The military is widely credited with securing the fall of the Mubarak regime by placing pressure on the president to step down. But as Egypt enters its tenth week of martial law, activists and analysts are questioning the ruling military council’s decision-making process and challenging the military on frequent allegations of human rights abuses.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has been the sole executive power in Egypt since Mubarak resigned on 11 February, and their position of authority is expected to last at least another nine months, until the next presidential elections. To date, however, there has been little effort exerted to hold the military accountable for its actions.
Many revolutionaries and others have expressed serious concerns over the performance of the SCAF, such as the continuation of military trials for civilians, and the relatively slow pace of certain reforms, including the dismantling of local councils and the prosecution of corrupt figures from the former regime.
“That’s what we were out protesting against on 9 March,” said Hazem, a 30-year-old granite contractor who was arrested by military police during the 9 March protests in Tahrir. A judge in a military court gave him a quick trial and sentenced him to three years on charges of "thuggery".
Hazem, whose name has been changed for his safety, spoke to Al-Masry Al-Youm by phone from Tora prison.
“They interrogated us for 10 minutes in the kitchen of the military police prison before quickly giving the sentence,” he said.
Military trials are perhaps the main concern of human rights organizations regarding SCAF performance so far.
At least 40 people out of a group of 150 who were arrested on 9 March remain in prison, having been tried as "thugs", says Hazem. Legal activists say that at least 130 of the 150 arrested were recognizable figures from the Tahrir uprising that led to Hosni Mubarak’s resignation.
Many caught by the military so far say that military police beat and insulted them more severely than the State Security aparatus ever did under Mubarak.
“When they arrested us, they continuously beat us for seven hours straight without even looking at our IDs and checking who we were,” said Hany Adel, another 9 March detainee who is now in Torah prison.
Human Rights Watch has criticized torture in military prisons, as well as many military arrests and trials, such as the recent one of blogger Michael Nabil. While the military denies any systematic use of torture or abuse — including "virginity tests" for women — activists feel the evidence suggests that the military is guilty as charged.
“There are too many similarities between the acts of physical and verbal assaults in military prisons from all over to say that they are individual and sporadic incidents,” said Mona Seif, who works with the “No to Military Trials” campaign.
Evidence gathered by the campaign shows that many of the detentions were of known revolutionary faces, picked out by informants.
“They made fun of us and said things like ‘Do you think you will change the world!?’” said Hazem.
With the ongoing sparcity of law enforcement on the streets, the strict anti-thuggery laws are generally accepted as being necessary, by Egyptian activists and laymen alike. The law was made very public, and the military constantly lauded any resulting arrests and sentences. However, with their quick trials and harsh penalties, anti-thuggery laws have created a system by which many revolutionaries and innocent people are not given due process.
Some inmates in Tora have told Al-Masry Al-Youm that they were arrested, beaten and put in prison without having once shown their IDs to any military personnel.
“I understand, though, that the military is burdened these days with a huge responsibility. We just want fair trials,” said Adel.
The sometimes repressive nature of SCAF’s policies is constantly lauded by its apologists as being necessary due to the supposedly precarious security and economic situation of the country.
For others, it has raised questions about the military’s ability to handle its position as the sole executive power in the country; its ability to control civilian life, the caliber of the civilians advising the military, and its plans for the handover of power.
“The Supreme Council has previously said that they acknowledge the legitimacy of the revolution. However, they are not engaging enough revolutionary figures in any of their decision-making,” said Hassan.
He added that the continued presence of figures from the old regime represents a major stumbling block in the dismantling and rebuilding process necessary in this phase of the revolution. Political figures have proposed a series of reforms to enhance increased dialogue with the SCAF. Presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei has proposed that SCAF create a 50-person civilian consultative council to help them with decision making.
“Even though the revolution has been successful in dismantling the old system, the rebuilding process is deficient. Many of the decisions are not made with enough popular or representative participation,” said Ammar Ali Hassan, an independent political analyst and columnist for the Arabic edition of Al-Masry Al-Youm.
In late March the military ratified the draft anti-strike law, which criminalizes organizing or inciting a demonstration that is deemed by the military to halt production or the flow of public life. Those convicted will be subject to a fine of up to LE500,000 and a year in prison, even for peaceful demonstrations.
The ratification was tucked away in a few lines in SCAF’s last 15-page decree in the Official Gazette. The discreet announcement comes in stark contrast to the multi-colored, user-friendly SCAF announcements posted as pictures on their Facebook page.
“Since the referendum, where we voted on a few constitutional amendments, 52 additional articles and three important laws have been passed, with almost no open participation,” said Hassan.
But public pressure in the form of protests has had an effect on the military’s operations. The military council said they would investigate accounts of abuse and torture and have also agreed to the retrial of some of those caught and tried during the demonstrations.
“Public pressure has yielded many positive results in the performance of the SCAF. I think they’re concerned they might lose their benevolent public image, and so they responded to some of the demonstrations and public calls for retrial,” said Seif.
The military responded to earlier protests by replacing the cabinet and releasing some army officers who had protested against the military council.
Many feel that continued pressure could change how the military runs Egypt.
“We need to have the rule of law if this situation continues with the SCAF,” says Hassan. “For now we are acting on good faith.”
