“A position paper on the phenomenon of mobilizing pro-regime citizens against the opposition”
Cairo 12 August, 2018
” ..The sunset call for prayer was the agreed signal, and as the guests queued to get their food from the buffet, a group of thugs set out to attack everyone and call them: Traitors, spies, get out!”
This is part of the testimony of the journalist Khaled Daoud, about a new incident in a series of attacks by “honorable citizens” on some academics, journalists and opposition figures during a Ramadan iftar (Breakfast) in June 2018.
This testimony came within the framework of a short study on the phenomenon of mobilizing pro-regime citizens to confront the opposition, who are described by the media outlets close to the authorities as “Honorable citizens”. The study that ANHRI is launching today is entitled:
“Honorable citizens? A position paper on the phenomenon of mobilizing pro-regime citizens against the opposition“.
The study provides a definition of the nature of honorable citizens, where they came from, and whether they are a phenomenon that is limited to Egypt, or one that already exists in other countries. Are they always honorable citizens whose social circumstances have been exploited to force them to attack and assault dissidents and critics? Or are there other social groups that play the same role? .
The study includes some examples of the mobilization of honorable citizens by the authorities to attack dissidents, such as the Battle of the Camel, the demonstrations against the waiver of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, as well as the incidents in which honorable citizens targeted certain persons or figures, such as satirist Bassem Youssef and Judge Hisham Guenena, all the way to volunteering to attack journalists or opposition protests, thinking that this way they will satisfy the authorities and distorting the idea of serving the homeland.
The study provides some recommendations for the governmental agencies to put an end to this phenomenon, to implement rule of law and equality, to stop mobilizing citizens against other citizens, and to consolidate the culture of peaceful expression.
