Egypt’s most recent phase of revolution has the world's experts scrambling for answers to the country’s turmoil, analyzing its rocky political history and fluctuating relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. Others are more preoccupied with distinctions of Morsi’s removal--a military coup versus a civilian revolution--or coping with the cultural implications of the July 8th shooting of 50 Morsi supporters by Egyptian Security Forces outside of the Republican Guard Headquarters in Cairo.
The events following Morsi’s expulsion on July 3rd have been anything but definitive; the thousands who marched in protest of Morsi in the days leading up to his ousting are matched by thousands marching now in support of his reinstatement. Human rights in the country are falling into limbo, with escalating instances of sexual assault against women being reported by Human Rights Watch and issuances by Amnesty International condemning the Egyptian Military for unlawful treatment of Morsi supporters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Aside from the 50 deaths and upwards of 300 injured in the clashes on July 8th, Amnesty cites “testimonies from detainees” in support of Morsi “who...were beaten upon arrest, subjected to electric shocks or hit with rifle butts.”
In a time of such arduous transition it follows that the complex issue of maintaining acceptable civilian rights in Egyptian society would reach the surface; times of turmoil construct opportunities for exposure of those underlying inequalities normally overshadowed in daily life. Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui aptly observes implications of the complicated surge of events, stating that “establishing trust in [Egypt’s] justice system will be impossible if only supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood are targeted while security forces are absolved of responsibility for unlawful killings and their failure to protect protestors from violence.” Establishing this trust, though, depends on relations beyond those directly on the side of the military and anti-Morsi protestors, and those on the side of the ousted government and their supporters. Rights of women and men on both sides of the conflict are being violated, and the country will not find stability without addressing the deeper maladies which prevail across politically polarized spheres.
Some argue that the the ex-President’s gradual accession of autocratic power while in office effectively broke the civilian contract he entered into after winning the 2012 election--justifying any imbalance of force in seeking out and arresting those in Morsi’s party, and negating any legal retort to the actions of the military. Guests at a talk last week at the Brookings Institution on “Military Intervention and the Democratic Process” thought differently though, affirming the illegality of the military’s actions in deposing a democratically elected head of state and defining the events without hesitation as a coup. No matter the labels and lines we are able to draw as we map this transition, we should take caution not to write off violations of civil rights as ephemeral--as history shows, it will come back to bite us.
Photo by Deutsche Welle.
a global affairs media network
Photo Friday: Uncertain Situation Raises Human Rights Concerns in Egypt
July 19, 2013
Egypt’s most recent phase of revolution has the world's experts scrambling for answers to the country’s turmoil, analyzing its rocky political history and fluctuating relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. Others are more preoccupied with distinctions of Morsi’s removal--a military coup versus a civilian revolution--or coping with the cultural implications of the July 8th shooting of 50 Morsi supporters by Egyptian Security Forces outside of the Republican Guard Headquarters in Cairo.
The events following Morsi’s expulsion on July 3rd have been anything but definitive; the thousands who marched in protest of Morsi in the days leading up to his ousting are matched by thousands marching now in support of his reinstatement. Human rights in the country are falling into limbo, with escalating instances of sexual assault against women being reported by Human Rights Watch and issuances by Amnesty International condemning the Egyptian Military for unlawful treatment of Morsi supporters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Aside from the 50 deaths and upwards of 300 injured in the clashes on July 8th, Amnesty cites “testimonies from detainees” in support of Morsi “who...were beaten upon arrest, subjected to electric shocks or hit with rifle butts.”
In a time of such arduous transition it follows that the complex issue of maintaining acceptable civilian rights in Egyptian society would reach the surface; times of turmoil construct opportunities for exposure of those underlying inequalities normally overshadowed in daily life. Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui aptly observes implications of the complicated surge of events, stating that “establishing trust in [Egypt’s] justice system will be impossible if only supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood are targeted while security forces are absolved of responsibility for unlawful killings and their failure to protect protestors from violence.” Establishing this trust, though, depends on relations beyond those directly on the side of the military and anti-Morsi protestors, and those on the side of the ousted government and their supporters. Rights of women and men on both sides of the conflict are being violated, and the country will not find stability without addressing the deeper maladies which prevail across politically polarized spheres.
Some argue that the the ex-President’s gradual accession of autocratic power while in office effectively broke the civilian contract he entered into after winning the 2012 election--justifying any imbalance of force in seeking out and arresting those in Morsi’s party, and negating any legal retort to the actions of the military. Guests at a talk last week at the Brookings Institution on “Military Intervention and the Democratic Process” thought differently though, affirming the illegality of the military’s actions in deposing a democratically elected head of state and defining the events without hesitation as a coup. No matter the labels and lines we are able to draw as we map this transition, we should take caution not to write off violations of civil rights as ephemeral--as history shows, it will come back to bite us.
Photo by Deutsche Welle.
