22 Nov 2011 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
The death toll from three days of unrest in Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square has risen to 33, with more than 1700 injured. More casualties and fatalities are expected as riot police and security forces continue their crackdown on the tens of thousands of protesters demanding the ousting of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy who heads the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
Following the outbreak of unrest, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s government resigned. At the same time, the Youth Revolutionary Coalition called on Egyptians to participate in what they hoped would be a million-strong National Rescue protest on Tuesday, calling for the formation of a new government with complete authority to run the country during the transitional period.
“The people feel their revolution has been stolen by the military. So we are back in Tahrir to ask the military rulers to leave. They are all members of Mubarak’s regime. The autocracy has only been replaced by another military dictatorship.”
-22-year-old activist Sahar Mohamed Zaki, who works for an airline company, explaining why protesters had returned to Tahrir
Most of the deaths in Tahrir were the result of gunshot wounds sustained in clashes with security forces as protesters attempted to storm the nearby Interior Ministry, headquarters of the detested police force. Demonstrators — suffering head injuries after being beaten with batons and choking as a result of excessive tear gas inhalation — were being ferried on makeshift stretchers to an area in the square where volunteer medics offered emergency aid. Wailing sirens could be heard as ambulances transported the more serious cases to nearby hospitals for treatment. Bahaa el Razi, a volunteer medic at the scene, told me that most of the casualties suffered from gas inhalation, while a few had been hit by rubber bullets and bird shots. Protesters claimed live ammunition was also being fired in attempts to disperse them.
In one instance, the body of a dead man was thrown by his attackers onto a rubbish heap . The incident enraged eyewitnesses, who insisted that “nothing has changed” and that their lives counted for nothing to those in a position of authority.
“Tantawy, leave!” The chants of the indignant protesters reverberated across the square. The scene was reminiscent of the January uprising that ousted Mubarak. Demonstrations erupted in Tahrir last Friday, with people demanding the ruling military council immediately hand over power to a civilian government. The protesters also called for an end to military trials for civilians and for parliamentary elections to be held on the scheduled date of 28 November. They also called for those responsible for the recent deaths to be punished for their crimes.
“Protests are the only way to get the SCAF to respond to our demands. The military wants to remain a state within a state‚ and does not want to be accountable for its actions. There is no alternative to confrontation.” So said Kamal Habib, a former Salafist who is currently a member of the Safety and Development party.
A middle-aged man who overheard Habib’s comment shook his head in disagreement. He interrupted, saying: “The economy is already in shambles. People need to get off the streets. They are making it difficult for us to get on with our lives and to earn a livelihood.”
He, did not, however, explain why he was in the square.
The latest unrest was sparked by a proposed controversial charter of supra-constitutional principles that activists feared would shield the military’s budget from public scrutiny and allow the military to choose a constituent assembly.
“No state institution is above the law and that includes the military. What we need is transparency,” said 23-year-old Tarek Ali, who works for a telecommunications company.
Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Aly el Selmi has defended the document, which bears his name. In comments published in state-run al Ahram newspaper on Wednesday, he claimed that several political powers, including the Muslim Brotherhood, had earlier agreed to the document with reservations to just two of its articles (9 and 10). Islamists have meanwhile boycotted discussion of the document, arguing that it strips parliament of authority while giving the SCAF veto power over articles with which it does not agree.
The military rulers insist, however, that they will hand over power to a new government once it is elected and have repeatedly assured the public that legislative elections will take place on time. But activists remains sceptical, expressing concerns that the military wants to maintain its grip on power.
In a televised statement on Monday, the military expressed its regret for the events in Tahrir, vowing to investigate those responsible for the violence. The statement called on the public to exercise restraint and for political parties “to work together to find a solution to the current crisis”. The armed forces also reminded the public that those who threaten public order and stability would be dealt with severely.
Many believe the ousted former president, who faces charges of ordering the killing of peaceful protesters , continues to run the country from his prison cell — a claim that has fuelled already inflamed public sentiment against the armed forces. Much of the anger is also directed at the police, whose repressive tactics have failed to change after the revolution.
The brutal crackdown on the Tahrir protesters has so far failed to quell the demonstrations. Similar protests have also taken place over the last three days in other major cities across the country, including Alexandria and Suez. On the contrary, the Tahrir crowd appeared to be swelling Monday night as more people arrived to join the estimated 50,000-strong crowd.
Journalist and television anchor Shahira Amin resigned her post as deputy head of state-run Nile TV on February. Read why she resigned from the “propaganda machine” here.
22 Nov 2011 | News and features
MURDERED 22 NOVEMBER 2006
Raad Jaafar Hamadi, Journalist, “Al Sabah” — Baghdad, Iraq
Join us in demanding justice for Raad Jaafar Hamadi who was killed in the east Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Washash on 22 November 2006. His car was fired on by four gunmen in another vehicle. He worked as a journalist for “Al Sabah”, a daily paper of the state-owned Iraqi Media Network (IMN). Iraq’s biggest media group with more than 3,000 employees, IMN was created by coalition forces in 2003. Many journalists working for the network have received threatening letters telling them to quit.
“Journalists and other employees of the Iraqi public media… are often the victims of violence by people hostile to the government,” Reporters Without Borders said at the time. “The main communication tool of the Iraqi authorities, these media are seen as government mouthpieces and have suffered a heavier toll in casualties than the other media since the start of the war.”
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Raad Jaafar Hamadi
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
21 Nov 2011 | Leveson Inquiry
Actor Hugh Grant linked the Mail on Sunday to phone hacking today as he and other witnesses gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, starting what is set to be a week-long attack on the practices of the tabloid press.
In his marathon account, he spoke of a 2007 story in the paper that claimed his relationship with Jemima Khan was on the rocks due to his late night calls with a “plummy voiced” studio executive. Grant said the only way the paper could have sourced the story was through accessing his voicemail, and that he “would love to hear what their source was if it wasn’t phone hacking.”
He also told the Inquiry about a chance encounter with Paul McMullen, former features editor at the News of the World, who “boasted” about hacking at the paper.
A spokesman for the Mail on Sunday said this afternoon: “Mr Grant’s allegations are mendacious smears driven by his hatred of the media.” Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Mail, has consistently denied that any of its staff were involved with hacking.
Grant went into detail about a slew of other incidents. He noted how he and his girlfriends had been “chased at speed” by papparazzi, the Sun and Daily Express had invaded his privacy by publishing details of his medical records, and that the life of the mother of his newborn baby had “been made hell” due to press intrusion. He also alleged that the Daily Mail paid £125,000 to the ex-lover of the child’s mother for photos of her.
Grant said the “licence the tabloid press has had to steal British citizens’ privacy for profit” was a “scandal that weak governments for too long have allowed to pass.”
In their brief but raw account this morning, the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler spoke of the moment they believed their daughter was picking up and deleting her voicemail messages. Sally Dowler said, “it clicked through on to her voicemail so I heard her voice and [said] ‘she’s picked up her voicemail Bob! She’s alive!’.”
Milly’s voicemail had been hacked into and her messages deleted, making room for new ones to be left. Sally Dowler said she did not sleep for three nights when she was told of the interception this year.
The Dowlers also described a walk they took seven weeks after their daughter had gone missing to retrace her steps, a photo of which was featured in the News of the World. The Dowlers believed it was a result of photographers being tipped off after their own phones had been hacked. “How did they know we would be doing that walk on that day,” Sally Dowler asked. She called the photo an “intrusion” into the family’s private moment of grief.
Of the press attention that followed Milly’s disappearance, Sally added that the family had to “train” themselves not to answer questions. “Someone would come up to you when you least expect[ed] it,” she said.
The Dowlers added that the press had been a “double-edged sword”, noting the efforts made by the papers to spread information about Milly’s disappearance.
They said they would leave it to the Inquiry to make decisions, but wanted the extent of hacking to be exposed. Bob Dowler said he hoped News International and other media organisations would “look very carefully” at how they procure information for stories. “Obviously the ramifications are very much greater than just an obvious story in the press,” he added.
Journalist Joan Smith also gave evidence. She discovered her phone had been hacked around six weeks after the daughter of her partner, Labour MP Denis MacShane, had been killed in a skydiving accident in 2004. She revealed that detectives had shown her notes taken by Glenn Mulcaire earlier this year, which listed her name, address and phone numbers.
She attacked tabloid culture as “so remorseless” that those involved have “lost any sense that they’re dealing with human beings.”
She said she did not consider herself a celebrity. “You don’t have to be incredibly famous to be a target for their intrusion,” she said, adding later that the press interest in her came from her relationship with MacShane.
Smith was keen to defend freedom of expression, noting that she opposed state regulation and the licensing of journalists. She added that there needed to be a “successor body to PCC (Press Complaints Commission) that isn’t dominated by editors.”
Media lawyer Graham Shear also attacked the redtops, calling the industry a “business model which has become dependent on titillating and sensationalist stories.”
He said his clients began to suspect they were under surveillance in 2004, when “stray facts” known to few began to appear in the press. Several would clients would change their mobile telephone numbers two or three times a year, he added.
He spoke of “orchestrated” attempts to persuade clients to pay off kiss and tell girls, and noted the reluctance of press to contact him and his clients prior to publishing, preferring to pay any damages for breaches of privacy afterwards. He also described the £60,000 in damages paid by the News of the World to Formula 1 boss Max Mosley for privacy invasion as a “very gentle parking fine”.
The hearing continues tomorrow, with evidence from Steve Coogan, Elle Macpherson’s former business adviser Mary-Ellen Field, ex-footballer Garry Flitcroft, and Margaret Watson, mother of murder victim Diane Watson.
Follow Index on Censorship’s coverage of the Leveson Inquiry on Twitter – @IndexLeveson.
