“Egypt continued to suppress political dissent in 2010, dispersing demonstrations, harassing rights activists, and detaining journalists, bloggers, and Muslim Brotherhood members”. Sådan indledes kapitlet om Egypten i “World Report 2010” fra Human Rights Watch. Rapporten udkom i januar.
Og videre fortælles hvordan sikkerhedsofficerer “targeted bloggers and journalists who criticized government policies and exposed human rights violations and activists supporting Mohamed El Baradei’s Campaign for Change”.
Og videre fortælles hvordan sikkerhedsofficerer “targeted bloggers and journalists who criticized government policies and exposed human rights violations and activists supporting Mohamed El Baradei’s Campaign for Change”.
De internationale journalister, som dækker begivenhederne i Egypten har således blot fået en ”smertefuld forsmag på det sikkerhedsapparat, som holder upopulære magthavere ved magten”, som BBC’s korrespondent Frank Gardner udtrykker det.
Han oplyser, at BBC, CNN og adskillige arabiske nyhedsmedier alle er blevet chikaneret, mere eller mindre voldeligt, af civilklædte bøller, der støtter præsident Mubarak.
Et eksempel: On Wednesday the BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was handcuffed, hooded and interrogated, while another journalist, from Al-Arabiya TV, was beaten so badly by plain clothes men he had to be hospitalised.
Local opposition figures would simply say: “Welcome to our world.”
Den britiske direktør for Human Rights Watch skal have sagt følgende til BBC:”State repression and abuse are coming out of the torture chambers and onto the streets”.
