A state of emergency imposed for the tenth time circumventing the Constitution
Cairo: 27 October 2019
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said today that the Egyptian authorities have imposed a 3-month state of emergency for the tenth time, just a few days- and sometimes one day- after its expiration circumventing and violating the constitutional provisions, which explicitly provide that a state of emergency may not be imposed for more than 6 consecutive months. Imposing this curfew, therefore, refutes the claims of stability that the Egyptian authorities declare on an almost daily basis, in an attempt to convince ordinary citizens that democracy has to be replaced with stability as if they are incompatible.
The regime extended the state of emergency by three months at dawn on Sunday, October 27. This is the tenth time the state of emergency has been renewed since it was first imposed on April 10, 2017 all over Egypt, after it was confined to North Sinai since 2014, following in the footsteps of President Hosni Mubrarak who was overthrown by January Revolution and used to impose a state of emergency throughout his dark 30-year rule.
The state of emergency, which should be only declared in a state of war and serious natural disasters, gives the authorities and the president enormous power that is being widely used for imposing censorship on newspapers and freedom of expression, and for exceptional trials and the inadmissibility to challenge emergency trials, in addition to imposing curfews in certain areas or all over the country, not to mention the wide powers granted to the security apparatus leading to the large-scale violations of human rights which has caused the phenomenon of rampant impunity.
ANHRI said: “Perhaps the only exception in the state of emergency declared now, which differentiates it from that declared during Mubarak’s reign, is that detention orders have no longer been issued upon a decision by the Interior Ministry, as the Constitutional Court has rescinded this matter. However, pretrial detention- and prolonged pretrial detention based on unsubstantiated reasons and police investigations- are now replacing arrest warrants; as it serves the same purpose but under a judicial pretence when detention ordered are issued by the Public Prosecution or courts, which means more severe and violent violations. It also allows the Egyptian government to always use judicial orders as pretext behind the detention of citizens.
ANHRI added: “Just as former interior minister Habib al-Adli, who was convicted and imprisoned following a final verdict, was unable to announce the real numbers of detainees in prisons before the January revolution, we do not believe that the current interior minister or prosecutor is able to announce the number of political prisoners or detainees held on remand, which are estimated by ANHRI- until announcing a documented figure- at roughly 65,000 detainees and political prisoners”.
Continuing to impose a state of emergency, noteworthy, contradicts the allegations made by the Egyptian media, which has become mostly under the control of the security services, conveying a message that Egypt is experiencing security stability in full disregard of the Egyptians’ right to democracy and justice; as declaring a state of emergency always reflects the absence of stability and security, and of course democracy and the rule of law.
