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Tag: Torture

Watching Giulio

Watching Giulio

Published 24/01/2017

Two days ago, Egyptian TV showed a video of Giulio Regeni, the young Italian PhD student who was tortured and killed a year ago in Cairo. The video was taped a few days before he disappeared on January 25, 2016, only for his body to be found dumped on a highway, with signs of inhuman, brutal torture on it. You can watch the video here. A longer version with Italian subtitles is here. For over a year I have seen Giulio’s still picture, read his published work, and learned about his character and his tragically short live. But this is…

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How A Leading Egyptian Historian Found Himself In The Middle Of A Revolution

How A Leading Egyptian Historian Found Himself In The Middle Of A Revolution

Published 29/01/2016

An article by Nick Robins-Early published in The Huffington Post on January 29, 2016 Khaled Fahmy shares his memories of Egypt’s uprising, five years after Tahrir.   After over a decade of teaching in the United States, Professor Khaled Fahmy arrived in Cairo a few months before the Egyptian revolution. A leading historian of modern Egypt and an expert on the Middle East, he would find himself unexpectedly at the center of one of the most pivotal moments in the region’s history. Fahmy joined thousands of others in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where 18 days of intense protests finally caused Egyptian…

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The Egyptian state is on a steady course of self-destruction

The Egyptian state is on a steady course of self-destruction

Published 28/04/2014

Posted on Facebook on April 28, 2014 About two years ago, I had a very interesting conversation with my neighbor who lives in the same apartment building in Zamalek, Cairo. I remembered this conversation today in light of the notorious verdict today by a judge in Minya sentencing 720 people to death. My neighbor is a nice, decent man in his late sixties, and we have always had a cordial relationship with each other, despite me once causing serious damage to his apartment when a water pipe burst in my apartment flooding his just below. I was rushing to some demonstration…

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Why it was necessary to remove Morsi

Why it was necessary to remove Morsi

Published 04/07/2013

Published in Ahram Online on July 4, 2013 The revolution aimed to change the rules of the game, not just its players. When it was clear that Mohamed Morsi was picking up the mantle of Mubarak, he had to go I did not vote for Mohamed Morsi in the previous presidential elections. I invalidated my ballot in these elections because I realised that Egypt deserves better than either Morsi or Shafiq. Yet when the results were announced, I was glad because I realised that we had managed to carry out the first free and fair elections, and I considered Mohamed…

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We did not risk our lives simply to change the players

We did not risk our lives simply to change the players

Published 03/07/2013

Posted as an op-ed for the CNN on July 3, 2013 Two days before Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president of Egypt, I wrote an article for CNN calling for the Muslim Brotherhood to have a place in the post-Mubarak Egypt. Back then, I wrote: “As a secularist, I am not in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power in Egypt, and I remain deeply skeptical of its political program, believing that much of it is vague and impractical. But as an Egyptian hoping for freedom and justice for my country, I am deeply convinced that the Muslim Brotherhood has a place within…

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Why I signed the Rebel campaign

Why I signed the Rebel campaign

Published 25/05/2013

Published on May 25, 2013 Incompetence and inefficiency are not enough to annul the mandate of the ruling president, gained at the ballot box. But continuing the system of torture used by the former regime is Before midnight on Friday, 17 May 2013, I decided to go to Tahrir Square to sign the “Rebel” campaign’s petition, which asks for the withdrawal of confidence from President Mohamed Morsi El-Ayat. This was not an arbitrary decision, nor was it a product of the moment. It was the result of deep reflection as well as an appreciation for the importance of this campaign…

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Islamists and transitional justice

Islamists and transitional justice

Published 19/05/2013

Published in Ahram Online on May 19, 2013 Islamists have recently shown sudden interest in transitional justice. But this interest focuses on revenge, not achieving societal reconciliation, restructuring the police, and ending all human rights violations Suddenly, and in the same week, three of the largest Islamist movements started talking about transitional justice, demanding its implementation at once. Spokesman for the Salfist front, Hisham Kamal, asserted, “Mubarak should have been tried for all his crimes from the start, not only for killing protestors.” Political consultant to the El-Benaa wa El-Tanmia (Building and Development) Party, the political army of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya,…

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The Muslim Brotherhood is turning a blind eye to the army’s torture record

The Muslim Brotherhood is turning a blind eye to the army’s torture record

Published 11/04/2013

Posted on Facebook on April 11, 2013 Yesterday’s Guardian article is big news. The first question of course is whether or not Morsy, and behind him the MB, will do anything about it and summon the courage to hold Egypt’s high brass accountable. There are those who say that time has not come yet for the revolution to take on the army. They point out that other countries, e.g. South Africa, many countries in eastern Europe and South America, took decades before they could be able to dismantle the former regime. We have to crawl before we are able to…

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Chile’s Patricio Guzman: Nostalgia for the light

Chile’s Patricio Guzman: Nostalgia for the light

Published 24/03/2013

Published in Ahram Online on March 24, 2013 Without forcing those who committed bloody deeds against their people to recognise their guilt, countries will fail to progress to democracy or a brighter future Patricio Guzman focuses on the past, on light and on hope. Guzman is a Chilean documentary film director who over the past decade has directed many short films about astronomy, astronomers and observatories in Chile. His films are deep, intelligent, sad, and make us think not only about stars and galaxies, but also about what takes place on this earth and what lies within. The films are…

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What doesn’t Morsi understand about police reform?

What doesn’t Morsi understand about police reform?

Published 01/03/2013

Published in Ahram Online on March 1, 2013 Failing to reform the police, which was a basic demand of the revolution, will be detrimental to the rule of President Morsi In mid-1861, Said Pasha, the ruler of Egypt, issued a Sovereign Decree to all police chiefs replacing the penalty of beating with imprisonment. Accordingly, regulations were issued stating that since “penalties in the form of beatings of some criminals are intended to once and for all discipline those who commit crimes and sins, and serve as a deterrence to others, while keeping in mind effect without harm, we have decided…

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