CAIRO: Opposition groups welcomed the dismantling of the State Security Investigations apparatus and called for guarantees that the new security arm will not be a replica of its notorious predecessor.
“It’s a positive step that we’ve been demanding for a long time,” general coordinator of the April 6 Youth Movement, Ahmed Maher, told Daily News Egypt.
“What’s important is that this [new security arm] is monitored and guarantees are given to prevent its corruption unlike the State Security apparatus which served the former regime, not the people,” Maher added.
Minister Mansour El-Essawy decided on Tuesday to establish a new security arm, called National Security, that would be restricted to "guarding the domestic front and battling terrorism," according to the laws, the constitution and human rights principles.
Officers will be selected in the coming days to staff the new apparatus and “serve their country without interfering in citizens’ lives or (violating) their right to political participation,” the ministry’s statement added.
“This is a new victory for the revolutionaries that guarantees their legitimacy,” Khaled El-Sayed, member of the youth coalition and prominent member of the Youth for Justice and Freedom Movement told DNE.
“When the people broke into state security headquarters, they forced the interior ministry to heed their demands,” he said. “However this new security arm must not include any officials or duties related to the former state security apparatus,” he added.
Egyptian protesters stormed several state security buildings earlier this month to retrieve files kept on citizens by the powerful apparatus, long accused of human rights abuses.
Protesters who forced the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in February have repeatedly called for dismantling state security, which employs at least 100,000 policemen and a large network of informants.
“The best thing this revolution has achieved is dismantling the state security apparatus,” Mohamed Farag, secretary general of Al Tagammu Party, told DNE.
“State security and the police ruled the country and was full of corruption because it had no laws to govern it and no supervision,” Farag said.
“Now I can talk with (any reporter) regarding my political views freely, without being spied on or threatened by state security,” Farag added.
Founder of Al-Ghad Party Ayman Nour told DNE, “It’s a positive step as long as it’s not merely a change in labels while the responsibilities of the new security apparatus remain the same.”
Political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah, from Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, agreed, saying, “changing the name of the state security apparatus while sustaining its duties is ridiculous and won’t fool the people.”
“The new security arm needs to be reshuffled and a new staff recruited and trained to respect and believe in human rights laws,” he added.
Opposition groups have long complained of crackdowns and torture at the hands of state security officers.
In 2010, a total of 6,001 Muslim Brotherhood members and leaders from 22 governorates were arrested on false accusations, according to a statement by the group’s lawyer, Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud issued in January 2011.
“The new National Security arm needs to have a clear policy that is announced to the public,” prominent MB leader Essam El-Erian told DNE. “We can’t have it violating and meddling into people’s lives like the state security used to do,”
“We want the duties of the new security apparatus to be restricted to protecting the country from any foreign enemy and preventing drug trafficking, arms smuggling and terrorism,” Karima Al-Hifnawy, member of the National Association for Change and leading member of the Kefaya Movement for Change said.
“This security apparatus should be independent from the interior ministry so that each has its own clear jurisdiction, in order to prevent the corruption that took place under the former regime,” Al-Hifnawy told DNE.
Opposition groups also called for the prosecution of all those responsible for torturing and violating the rights of innocent citizens under the former regime.
Abdel-Fattah said that all security services need to be monitored and held accountable for their actions.
“Only then, trust and mutual respect will be restored between the people and the security services,” Abdel Fattah said.
“People need security services but they don’t need to be persecuted and oppressed,” he added.
Farag said that the definition of terrorism needs to be clear to prevent the National Security arm of the Interior Ministry from extending it to include anyone who criticizes the government or forms a real opposition party.
“A law needs to be established to clearly define the responsibilities of the new security body,” he added.
