The sound of civil silence
Why hasn't civil society been able to mobilise public action against the war? Aziza Sami looks behind fences
In the lead up to last Saturday's Arab Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, a parallel eleventh hour Arab attempt to contain the Iraqi crisis was taking place at the library of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS). The organisation's Secretary- General Bahieddin Hassan, announced that 73 civil society organisations and 125 individuals had issued a declaration entitled "No to War and Tyranny, There is Another Alternative", a set of recommendations from "Arab civil society" to the Arab summit, aimed at presenting "an intellectual framework which the Arab countries have failed to provide so far". Hassan described the stance as "an integrated position, against both war (by America) and tyranny (of the Iraqi regime) which is not polarised in the defence of one and blame of the other".
Nonetheless, just like the Arab summit to which it was addressed, "civil society's declaration" appeared to be a case of too little, too late, coming just as the US was about to present its second resolution to the UN Security Council, paving the way for war within weeks, if not days.
According to Sabika El-Naggar, secretary- general of the Bahraini Human Rights Organisation, the initiative was only undertaken after the receipt of a "green light" from both the King of Bahrain, in his capacity as the summit chair, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. The group had made no other "organisationsal contacts".
As such, this lone and largely elitist effort by "Arab civil society" stands in bleak contrast to the powerful grass-roots activism led by an alliance of anti-war and anti-globalisation movements which has resulted in months of massive anti-war protests in Europe and the US.
Perhaps as a result of increasing international criticism, the government finally "allowed" political parties and syndicates to organise an "anti- war demonstration" on 27 February. Attended by 100,000 people, the choice of venue -- Cairo Stadium -- revealed quite a bit about what the protest may have aimed to signify. It was a place where large numbers of people could be controlled, their movements and intentions intensely monitored -- a rather apt metaphor for the policy of "containment", which the government continues to pursue when dealing with groups that are able to mobilise public action.
It is telling that Arab civil society's "recommendations" were also announced on the very same day that the Egyptian government decided to renew the 23 year-old Emergency Law -- for three more years -- which prohibits any form of public protest by civil society organisations or political parties. In fact, several anti-war activists had been arrested and detained over the past weeks, in accordance to that law.
According to both civil rights activists and those who work in the non-governmental domain, the Emergency Law is the prime reason for the all- encompassing quiet of the "Egyptian street". A highly restrictive NGO law that prohibits non- governmental organisations from engagement in "political activity" is also to blame.
"If you want to do anything political or engage with the outside world in any way, there are a hundred permits to obtain," says Aziza Hussein. For 50 years a leading figure in voluntary social action, Hussein currently heads the NGO Support Centre for Population and Development. "Even if you talk about peace, it has to be in an orchestrated and pre-arranged way, otherwise, it is considered 'meddling with politics'. As a result, not many people will be willing to pursue the issue of protesting the war against Iraq."
According to activist Aida Seif El-Dawla, "an increase in police brutality" in the face of public protest is also a major factor. "There is a difference between a police force which protects anti- war protestors, and one that is there to beat them," says Seif El-Dawla, a professor of psychiatry at Ain Shams University. NGOs, advocacy groups and even political parties have thus been reluctant to organise events. Seif El-Dawla says the rare protests that have taken place on university campuses have mainly been spontaneous in nature, started up by "new groups that previously did not exist".
Hussein says that civil society has also been highly intimidated by the continuing legal woes faced by civil rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim, who is currently awaiting a verdict in a second, and final, retrial. Ibrahim was arrested, imprisoned, tried, and found guilty of a litany of charges, including defaming Egypt, in a case human rights groups insist is politically motivated.
"Civil society organisations are currently working hard to mend their fences so as not incur the wrath of the government," says Hussein. "There's an atmosphere of great fear, because anyone is liable to be put in jail at any moment, and have his life shattered. Look what happened to Ibrahim," she says, "and the kinds of things happening to (political forces like) the Muslim Brotherhood. How can you even begin to talk about civil society in this kind of atmosphere?"
According to Ashraf El-Bayoumi, a former professor of chemistry at Michigan State University who has led anti-war street rallies in both Cairo and Washington, however, new forces -- which might not be as easy to repress -- are appearing on the horizon. El--Bayoumi, who was one of the organisers of an international anti-war conference held in Cairo last December (which took place despite initial attempts at obstruction by the authorities), says that there is a "growing potential for alliances" between Egyptian anti-war activists and the global anti-war movement. But while alliances with a global-based civic movement might give some leverage to Egypt's anti-war activists, restrictions on the domestic front continue to shackle those working in the non-governmental domain.
Saadeddin Ibrahim told Al-Ahram Weekly that none of the elements that comprise a civil society -- space, freedom and the ability to organise -- exist at present. "Even before the Iraqi crisis, civil society was muted because of my case," he says. "Several organisations have phased themselves out or broken down since then. People are not politically outspoken because the margin of freedom has diminished. There was a time when the Arab street could make or break policies. But over the past quarter of a century, Arab regimes have succeeded in emasculating this 'street'. The state has not been tolerant towards any form of public protest."
The only solution, says Nabil Abdel-Fattah, who heads the legal unit of Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, is in "constitutional reform, and political, educational and media systems which allow for the respect of individual initiative and pluralism. Until then society as a whole will remain in political and cultural detention." According to Abdel-Fattah, "Egypt's emergency law has been in force for the greater part of 50 years with very brief exceptions. The state fears the formation of civil society."
But as those who seek to voice their views on matters of public concern, or operate outside of the state's auspices, become ever more resilient, it is unclear how the government will negotiate an increasingly tricky terrain. The recent arrests of anti-war activists have been denounced by Amnesty International, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights and the Indian Federation of Lawyers -- via statements widely circulated on the web
"These days there are things which will not be as easy for repressive state apparatuses to contain," says El-Bayoumi. "Things like this can not be kept secret any longer, because the word spreads more quickly now. Otherwise, they will have to arrest us all."
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 6 - 12 March 2003 (Issue No. 628)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/628/eg2.htm