Human rights in Egypt under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

Human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

in the post-Mubarak transition
Timeline of the 2011 Egyptian revolution under Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
The following is a chronological summary of the major events that occurred during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, after Hosni Mubarak's resignation as the fourth President of Egypt on 11 February.-12–15 February:...

have been the subject of concern and controversy since the 2011 Egyptian revolution

2011 Egyptian revolution

The 2011 Egyptian revolution took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 and is still continuing as of November 2011. The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil...

. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces consists of a body of 20 senior officers in the Egyptian military. As a consequence of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the Council took the power to govern Egypt from its departing President Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011.The junta meets regularly, as...

(SCAF) ' onMouseout='HidePop("32603")' href="/topics/Egypt">Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

after the ouster of President

President of Egypt

The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....

Hosni Mubarak

Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....

on 11 February 2011 as a consequence of the revolution.

Torture

Ramy Essam, a 23-year-old Egyptian student and musician, was arrest and tortured by the army police on 9 March 2011. He was one of more than 100 people arrested when the army, without warning, stormed the square, ripping down tents. Essam says men in army uniforms dragged him to the Egyptian National Museum, which had become a security headquarters, and took him to a courtyard, stripped him to his shorts, and started torturing him. "They used sticks, metal rods, wires, whips." He said he also received electric shocks. "There was a soldier who would jump in the air and land on my face with his legs". Ramy Essam is best known as "the singer of the Egyptian revolution" due to his popular music during the Egyptian uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

Virginity testing

Since the overthrow of Mubarak there have been widespread reports of detained Egyptian women having their "virginity checked" by a male officer or doctor. Numerous journalists and released prisoners and protesters have confirmed the practice, by which Egyptian officers were said to evaluate whether or not these women had been raped. The Egyptian military initially denied any virginity checks taking place and then asserted the practice would not continue in the future. News of the virginity tests sparked a public outcry from Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

and Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

as well as local Egyptian activists, Mona Seif

Mona Seif

Mona Seif is a female Egyptian activist, known for her use of social media, her role in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and her continued push against military trials for civilian protesters.-Background:...

for example, and other citizens in the country. Protesters see the tests as evidence that more reform is needed and that the rule under SCAF is neither stable nor trustworthy.

Military trials

At the Israeli Embassy in Cairo on 15 May, thousands gathered for a pro-Palestinian demonstration

2011 Nakba Day

Nakba Day in 2011 was the annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian people marking the Nakba - the displacement that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948. Generally held on May 15, commemorative events in 2011 began on May 10, in the form of march by Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

but were dispersed by Egyptian security and the army police forces with tear gas and live ammunition. Some 353 protesters were injured and 180 arrested. At least two of the wounded had been shot in head and chest by security and army police forces, and at least two of those arrested (Mosa'ab Elshamy and Tarek Shalaby) were well known for their Twitter activity

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

throughout the 2011 Egyptian revolution

2011 Egyptian revolution

. All those who were arrested faced military trials and were later freed.

Seven to ten-thousand civilians were tried in military tribunals in the period between February and June 2011, according to Human Rights Watch. One, Amr El Beheiry, was arrested during a violent military dispersal of a sit-in at the parliament on 26 February. He was then referred to military court and after a swift trial without the presence of an attorney, and received a sentence of five years on thuggery charges despite the testimonies of many eyewitnesses who said he broke no laws. Amnesty International also has called for Beheiry's release.

Another activist that has been detained is Loai Nagati. The We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page said: "Loai Nagati is a 21 years old Egyptian Activist who got arrested during Tahrir protests yesterday morning. As it has become the norm now, Loai has been sent to 15 days in a military jail awaiting a military investigation! Loai didn’t have a lawyer, has no clear accusation against him & is a computer science student. He is a civilian & shouldn’t be investigated by military prosecuters. End military trials of civilians in Egypt NOW! 45 protesters have been arrested so far during Tahrir protests on 28 June night & 29 June morning. All sent to military trials." An active Tweeter, Nagati was Tweeting (@LoaiNagati) from Tahrir Square about what was taking place when he was arrested. “Several people are injured,” was the last tweet by Nagati at 7am on Wednesday. Nagati is to be detained for 15 days and was transferred on June 29 to military prison pending a military trial. Nagati has a heart condition as well as digestive problems which require 10 different medications, and after some struggle, an officer who works at the prison agreed to the transfer of the medication to Nagati.

Asmaa Mahfouz

Asmaa Mahfouz

Asmaa Mahfouz is an Egyptian activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. She has been credited by journalist Mona Eltahawy and others with helping to spark mass uprising through her video blog posted one week before the start of the 2011 Egyptian revolution...

was arrested on charges of defaming the Egyptian military junta

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces consists of a body of 20 senior officers in the Egyptian military. As a consequence of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the Council took the power to govern Egypt from its departing President Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011.The junta meets regularly, as...

for calling them a "council of dogs". She was referred to a military court, prompting activists, as well as presidential hopefuls such as Mohamed ElBaradei and Ayman Nour

Ayman Nour

Ayman Abd El Aziz Nour is an Egyptian politician, a former member of the Egyptian Parliament and chairman of the El Ghad party.He was imprisoned in January 2005 by the government of President Hosni Mubarak. Nour was released on health grounds on February 18, 2009...

, to protest her being charged in a military court. Mahfouz was released on bail in the amount of 20,000 Egyptian Pounds, equivalent to approximately 3,350 US dollars.

Censorship

Graffiti artist Ganzeer, film director Aida El-Kashef, and musician/painter Nadim Amin AKA NadimX were arrested for posting a poster that offended the military police. They were released later that day. "I don’t know why we were transferred to the military prosecution" said graffiti artist Mohamed Fahmy, a 29-year-old Egyptian artist, who goes by Ganzeer on Twitter, minutes after his release. He said that in custody he and others talked about "politics and democracy".

Another activist who was detained after Mubarak's ousting was Maikel Nabil Sanad, a political activist and blogger. In April 2009 he founded the No to Compulsory Military Service movement. He declared his conscientious objection, demanding to be exempted from military service. Instead, he was arrested on 12 November 2010 by military police but was released two days later, and finally exempted from service on medical grounds. Sanad participated actively in the Egyptian revolution, highlighting the fact that Egypt has effectively been ruled by the military for six decades. He was arrested on 4 February by military police and tortured, but released 27 hours later. He was arrested in his home in the Ain Shams neighbourhood in Cairo at about 10 PM on 28 March 2011 by military police. He was only able to call his brother the next day to inform him of his arrest. Sanad was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on charges of "insulting the military" in his post "The Army and The People Were Never One Hand" on maikelnabil.com by the 10th of Ramadan military court in Nasr City near Cairo on 10 April. Before this, he was imprisoned in a special punishment cell at El Marg prison, which did not allow him any sunlight. In addition, his cell mates threatened him. Sanad demanded a doctor, as he suffers from unstable blood pressure and needs regular medication and medical attention.

Egyptian blogger and activist Hossam el-Hamalawy

Hossam el-Hamalawy

Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist, blogger, photographer and socialist activist. He is a member of the Revolutionary Socialists, the Center for Socialist Studiesand the Workers Democratic Party.- Early life and career :...

, television host Reem Maged and journalist Nabil Sharaf El-Din were given a summons on 30 May 2011 to appear before military prosecution after Maged brought Hamalawy on her show where he criticized the role of the military police, holding the head of the military police responsible for torturing activists. They were released Tuesday after "chatting" with Military Prosecution and Hossam el-Hamalawy was asked to hand in reports of army abuses to authorities.

Egyptian journalist and activist Rasha Azab and El Fagr
El Fagr
El Fagr is an Egyptian independent newsweekly, based in Cairo. It launched in June 2005. Its editor is Adel Hammouda.In its 21st edition, dated October 17, 2005, El Fagr was the first newspaper worldwide to republish on its front page and page 17, a total of six cartoons portraying the Islamic...

newspaper editor in chief Adel Hammouda

Adel Hammouda

Adel Hammouda is the editor in chief for the Egyptian newspaper El Fagr.- References :...

have been summoned by military prosecution. They are to appear before military prosecutors on 19 June 2011. Azab had published an article in El Fagr newspaper detailing the meeting that took place between members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the No to Military Trials campaigners.

Deaths

Ramy Fakhry, a 27-year-old electrical engineer, died as a result of bullet wounds received at an army checkpoint somewhere in the governorate of Damietta. The checkpoint’s exact location is unknown. According to one, unconfirmed, version of events, Fakhry stopped his car just short of the checkpoint when he saw a gunfight between the army and assailants ahead of him and was shot three times in the back as he attempted to drive away. Another version of the story says he left the rig where he worked near Damietta on Friday 13 May to attend a wedding. On his way back later that night at 1 am – before the curfew imposed at the time – Fakhry was shot dead at an army checkpoint. A candlelight vigil was organized by Ramy's family and friends on May 14, 2011. Head of the Supreme Council for Armed Force (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, ordered an investigation into the killing of Ramy Fakhry. The statement has not been followed up with any updates concerning the investigation, prompting the call for action. Whatever the circumstances activists believe that Fakhry was killed by the army.

On August 4, Mohamed Mohsen, a protester and an activist, died at Nasser Hospital Institute, 12 days after he was hit with a rock that caused him brain hemorrhage. Mohsen had participated in a march on July 23 heading to the Ministry of Defense in denouncement of SCAF, which was stopped at the neighborhood of Abbasseya by military troops. Thereafter, the entire march was attacked by thugs, and allegedly by the residents of Abbasseya as well, who threw rocks and molotov cocktails at the protesters. One eyewitness said Mohsen was hit by a rock from a nearby rooftop, which made it likely that he was indeed hit by a resident of the area. Protesters were unable to have him hospitalized for over two hours, as ambulances couldn't reach the march, which was surrounded by military police, and he was not taken to the nearby Demerdash Hospital because of rumors that injured protesters were being arrested. After several other hospitals refused to take him in he was eventually admitted at the Nasser Hospital. The lag between his injury and hospitalization as well as apparently very poor health care eventually led to Mohsen's death. Protesters blamed SCAF for his death, as it was believed the attacks against the march came at the incitement and fear-mongering of the military, and specifically put the blame on Major General Hassan el-Ruweiny. A large funeral was held for him in his home city of Aswan

Aswan

Aswan , formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate.It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and is a busy market and tourist centre...

, and around 200 protesters held a funeral at a mosque near Tahrir Square, after Friday Prayers. It was blocked from entering the square by military police and Central Security Forces

Central Security Forces

The 350,000 strong Central Security Forces CSF organization is an Egyptian Paramilitary force which is responsible for assisting the Egyptian National Police for the security of governmental fixed sites, foreign embassies & missions, riots & crowds control, publicly crowded events, high risk...

. Later during the day, protesters had a Ramadan iftar

Iftar

Iftar , refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after Maghrib time...

in the square in a celebratory manner, but soon afterwards were attacked and dispersed by military police after claiming they were planning on renewing the sit-in in Tahrir.

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