Human Rights in the Arab Republic of Egypt - Essay Example

?Defining and Protecting Human Rights: What are the Key Issues Concerning the Protection of Fundamental Human Rights When a has Formally Declared a ‘ State of Emergency’? Table of Contents Introduction….................................................................................................................................2 Human Rights in the Arab Republic of Egypt…………………………………………………….2 Liberalism............................................................................................................................3 Liberal Internationalism…………………………………………………………..............3 Liberalism as (IR) Theory…………………………………………………………………5 Key Human Rights Issues in Egypt’s State of Emergency………………………………………..6 Trends within liberalism……..............................................................................................8 Political liberalism...............................................................................................................8 Cultural liberalism...............................................................................................................9 Economic liberalism............................................................................................................9 Liberalism – Triumphant...................................................................................................10 Weaknesses and Criticism of liberalism...........................................................................11 Defense of the Theory...................................................................................................................12 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14 References......................................................................................................................................17 Introduction The sanctity of human life is a very important treasure that is a gift to each and every human being. It is important that these rights must always be protected and respected. Even criminals have their rights and must be treated humanely hence the evolution of the death penalty from seemingly barbaric ways to the now “more humane” lethal injection. Learning from Winston Churchill, the degree of how civilized a society is can be gauged on its treatment of its prisoners. Likewise, armed forces that are in conflict are bound to respect the rights of POW’s or prisoners of war. Much has been learned from the atrocities of the past war necessitating the need for a global commitment to uphold and protect human lives and the rights of every individual. However, these very important rights usually become the first casualties during times of conflict. This is more prevalent in countries that have declared a state of emergency wherein martial law ensues. Human Rights in the Arab Republic of Egypt For about thirty years, the Arab Republic of Egypt has been under a state of emergency which was declared by its ruler, Hosni Mubarak. Thus, excessive power has befallen on the state wherein much power has been in the hands of the central government while at the same time further empowering the military (Reza 2007). Thus, the government of Hosmi Mubarak was able to rule Egypt with an iron fist. This power has allowed the regime to ignore habeas corpus resulting to numerous arrests despite the lack of charges, public outcry was silenced by the ban on demonstrations, and political opposition has been stamped out with the dispersal of meetings and the media blindfolded by shutdowns. Liberalism Those who go up against the government end up being persecuted and are locked up behind bars (Shatz, 2010). These efforts by the Egyptian government have been scorned by human rights groups in and out of the country. However, the Egyptians have had enough and defiantly took to the streets. Thus, a series of protests erupted demanding that Hosni Mubarak step down and the state of emergency be lifted. This defiant move was lauded by amnesty international, an international human rights organization with millions of supporters and with presence in over 150 countries and territories. For amnesty international, it is time for reforms in the country and end the system that has repressed its people for over three decades (Amnesty International 2011). Liberal Internationalism Egypt has had a rich culture and probably has one of the oldest civilizations. The country boasts of the pyramids that has attracted tourists and fascinated mankind. However, Egypt also has a history of human rights violations and a tendency to repress minorities. This was even recorded biblically which resulted in the exodus of the Jews. Currently, majority of the Egyptians are Muslims and most of them are Sunnis. A mere 10% make up the other religion. The country also has over 82 million people which make Egypt the 15th most populous place in the world (CIA World Fact Book 2011). Egypt is also an oil producer churning in about 740 kb/d (thousands of barrel per day). On the other side, the country’s consumption stands at about 700 kb/d which, in effect, makes Egypt on a minor oil exporter. The country has lost its clout on the oil producing sector when incidents in the Suez canal opened the doors for much larger containers that can carry much bigger loads of oil which negates the need to navigate through the canal. However, when it comes to gas, Egypt is a significant producer where most of its exports find their ways into Spain, United Kingdom (UK), Korea and France (International Energy Agency 2011). Hence, although a practically negligible oil producer, Egypt holds a respectable share in the gas market. Also, the Sumed (Suez-Mediterranean) pipeline passes through the country which makes this country strategically important to the oil and gas industries. Also, these are also among the sources of income financing the government of Mubarak. Nevertheless, population growth and poverty as well as the rising unemployment stirred once more the spirit of nationalism among Egyptians to move them to demand an improvement to their way of life. However, despite the high population, the opposition in the country is very fragmented. In fact, this was exploited by the Mubarak regime to prolong its hold on power. Thus, the possible oppositions have been pitted against each other which has kept them quite busy while the regime watches in amusement feeling secured. However, should this tactic show some inefficiency, the regime was more than willing to use force to ensure that the opposition was kept at a minimum. The most prominent thorn on the side of the Mubarak regime is the Muslim Brotherhood. This is an organization which has a huge following that has a significant political clout in Egypt. However, this organization once promoted a violent struggle but during the 1970’s, the idea was supposedly abandoned by the organization. Still, the Muslim Brotherhood is banned by the government and most of its member activists are locked up within Egyptian cells. Despite of this, the brotherhood maintains a set of connections spanning the country’s religious establishments (Guttman 2011). This has been instrumental in the protests against the government. The human rights violations against its members continue and these political prisoners remain locked up. This further fuelled the dissent against the Mubarak regine and was instrumental in driving the Egyptians to the streets. Liberalism as (IR) Theory It is ironic though that the ruling party in Egypt is called the National Democratic Party (NDF) when in fact there is no democracy in the country. What can be considered a legitimate opposition consists of weak parties that can not even put up a respectable challenge to the ruling NDF. Among these parties are the Wafd, Tagammu and some Nasserist parties. Although Mubarak allows the existence of these organizations and have given them legality and right to run for office, these parties do not have enough clout to influence the Egyptian political situation as they have been relegated to menial jobs in the state (Elshobaki 2010). To make matters worse, instead of providing an avenue to improve the political situation in Egypt and put a stop to human rights violations, the existence of these parties even made matters worse as they have been used by the regime to claim legality and even boast of a democracy that is basically inexistent. Thus, throughout the thirty year existence of the state of emergency, the Mubarak regime has been able to conveniently continue the repression of its people under the pretense of false democracy. However, external factors have also been instrumental in perpetuating Mubarak’s stay in power. Hence, the regime has successful continued its violation of human rights under the state of emergency. The political prisoners that have been locked up, torture and even rape of dissenters, the inefficient opposition parties all demonstrate the blatant disregard for human rights that has swamped the Egyptians for over three decades. These, however, must not be allowed to continue as protests escalate with thousands taking to the streets. People are putting themselves at risk and facing a possible retribution by the abusive state. However, if the government fails to protect its people and turn three hundred sixty degrees to become its oppressors, it is the duty of the rest of the free world to ensure that innocent civilians do not shed blood for protecting themselves against the government that is supposed to serve them and the military that is supposed to protect them. It is quite encouraging that recently, there has been a global arousal on the need to integrate development with human rights (Brodnig, 2005). Furthermore, there has been a realization among different international organizations on the need for this integration. Thus, international financial institutions and different international organizations are increasingly bringing into reality the Universal Declaration of Rights crafted by different countries under the banner of the United Nations. Key Human Rights Issues in Egypt’s State of Emergency The repression of the Mubarak regime against its people clearly violates this charter on the United Nations in which Egypt is a member. Article 3 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly states the right to life, liberty and security which has not been fully enjoyed by the Egyptian people and has been completely taken away by the regime from political dissidents. Also, the torture of political prisoners and oppositions have effectively violated article 5 which safeguards the citizenry against these cruel acts and against actions that might degrade the humanity of a person. Also, the arrests made by the regime adamantly violate Article 9 which guard against illegal arrests and detentions. Thus, the detentions made by the regime in its thirty year state emergency have clearly taken away this right to those that opposes them. Likewise the absence of a fair trial for those that were imprisoned violates Article 10 which provides the right to fairness and impartiality of trial for any accused. Of course, the three decades has been teaming with repression against the opposition wherein the regime either regulates or bans protests against the government topped off with the suppression of the media which clearly violates Article 19. Furthermore, the regime also violates Article 20 when it banned and restricted political parties and other assemblies that do not share the beliefs of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDF). Consequently, this further violates the UN Human Rights charter since this effectively stifles any organization against the government hence drastically limiting the participation of the opposition in matters of the state. Thus, the regime violates Article 21 since there has been no real opposition and the parties that were legalized by the state were merely pawns to advance the regimes false democratic imagery. Hence, it is clear that during the thirty year state of emergency which seem bloody long to be considered an emergency, the Mubarak regime has violated various articles of the human rights charter of the United Nations. Fortunately, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also recognized the need for the use of a popular revolt or rebellion by the people in order to break free from oppressive and tyrannous rule should all other options be exhausted. Furthermore, in such an event, the United Nations through this human rights charter continue to support, recognize and protect the rights of individuals in such an eventuality (United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2011). However, for this to be realized, the cooperation and influence of the members of the free world is necessary to make the Mubarak regime or any other tyrannical ruler realize that the rest of the civilized world will not stand at the sidelines while repression and abuse to human rights continue. This has not been an easy task since these institutions such as the World Bank have avoided being tarnished by politics. Despite the decline in capital transfer over the last few years, the World Bank remains a bastion of international financial integrity especially when it acts as a guarantor for the developing world. Trends within Liberalism However, due to the inherent character of most financial institutions to avoid being drawn in to a country’s politics, the World Bank has garnered its share of disapproval on human rights issues (World Bank 1995). A sin of omission can be as grave as a sin of commission especially if it impacts greatly into the violation of the fundamental rights of civilization. During the 1960’s, the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank (WB) had a human rights skirmish due to the Banks dealings in lending with South Africa and Portugal. UN tried to persuade the World Bank to discontinue giving loans to these countries because of human rights violations of these countries through its policies (Bleicher 1970). It is very hard to put a stop to human rights abuses to leaders of states if these countries are continually funded by international financial organizations. Political Liberalism In fact, the United States also took some flak due to the heavy support it has accorded the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Egypt has provided strategic support to the US. In fact, an airbase in West Cairo has been used by aircrafts of its military on its way to Iraq (Shatz 2010). Furthermore, Egypt is a pro-American Arab country which makes it a strong partner in the war on terrorism being spearheaded by the United States. Instability in Egypt could undermine this cooperative effort should an Islamist regime ascends to the top (Cook 2009). This need by the US further emboldened Mubarak even more and might have been contributory for his want to perpetuate power to the repressive regime. With the US on board, not only was the regime able to claim legality and banner democracy but it has flaunted a seeming endorsement but was able to maintain its military muscle against any possible threat with the flaunting of a seeming support from the world’s last remaining superpower. Cultural Liberalism However, to give genuine support and provide protection for human rights, it is important for international institutions to recognize the need for good governance as a fertile ground for true economic development which is the focus of the economic and development assistances extended by these institutions for developing countries. Through this development, it has been stipulated that the countries that have good governance must have public institutions can be held liable or are responsible for its actions and must be knowledgeable in dealings with matters of the state and the economy. Likewise, these countries must be transparent and truthfully reflect policies affecting the economy and social practices. This must be coupled by a steadfast legal system with fair participation by all affected stakeholders (International Development Association 1998). Economic Liberalism However, after years of maintaining an alleged neutral position, the World Bank has found it quite difficult to espouse this paradigm shift. Still, to genuinely support the declaration of human rights, what has to be done has to be done and slowly the bank was able to integrate the revisions need to bridge the yawning gap between politics and economy. Through the Comprehensive Development Framework, the World Bank has formally recognized the pressing need for the protection of human rights as it stresses that in the absence of its protection an equitable and fair development cannot be realized (World Bank 2000). Liberalism – Triumphant Following up on this lead, other international systems recalibrated their programs and policies to adopt an approach fine tuned with the need for the protection of human rights. Thus, UNICEF ensured that any assistance coming from their coffers as well as the programs that they will sponsor will be beneficial to the rights of children as well as those of women. This approach allowed them to craft policies that maximize the impact of their development programs to benefit the most unfortunate or the weakest parts of society (UNDP 2000). Likewise, the European Union (EU) has promulgated a new charter called the Cotonou Agreement which integrates the need to protect human rights. This promulgation, in effect, incorporates into future developmental endeavor the assurance that the projects and policies that will be undertaken by the European Union will always have the need to uphold human rights as its inherent driving force and initiative spanning the arenas of economics, politics, civil as well as the social and cultural realms (Cotonou Agreement). These developments have greatly enhanced cooperation between nations as well as the different international institutions to bring forth a deeper understanding of the need to protect human rights especially in times of conflict and on declarations of a state of emergency. Indeed, if there is an article of war that tries to protect the rights of prisoners as well as the protection of even the accused, then the need to protect human rights especially since these are innocent civilians must be further cemented into the different policies and programs of this institutions. Likewise, since these institutions are supposedly pushing for developmental reforms which they contend in the past to lie within the boundaries of economics, these programs are doomed to fail if the basic rights of the country’s citizenry are not respected. Hence, no matter how many millions of dollars these institutions dole out, these cannot be utilized for its true purpose of development especially if these funds fall into the hands of tyrants and dictators. If these reforms in developmental assistance are not initiated properly, it will just be counterproductive to the development efforts as this will only provide additional funds to the coffers of the repressive regimes. Weaknesses and Criticism of Liberalism Still, despite the awareness of the need to infuse developmental policies and programs with the pressing need for the protection of human rights, this has yet to be fully incorporated in an international level of cooperation that may give real weight on the policy and be an enforceable mandate for these institutions. The human rights needs have yet to enjoy the political influence of multinational issues such as those that affect the economy and the environment (Gunther 1998). All these issues are important and must be addressed fully in order to realize true and sustainable development. During the past few years, reforms for the economy have been very glaring as financial markets from most of the advanced economies crumbled because of the credit crunch that lead to the “Great Recession”. Still reeling from the economic debacle, various environmental concerns plagued the different parts of the world ringing the climate change alarm louder. These events have brought severe hardships and destructions that brought in more need for reforms and cooperation among the different countries along with most multinational institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and the United Nations (UN). Currently, unrest in the most troublesome part of the world began to make significant political and economic ripples. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been governed by autocratic monarchs or sheiks, kings or sultans. Those that banner a democratic face such as Egypt do so under false pretenses while maintaining a government that is basically under a one man or one party rule. Real democracy is yet to be achieved in these regions. The string of protests has undoubtedly awakened the desire of the citizens of these countries to have a better life. Also, the various improvements in technology that has helped the communications sector grow leaps and bounds gave these countries the wisdom to know that there indeed is a better situation and that this is not an impossible task if they are willing to pay the price. Also, these technological improvements enabled the whole Arab world to know what is going on in their neighbors. With popular uprisings gaining the much needed media mileage, the people from the different Arab countries to stand up to their repressive governments and demand change. This was sparked by the rapid removal from power of the dictatorship in Tunisia. This greatly affected the Egyptians as well as all the other Middle Eastern and North African countries since their political structures are basically the same. This is especially important to Egypt since there was a precedent to this event. A little over half a decade ago, the unthinkable happened when the Kefaya movement challenged the Mubarak regime. Also, with the health of the dictator waning, the political circle of Egypt has been undergoing a seemingly massive preparation to transfer power from Mubarak to his son. With years of having had to toil and live in fear of the repressive regime as well as the example shown by the Tunisians, the Egyptians went out of their recognized comfort zone to seek a better one. The previous factions in the opposition seemed to unite under Mohamed El-Baradei who was once the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA) to challenge and seek a change against a possible continuation of dictatorship in Egypt (Berry 2011). Defense of the Theory But, as noble and pressing as it is, protecting human rights can be truly done if this can be measured. Consequently, basic management know how says that what is measured can be managed. Thus, for human rights protection and the reforms needed to bring this protection into reality and into the programs of different countries and international institutions, human rights must be measured. This is undoubtedly a gargantuan task but the need is indeed pressing. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been in existence since 1948. That is over half a century ago. Yet, despite the marvelous technological advances in technology, human rights violations continue to permeate society especially those in the trouble parts of the world. Behind the luxury and comfort being enjoyed through the supposedly sophisticated new way of life for human civilizations, human rights abuse victims continually suffer the barbaric treatment of tyrants, dictators and their despotic regimes. Thus, despite the declaration in the late 40’s, what is said by countries such as Egypt varies greatly from the actual situation of human rights in the country. Usually, there are four different methods of measuring human rights. One is events based wherein, as the name implies, events of abuses are recorded such as actual violations that have been documented legally, information from undisclosed sources through one or more informants and those undeniable media footages. Another method is the standards based which rely on data of recorded violations. Another is the proxy based which also rely on data on various rights’ violations. Lastly, there is the survey which takes into consideration the violations that are reported whenever these surveys are done. Of course there are limits to the accuracy of these methods which in themselves are already very hard to do. In fact, it is hard to rely on most data if ever there is any especially if these are coming from the target country or government. Likewise, surveys are littered with inaccuracies since most NGO’s that may have these data have gathered these through convenience sampling from those willing to share their personal experiences or those that have second hand knowledge of such abuses. Likewise, the time when data is collected becomes a problem since certain periods may aggravate or lessen human rights violations. During times of conflict, human rights violations may go up especially if the government is on a witch hunt for possible dissidents. The reliance of these data are also affected by geographical boundaries and there may be no way to correlate events from different areas and, more so, from different periods (Fosse 2008). Conclusion Human rights is very important for the successful advancement of civilization. Looking at the situation in Egypt, the various aids that should have trickled down to the masses have instead been used to further cement power to the ruling party. Thus, the international financial institutions as well as countries that give aids and grants for developments only strengthens the stranglehold that tyrants have against their people if they will continually argue that the political aspect of that country is not their concern and that their help is only limited for economic development. Yet, as history would teach, no progress can ever be achieved without removing entrenched brutal ideologies that limit human rights. Even China, with all its size and military might, has had to relax some of its policies and open its doors to the international community to succeed. Meanwhile, the hermit state North Korea continues to rely on food aids from other countries to feed its hungry people. So far, the regime in North Korea has maintained their grip on power but at the heavy cost of their citizens. In Egypt, the people have went beyond turning a blind eye to the excesses of its government and has brought the struggle towards the pinnacle of success. However, a high price has already been paid with the number of dissidents languishing in jail not knowing the day that they will be set free. Likewise, it is unfortunate to think of the many that have gone before and fought the good fight which brought them to their respective final resting places. The struggle for freedom and democracy is littered with wounds, scars and dead bodies as well as faceless heroes that tried to challenge powerful regimes that, like leeches have clung to power all the while bleeding the country dry. Most of these people suffered grave human rights abuses but despite torture and death, it can be said that they have not failed though they have not yet succeeded. Their selfless sacrifices all pile up to one day be poured out like an enormous wave that will hopefully sweep tyranny away. Indeed, the repressive Mubarak regime in Egypt has successfully singled out and handled Islamists and liberal political activists – both of which are sources of discomfort to the repressive regime. Likewise, in obvious disregard to Egyptian intellect, amendments to Egypt’s constitution were made in 2007. This has been strongly condemned by rights groups as the amendments were engineered to further entrench the state of emergency in the country (Sadiq 2007). Basically, protests were not really new in Egypt since it was through such a move that they were able to gain independence from the British. From then on there had been labor strikes and demonstrations that gave the country an almost credible democracy. However, during the 50’s onward, these protests become irregular and are usually stamped down easily by government forces. However, since these can be readily crushed, the government somehow has given this leeway to protesters which served them well to enforce a facade of democracy. Thus, the minimal protests only strengthened the image of a democratic Egypt in the eyes of the international community while at home people are suffering from repression. As such, these protests have been taken advantaged of by the government to push their own interests (Glover 2010). Hence, the protests were not only useless but counterproductive as well just like the weak political parties that serve as decorations for the government to show off their brand of democracy. Through all these, the state has continually enjoyed the blessings of the international community as they perpetuate their hold on power and continually abuse human rights. However, studies on measuring human rights, coupled with the brazen protests that eventually pushed Mubarak away bodes well for the Egyptian people. Likewise, the increasing realization of international financial institutions of the need for integrating economic policies with human rights promises a better future for Egypt and other countries strife with abuses and rich with victims of human rights. The declaration of these very important rights has been made over a century ago. This was promulgated and witnessed by members of the free world although it is sad to note that some of these are actual violators of the declaration that they made with the rest of the members of the United Nations. Likewise, some of these member countries that have true respect for human rights in their own countries contribute to the defilement of these rights in other countries through aids both civil and military that is based on alliances advancing each country’s self interest. Hence, for human rights to be fully protected in Egypt and in other countries under states of emergency, it is increasingly important that different governments and institutions help uphold the declaration of human rights and show that they are indeed nations that are united. References Amnestry International 2011, Egypt: Human rights reform essential as Hosni Mubarak steps aside. Available at: Accessed 31 March 2011. Bery, S, 2011, Roots of discontent: Egypt’s call for freedom. Available at: Harvard Kennedy School Accessed on 31 March 2011. Bleicher, S 1970, UN v. IBRD, Available at: International Organization Accessed on 31 March 2011. Brodnig, G 2005, The World Bank and human rights: Mission impossible ? Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Working Paper T-01-05. Available at: Accessed 31 March 2011. CIA 2011, World Fact Book Egypt: Population. Available at: Accessed 31 March 2011. Cook, S & Sabbagh, H 2009, Political instability in Egypt. Available at: Accessed on 31 March 2011. 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