Crackdown in Cairo

Why is Egypt's military shutting down NGOs? I thought we had a revolution.

BY SARAH CARR | DECEMBER 29, 2011

CAIRO – There was a flurry of good news last week in Egypt. Activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah was released on Christmas Day, Cairo's Administrative Court issued a ruling banning "virginity tests," and thousands of women took part in a spirited march in downtown Cairo to denounce the military's brutal violence against women protesters during the breakup of a sit-in in front of the Cabinet building on Dec. 16 and 17.

That streak of good times was interrupted Thursday afternoon when public prosecution officials, assisted by armed Central Security Forces (CSF) soldiers -- Cairo's ubiquitous black-clad riot troops -- raided the offices of six civil society groups.

They started just after noon, with the 12th- floor headquarters of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP), and continued on to five others, including three with ties to the U.S. government.

In early December, ACIJLP's director Nasser Amin was standing for election to the People's Assembly. Today, he watched as computers and files being were removed and his office sealed shut, his organization targeted as part of a sweeping campaign against NGOs accused of receiving foreign funding.

In the Hosni Mubarak years, civil society activity was heavily monitored and contained through two main mechanisms: arbitrary interference from the much much-feared State Security Investigations apparatus (now renamed National Security), and draconian legislation passed in 2002 that requires all NGOs to register with the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS) and criminalizes the receipt of foreign funding without MOSS authorization.

Some NGOs registered as private businesses to avoid these restrictions, but the rules of the game have clearly changed. As Negad El-Borai, a rights lawyer, tweeted Thursday, "What never happened under the rule of Mubarak is happening after the revolution."

The authorities' harassment of civil society took a different form under Mubarak. While there were some incidents of government officials entering NGO premises, it was never on this scale. Thursday's raid on the six NGOs follows the slow boil of a smear campaign that began in July, according to which NGOs are receiving foreign funding as part of a nefarious plot to destabilize Egypt.

The raids seem to be the work of Fayza Abol Naga, a Mubarak stalwart who has headed the Ministry of International Cooperation, which deals with foreign organizations, since 2001 and has survived four government shakeups since February 2011.

FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

 

Sarah Carr is a British Egyptian journalist based in Cairo. She blogs at www.inanities.org.

FRANK LAPLACE

2:50 PM ET

December 30, 2011

Next steps for Cairo

Sarah, I believe that in the aftermath of quite violent North African revolutions, one of the greatest fears was that what will replace the corrupt dictatorial leaderships would be leaders who are even worse.

It is critical that governance processes are quickly put into place to ensure a peaceful and effective transition to democracy. Having experienced such a transition, albeit largely non-violent in South Africa, the priorities Egypt and other North African countries should have are:

1. Collecting and destroying arms used during the respective revolutions

2. Accepting the support of international NGOs and aid bodies that have experience in implementing governance and electoral structures - the countries have neither the skill nor the infrastructure to roll out such change and they would be naive to think they can go it alone.

 

MICHELLE SUMMERS

3:05 PM ET

December 30, 2011

Hope for Cairo

You're right to some extent but I do believe the Egyptian people need to drive the process with support only from the West. They don't have the experience of running a true democracy I agree, but they're certainly not incompetent.

In your South Africa example you give, SA did not get much help for post-apartheid reconstruction from the west but they sure turned out ok! Give the people in Egypt a chance - there is a learning curve but they'll be fine!

 

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January 9, 2012

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OLI RIKOVA

4:00 AM ET

December 31, 2011

Cairo

I think it's going to be a long while before countries like Libya and Egypt get restored to any sort of order. One can only hope that some new despot doesn't take the place of those ousted.

@Michelle Summers - I'm not so optimistic.

 

OOFDA

10:28 AM ET

December 31, 2011

There has not been a revolution

in Egypt. There were protests, but there has not been a revolution. As far as "Egy" being restored to order-- there is already order. Only in a small part of Cairo and other cities are there demonstrations. The greater part of that city and the country are living as before.

 

FLAPPER

1:20 PM ET

January 2, 2012

Reprehensible

Let's see...Sarah Carr writes a blog post attacking in a most unprofessional manner the editor of a newspaper in Egypt for making an editorial decision to not publish an article by Robert Springborg, that Foreign Policy later picks up.

This diatribe (written in Sarah's typical Tourette Syndrome style) manages to get the attention of Foreign Policy and they ask Sarah to write an article too.

Sarah is smug, thinks she has stepped up one step in her career with this sleight of hand. But at what price? That of alienating the editor of another publication.

Watch out Foreign Policy editors, you may be next to fall under Sarah''s poison dagger keyboard. But watch out even more Sarah, your lack of respect for your colleagues in journalism is not going to win you a lot of assigments if you keep it up.

 

ALEXNUNNS

12:25 PM ET

January 4, 2012

Reprehensible indeed

Let’s see… FLAPPER thinks it’s wrong to criticise a journalist, even when they are in fact acting as a censor and not a journalist, and makes this point by attacking Sarah Carr, a journalist. The reason why it’s wrong to attack a journalist (unless that journalist is Sarah Carr) is the high moral principle that it might harm the chances of future assigments [sic]. The lesson that FLAPPER felt was so important that it warranted a comment is that journalists should not be fearless seekers of truth, but craven lickspittles of those in power.

As if to prove the point, except not, FLAPPER elaborates how Sarah Carr’s “most unprofessional” behaviour has (somehow) advanced her professional career. FLAPPER speculates (because speculation is the mark of the professional journalist) that as a result of her “sleight of hand” (skill) Sarah Carr was commissioned to write a further assigment, proving beyond any doubt that if she keeps this up she won’t be commissioned to write further assigments [sic].

When a journalist shies away from a subject because it could harm their career they are no longer a journalist but a hack, a tool. Sadly, FLAPPER’s grand ideal of a limp form of craven lickspittle reporting is a true description of most journalism, but it’s unusual for anyone to aspire to it in public. So hats off to FLAPPER for honesty.

And hats off to FLAPPER for the description of Sarah Carr’s “Tourette Syndrome style” and “poison dagger keyboard”, which suggests she is a hell of a writer (as well as suggesting that FLAPPER follows her work closely and is perhaps a tiny bit jealous of her talent). It brings to mind Dorothy Parker’s “lacy sleeve with a bottle of vitriol concealed in its folds.”

I’ll take a modern Dorothy Parker over a flapper any day. [Rather strained 1920s joke]

 

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HECTORGREG11

12:39 PM ET

January 25, 2012

Nothing changes

Lets be honest. Nothing has changed in Egypt and I doubt that anything will for the near future. They had a revolution, but they did not have anything in place to come in and make the country any different than it already was. Egypt has a long way to go, but this is some disturbing news for everyone who believes in democracy modern furniture austin texas By the looks of things, the military is going to take over and it will be a police state for the next part of time.

 

YARINSIZ

9:26 AM ET

January 27, 2012

You're right to some extent

You're right to some extent but I do believe the Egyptian people need to drive the process with support only from the West. seslichat They don't have the experience of running a true democracy I agree, but they're certainly not incompetent.