"- The ongoing crackdown on Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi has prompted some analysts to warn of the apparent resurgence of the Mubarak-era police state.
“Since the Jul. 3 military coup against President Morsi, we’ve seen what can only be described as a return of the police state,” Seif Abdel-Fattah, professor of political science at Cairo University and former Morsi aide (who resigned from the post last November), told IPS.
“We’ve now reverted to Mubarak-era fascism, replete with killing demonstrators, raiding homes [of political activists], emergency laws and perpetual surveillance,” said Abdel-Fattah, who is not affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Since Morsi’s ouster, hundreds – possibly thousands – have been killed by security forces, including Brotherhood members and others opposed to renewed military rule......
Fears of looming oppression – especially of Islamists – were stoked last month when interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim announced the reactivation of a Mubarak-era police unit devoted to monitoring and combating “religious extremism”. The unit had been part of Mubarak’s dreaded state security apparatus, known for committing gross rights violations, especially against the regime’s Islamist opponents.Last week Ibrahim went further, vowing to provide levels of “security” unseen since before Egypt’s Jan. 25, 2011 uprising. “As soon as conditions stabilise and the Egyptian street stabilises… security will be restored to this nation as if it was before Jan. 25 – and more,” he said.
According to Cairo University’s Abdel-Fattah, Ibrahim’s comments “reveal an intention to restore the interior ministry to its pre-revolution glory with all that it entails, including rights violations, spying, heavy-handed policing, a total lack of accountability, and the domination of Egypt’s political and cultural spheres.
“And from what we’ve seen recently,” he added, “it’s already begun.”....."
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