Via the Center for Socialist Studies: State Security and management have launched a crackdown on the Misr Al-Amriya textile workers in Alexandria, following the circulation of a statement threatening to strike over demands related to work conditions. Two workers were suspended from work pending investigation, two others were penalized financially, and two were transferred out of their departments. A number of workers were also summoned to State Security police offices.
Category: Blog
Egyptian regime apologizes for Indonesian students arrest, torture
Was this case picked up by any of the rights watchdogs?
Egypt’s diplomatic mission in Jakarta has apologized for the wrong arrest and alleged torture of four Indonesian students at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said officials from the Egyptian embassy came to the ministry’s office on Tuesday to convey their regret and apology for the incident that stirred anger among Indonesians.
Investigation into the case is still underway, Faizasyah said, but added he did not know whether Cairo would take actions against those who are guilty. “The decision is on the government (in Cairo).”
During a raid on June 28, Egypt’s police arrested the four students — Faturrahman, Arzil, Tasrih Sugandi and Ahmad Yunus — for alleged involvement in an extremist network. They were released after being interrogated and detained for three days.
Egyptians see US as ‘hypocritical,’ says poll (and I agree)
Via the Daily New Egypt…
Seventy-eight percent of Egyptians believe that the US is “hypocritical” because it does not follow the international laws it promotes in other countries, a recent World Public Opinion poll showed.
The poll also showed that 62 percent of Egyptians believe that the US abuses its power to serve its own interests, leaving only 34 percent saying that the US more often treats Egypt fairly.
The World Public Opinion Organization, a collaborative research project involving research centers from around the world and managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, released the poll on July 7, 2009 and surveyed 19,923 respondents in 20 nations that comprise 62 percent of the world’s population.
While people in 13 nations say they have confidence in President Barack Obama, the US foreign policy continues to receive heavy criticism.
“The US is criticized for coercing other nations with its superior power, failing to abide by international law, and for how it is dealing with climate change,” the study said, “Overall, views are mixed on whether the US is playing a mainly positive or negative role in the world.”
In all but four nations — Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey — a majority or plurality says that the US is “generally cooperative with other countries.”