
is "tarnishing Egypt's image." In his article entitled Tarnished
Pyramids, Friedman wrote that if the Egyptian government "is ashamed
of him [Ibrahim] because he 'tarnished' their image, every American
should be proud of him, because he burnishes ours."

A spokesman for the American Embassy said: "As we do in the case of
any American imprisoned anywhere in the world, we are seeking regular
consular visits to Dr Ibrahim and we remain in close contact with Dr
Ibrahim's family."

Barbara Ibrahim, Ibrahim's wife, Randa, his daughter, and Ahmed, his
brother, visited him at Torah prison last Friday after obtaining an
exceptional permission from the prosecutor. The rule is that visits
are permissible only after one month has passed since the handing
down of the ruling. According to Barbra Ibrahim, "He is still in a
state of shock and sadness for the lack of deliberation before
issuing the sentence. But his spirits are strong and he is prepared
to pursue his rights by challenging the judgement in the Court of
Cassation."

She quoted Ibrahim as saying that conditions in his prison are "very
proper." Although he looked rested, "his nervous condition
deteriorated," she said. Ibrahim expressed concern about the rest of
his colleagues and their families, she said.

On the fierce editorials in the Western press supporting him, Ibrahim
said that "they don't make me happy, but we didn't bring this on
Egypt; it was done by the government."

"I don't think we've seen the last chapter of this story yet," said
Barbra Ibrahim. "We are witnessing the chapter before last."

Thanks for your efforts to make Egypt more Democratic.