Yukiko Takada. Credit: Suvendrini Kakuchi/IPS.

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Mar 10 2013 (IPS)

Japan prepares to mark the second anniversary of the Mar. 11 triple disaster – an earthquake, tsunami and a critical nuclear reactor accident – with much soul searching across the country.

For Yukiko Takada from Otsuki-cho, a scenic fishing town in Iwate prefecture that was turned into rubble in a few hours on that fateful day, the upcoming memorial Monday will simply be another day.

“For me, as it is like for the survivors who experienced the horrible tragedy, everyday remains a memorial, not just March 11, as we struggle to accept what happened and to get our lives back after the devastation,” she tells IPS.

The young woman represents one of the more poignant stories in lessons learnt following the disaster. Takada launched her own community newspaper last June. It was a project, she says, that was imperative to the recovery of the local community.

Otsuchi Shimbun, published weekly, provides up to date information on issues such as relocation of families, temporary housing, employment opportunities and local government decisions. It plays a crucial role in the rebuilding of people’s confidence.

Supported mainly with revenue from local ads, the newspaper, a one-woman show, carries diverse voices, and includes a focus on women. Takada says women have displayed mind-boggling will power to restart their lives for the sake of their families.

Takada is planning a daily version of the paper later this year.

“The lack of correct information for disaster-struck people left them vulnerable and scared, and this problem needed to be addressed desperately as people sought to rebuild their lives,” she says. “Mainstream media outlets could not fulfill this role because they were busy filing stories aimed at readers outside our area.”

Reiko Masai, head of Kobe Net, a pioneering women’s organisation tackling disaster and gender issues that was established after the devastating Hanshin earthquake that hit Kobe city in western Japan in 1995, says that “two years after the disaster, despite national funds being poured into recovery, confusion and despair remain huge problems in the daily lives of the people. Takada has proved that women can be key to overcoming this struggle.”

Disasters are common in earthquake-prone Japan. It also leads with state-of-the art disaster prevention. But the 9.0 magnitude earthquake two years back that led to a 10-metre high tsunami has left the country still facing enormous challenges.

Almost 20,000 people died that day, a figure that shocked Japan given its national policies supporting regular earthquake drills, earthquake forecast technology and a range of safety precautions.

Currently about 160,000 people are still living in temporary housing with no hope of returning especially to areas hit by radiation contamination from the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor.

Takada recalls how she barely escaped the tsunami. “I was in the neighbouring city when the quake hit. I quickly jumped into my car to return home. As I was driving, the road began to disappear in front me – it filled up with seawater from the tsunami. I abandoned the car and ran up a hill to save my life.”

Otsuki-cho, a bustling town of 16,000 people well known for its supply of fresh oysters, abalone and seaweed to the city markets remains a barren town today. It faces a population crunch as people either move out or into temporary housing.

Women face higher risks. Statistics after the Kobe earthquake indicate that the number of deaths of females between 70 and 90 years of age was more than double that of men in the same age group, mainly because women live longer and alone.

Stress and trauma also affect women more, given their childcare responsibilities. The Fukushima Women’s Network has noted high levels of anxiety among mothers of relocated families.

Gender has become an important concern in mainstream policy making now thanks to women’s groups that have lobbied hard the past two years.

The gender equality bureau in the Cabinet Office released new gender-based guidelines in disaster planning last year. These include provisions for women-friendly shelters, protecting women from sexual harassment, and employment information for women.

“There is no doubt that women’s concerns are slowly entering mainstream policy,” says Masai. “But there is still much work to be done, especially when it comes to getting women into leadership roles in disaster prevention and post-disaster planning. That is our next step.”

Protesters battle police in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on the second anniversary of Egypt’s January 25 revolution. Credit: Khaled Moussa al-Omrani/IPS.

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jan 29 2013 (IPS)

Concerns are mounting over Egypt’s future after the outbreaks of violence that marked the second anniversary of Egypt’s January 25 Revolution. Massive anti-government rallies led to ongoing clashes between protesters and security forces that have left at least 40 people dead. Cities along Egypt’s Suez Canal faced a government-declared state of emergency.

“The revolutionary fervour that erupted on Friday in ten out of Egypt’s 27 provinces has not been seen since the uprising two years ago,” Ahmed Maher, general coordinator of Egypt’s 6 April youth movement, which participated in the anti-government demonstrations, told IPS.

In the weeks leading up to the anniversary, revolutionary, liberal and leftist parties and groups called on Egyptians to mark the occasion with nationwide protests against President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails. Hundreds of thousands answered the call on Friday, joining marches and rallies in Cairo, Alexandria and other major urban centres.

Protesters’ demands included the amendment of Egypt’s newly approved constitution, prosecution of anyone implicated in killing protesters, and guarantees that upcoming parliamentary polls – expected in April – would be conducted transparently. Protesters also voiced opposition to the perceived ‘Brotherhoodisation’ of state institutions.

Although protest organisers had called for “peaceful rallies” and “the avoidance of violence,” this was not to be the case.

Saad al-Kitatni, president of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), blamed opposition political forces for the escalating violence. “The political forces that called for these rallies, of which they appear to have lost control, are responsible for the bloodshed,” he declared via Twitter.

Opposition figures, for their part, were quick to blame the crisis on President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. “Morsi, his administration and the FJP are all responsible for the current violence,” said 6 April’s Maher. “By ignoring the demands of the opposition, Morsi is behaving just like Mubarak.”

The Muslim Brotherhood condemned the violence. “Egypt’s January 25 Revolution was peaceful in nature,” the group stated. “But yesterday’s demonstrations included attacks by armies of thugs on police, state institutions and private property.”

The Brotherhood blamed Egypt’s private media, much of which is owned by influential businessmen known for their antipathies towards the Islamist group, for “inciting the public against Egypt’s elected government.” It went on to assert that violence had been planned in advance by “elements seeking to derail the course of the revolution.”

The group also condemned opposition groups for condoning the violence. “It is unacceptable that those demanding ‘justice for the martyrs of the revolution’ engage in actions that lead to more people dying,” the statement read.

The situation became even more explosive on Saturday morning when a court sentenced 21 men from Port Said to death. The men had been charged with responsibility for last February’s Port Said stadium disaster in which scores of Egyptian football fans were killed.

Upon announcement of the sentences, clashes erupted in Port Said between police and families of the condemned men. At least 30 were killed in the ensuing violence, including some security personnel. Soon afterwards, the military began deploying in and around the city of Port Said.

On the same day, the National Salvation Front (NSF) – Egypt’s main opposition umbrella group – upped the ante, threatening to boycott upcoming parliamentary polls if President Morsi failed to meet a shortlist of demands. These include immediate constitutional changes, replacement of the current government with a ‘national salvation’ government, and the dismissal of Morsi-appointed prosecutor-general Talaat Ibrahim.

If these demands weren’t immediately met, the NSF said, it would stage further demonstrations this week to call for the re-activation of Egypt’s previous 1971 constitution (albeit with some modifications), and snap presidential elections.

According to Maher, Morsi’s only way out of the current crisis is to “form a new government drawn from various political forces and constitution-amending committee comprised of scholars; dissolve the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt’s parliament currently endowed with legislative powers); and accept the resignation of the prosecutor-general.

“If he fails to do this, we will escalate our demands,” he added, in a veiled reference to possible calls for Morsi himself – elected only seven months ago – to step down.

FJP spokesman Murad Ali rejected such ultimatums. “The opposition has the right to demonstrate – peacefully – anywhere it wants to,” he told IPS. “But no political group has the right to demand the democratically elected president’s ouster, while the use violence is of course a red line.” (END)

Tahrir Square in Cairo is now witnessing protests against Egypt’s new constitution. Credit: Khaled Moussa al-Omrani/IPS.

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jan 27 2013 (IPS)

Hundreds of thousands hit the streets countrywide on and after the second anniversary of Egypt’s Tahrir Square uprising Jan. 25 to protest the policies of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails. A chief demand was the abrogation – or modification at least – of Egypt’s newly-approved constitution.

“The amendment of the new constitution is one of the primary demands of the people and parties taking part in anniversary rallies,” Magdi Sherif, head of the centrist Guardians of the Revolution Party told IPS from Cairo’s Tahrir Square. “President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood must heed the voice of the opposition.”

Egypt’s new national charter was approved last month in a contentious popular referendum – although not by the wide margin its mostly Islamist authors had hoped for. Despite its tepid reception by voters, only 64 percent of whom voted in favour, the new constitution formally went into effect immediately following the referendum.

According to Egypt’s secular opposition, the charter is deeply flawed. The six-month drafting process that preceded the referendum was dogged by controversy, culminating in the last-minute withdrawal of most non-Islamist members of the 100-member drafting committee.

Critics say the document fails to guarantee press freedom and free expression and concentrates too much power in the hands of the presidency. Nor, they say, does the charter adequately safeguard judicial independence or do away with Egypt’s longstanding practice of trying civilians in military courts.

“The new constitution employs very broadly-defined terms that could lead to restrictions on freedoms and the violation of basic rights,” Gaber Gad Nassar, constitutional law professor at Cairo University told IPS. “It also contains several articles that could theoretically allow the president to assume dictatorial powers.

“By broadening presidential authority, the charter allows the executive to dominate other branches of government,” Nassar added. He pointed to one article in particular granting the president the right to appoint members of Egypt’s High Constitutional Court (HCC).

Last summer, the HCC ruled Egypt’s first post-Mubarak parliament ‘unconstitutional’ on a technicality. The ruling led to the dissolution of the assembly – three quarters of which had been held by Islamist parties, chief among them the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the Brotherhood and Morsi supporters, the HCC remains stocked with judges appointed by – and therefore loyal to – the ousted Mubarak regime.

Nassar also blasted the new constitution for allowing journalists to be arrested for certain press-related offences, and for allowing civilians to be tried by military tribunals if they are charged with “violations against Egypt’s armed forces.”

In a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, Nassar (who says he is unaffiliated with any political parties or groups) added: “Those currently governing the country are carrying out their own agenda. Their lack of vision is deepening the political divide and they refuse to heed the opposition’s objections to the new constitution.”

Yet Murad Ali, official spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), insists that the FJP is – despite accusations to the contrary – “entirely prepared to hear and respond to other political forces’ reservations about certain constitutional articles.”

According to Ali, opposition forces currently in talks with the presidency are demanding the amendment of 15 articles. “And while some of the requested changes are reasonable, others are not,” he said.

For example, he said, certain political forces were demanding the elimination of an article barring former leading members of Mubarak’s now-defunct National Democratic Party from political participation. “But this is unreasonable,” Ali asserted. “Neither the Egyptian people nor the FJP will allow former NDP bigwigs to re-enter politics.”

Ali went on to say that the opposition had exaggerated the “expanded powers” allegedly given the president in the new constitution. “A careful reading of the charter will reveal that presidential authority has actually been reduced from the previous 1971 constitution.”

He added, however, that all other contentious constitutional articles – such as those dealing with personal freedoms, judicial independence and presidential oversight – “remain open to debate with other political forces with a view to reaching a compromise.”

The anti-constitution camp has coalesced around the National Salvation Front (NSF) led by former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei and presidential candidates Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabbahi. In its opposition to Morsi, the Brotherhood and the new constitution, the NSF has produced strange bedfellows, uniting liberal, leftist and ‘revolutionary’ groups with supporters of the former regime.

On Monday (Jan. 21), the presidency invited opposition representatives to a ‘national dialogue’ to discuss their proposals for constitutional amendments. Although shunned by the NSF, the dialogue was attended by representatives of certain opposition parties, civil society and Egypt’s three main Christian churches (Coptic Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical).

Two days later, church representatives – along with those of some political parties – withdrew from the initiative, saying discussions had been “unproductive” and had “failed to yield the desired results.”

For Nassar, the walkout came as no surprise.

“Why should they stay? Conclusions reached by the so-called dialogue committee aren’t binding,” he said. The Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt’s parliament (currently endowed with legislative authority), he noted, “isn’t obliged to implement the committee’s recommendations.”

Nassar added: “Popular pressure and demonstrations are the only means of obtaining a balanced, democratic constitution that reflects the will of the people and the goals of the revolution.”

The FJP’s Ali criticised those who withdrew from the dialogue session, describing the move as “dictatorship by the minority.”

“Parties and groups that represent the 36 percent of the public that voted against the constitution cannot simply walk out when all their demands aren’t met,” he said. “Dialogue is intended to lead to compromise; it’s not a matter of one side making all-or-nothing demands of the other.

“The majority of Egyptian voters approved the national charter. And the choice of the majority must be accepted.”

Morsi, for his part, has repeatedly promised to reopen debate on proposed constitutional amendments in the first session of parliament’s lower house, following legislative elections expected some time in April. The offer, however, appears to have been forgotten in the violence and chaos witnessed on the revolution’s second anniversary. (END)