The military police came under criticism on Wednesday after they arrested five workers at the Petrojet Company, a Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company. The workers, who were arrested Sunday, had organized a two week sit-in outside the headquarters of the Petroleum Ministry to protest the dismissal of 1200 workers from the company.
A statement issued by the Center for Trade Union & Workers' Services (CTUWS), a civil society organization actively engaged in upholding labor rights and promoting independent trade unions, said the arrests represented the first efforts to enforce the law criminalizing protests and strikes, a law which they described as “a legal disaster by all standards.”
A number of political parties, human rights organizations and political activists also condemned the arrests. In a signed statement, they said that some of the fired workers had been with the company for over 15 years.
The statement blamed ministry officials and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for ignoring protesters’ demands that they be reinstated in the company. Meanwhile, labor activist and signatory Fatima Ramadan said the arrests constituted an attempt to halt the revolution by thwarting movements on the ground, especially those led by workers.
In a press statement, Ramadan said the law criminalizing protests contradicts international conventions that recognize the right to strike and protest, of with Egypt is a signatory.
The signatories to the statement demanded that the SCAF release five detained workers and reinstate 1200 workers who were laid off. The Egyptian government issued the new law in March, and it was ratified by the SCAF in April.
Under the new law, anyone organizing or calling for a protest would be sentenced to jail and/or a fine of LE500,000.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
