The writing on the wall

The battle against terrorism has proven to be the ultimate pretext for human rights violations, reports Fatemah Farag

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After last week's atrocity in Taba, the inevitable took place: arguments that democracy and human rights could be sacrificed in the global battle against terrorism emerged stronger than ever.

While the UN Security Council considered Russia's anti-terrorism resolution, which could provide the context for widespread human rights abuses if it passes, at home some used the bombings to argue for the "ultimate" solution: more security clampdowns.

Rose El-Youssef 's Abdallah Kamal might have expressed this sentiment the most concisely when he argued that, in light of the Taba bombings, the priorities of political and security reform had to be reassessed. "I want opposition parties to announce their position regarding the emergency law... the law whose enforcement they have worked so hard against, ignoring the fact that the law is not implemented to restrict political activity but only when security is at risk. Now [after the bombings], do these parties want the law cancelled?"

The fact that over 20 years of emergency law did not prevent Taba from happening in the first place did not seem to faze Kamal in the least.

Hussein Abdel-Razeq of the leftist Tagammu Party told Al-Ahram Weekly that, "all the incidents of terrorism and violence, beginning with the assassination of Farag Foda [a liberal thinker gunned down in 1990] through to the Luxor massacre in 1997, took place within the reign of the emergency law."

In fact, argued Bahieddin Hassan of the National Human Rights Council, "the emergency law and the unlimited and unchecked power of the security system has resulted in the latter's complacency."

It is a point driven home by the fact that Israeli security forces issued a warning that such an attack might take place; what seems painfully obvious in hindsight is that local security forces did not take the necessary precautions to deal with a potentially dangerous situation. According to Hassan, "since no one can hold the Interior Ministry accountable, it has become lazy, and we have yet to hear one explanation from an official regarding the poor performance of the security forces in this case."

Despite these scathing observations, no one expects the Taba bombings to serve as a warning that reform, democracy and the upholding of human rights are actually the true keys to preventing further misery. "To deal with terrorism, the government needs a comprehensive political, economic and social plan," Abdel-Razeq said. "Since the early 1980s, the government has responded to terrorism using severe security measures -- both legal and extra-legal. We told them then, and we say it again: a security solution alone will never work."

Human rights activists are convinced, however, that the Taba bombings will only serve as another excuse to extend the emergency law and delay political reform. But this does not necessarily mean that the civil society situation will get any worse. "I do not think it is possible to apply any more pressure on the human rights and civil society community than that which is already applied," Hassan said.

This turbid state of local affairs has been re-enforced by a growing global anti-terrorism fever. The anti-terrorism resolution being discussed by the UN Security Council calls on states to bring all those who "support", "facilitate", or "attempt to participate in the... planning [or] preparation of... terrorist attacks" to justice. Amnesty International has come out against the resolution, explaining that such wording obviously casts a net so wide that it may include "human rights advocates or peaceful political activists."

"The anti-terrorism resolution is very worrisome for us in Egypt because the government is very susceptible to international pressure that demands further restrictions on human rights. The passing of such a resolution only helps reinforce an increasingly bad situation at home," Abdel-Razeq said.

Hassan pointed out that the resolution's broad definition of terrorism meant that "national liberation movements, especially those in Palestine, will suffer the most. But while this is true, it does not mean that these movements need not revise their tactics in light of everything that has happened since 9/11."

Which brings us back to the situation at home, and the inevitable other side of the coin: an environment resistant to many of the principles of freedom of expression, tolerance and human rights is not only propagated by the government, but by extremist Islamist discourse. "The great danger, the growth of which has been evident in the past few months," Hassan said, "is the proliferation and expansion of extremist discourse." When it comes to human rights, he argued, this brand of close-minded religiosity could be just as bad as excessive state control.

So was Taba a disaster waiting to happen? According to Abdel-Razeq, the answer is probably yes. A combination of "security complacency prompted by the lack of checks and balances, wide-spread economic deprivation, American and Israeli terrorism in Palestine and Iraq, and the lack of political options through which people can express their anger and frustration" all led to the attacks.

"The only guarantee, then, against the recurrence of similar operations from within or outside Egypt is a democratic society that responds to what people want and need."