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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 March 1999 Issue No. 421 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 March 1999 Issue No. 421
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Brief detention
By Fatemah Farag
for labour law opponentsThe unified labour bill, still in draft form, has been the subject of controversy. On Friday, in the working-class district of Shubra Al-Kheima, the leftist Tagammu Party organised a meeting for workers and activists to discuss the proposed legislation. Eye-witnesses told Al-Ahram Weekly that the meeting was attended by around 50 people, the discussions were heated and the police presence heavy. Yet, the arrest of five participants came as a surprise to everyone.
Human rights groups expressed alarm about the arrests, which lasted for almost 24 hours. The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) announced "surprise at the impatience of the authorities with the legitimate and illegitimate political forces, the harassment of both individuals and groups and their ill-treatment at state security offices if they exercise their legitimate right to discuss issues closely related to their lives such as laws and draft laws."
The five persons arrested in the evening of 12 March included three members of the Tagammu Party, who were accused of undermining social peace and inciting workers to strike. All were released the next day on a bail of LE500 each.
The Land Centre for Human Rights said two activists were arrested at a similar meeting held last October at the Tagammu branch in Tibeen. Later, the Helwan Steel and Iron Complex trade union activist Mustafa Sultan came under an administrative investigation. The Land Centre also cited the case of the recent arrest of Mohamed Abdel-Alim, a journalist with the opposition Al-Wafd newspaper, for allegedly inciting hatred against the state, as another example of a clamp-down on the opposition.
"Any subject which the authorities deem sensitive -- and today this includes the draft unified labour law -- results in a reaction of this sort," said Gasser Abdel-Razeq, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights Legal Aid. "This is the pattern we observed when the agricultural land rent law took effect a year ago. As soon as people met to talk, there were arrests, irrespective of the content of their discussions or their actions."
