Egypt's military has seized on post-revolution fears to disappear thousands into its opaque prisons.
By Evan Hill
Al-Jazeera
"The Israeli embassy in Cairo – the first of its kind and one of only two in the Arab world – sits on the top floor of an unremarkable 15-storey office building near the Nile, a short drive south and across the river from the revolutionary epicentre of Tahrir Square. From the roof, a poll protrudes and makes a right angle high above Ibn Malek Street. Fluttering from the poll is one of the most hated symbols in the Middle East: the Star of David.
Thousands of Egyptians protested below that flag on Sunday afternoon, the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence. They wanted their post-revolution government to hear their demand that Egypt break ties with Israel, but instead they ran into a harsh post-revolution reality: The unchecked power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces....
The military's new sweeping law enforcement power, sometimes used in coordination with the internal security apparatus, sometimes against it, and sometimes not at all, has thrown public life in Egypt into disarray.
'We have a right to know where he is'
Though activists agree that the military has arrested and imprisoned thousands of Egyptians since the revolution, no one knows the exact number. The army does not let lawyers or relatives regularly visit prisoners, nor does it notify next of kin – or anyone, for that matter – when it has detained someone.
Some case records are maintained, but their level of detail is unclear. Some activists say the army may be holding as many as 10,000 people. The Front for the Defense of Egyptian Protesters, a coalition of human-rights groups, believes at least 5,000 trials have been held...."
By Evan Hill
Al-Jazeera
"The Israeli embassy in Cairo – the first of its kind and one of only two in the Arab world – sits on the top floor of an unremarkable 15-storey office building near the Nile, a short drive south and across the river from the revolutionary epicentre of Tahrir Square. From the roof, a poll protrudes and makes a right angle high above Ibn Malek Street. Fluttering from the poll is one of the most hated symbols in the Middle East: the Star of David.
Thousands of Egyptians protested below that flag on Sunday afternoon, the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence. They wanted their post-revolution government to hear their demand that Egypt break ties with Israel, but instead they ran into a harsh post-revolution reality: The unchecked power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces....
The military's new sweeping law enforcement power, sometimes used in coordination with the internal security apparatus, sometimes against it, and sometimes not at all, has thrown public life in Egypt into disarray.
'We have a right to know where he is'
Though activists agree that the military has arrested and imprisoned thousands of Egyptians since the revolution, no one knows the exact number. The army does not let lawyers or relatives regularly visit prisoners, nor does it notify next of kin – or anyone, for that matter – when it has detained someone.
Some case records are maintained, but their level of detail is unclear. Some activists say the army may be holding as many as 10,000 people. The Front for the Defense of Egyptian Protesters, a coalition of human-rights groups, believes at least 5,000 trials have been held...."
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