EGYPT: Judges Join Opposition in Demanding Reform

By Adam Morrow Reprint | | Print |

Adam Morrow

CAIRO, Jun 13 2006 (IPS) - The Egyptian parliament is considering a new law on the judiciary following major demonstrations last month in support of two pro-reform judges.

“The government doesn’t want judicial reform, or reform of any kind,” Hisham el-Bastawisi, one of the two high-profile judges told IPS. “They’re just trying to fool us with this new draft law.”

Control over the judicial branch of the government by an overbearing executive has been a headline issue since last November’s parliamentary elections, when el-Bastawisi and a colleague Mahmoud Mekki openly accused the government – and a handful of fellow judges – of electoral fraud.

The allegations, some of which were aired on satellite television stations, prompted the government to charge the two men with tarnishing the image of the judiciary and using their position to make political statements.

A disciplinary tribunal largely exonerated the two judges May 18, but the move to prosecute them galvanized opposition across the political spectrum.

Major protests were held in Cairo last month in support of the two judges, with demonstrators demanding political reform, an end to the emergency law, and judicial independence. The protests drew many participants from socialist opposition parties, the pro-democracy Kifaya movement and the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood.

The demonstrations drew unexpected aggression from security personnel and police. Hundreds were detained. The interior ministry issued a statement that participation in demonstrations would henceforth be considered a criminal offence.

“The use of violence was shocking; protestors were beaten with sticks by plainclothes security personnel,” said Serene Assir, a Cairo-based journalist who attended the May 18 demonstration. “Anyone shouting slogans was arrested; old men were dragged by their shirts across the pavement.”

Many of those detained were from the Muslim Brotherhood. The group, arguably the most powerful opposition force in the country, has long campaigned alongside secular parties for an end to the state of emergency that has remained in force since the 1981 assassination of former president Anwar Sadat.

Human rights activists condemned the harsh treatment of demonstrators. “Security forces used excessive levels of violence to end the protests,” Hafez Abu Saeda, director of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said.

The emergency law, extended in April this year for another two years, has strengthened the hand of security services. The government cited recent bombings at the Red Sea resort town of Dahab as justification for extension of the emergency, but some analysts say the law has been used to target political opposition as well as terrorists.

“The state of emergency has been used – and continues to be used – against terrorism, but it’s also employed to suppress the opposition,” Walid Kazziha, chairman of the political science department at the American University in Cairo told IPS.

But despite the overwhelming show of force by the government, the judges and their supporters remain steadfast in their calls for judicial freedom. “Egyptians came to our support,” said el-Bastawisi. “And we will continue to insist on judicial independence.”

The issue is expected to come to a head with the passage of the new law prepared by the Ministry of Justice. Reform-minded judges and opposition figures have lambasted the proposed legislation, which they say will fail to guarantee freedom of the judiciary from government control.

An alternative draft introduced by the pro-reform Judges Club last year has been roundly rejected by the justice ministry. “They told us that they didn’t agree with some of the articles we had included,” said el-Bastawisi.

Points of contention include the justice ministry’s current right to regularly assess judges’ performance, the role of the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) in supervising judges, and government control over all SJC appointments. El-Bastawisi said that only one of the judges’ main demands – for budgetary independence from the ministry – was included in the ministry’s draft law.

According to state media, the cabinet discussed the proposed legislation last week. If approved, it will be handed over to the Shura Council (the consultative upper house of parliament) and the People’s Assembly for ratification.

El-Bastawisi, with the esteemed Judges Club behind him, says he will continue to resist the new law. “They will try to pass their law, but we’ll try to raise awareness both at home and abroad,” he said. “And maybe we’ll be able to stop this draft..”