By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt — The Health Ministry reported that at least 4 people were killed, and 350 people were injured in Cairo as supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi clashed near the presidential palace last Tuesday.

It is reported that pro-Morsi demonstrators tried to break up an opposition sit-in.  The leaders of the opposition accused the Muslim Brotherhood of creating violence.  Fighting continued between the two parties into Thursday morning, as both sides threw stones and Molotov cocktails at each other.  Pro-Morsi supporters ransacked tents erected by the opposition in front of the palace last Tuesday, claiming that they found drugs and alcohol within them.  Witnesses claim that they saw Morsi supporters throw stones and use clubs to attack anti-Morsi demonstrators.  The Interior Ministry claims that thirty-two people were arrested.  Protests spread throughout Egypt as the offices of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Ismalia and Suez were torched.  Morsi’s opponents were heard chanting “no to dictatorship,” while their rivals responded with “defending Morsi is defending Islam.”

Because of the crisis, three members of the Presidential Advisory Council, Seif Abdel Fattah, Ayman Al-Sayyad, and Amr Al-Leithy, announced their resignation.  Dr. Ahmed El-Tayyeb, Grand Imam of the powerful Al-Azhar Mosque, called for Egyptians to engage in dialogue.

Earlier on Wednesday, Vice President Mahmoud Mekky said that the constitutional referendum is still scheduled for December 15, but that the “door for dialogue” remained open, suggesting that it would still be possible to make changes to the document after it is voted in.  In a press conference last Wednesday, Mekki urged for consensus, saying that opposition demands must be respected to overcome the crisis.

Opposition leader Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and Secretary-General of the Arab League said that Morsi must make a formal offer for dialogue if his opponents were to take Mekki’s requests seriously.  “We are ready when there is something formal, something expressed in definite terms, we will not ignore it,” said Moussa in a press conference held last Wednesday night with pro-opposition leaders Mohamed El-Baradei and Hamdeen Sabbahi.  The three men blamed Morsi for the violence that occurred in front of the presidential palace.  “He has lost the moral legitimacy to lead Egypt,” said Sabbahi.

The Muslim Brotherhood, however, believe that the opposition leaders are to blame for the violence.  “It’s very sad to see opposition leaders such as El-Baradei, Hamdeen, and Amr Moussa to resort to such levels of talk, said Gehad El-Haddad Senior Advisor to the Freedom and Justice Party, in an interview with Al Jazeera.  “Such disrespect to the sanctity of peaceful protesting, within the context of democracy is very alarming.”

For further information, please see:

Al Arabiya — At Least one Killed as Anti-Mursi Protests Flare Outside Cairo’s Presidential Palace — 5 December 2012

Al Jazeera — Several Killed in Egypt Clashes — 5 December 2012

BBC News — Egypt Crisis: Fatal Cairo Clashes Amid Constituion row — 5 December 2012

Daily News Egypt — Egypt Crisis Escalates — 5 December 2012

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt — Last Monday, the head of the Judge’s Club, an unofficial body who represents the judges of Egypt, urged its members to boycott overseeing the referendum of a draft constitution, which is scheduled for December 15, due to a standoff between the president and the judiciary.

The boycott is a response to one of President Mohamed Morsi’s constitutional declarations, which temporarily strips judges of their ability to overturn presidential decisions or to dissolve the Constituent Assembly.  The draft constitution and recent power decrees by Morsi has been met with widespread protests, as protesters returned to Tahrir Square in Cairo, where calls to oust former President Hosni Mubarak occurred a year ago, to voice their dissent.  Egypt’s judges are considered to be the strongest critics to Morsi’s recent decisions.

Judge Zakaria Shalash, head of the Cairo Appeal Court, expects a majority of judges to side with the Judge’s Club in its boycott.  Shalash believes that if, during the process of the boycott, lawyers or law professors are called on to take the place of  boycotting judges, then the referendum will be deemed invalid.  Ahmed Yehia Ismail, head of the South Cairo Criminal Court, disagrees.  Ismail believes that a majority of the judges will take part in overseeing the referendum due to their ethical and professional responsibilities.

Malek Adly, a lawyer at the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, said that lawyers do not have the right to oversee the referendum, calling it illegal.  “It is illegal because the judges, not lawyers, not professors, nor any other group, need to be the observers according to the law and the constitution.”  Adly also said that it is expected by the international community that the referendum would be overseen by judges.  Ibrahim Elnur, a professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo, does not think this will be an option.  “All of the professors have different political opinions.  They cannot replace the judiciary; they are a completely different category.”

Earlier on Sunday, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court decided to shelve its work indefinitely after Morsi’s supporters prevented judges from convening.  In determining the legality of Morsi’s constitutional decree, the court planned to make a ruling over whether to dissolve the upper house of Parliament and the constituent assembly.  A new date for the ruling has yet to be set.

Morsi is accused of usurping sweeping powers and pushing the Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda.  The secular opposition promises to stage a civil disobedience campaign against the vote, and with judges divided on boycotting the referendum, it is unsure what their level of participation will be.

For further information, please see:

Ahram Online — Judges, Legal Experts Weigh up Scenarios Ahead of Constitutional Referendum — 3 December 2012

Al Jazeera — Egypt Judges Reject Role in Constitutional Vote — 3 December 2012

BBC News — Egypt Judges ‘to Oversee Referendum’ Despite Boycott — 3 December 2012

Daily News Egypt — Judges Club Will not Observe the Referendum — 3 December 2012

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – The highly anticipated new constitution which has created so much controversy and has led to innumerable protests and demonstrations is expected to finally be enacted today in Egypt. The constitutional assembly worked around the clock, for approximately seventeen straight hours yesterday, before they unanimously approved the two hundred and thirty-seven items in the draft. After President Mohammed Morsi officially receives and ratifies the draft, he will call for a quick-fire referendum to adopt it.

Morsi will call for the referendum because he does not want the supreme constitutional court to get in the way of the constitution’s adoption. Morsi’s worry is that the supreme constitutional court will try to dissolve the constitutional assembly that had created the draft before it officially becomes law. “There is a rush because you can’t leave the country like this and wait for a politicised verdict from the supreme constitutional court,” said Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Sameh El-Essawia.

Once the referendum is called for, a decision to dissolve the constitutional assembly would have no effect. Furthermore, Morsi will call for the referendum because of his November 22^nd decree, which asserts that he is immune from any judicial challenges until a constitution is passed and a parliament is elected. That was another highly controversial move, but the Muslim Brotherhood believes that adopting the constitution now will deflect a lot of negative attention away from that political manuever.

Nevertheless, it does not appear that replacing one controversial decision with another. which is implemented by equally controversial means, will do anything to help cure the clear divide between conservative muslims and any liberal or non-muslim in Egypt. The general criticism against the draft is that it is too focused on utilizing Sharia law and is ambiguous as to women’s and minority rights. Many feel that the draft protects the religion of Islam at the expense of having freedom of expression. Numerous protests have been held in Tahrir Square, including one yesterday, in attempts to criticize Morsi’s regime and stop this constitution from being passed.

As many demonstrations as there were against Morsi and the constitution, there were just as many demonstrations to promote it and Morsi, including one today. Tens of thousands of Islamists met in the streets of Cairo calling for the “implementation of God’s law.”

“The contentious issues have not been resolved, especially regarding the relationship of the state to religion, and that takes us away from the modern civil state,” said University professor Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed.

For further information, please see:

Al Ahram – President Receives Draft Constitution Today and Setting a Date for the Referendum – 1 December 2012

BBC – Egypt Crisis: Islamists Rally for President Morsi – 1 December 2012

Guardian – Morsi Supporters hit the Streets as Egypt Braces for Referendum – 1 December 2012

Jerusalem Post – Islamists Rally for Morsi as Egypt Rift Widens – 1 December 2012

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – On Tuesday about fifteen men, twenty-two women, and eight children were detained for participating in a protest just outside the Human Rights Commission in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh. The women and children were let go that day, however, the men are still being held by the Saudi Arabian security forces.

The participants of the peaceful protest claimed that its purpose was to criticize the states improper treatment of their detained relatives. They congregated outside of the Human Rights Commission hoping to be heard by the body because no other Saudi Arabian authority would previously listen to their complaints or attempt to resolve the dispute. The protestors’ complaints centered around two main issues concerning their detained relatives. Some cited inadequate medical care for detainees was a source of frustration. One woman claimed that her husband had been urinating blood for six months without ever receiving medical assistance.

Many others were protesting the complete lack of basis under which their relatives were being detained. Mohammed Al-Qahtani, a human rights activist and board member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, described the protests as demonstrations by family members for prisoners who have been, “languishing in jail cells without due process” for years.

One woman said that her husband has been held against his will for twelve years despite being found innocent at trial. Others claimed that their relatives were being held captive despite never being charged or put on trial. As a result of their protests, the demonstrators became detainees themselves. Only after the women and children signed a document stating that they would not protest again otherwise they would face punishments if they did, were they eventually released.

The grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, has condemned the use of protests claiming that they are used by, “enemies to spread chaos.” He also states that to protest is inherently anti-Islamic. The grand mufti purports that Islam promotes dialogue, while protests promote nothing more than danger.

As an Islamic religious leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh is adamantly against the Arab Spring uprisings which have taken place across the Middle East for the past couple of years. He sees protests and demonstrations as a chief reason that four Islamic autocratic regimes were ousted from their positions of power. As a result, it is illegal to partake in a protest or demonstration in Saudi Arabia.

For further information, please see:

Daily Times – Saudi Grand Mufti Slams Protests as Anti-Islamic – 29 November 2012

Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Saudi Grand Mufti Condemns Protests and Blames Iran for Unrest Among Shiite Muslims – 28 November 2012

Amnesty International – Saudi Arabia Must Release or Charge Detained Peaceful Protesters – 28 November 2012

CNN – Saudis Protest for Release of Political Prisoners, Activist Says – 27 November 2012

Reuters – Saudi Authorities Detain Families at Rights Prtoest – 27 November 2012