A return to the Age of Inquisition

Posted on By 3arabawy

I received the following statement from the Nadim Center…

El-Nadim Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence
Ruling against Karim Amer: A Return to the Age of Inquisition
El-Nadim Center expresses its major concern regarding the prison sentence of Karim Amer. Despite repeated promises by the Egyptian President to cancel the prison penalty for publication, we are faced with an increasing number of journalists who are brought to court beginning with the Dostour journalists to Howaida Taha to Karim Amer to Shahenda Maklad who was charged for giving an interview to El Mossawar magazine. Yesterday’ sentence against Karim Amer crosses all red lines which authorities should respect in view of the provisions of the constitution, which grant freedom of opinion and expression and in view of international conventions, foremost the international declaration for political and civil rights, endorsed by Egypt in 1982 without reservations.
The sentence against Karim Amer of 4 years in prison and his earlier arrest upon a complaint by Al Azhar University takes us back to the ages of inquisition. We also wish to note that Al Azhar University has played the same role during the sports show organized by some of its students.
Karim’s trial lacked all conditions of a fair trial according to Egyptian and international standards. A new charge was added to the indictment without informing the defense lawyers or granting them access to the new documents based on the new charges made by the prosecution. The court also did not permit the lawyers to make their defense except through written memoranda prepared before the addition of the new charges.
The common factor shared by all journalists and writers who were brought to court or who were sentenced to prison is that they are all charged of exposing corruption, torture and other human rights violations.
El-Nadim Center:
·Condemns the harassment of journalists and writers and their imprisonment because of what their opinions and views.
.Demands the immediate release of Karim Amer
·Demands dropping of all charges related to freedom of opinion and expression.
Cairo, 25/2/2007

Down the drain

Posted on By 3arabawy
Back to square one, after leveling the garage to the ground; during the demolition. Photo courtesy of Al-Ahram Weekly

I was watching it being taken down day by day, as I drive on the 6th of October bridge into town. It’s another example of how public funds are squandered by Nazif’s brilliant technocrats that Bush keeps expressing admiration for:

One minute it was there, the next it was gone. Pedestrians or drivers could easily notice that the recently erected Ramses Garage has now been leveled to the ground. The garage was built to solve some of the parking problems in this crowded part of the city, right in front of the historical Egyptian Railway Station.
“They were building it for almost two years,” says Am Tareq, a kiosk-owner who makes his living next to the Railway Authority. “Now they tore it down in two months.” Except for a couple of underground floors, the once five-storey building can no longer be seen — a result of Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif’s decree of August 2006 permitting its demolition.
The decree, according to an insider speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, cost the Railway Authority LE32 million that was extracted from the Transportation Ministry’s annual budget. But the reasons behind it were not made clear by authorities; some claim the garage’s location ruined the historical beauty of the Railway Authority while others declared it a security hazard due to its position adjacent to the Sixth of October Bridge.

Egypt under Ramses III, c1155BC: First recorded workers strike

Posted on By 3arabawy

This is one other thing they don’t teach us in history classes at school. The first recorded workers’ strike in history happened in Ancient Egypt…

A contemporary document recounting the first ever recorded labor strike, which occurred in Deir el Medina, Ancient Egypt during the reign of Ramses III when workers did not receive their rations.
The stoppage occurred in the 12th century BC, on the 21st day of the second month in the 29th year of the reign of the pharaoh Ramses III, while Ramses was fighting a series of wars and engaging in an extensive building campaign.
The strikers were hereditary craftsmen who worked on the tombs of the pharaohs, the vast complexes that to this day draw visitors from all over the world to the Valley of the Kings.
This papyrus was written by the scribe Amennakhte at Deir el Medina. It describes the workers’ struggle, and the corruption which had spread throughout the administration.