Victory for women protesters subjected to “virginity tests”

28 Dec 11 | Egypt

A Cairo civilian court has ordered an end to the practice of forced virginity tests on female detainees in military prisons.

Judge Ali Fekry, head of the Egyptian Administrative Court, read out the ruling at noon on Tuesday in a courtroom  packed with pro-democracy activists and journalists. The crowd immediately erupted in cheers of jubilation and anti-military chants. Activists outside the courtroom hugged and congratulated each other flashing the victory sign.

Samira Ibrahim, the 25-year-old woman who had filed a lawsuit against the army for ordering the virginity checks, is one of several female protesters who were subjected to the humiliating tests after being arrested by the military during a protest in Tahrir Square on 9 March.

In that demonstration, staged less than a month after President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down, the Egyptian military had appeared to deliberately target the protesters. Soldiers dragged dozens of pro-democracy activists from Tahrir Square and through the gates of the  Egyptian Museum.

Salwa Hosseini, a 20-year-old hairdresser who was among the protesters rounded up by the army later told CNN that uniformed soldiers had tied her up , forced her to the ground and repeatedly slapped her. They shocked her with a stun gun, calling her a prostitute.

Bowing to public pressure, the army later suspended the one year prison sentence it had handed the protesters. Hosseini and the other female protesters later told reporters “The army wanted to teach us a lesson. They wanted to make us feel that we do not have dignity.”

An Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest, claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity tests .

After repeated denials by military authorities that the virginity tests had been conducted, a senior Egyptian military general finally admitted to CNN on 30 May 30 that the virginity checks had indeed been performed. The general however defended the practice.

“The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine,” the general said. “These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square.”

He added that the army had carried out the tests in “self-defence so that the women wouldn’t later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities.”

Wiping away tears of joy, Samira told reporters outside the courtroom Tuesday that “justice had at last been served.”

The court had postponed a hearing in November leading activists to suspect the case may drag on for months.

Human Rights lawyer Hossam Bahgat said the case was a “victory for all women” adding that it was the first crack in the army’s impunity.

Samira’s case marked the second “victory” for pro-democracy activists this week in rulings involving the army. Another court had ordered the release on bail of prominent blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah a day earlier. Alaa was accused of inciting violence against the military and attacking soldiers in deadly clashes between security forces and Coptic protesters demanding protection of their churches last October.

The military generals running the country since President Hosni Mubarak was forced out in February  have faced mounting pressure from pro-democracy activists in recent weeks for rights violations. A series of nationwide protests broke out last week after the local and international media flaunted pictures of  military brutality against pro- democracy activists who had staged a sit in outside cabinet headquarters demanding an end to military rule. A picture of a half-naked female protester  being dragged and beaten by soldiers who had torn off  her clothes, triggered public outrage and prompted thousands of Egyptian women to take to the streets last week chanting that “Girls are the red line” and “No to military rule”.

Similar slogans were repeated on Tuesday as Samira and the activists marched from the courtroom in Dokki to Cairo’s Tahrir Square to celebrate the ruling. Egypt’s first female presidential candidate, Bothayna Kamel, a staunch supporter of women’s  and minority rights marched alongside Samira, leading  the crowd over Kasr el Nil bridge to Tahrir. Male activists  joined the rally  forming a “protective cordon” to shield the women against any harrassers as they had done in the women’s march earlier in the week.

With calls growing louder in Egypt in recent weeks for a quick handover to civilian rule, the army appears  jittery and willing to make concessions to appease a disgruntled public. The generals have expressed regret for the widely publicised photograph of the half-naked woman under attack from army soldiers. The apology, the release of blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah and the ruling to stop the virginity checks on female detainees all signal a clear policy shift by the army, away from the repressive tactics. But sceptics here wonder if it may be “too little too late” as plans are already underway for “a second revolution” on 25 January 2012 in Tahrir to force out the autocratic military rulers.

Egypt’s military denies the obvious

20 Dec 11 | Egypt

On Monday General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, held a nationally televised press conference to address accusations of army misconduct in the most recent series of clashes between security forces and street protestors camped outside of the Parliament building near Tahrir Square.

Emara’s performance, and that of his carefully selected audience, spoke volumes. Foreign correspondents were told that the conference was for local media only. One journalist who was in attendance told me that the room was stocked with people she recognised as employees of the State Information Service.

Emara’s goal was to fend off what amounts to dozens of Rodney King videos. On Friday and Saturday, uniformed army troops staged a series of assaults on civilian protestors that produced a veritable mountain of photographic and video evidence. Soldiers were filmed firing handguns into the crowd (something government officials repeatedly claimed never happened), launching extended group beatings on helpless civilians and throwing rocks from rooftops onto the crowd. The most iconic image — one that fronted newspapers around the world — was of the limp body of a female protestor being dragged down the street. The woman’s black abeya gown gets pulled over her head, exposing a blue bra, as a soldier stomps hard on her chest.

Regardless of the evidence, Emara remained defiant. He repeatedly blamed the protestors for inciting the violence by attacking soldiers Thursday night and threatening to destroy the Parliament building. The true villains, he claimed, were the usual cocktail of shadowy conspirators and complicit media provocateurs.

“There is a methodical and premeditated plot to topple the state, but Egypt will not fall,” said Emara. “The media is helping sabotage the state. This is certain.”

Several times, he actually praised the “self-restraint” shown by Egyptian soldiers in the course of their duties.

“The armed forces does not use violence systematically,” Emara said. “We exercise a level of self-restraint that others envy. We do not do that out of weakness but out of concern for national interests.”

It was, to put it bluntly, either completely shameless or completely delusional. At best it was evidence was what Cairo-based political analyst and blogger Issandr El Amrani likes to call, “The Egyptian Reality Distortion Field.”

According to Amrani, “The ERDF gives Egyptians, notably public officials, an uncanny ability to disregard what is plain for all to see and, with the utmost confidence, assure all comers of its opposite.”

Emara did acknowledge the aforementioned attack on the partially disrobed young woman, but said that observers “don’t know the full circumstances”. He never explained just what circumstances could justify a grown man stomping on a seemingly unconscious woman.

The Q&A session that followed was equally revealing. Most of the questions were either softballs or long-winded speeches — a common failing among Arab journalists. The only two difficult questions about the behaviour of Egypt’s army were generally shrugged off by Emara, who said all incidents were under investigation and the public would be informed of the results in due time.

In the end, Emara called for sympathy and support for the beleaguered Egyptian soldiers.

“These heroes from the army have our appreciation for what they are doing for the sake of the nation. They will be remembered by history,” he said. “They are the pride of this nation, the best soldiers on earth. May God protect Egypt and its people from strife and keep Egypt’s flag flying high.”

Incredibly, half the room erupted in applause at Emara’s closing statement, while the journalists in the front row visibly swiveled in the seats to see who was clapping.

Ashraf Khalil is a journalist and author of the forthcoming Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation. 

 

Journalist Mona Eltahawy reportedly arrested, beaten

24 Nov 11 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa

Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy tweeted to say she had been arrested and beaten in Cairo this morning. Eltahawy, who writes for Canada’s Toronto Star, Israel’s The Jerusalem Report and Denmark’s Politiken, is said to have been detained by Police in Tahrir Square. Following her arrest, the journalist tweeted “Beaten arrested in interior ministry” around 4am (EET).

Her arrest sparked outrage on Twitter, and the campaign to #FreeMona began trending worldwide.  

It is also believed that activist Maged Butter, who was with Eltahawy, was also arrested, and a similar #freemaged campaign began on Twitter. Unconfirmed reports on the micro-blogging site suggest Maged has since been freed.

Also, documentary film-maker, Jehane Noujaim, best known for her documentary “Control Room” about the pan-Arab news station, Al-Jazeera, was detained, and her camera confiscated.

The US State department responded to the rumours of the arrests on Twitter: “Reports of @monaeltahawy and @pangeaworld detention very concerning. @USEmbassyCairo engaging authorities. #FreeMona“.

Images calling for the release of Mona and Maged also appeared on Twitter, as well as an image showing Maged’s injuries, following his release.

Mona tweeted “I AM FREE” shortly after 12.20 EET, and said she could barely type following “12 hours with Interior Ministry bastards and military intelligence combined.” Mona also alleged she had been sexually assaulted by 5 or 6 members of the Egyptian security forces, who “groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area.”