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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Turning a new page
By Amira Howeidy
Just as surprisingly as it began, the case of Hafez Abu Se'eda, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), has been "closed" abruptly, according to Hani Megalli, director of the Middle East and North Africa chapter of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). Megalli, who met Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed, said he was informed that the file of Abu Se'eda has been "closed," but the reason was not specified.
Abu Se'eda is, of course, relieved. Until Megalli informed him of the Prosecutor-General's decision a few days ago, he had no clue what his exact legal position was.
A month ago, while on a business trip to Paris, he was "informed" of a military order to try him in a State Security Court for receiving money from foreign organisations without notifying the authorities. If Abu Se'eda had been found guilty, he could have been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Despite an active international campaign that leapt to the rescue, there was no indication of a possible breakthrough. But it happened, and the secretary-general of EOHR only learnt about it from HRW's Megalli. The decision to put him on trial has been reversed, which is a positive step, but the manner in which he was informed is raising some eyebrows.
Al-Ahram Weekly telephoned the prosecutor's office to try to enquire about the legal status of the case, but received no response.
The case of Abu Se'eda blew up in 1998 when Al-Osbou', an independent weekly newspaper, claimed that EOHR had received a £25,000 cheque from the British Embassy. The newspaper accused the EOHR of "treason" for allegedly taking the money to fund a report by the organisation on violent incidents at the predominantly Coptic Upper Egyptian village of Al-Kosheh. The newspaper maintained that the EOHR twisted the details of the incidents so as to make them appear as sectarian strife.
The editor of Al-Osbou' went so far as to file a complaint with the prosecutor who, in turn, ordered the arrest of Abu Se'eda. Facing serious charges, such as "harming national security," Abu Se'eda was imprisoned for a few days and then released on bail. Both the case and the surrounding controversy cooled down; it was thought that they were events of the past, but last month it turned out to be otherwise.
"I knew I was referred to trial from reporters, and then knew about the decision to close the file from another human rights activist. So, in both cases I was completely ignored," says Abu Se'eda. He also remains in the dark as to what his exact legal position is. Has the file been closed, but is still pending? Or it has been shelved, which means permanently closed? Abu Se'eda still does not know. "But I'm trying to find out," he explained. "I sent a letter to the Prosecutor asking to be informed about the status of the cheque [which had been confiscated]. If they let us have it, then the case has been shelved. If its confiscation continues then, legally, the case is pending and the Prosecutor can activate it any time, if he so decides," Abu Se'eda told the Weekly.
But the ramifications of the case, which coincided with renewed acts of violence at Al-Kosheh and the passing of a new NGO law that rights groups say is restrictive, included what activists view as very positive developments. Not only did Zakaria Azmi, chief of the presidential staff, contact and meet Abu Se'eda during his stay in Paris, but other human rights activists say that they, too, were approached by the senior official.
"Azmi called me a while ago and said some very encouraging and positive things," Amir Salem, director of the Legal Research and Resource Centre for Human Rights (LRRC), told the Weekly. "He asked me questions on a charter that was issued by the centre, entitled El-'ahd El-Masri (The Egyptian Covenant) after the Al-Kosheh incidents and he also wanted to discuss means of cooperation." For Salem, not only is this an extremely positive step, "but also unprecedented. This has never happened to me before." Salem also received an official letter from Hani Khallaf, deputy assistant to the foreign minister for human rights affairs, stating that he will inform the minister of the charter "and send it to all our embassies and consulates."
However, Salem does not know how effective such "initiatives" by top officials can be. "It's great that this is happening, but things don't work like that all the time. President Mubarak affirms in his speeches the necessity of respecting human rights, and also talks about civil society," but insists Salem, the bureaucracy has a mind of its own. "The Ministry of Social Affairs is a case in point. The obstacles and red tape they resort to kill such initiatives are enormous, simply because they still want to impose their authority on rights groups and NGOs. They don't want to recognise us at all," Salim said.
But Abu Se'eda is more optimistic. "We'll hold on to any initiative with our hands and teeth because we genuinely want to improve human rights conditions and we can't do that unless the government is cooperating with us," he said.
"I believe that a new page has been turned and feel that a lot can be done in this respect," he added.
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