2023-07-03 10:58:31
From our correspondent in Cairo,
In the chaos of Cairo’s traffic, taxis don’t even bother with the usual precautions. « We have no freedom in Egypt. We are tired of Sissi! This sentence would have been unthinkable in recent years, since the raïs reigns with an iron fist over the most populous country in the Arab world.
Strictly speaking, complaints about the declining standard of living would have been possible, Egypt experiencing galloping inflation by 33% in less than a year, while more than a third of the 105 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. But the question of freedom was not a priority as long as the Egyptians could feed themselves.
« Security at the cost of freedom »
« When Sisi took power in 2013, there were numerous attacksrecalls Mohamed Lotfi, director of the human rights NGO Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), one of the last in Egypt. So many people have chosen security at the cost of freedom. »
Then Minister of Defense, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, presents himself before the Egyptians as a savior in the face of the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, personified by Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president in Egyptian history. At the time, “ they nevertheless changed and modified the Constitution, put articles which allow to establish an Islamic State and a religious State. All this greatly embarrassed the majority of the Egyptian people, who took to the streets to seize power from the Muslim Brotherhoods”, analyzes Amr Alshobaky, a specialist in political Islam.
Elected barely a year ago, Mohamed Morsi was overthrown and imprisoned on July 3, 2013. For more than a month, in the middle of Ramadan, under the oppressive heat of July in Cairo, his supporters gathered to demand the return of the fallen raïs . Wasted effort. From August 14 to 16, the military regime will open fire on demonstrators gathered in Rabia-El-Adaouïa Square. Result: at least 638 killed by the Egyptian authorities’ own admission. The NGO Human Rights Watch described him as “ largest massacre in modern Egyptian history ».
Quickly, the state of emergency is again promulgated and the Muslim Brotherhood considered a “terrorist organization”. Mass trials are on the rise. For human rights defenders, whose breath of the “Arab Spring” was still anchored, the return to reality of the military regime is painful. From now on, anyone who criticizes the power of Sisi or the army is putting themselves in danger. “ The country has been operating for ten years without any form of local governance, explains Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). The government uses incarceration as its primary governance tool. And it’s not only a question of political prisoners, but also the whole population that is taken hostage. Anyone can be arrested. Once in jail there is no legal process and you don’t know when you will be released. »
Third term in sight
Governing by fear. According to human rights NGOs, 60,000 political prisoners today populate Egyptian jails, a figure formally denied by the authorities. Mohamed Morsi will die in prison in 2019.
One year before the presidential election, the raïs Sissi intends to run for a third term and has decided to launch a major national dialogue. ” In reality, it’s a mosaic of monologues, not a dialoguelike Mohamed Lotfi. To participate, we demanded commitments from the government, particularly on the release of political prisoners. Between April 2022 and April 2023, there were actually 1,600 releases. But 3,600 were arrested at the same time. That’s 2000 more! That’s why we refused to participate in this masquerade. »
While the floor is very slightly free in Egypt, in particular due to the economic crisis affecting the country, the presidential election of 2024 will be scrutinized by Egypt’s partners. The United States and the European Union in the lead, anxious to maintain a semblance of stability in this country located at the crossroads of a region shaken by political crises.
Without any credible opposition, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi therefore has an avenue ahead of him to stay in power. However, “ Sisi does not accept criticism, he thinks he was sent by God to save the countrysouligne Hossam Bahgat. And because the president has decided to destroy state institutions and manage everything alone, he is now solely responsible for the situation in Egypt. »
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