organization:supreme council of the armed forces

Torture and impunity continue in Egypt

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/72066.aspx

SCAF and Morsi took no steps to eradicate torture, according to a report by Amnesty International

Scores killed in 2012 under SCAF and Morsi

Over 160 killed, including 10 tortured to death and at least three children

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/04/27/scores-killed-in-2012-under-scaf-and-morsi

#SCAF #Morsi

Egypt’s army took part in torture and killings during revolution, report shows | World news | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/10/egypt-army-torture-killings-revolution

Le Guardian a pu se procurer un chapitre du rapport commandité par Morsi et non encore rendu public sur les crimes commis contre les manifestants pendant la révolution égyptienne.

L’armée égyptienne y est lourdement mise en cause.

The report, submitted to President Mohamed Morsi by his own hand-picked committee in January, has yet to be made public, but a chapter seen by the Guardian implicates the military in a catalogue of crimes against civilians, beginning with their first deployment to the streets.

The chapter recommends that the government investigate the highest ranks of the military to determine who was responsible.

More than 1,000 people, including many prisoners, are said to have gone missing during the 18 days of the revolt. Scores turned up in Egypt’s morgues, shot or bearing signs of torture.

Many have simply disappeared, leaving behind desperate families who hope, at best, that their loved ones are serving prison sentences that the government does not acknowledge.

The findings of the high-level investigation, implicating Egypt’s powerful military, will put pressure on Morsi, who assumed power from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces after his election in June and has declined to prosecute any officers, despite allegations that some participated in abuse.

They could also figure in the retrial of the toppled president Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib al-Adly, who are set to return to court on Saturday to face charges – perhaps supported by new evidence from the report – that they were responsible for killing protesters during the revolt.

Hazem Kandil · Deadlock in Cairo · LRB 21 March 2013
►http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n06/hazem-kandil/deadlock-in-cairo

When you consider the central importance of the security services to the old regime, it is remarkable how well they have done so far. Not a single police officer has been charged with a single offence before or after the revolt. (...) Egypt’s infamous State Security Investigations Service was simply renamed Egyptian Homeland Security without any change in its powers. Even though repression and torture continued, Morsi never missed an opportunity to praise the patriotism of the Interior Ministry, which he claims has already been reformed.

Part of the reason Egypt’s security establishment has landed on its feet is that it has been careful to bide its time. It seems willing to refrain from full-blown ‘pacification’ until the revolutionaries come to learn that the only alternative to police repression is chaos. It hasn’t been entirely passive . It has stirred up and ambushed protesters at carefully selected times and places, engaging them in short, brutal battles and leaving dozens of bodies behind. After each incident, investigations have been carried out, unnamed ‘third parties’ blamed and the matter shelved. One such episode occurred in February last year at Port Said Stadium. Determined to punish the football fans – the Ultras – for spearheading street battles against the police, the Interior Ministry bussed in thugs from the capital and, after blocking all the stadium’s exits, unleashed them against the unsuspecting fans. In little more than an hour, 79 people were killed and at least a thousand injured. A court ruling was scheduled for 26 January this year, and a clear indictment of the security service plot was expected, especially after hints from the presidency that such a ruling might provide the legal basis for a purge and restructuring of the security apparatus. Instead, 21 civilians were sentenced to death and the police were exonerated.

Violence erupted around the country and the riot police didn’t hold back, killing fifty demonstrators and injuring hundreds more. People were further enraged by a YouTube video showing a middle-aged demonstrator called Hamada Saber being stripped naked, trampled on by police in heavy boots and dragged along the tarmac. A few days later, a young activist called Mohamed al-Guindy was allegedly tortured to death in a police station. Morsi commended the Interior Ministry’s effectiveness, and appeared on television waving his fist defiantly and threatening troublemakers with harsher measures.

For security officers, the message was clear: under the Brotherhood, they could carry on as usual. This was hardly surprising. An organisation obsessed with conspiracies cooked up by ‘enemies of Islam’, and aspiring to spread piety throughout society, is bound to appreciate a formidable police force. The security services know, then, that they have a good friend in the Brotherhood. But they’re also open to counter-offers from members of the old regime – better the devil they know, as the loyalists tell them. (...).

So while military officers have had to make tough choices, their counterparts in the security services have survived the revolution’s first wave by alternating strategically between permissiveness and repression. In this way they have managed, on the one hand, to make plain to the military the drawbacks of giving in to the revolutionaries, while, on the other, proving to the highest political bidder that security men are still perfectly capable of committing any atrocities that might be demanded of them. And it is under the shadow of these two mighty institutions that the three contenders for political supremacy have jockeyed for power.

Was There A January 25 Revolution ?
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/9766/was-there-a-january-25-revolution

Pas vraiment long and worth it ! Par Joel Beinin, « la révolution du 25 janvier [en Egypte] n’est pas finie. » En fait, elle n’a pas encore eu lieu. Très décoiffante lecture en écho à 1919 et 1952 du 25 janvier 2011.

The January 25 Revolution is not over. Rather, it has not yet occurred. There was a popular revolutionary upsurge that until now has been outmaneuvered by the military and the Muslim Brothers. There have been repeated popular upsurges – most recently the massive protests against President Mohamed Morsi’s anti-democratic constitutional declaration of 22 November 2012 and the new constitution – that have registered some successes and limited or rolled back regressive measures favored by the Brothers and the army.

#egypt, #révolution

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/morsy-faces-multiple-challenges-increasing-opposition

In the absence of Islamist groups, the size of opposition protests has been significant due to the presence of a new kind of protester — one vehemently against the threat of any limitations on personal freedoms. Among them are those staunchly opposed to the Brotherhood, but they are also accompanied by others who voted for Morsy or have so far supported the Brotherhood, until this recent juncture.

#egypt

Mass protests erupt in Egypt against Mursi’s antidemocratic decrees
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/nov2012/egyp-n24.shtml
By Johannes Stern
24 November 2012

Mass protests erupted throughout Egypt on Friday against the country’s president, Mohamed Mursi, and the ruling Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The day before, Mursi had issued a new Constitutional Declaration expanding his dictatorial powers, which he initially claimed by taking over the powers of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) junta in August.

In scenes reminiscent of the early days of the Egyptian Revolution, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Angry youth chanted slogans against Mursi and the MB and for the continuation of the revolution. Common chants were: “Down with the regime of the Brotherhood Supreme Guide”, “The people want to topple the Brothers” and “The people still want the downfall of the regime.”

Three Types of Non-Transformative “Change”
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/labyrinth/three-types-non-transformative-%E2%80%9Cchange%E2%80%9D

Early last year, the notion of change was in itself good, a departure from an era marked with cross-sector stagnation. But now, as Egyptians have learnt under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and then the budding reign of the Muslim Brotherhood, change in itself doesn’t bring forth a bright future.

These past few months in particular revealed three types of non-transformative “change.”

The first, which was adopted by SCAF over the past year and half, depended on changing figureheads but is in essence superficial. The new names were from the old order and the failed policies were left intact.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which briefly pitted itself as an opponent of the generals and their rule, is following in their footsteps, but after its own fashion.

It started with a new cabinet of ministers that largely reflected continuity rather than change. The implications of this approach are best observed in the appointment of chief-editors for state-run papers by the MB-dominated Shura Council. The new editors were seen as under-qualified by some of their peers as — the type that won’t mind bending media coverage to suit MB policies. This approach, which prioritized loyalty over qualification — with an especially maddening rate over the last 10 years of Mubarak’s rule —crushed the intellectual weight of many state publishing houses.

The pro-reform journalists inside these institutions were hoping for a fundamental change that would guarantee editorial independence, a reverse of tack towards professional standards, and a purge of corruption.

The second type of so called change pours into the most popular concern: the Islamization of the state and the Brotherhood domination of its institutions and arms. This is most evident in the latest appointment of 10 governors, six of which are affiliated with the MB.

The third kind of change is directly aimed at keeping allies — and some opposition — happy. Like in the previous types, qualification isn’t a priority, but is rather completely sacrificed here. As with the case of the Supreme Press Council and the National Council for Human Rights, the new appointments saw big and famous names, some of who are not remotely related to these fields. The young spokesperson of the Salafi al-Nour Party turned down a seat on the press council following a wave of criticism. Notorious Islamic preacher Safwat Hegazy remains on the new Human Rights Council, even though activists have voiced even more scathing criticisms of his appointment.

Pro-revolution coalition urges Morsi to fulfill his promises after wresting executive powers - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/50303.aspx

The National Front for the Protection of the Revolution praises President Mohamed Morsi’s move to wrest some power away from key figures in the military and place it into civilian hands as one step towards fulfilling his promises. However, they urge he quickly meet other demands.

Cartographie radicale Egypte Crowd Sourcing Armée Service public

Mapping the ‘Civilian’ Generals of Egypt | Al Akhbar English

Via @alaingresh qui me transmet le lien de cette carte assez rigolote : l’Egypte se met au « crowd sourcing » (il faudra trouver un équivalent français acceptable) et cartographie la localisation des militaires qui occupent un poste important dans le public... Carte en arabe, mais explications en anglais

►http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/labyrinth/mapping-%E2%80%98civilian%E2%80%99-generals-egypt

By Sarah El Sirgany - Sat, 2012-08-04

A new crowd-sourced map of Egypt brimming with military berets reflects the geographical distribution of generals holding top posts in a variety of public sector fields.

Upon clicking on the beret-clad caricatures, a box pops up revealing the name, rank, current civilian post and sometimes a picture too.

Mapping the ‘Civilian’ Generals of Egypt
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/labyrinth/mapping-%E2%80%98civilian%E2%80%99-generals-egypt

A new crowd-sourced map of Egypt brimming with military berets reflects the geographical distribution of generals holding top posts in a variety of public sector fields.
http://el3askarmap.kazeboon.com

Upon clicking on the beret-clad caricatures, a box pops up revealing the name, rank, current civilian post and sometimes a picture too.

The aim is to expose the militarization of Egypt that runs deeper than the control of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has ruled the country since February 2011.

Adam Shatz · Diary : Elections in Egypt · LRB 19 July 2012
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n14/adam-shatz/diary

les Frères, l’armée et la révolution. Et si, contrairement à ce qu’écrivent beaucoup de médias américains, l’armée n’avait plus la haute main en Egypte ?

#Egypte #Frères musulmans

Revolutionary group calls for disbanding supreme court | Egypt Independent
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/revolutionary-group-calls-disbanding-supreme-court

Revolutionary group calls for disbanding supreme court
Al-Masry Al-Youm

dans le débat en #Egypte sur la légalité ou non des décisions de la cour constitutionnelle, un groupe rappelle une évidence, que cette cour est devenue une arme aux mains de l’armée

Egypt People’s Assemby refers own fate back to the Judiciary - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/47308/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-Peoples-Assemby-refers-own-fate-back-to-the-.aspx

The Egyptian election
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/pers-j26.shtml

26 June 2012

The announcement that the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Morsi won Egypt’s presidential election has been widely hailed as a turning point in the country’s history. The international media has described Morsi as, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, Egypt’s “first freely elected president.”

Egypt’s own press was even more euphoric, with the daily Al-Shorouk carrying the banner headline, “Morsi president on orders from the people: The revolution reaches the presidential palace.”

These claims turn reality on its head. Egypt’s workers, students and oppressed masses cannot afford to lend the slightest credence to such fabrications.

«Egyptian junta installs Islamist Mursi as figurehead president»

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/egyp-j25.shtml

By Barry Grey 25 June 2012

Egypt’s Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission on Sunday declared Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) candidate, the winner of the presidential election runoff held the week before in the midst of a political coup carried out by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

The announcement followed a three-day delay during which tens of thousands of people, mostly MB supporters, thronged Cairo’s Tahrir Square to denounce the military’s assumption of dictatorial powers and the threat that the SCAF would falsify the election results and hand the presidency to its favored candidate, former Air Force chief Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Grande menace sur la révolution égyptienne

« The Egyptian coup »

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/pers-j16.shtml

16 June 2012

The military coup carried out by the ruling military junta before the run-off of the Egyptian presidential election is a serious threat to the Egyptian revolution and to the working class.

It has exposed the “democratic transition” promoted by the junta as a fraud. With the support of its imperialist allies in the US and Europe, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has eliminated all the institutions it initially created to give the illusion of a transition to democracy.

After the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) found the parliamentary electoral law unconstitutional on Thursday, SCAF dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament. The junta tightened security in Cairo, and police and military forces took over the parliament on Friday, barring MPs from entering the building.

Egypt’s Presidential Election: Meet the Contenders
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/5604/egypts-presidential-election_meet-the-contenders

Egypt’s first presidential election after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to take place on 23 and 24 May 2012, with a possible run-off race on 16 and 17 June 2012. The following guide to the presidential candidates is based on a series of articles published by Egypt Independent. For more information on prominent presidential candidates, click on any of the names below.
– Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh
– Khaled Ali
– Selim al-Awa
– Hesham al-Bastawisi
– Abul Ezz al-Hariry
– Mohamed Morsy
– Amr Moussa
– Hamdeen Sabbahi
– Ahmed Shafiq

The Decline of Political Islam in the Arab World | As‘ad AbuKhalil
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/decline-political-islam-arab-world

Of course, it is too premature to write the obituary of the Islamists of the Arab world. But the countdown for their demise may have just started. Islamists of Libya alienated the population before they had a chance to even win an election. This could signal a regional trend that may herald the emergence of new political forces. Stay tuned.

Muslim Brotherhood Opposed Women’s Council Reform
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/muslim-brotherhood-opposed-women’s-council-reform

It was perhaps the first time that the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has firmly stood up to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

The reasons for this change in tone were not that the SCAF was ignoring popular demands to accelerate the transfer of power. Nor were the Muslim Brotherhood motivated by the handling of the investigation into the Port Said football massacre. It was not even over SCAF chief Mohamed Hussein Tantawi’s refusal to appear before parliament.

The FJP is angry about a SCAF decision to restructure the National Council for Women (NCW), in order to boost the effectiveness of the state agency that promotes the participation of women in society and politics.

The Islamist party’s reaction has brought back fears over the status of women’s rights under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.

ElBaradei will not seek Egypt presidency
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/2012114123959528822.html

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog and Nobel laureate, has said he will not run for the Egyptian presidency.

Declaring there is still no real political change in the country, ElBaradei said on Saturday in a statement: “My conscience does not allow me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless there is real democracy.”

He praised the revolutionary youths who led massive popular uprisings that toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year but said “the former regime did not fall”.

ElBaradei compared the revolution to a boat and charged that “the captains of the vessel ... are still treading old waters, as if the revolution did not take place”.

Egypt’s new war of information
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/589196

The war of information in Egypt — one that has been at the heart of this revolution since its inception — is escalating.

On one side, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and the institutions it rules over, are making twin use of a fully compliant state media apparatus to demonize the protest movement and champion SCAF policies while intensifying a crackdown on dissent, attacking journalists and raiding civil society organizations. On the other, grassroots organizers have taken to the streets to transform public spaces across the country into forums that expose military abuses while continuing to use social media to foster growing discontent against the SCAF and push the boundaries of dissent within established private media outlets. 

The latest escalation in this long-running media tug of war began last month, during clashes on Qasr al-Aini Street in downtown Cairo between protesters and the military that left at least 17 people dead and hundreds injured, marking the first sustained street battle involving army soldiers since the revolution began.

During the clashes, military forces assaulted and detained journalists, destroyed and confiscated media equipment and targeted news outlets. While much footage was lost in the army raids, the violent suppression of the protests was nevertheless captured on video and widely broadcast on private television stations and the internet. The notorious image of a young woman being dragged by two soldiers and stomped on by a third, her abaya pulled over her head to expose her stomach and bra, made headlines across the world.

Women march against SCAF brutality, hope for a nascent movement | Al-Masry Al-Youm: Today’s News from Egypt
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/559926

In Tahrir Square, women gathered, surrounded by men whose linked hands formed a cordon to protect them. One of the men, Mohamed Fathy, said he supported the idea of a women-only march because “they are here defending their rights and have to have their say.”

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/sites/default/files/imagecache/highslide_zoom/photo/2011/12/20/33/sarah.jpg

After circling the square once the march proceeded through downtown Cairo — the scene in 2007 of horrific mass assaults during the Eid vacation when packs of youths sexually assaulted women.

Their chants, “Girls of Egypt are a red line” — a variation on the now-abandoned “The Egyptian army is a red line” — echoed around the street. From balconies, office workers clapped and cheered. The women chanted for them to join them saying, “Come down from your houses, Tantawi undressed your girls." Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi is the head of the SCAF.

There was pervasive anger against the army, with frequent chants for the SCAF to leave power and condemnation of violence by military “riff-raff”.

“Tantawi is the supreme commander of harassment and violation of honor,” one placard read. Other posters declared that the military consists of “liars” — a reference to the Sunday edition of independent newspaper Al-Tahrir, the front page of which made the accusation next to a picture of the woman in the blue bra.

Naglaa Talat marched carrying her two-year-old daughter.

"I had to come after I saw the picture of the naked girl in the newspapers — the images were enough to make any respectable person come. I have daughters and I came for them,” Talat told Egypt Independent.

Like many of the protesters, Talat insisted that Tantawi must leave power and the SCAF hand over power to civilian rule.

Très intéressante analyse du Akhbar (en anglais) sur la répression du sit-in au Caire : Egypt Crackdown : The Undeclared War on Radical Dissent
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypt-crackdown-undeclared-war-radical-dissent

While military police have been involved in a number of rounds of clashes with protesters, Friday’s was one of the first crackdowns executed directly by the Egyptian Armed Forces.

“We are unsure exactly why the Army has used such excessive force against the protesters,” said human rights lawyer Ahmed Seif al-Islam, father of jailed blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah. Seif al-Islam’s two daughters, Mona and Sanaa, suffered beatings Friday at the hands of the military, he said, though by the evening they were safe at home.

“It may be that the Army is raising the heat on protesters voicing their opposition to the military regime, while working hard to turn the population against the protest movement,” said Seif al-Islam. “Otherwise, there really is no explanation for the extreme brutality witnessed Friday.”

Huit morts, des centaines de blessés au Caire.

Clashes continue on streets of Cairo - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011121735548831293.html

Scores of protesters have returned to the streets of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, a day after at least three people were killed when soldiers stormed an anti-military protest camp outside the parliament building.

Protesters reported sporadic fighting with security forces again early on Saturday, as the streets leading to the parliament building and nearby Tahrir square - the epicentre of the protest movement - began to fill with activists.

The renewed clashes followed a day of deadly fighting between military soldiers and protesters that left more than 257 people injured, according to the country’s health ministry.