Amnesty International on Thursday, Sept. 15 criticized the Egyptian government’s decision a few days ago to expand its emergency law, saying it will greatly erode personal liberties and human rights.
On Monday, the Supreme Military Council expanded the emergency law, which Amnesty said is a continuation of restrictions that were put in place by longtime former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in February.
The London-based rights group said the interim, military-led government has reverted the law back to its original form after it was restricted in 2010 under Mubarak. Now it encompasses offenses like disturbing traffic, broadcasting rumors, blocking roads, trading and possessing weapons, and others.
Of the restrictions under the law, “We are looking at the most serious erosion of human rights in Egypt since Mubarak stepped down,” said Philip Luther, the group’s deputy director in the Middle East.
“The military authorities have essentially taken Egypt’s laws back to the bad old days. Even President Mubarak limited the scope of the emergency law to terrorism and drug offenses in May last year,” he said.
Under Mubarak, the rights watchdog said, the law was frequently used to suppress dissent and opposition groups. People arrested under the pretext of the law were tried in closed-door special courts similar to military courts. At the same time, the law gave Mubarak’s security forces the ability to carry out arbitrary arrests, detentions, and searches.
“These sweeping powers have been the cause of Egypt’s worst human rights abuses over the last 30 years,” Luther added.
Last week, some protesters in Cairo turned violent and broke into the Israeli Embassy, which was highly criticized by the Egyptian government and Jerusalem.
It was reported that three people were killed in the clashes between demonstrators, who were calling on the government to speed up proposed reforms. Some demonstrators were criticizing Jerusalem after commandos killed several Egyptian police officers near the border, following an attack carried out by militants on Israeli buses several weeks ago.
The reinstatement of the laws have prompted activists inside the country to call for mass protests centered around the site of the original revolution, Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday.
Another rights group, Human Rights Watch, said on Saturday that Egypt’s current government has arrested more than 12,000 civilians since they took power seven months ago, adding that the figure is more than the total number who faced a military trial under Mubarak’s 30-year-long rule.
Both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch said the current military leadership is continuing a path of authoritarian rule rather than democratic rule.
Presidential elections have been pushed back several times by the interim government and are expected to be held in October or November.
