Issue No. 595
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18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Home news |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Policemen jailed
A CAIRO court on Sunday sentenced two policemen and a conscript to five years in jail after being found guilty of torturing a man to death while he was being interrogated.
Prosecutors had charged policemen Hamdi Othman, Hamed Abdel-Qader and conscript Essam Mahmoud with killing 38-year-old Ahmed Youssef in late February. The officers had been seeking information on the whereabouts of Youssef's brother who was wanted by the police in connection with a forged check.
The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) said that Youssef was seen by eyewitnesses being severely beaten on the street by the policemen while being taken to the police station. "He was handcuffed to another suspect, Tarek, and was repeatedly hit on his chest, the back of his head, neck and chin by one of the policeman using another pair of handcuffs. According to a forensic examination, he died from his injuries," EOHR said in a statement on Monday. It demanded tougher penalties for officers and policemen charged with torture. "We call upon the interior minister to take all the necessary measures to ban the practice of arresting relatives of wanted suspects to force them into handing themselves in. Such practices are a blatant violation of the right to personal safety and freedom."
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticised conditions in prisons and police stations, saying treatment is harsh and torture is widespread. But the Interior Ministry denies the allegations, insisting that it immediately refers to trial policemen involved in the torture of suspects. The ministry also rejected claims that torture is a systematic practice in prisons, describing such cases as "exceptional".
The trial of the policemen began on 11 June.
For development
IN WHAT is being described as the first serious move towards sustainable development in Cairo's historic zone, the Kahla, a vast anti-pollution workshop in the heavily- populated Gamaliya district of Cairo, has opened.
Tuesday's opening coincided with the Cairo Governorate's National Day being celebrated throughout this week and was attended by Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata, Minister of Awqaf (religious endowments) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq and President of the Friends of Environment and Development Association (FEDA) Adli Bishay.
It marked the completion of the first phase of this Egyptian-Swiss development-funded project in cooperation with the Cairo Governorate and the Waqf Ministry.
FEDA began surveying Gamaliya in 1993, resulting in a plan to rebuild Wekalat Kahla -- originally Wekalat Auda Pasha -- and house workshops to be moved from three decrepit areas in the heart of the Fatimid city: Al-Kharroub, Al-Rabe'a and the building behind Al-Aqmar Mosque. Once these are vacated, FEDA will set up a crafts training centre, community services centre and a children's club. (see p.18)
Aida is back
THE EXTRAVAGANT production, Verdi's Aida, is scheduled to return to its spiritual home, the Pyramids of Giza, after a two-year hiatus. Nevine El-Aref writes about the production's new look.
When Giuseppe Verdi's Aida was staged in 1998 and 1999 at the foot of the Giza Pyramids, the production received rave reviews. Owing to security arrangements for the 2000 parliamentary elections and the 11 September attacks in the US the following year, the love story of Egyptian Army Chief Radames and Aida, the daughter of his arch enemy, the king of Ethiopia, was not staged.
The opera is scheduled to be performed from 10-13 October this fall.
"Because this year's production was timed to coincide with the official inauguration of the Alexandria Library, Aida will be staged two days earlier than planned," Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said.
A special set will be constructed for the three-act opera. Abdel-Moneim Kamil will direct the show which includes a cast of 354 Egyptian and foreign singers. For the first time, Hosni said, an Egyptian private company, Al-Mazallat Art Production, will sponsor the production and has already bought the marketing rights for LE2 million.
"This does not mean we have privatised Aida. It is an attempt to strengthen cooperation with the private sector to serve culture," Samir Farag, head of Cairo Opera House, said. Farag added that Al-Mazallat sponsored Aida when it ran in Qatar last month.
Hosni said that 5,000 tickets will be sold for the production. Four thousand are earmarked for foreigners and will cost $150 to $400. Tickets for Egyptians will range from $30 to $90.
Last year, the show was mired in controversy over the building of an artificial lake near the Pyramids. This year, only the illusion of a lake will be seen using shiny fabric.
Future garage
THE BIGGEST Middle East service garage for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses was inaugurated on 11 July by Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata, reports Mahmoud Bakr. The garage, named Al- Mustaqbal (the future), covers over 42,000 square metres and is located within Cairo's Green Belt in Nasr City, making it one of the few environmentally-friendly facilities in the region.
The garage, which is expected to service up to 200 CNG buses, was built by the Cairo Transit Authority and partially funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Egyptian government funded the garage's construction, providing more than LE16 million, and furnished it with an LE8 million CNG fuelling station. USAID provided LE3.5 million worth of maintenance and repair equipment.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab
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