A relative of a supporter of Egyptian ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi cries outside the courthouse on March 25, 2014 in Minya, during a session of the trial of some 700 Islamists charged with deadly rioting in an Egypt city. (AFP PHOTO / STR)
A review of capital punishment in 2014 has documented a large spike in the handing out of death sentences by governments worldwide.
Mass verdicts handed out in Egypt have also been identified as a key element in the rise in numbers.
According to research by Amnesty International, the number of death sentences recorded in 2014 rose by almost 500 to at least 2,466, compared to 2013.
The report said this was “mainly because of sharp spikes in Egypt and Nigeria, including mass sentencing in both countries in the context of internal conflict and political instability”.
However, Amnesty International also noted the number of recorded executions fell from 778 in 2013 to 607 last year, excluding China’s figures.
Forms of execution in the past year included beheading, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. Executions in public were also carried out in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
In Egypt, courts gave out at least 509 death sentences during 2014, an increase of 400 compared to 2013. This figure included “unfair mass trials” that handed out collective death sentences, such as given to 183 people in June, including to Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie.
The report identifies that “an alarming number of countries used the death penalty to tackle real or perceived threats to state security linked to terrorism, crime or internal instability”. It called this approach “flawed” and without evidence of effectiveness in deterrence.
“In a year when abhorrent summary executions by armed groups were branded on the global consciousness like never before, it is appalling that governments are themselves resorting to more executions in a knee-jerk reaction to combat terrorism and crime,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
As many as 22 countries were reported to have carried out executions, the same number as the previous year. This is a significant decrease from 20 years ago, however, when Amnesty International recorded executions in 41 countries in 1995, suggesting that the global community is generally moving in the right direction.
The report identifies the death penalty as still widespread, but with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounting for 90% of the cases in the region. These three countries, alone, accounted for 72% of all recorded executions globally (excluding China).
However, the report noted that Sub-Saharan Africa saw good progress in 2014. Forty-six executions were recorded in three countries compared to 64 executions in five countries in 2013. Only three countries – Equatorial Guinea, Somalia and Sudan – were found by the rights watchdog to have carried out executions.
According to Amnesty International, China again carried out more executions than the rest of the world put together. It is thought that thousands are executed and sentenced to death there every year, but with numbers kept a state secret it is not possible to determine the true figure.
The other countries making up the world’s top five executioners in 2014 were Iran (289 officially announced and at least 454 more that were not acknowledged by the authorities), Saudi Arabia (at least 90), Iraq (at least 61) and the US (35).
The US continued to be the only country to put people to death in its region, although executions dropped from 39 in 2013 to 35 in 2014. This reflects a slow but steady decline in the use of the death penalty across its States over the past years.
A Russian officer (L) speaks with a Ukrainian officer before storming in the Ukrainian military air base in small city of Belbek near the Crimean city of Sevastopol on 22 March 2014. Armed forces backed by armoured vehicles broke inside a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea on Saturday, firing from automatic weapons into the air. (AFP PHOTO/ VIKTOR DRACHEV)
AFP – In the dark of night in Crimea, Anastasiya steps into a pool of yellowish light from a street lamp.
The weary 30-year-old with mousy blonde hair looks furtively side to side and her voice falls to a whisper at the sounds of passersby.
“There is not going to be any democracy here. Not with Putin in charge,” said Anastasiya, who lives in a housing block on the scrappy western outskirts of Simferopol – the main city on the Kremlin-ruled peninsula.
“I want to leave but I can’t sell my flat. What am I going to do? I just don’t have the money,” the mother of two said in an interview with AFP.
Ukraine’s government estimates there are 25,000 people in Crimea like Anastasiya who want to flee the region after its Russian takeover.
Some of them are already leaving, moving in with friends and relatives in other parts of the country.
The government has set up special hotlines for people fleeing to find jobs and receive pensions, although the practicalities of uprooting and moving to a new city can be daunting.
Before a 16 March disputed referendum on breaking off from Ukraine and joining Russia, there were a few isolated pro-unity rallies in Crimea.
Since then, however, that kind of public dissent has disappeared as Russian troops and pro-Moscow militiamen have tightened their grip.
Anastasiya has never been political.
Ukrainian is just her native language and she just does not like the idea of waking up with a new nationality.
The Black Sea peninsula’s two million inhabitants have been told that in less than a month they will automatically all be Russian citizens unless they make a special request to retain Ukrainian nationality.
“I don’t want a Russian passport, I want to keep my Ukrainian one! But I’m scared what will happen if I ask for the exemption,” Anastasiya said.
She said she and her friends “don’t speak Ukrainian in public any more”.
“Living here has become frightening. They say we’re all radicals”.
Russia and Crimea’s pro-Moscow leaders have portrayed Ukraine’s government as dominated by ultra-nationalists who discriminate against Russian-speakers and have used this as a justification for Moscow’s takeover of the peninsula.
“What discrimination? There was never any of that here against Russian speakers. That’s just what they say on Russian television,” Anastasiya said.
One of the first moves taken by Russia-backed officials here earlier this month was to switch off all Ukrainian programming and air Russian television channels instead.
Anastasiya said the Russian coverage of Crimea had been one-sided and uniform – much like the lawmakers in Moscow who have rubber-stamped Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to take Crimea into Russia’s fold.
“They all voted unanimously! What kind of democracy is that? They’re going to create a state for public servants here, not for the people,” she said.
The new reality of being de facto Russia has also divided Anastasiya’s family.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she said her Ukrainian parents are in favour of the “stability” they hope Russia will bring to their lives.
“They say their pensions are going to go up and they want their Lenin statues to stay in place.”
Egyptian tourism suffers setbacks to a fragile recovery (AFP Photo)
Reuters – Swiss-listed Orascom expects to post a full-year net loss, as Egyptian tourism suffers setbacks to a fragile recovery from three years of political upheaval, the operator of tourist resorts and real estate projects in Egypt and Europe warned on Wednesday.
The death of two holidaymakers near one of Egypt’s biggest sun-and-sea resorts last month dashed hopes for a turnaround in Egypt’s tourism industry from 2013, when the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi and the killing of hundreds of his supporters tipped the sector back into crisis.
The group said revenue would fall by as much as one-fifth and its net loss would widen to between CHF 145m and CHF 160m ($166m and $183m), from a CHF 97m year-ago net loss.
Specific factors hitting Orascom include lower capitalisation of financing costs, the devalued Egyptian currency, but also impairments on investments and a review of its taxation, the company said.
Orascom, run by Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris, a member of Egypt’s richest family, reports full earnings on 15 April.
“If it bleeds, it leads.” That news industry fundamental is Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou’s October 7 morning business challenge. The leading stories by news agencies all over the world about the clashes that erupted in Cairo and other parts of Egypt on 6 October, Armed Forces Day, make his job more difficult. The repeated stories of violence hurt businesses (small and large) and labour (formal and informal) in his sector. They perpetuate the sector’s stalled contribution to the economy. As, once again, the fight for ‘political justice’ sacrifices steps needed to move towards more economic justice. The strategy of choice: getting in the way. The sad irony: it is an excellent strategy to perpetuate economic injustices.
Getting in the way is a top strategy in Egypt. And a well rewarded one in economic transactions. The idea is to get in the way until someone pays you to get out of the way. It’s really remarkable how successfully this strategy works in such a wide number of situations. You have imported goods that you need for your business? The customs officer is happy to allow those goods to sit under his supervision. You have wheat sitting in a port? The port worker is only more than happy to let that wheat rot on the premises. You want your children to advance to the next grade level or to learn in school? Well, someone at the local public school will ensure that does not happen with only the services offered at the school. It’s like the default setting is: getting in the way.
Getting in the way politics
Then it comes as no surprise that getting in the way is a strategy also used in the political arena. Here, again, it’s remarkable the versatility of situations where this strategy is chosen as the best option. We have watched this play out over and over. Demands are made and unfulfilled, and people and resources are mobilized to get in the way, quite literally at times. This has successfully prevented the use of streets, bridges and even trains. Downtown Cairo is a fortress of blocked vital streets, for instance. Courts, ministries, agencies and syndicates have all been blocked at some time or another. Time and time again, the chosen strategy is to get in the way.
Unlike with business transactions, however, I would argue that getting in the way has not worked out quite as well in politics. It has worked out at times. Some have certainly amassed and obstructed and have reaped rewards from it. And certainly, amassing for protest is an important thing that I am not arguing against, at least not in principle. Please do not misunderstand me. What I am questioning is the usefulness of getting in the way as the best strategy. And I am also questioning how often it is used as a best option among other possible strategies.
The 6 October events are all about getting in the way. The army and police made sure, as they have week after week in recent times, pro-Muslim Brotherhood marches did not get to important locations by physically getting in the way. Some could argue that the group’s own marches on 6 October were an effort to interfere with the celebrations of Armed Forces Day, putting aside the issue of whether they are justified in doing so or not. Local neighbourhood residents have also shown their willingness to get in the way of these marches in reaching their intended destinations. What happened on 6 October was the replaying of these strategies by these various players, ones that have been playing over and over for some time now, but with more emotion and thus, with more damage.
The successes of these strategies in politics do continue to come at high costs to us all, and in some cases are counter-productive. Yes, to some degree, all of these actors have had some success in meeting their goals. Sit-ins have not been re-established in Cairo, for instance. But neither have the levels of political and social stability that Egyptians want or need. The country continues to see injury and death. Small steps are being taken forwards (and backwards) but no player is reaching its ultimate goal. Getting in the way of the other, literally and figuratively, has been counter-productive to us all. Not to mention that the population has such protest fatigue, that calls about issues might be heard by more sympathetic ears if marches and protests didn’t get so much in the way of every day normal life.
Politics getting in the way of the economy
What worries me is that politics is again getting in the way of the economy, and not efficiently. Everyone sees that. Ultimately, getting in the way is not a terribly good economic solution either, but at least it works. Say, you have my goods in customs and I need them. You want more money, either because your pay is ridiculous or you just want more money. So I pay you to release my goods to me. Companies in Egypt spend non-trivial sums on fixers and payments as a regular part of doing business. It’s not a great solution. I would rather the problem just be fixed so that I can claim my goods without payment. But at least at the end of the day, I get them. It’s not that I will continually pay you and you will continually get in the way and I will never get my stuff. At least that’s not how it works in the strictly economic transaction. In politics, getting in the way is a strategy that can leave all involved with no gains. The issue is that these strategies are also getting very much in the way of the economy.
And that’s really bad news for Minister Zaazou and all the Egyptian workers and business in tourism. Through hard work and strategy, the Minister has convinced foreign governments to help encourage the return of tourism to Egypt, despite the continuing clashes. Thirteen countries have lifted and reduced their travel bans to the Red Sea and South Sinai beach resorts. Austria and Ireland were the latest two. Many countries issued strong travel warnings and bans after the clashes that erupted following 14 August. Some tourists have finally returned to the beach resorts, although international tourist arrivals are still significantly down and the sector has suffered about $1bn in losses since July.
“We have waited until there were signs of security in the streets, and then we started to visit the countries to explain the situation and convince them to lift the travel alerts,” explained Minister Zaazou. He made use of independently issued reports on the current security situation, which probably help allay concerns foreign officials have about the safety of their citizens in Egypt. No doubt, his job has, again, been made more difficult. And while the clashes on 6 October may not have directly affected the security situation at Egypt’s beaches, it certainly does not make selling tourism to Egypt any easier. It also delays even further the return of tourists to Egypt’s historical treasures in Cairo, Alexandria, and the southern Nile route between Aswan and Luxor.
The irony of this all: this political getting in the way makes economic justice that much more of a distant goal. The clashes happen close enough to the tourist spots that are the more profitable and employ a significant share of the sector’s employees. They are also largely informal labour with basically no protection during economic downturns, like the current economic crisis. The clashes, and the politics that cause them, continue to move the livelihoods of these Egyptians from difficult to impossible, and any forms of economic justice a far off fantasy. Sure, a main strategy of politics, in Egypt and elsewhere, will always include getting in the way. Look at the United States, where congressmen would rather shut down the government with financial losses to workers, businesses and the entire economy. It’s a strategy used in politics. My own take is that it may not be the best strategy and it may be over-used in Egypt.
The Federation of Sinai Tribes has released a statement saying the decision was made to help protect the interests of Egypt, currently going through a political and economic crisis (AFP PHOTO / STR)
By Nasser El-Azazi
Tribesmen living in Sinai’s border region with Israel postponed their planned protests over a decision made by the minister of defence restricting ownership of land located within 5 km of the border.
The Federation of Sinai Tribes has released a statement saying the decision was made to help protect the interests of Egypt, currently going through a political and economic crisis. They stated: “We call on all political parties, with no exception, to place the interests of Egypt above all else, particularly that of Sinai, whose situation has recently took a turn for the worse. Step by step we are headed towards the unknown, however the prospect for good omens still loom”.
It added: “We view the Ministry of Defence’s latest decision [to restrict land ownership in border areas] as having destroyed the dreams of our people, which have been auctioned off for the benefit of regional powers.We are moving to stop this decision, and reinforce that we are all of one heart, and that we will work to protect the sovereignty of this nation and its citizens, whose dreams will not be crushed by the regime.”
The statement further warned of the repercussions if the regime did not address their demands, saying that to do so would forever close the door to dialogue. In such a situation, Sinai’s tribesmen would work on the ground to pursue their interests, in every part of Sinai, and by any means necessary.
Tourism officials have claimed that 50 per cent of all reservations made in Egyptian hotels for the Christmas season have been cancelled, especially in Cairo, which has seen high levels of violence and political instability. Hotels in Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh on the other hand are expected to retain 90 per cent of all their hotel reservations.
Handi Taha, general director of the Select Egypt Tour Company, said most tourists began making reservations in Egyptian hotels for the Christmas season between June and October of this year. He added that since the outbreak of violence by the presidential palace and on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, nearly 50 per cent of these reservations have been cancelled.
Taha added that cancellations were highest amongst, British, American, Italian and German tourists, and that the number of late reservations made in the beginning of December was less than that made in previous years. Hotels in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor during last year’s Christmas season were filled to 40 per cent of total capacity, however that number is expected to drop to 30 per cent this year.
Hotels in Hurghada on the other hand were expected to be filled from anywhere between 90 to 100 per cent capacity, the highest rate so far witnessed in that city. Hurghada was followed by Sharm Al-Sheikh, whose hotels were expected to be filled to 800 per cent of total capacity.
Taha added that reservation prices for hotels in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor were expected to drop by 20 per cent, while prices at hotels in Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh were not expected to change from that of the previous year.
He stated that a one night stay at a five star hotel that includes New Year’s dinner in Sharm Al-Sheikh or Hurghada was expected to cost $150, while the cost of a one night stay at a 4 star hotel was $90.
This is in comparison to five-star hotels that provide a New Year’s Dinner in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor whose cost per night was estimated to $130. Four-star hotels in those cities were expected to cost anywhere between $60 and $70 per night.
Nader Ayyad, a member of Egypt’s Chamber of Tourist Companies and Travel Agencies, and general director of the tourist company Red Sea, stated that the number of tourists staying in hotels in Cairo, Aswan and Luxor could be even lower than expected. He predicted that many of these hotels would only be filled to 15 per cent or 20 per cent of total capacity. He further stated that a majority of those reservations made for Cairo were most likely for photographers and journalists coming to report on the country’s political situation.
Ayyad predicted that hotels in Sharm Al-Sheikh and Hurghada would be filled to 50 per cent of capacity compared to 70 per cent during last year’s Christmas season, a number he said was good considering the increase in political instability in Egypt over the last several weeks.
Airline companies said that they are closely monitoring the results of Egypt’s upcoming referendum, and its effect on tourism in Hurghada, Sharm al-Sheikh and Taba, considered to be the country’s three primary tourist destinations.
An official within Egypt Air claimed that the average number of international and local flights coming into Egypt over the last two weeks has become consistent at 300 per day, a 25 per cent decrease compared to previous weeks.
The official claimed that the number of passengers entering and leaving Egypt per day totalled 30,000; an estimated 5,000 of these passengers were foreigners.
A source within Turkish Airlines claimed that the number of flights entering Egypt has stabilised despite the level of political instability currently witnessed in the country.
He added that Turkish airline companies have been forgiving passengers for fees incurred as a result of changing or cancelling their scheduled flight dates.
The number of Turkish tourists who had entered Egypt in 2012 totalled 100,000, compared to 60,000 in 2010.
The official further went on to say, that this increase in tourism may well be the result of a drop in ticket prices for planes headed to Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh, from EGP 1500 to EGP 800.
Mervat El-Alfy, director of British Airways in Egypt, said that the number of flights coming from the UK has stabilised despite the political instability currently being witnessed in Egypt.
She further stated that at least one flight leaves daily from the UK to Egypt, seven total per week, and that she does not expect that number, or the number of passengers on those flights, to change any time soon.
According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, planes are still the primary means of transportation for tourists entering the country, making up 97 per cent of all trips entering Egypt. Furthermore, 60 per cent of all tourists entering Egypt do so on charter flights, especially those to Aswan, Luxor, Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh.
For the past week we have been living in the shadow of civil strife caused by the president’s recent decisions. A state of deep polarisation has been created between all those who associate with Islamic political forces and those who associate with non-religious ones.
Morsy’s recent constitutional amendments were not only a surprise to everyone and a badly calculated move; they were a vulgar attempt to dominate all branches of the state and proclaim the president an ultimate unaccountable authority. A move that forward requires lots of political capital, and this is the question, does Morsy have sufficient political capital to back his move?
Looking at the political capital Morsy has managed to secure so far, it does not look like much. The president (or the Brotherhood, both are one and the same thing) has support from the street with a mobile bulk of Brotherhood supporters and members that can be moved to more than one place. He has the support of the Shura Council, which was hanging by a thread waiting to be dissolved by a court ruling.
Undoubtedly, he has the support of the Muslim Brotherhood along with all its capacities like personnel, financial resources and political and religious influence. These are the ultimate sources of unquestioned and unconditioned support that the president has, all other sources are not as stable.
The government, although full of Brotherhood supporters, is not yet a stable source of support. Hesham Qandil’s government did not enact any policies that would help it consolidate in office, and it did not carry out any services that would give the government credit among a particular group of society.
In fact, this government has managed to create deep resentment towards it in different clusters in society. Train accidents and attempted regulations, like closing the shops early, are examples of how the government managed to be hated among different groups in society.
In the mean time, the judiciary does not seem to be able to offer the steady support the president expected. All the legal decisions Morsy has taken demonstrate that the man is not receiving any advice from someone who is at least familiar with Egyptian law and judiciary norms. Besides, the old-regime lobby within the judiciary makes it difficult for Morsy to penetrate it.
State media is helping, but the reach is limited. The recently appointed leadership of the Shura Council is trying to demonstrate that it could be beneficial. However, the tools available for state media and the competition it faces make it too rigid and eventually insignificant.
Even politically, before those decisions, conflicts over constitutional articles in the draft between the Brotherhood and the Salafis caused a lot of tension between the Brotherhood and the Salafis as political forces.
So what does all this mean? It means that at a time when Morsy does not have any other support but the Brotherhood’s, he decides to take decisions that would no doubt open the gates of hell on him and his people. Which in turn means that the president is convinced that Muslim Brotherhood support alone is more than enough to run this country. And as he relies on that support, he passes laws that would strengthen the power of the institutions that are supporting him now.
He made the Shura Council and the Constituent Assembly immune accountable only to him; he made his own decisions unquestionable and personally appointed a new public prosecutor. I believe Morsy was hoping to ensure the presence of those means of support until the constitution is passed and a new framework that has the Brotherhood’s stamp rules over the country. At the same time, this would wear the opposition out by fighting on two fronts, the constitutional draft and the constitutional decree.
The problem in this situation is that it’s a political one, but we deal with it within a legal context that looks for what is lawful and what is not. The fight is political since Morsy was the first one to throw the law out the window.
The only thing that Morsy and the Brotherhood did not take into consideration is how united the opposition can be. If you managed to go to Tahrir Square in the past week, you will have realised that it is not just political forces that oppose the Muslim Brotherhood, there are social classes rising up against their lawless and self-consumed political behaviour. The heavy presence of the middle class in these demonstrations proves that there is an anti-Brotherhood social alliance on the rise.
Morsy’s miscalculated political adventure with these recent decisions will have long-lasting effects. If the opposition alliance continues as it is now, it will be very difficult for the Brotherhood to secure the same political winnings they earned under the military rule. If the Brotherhood continues the state of polarisation that they are creating, things could abruptly turn violent. And if the president continues this power-hungry raid, we will simply go from one political crisis after the other.
Yemeni security forces on patrol (File photo) AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMMED HUWAIS
A gas pipeline was blown up in southern Yemen on Tuesday, about 171 km north of the port city of Aden. Yemen LNG Company made the announcement, adding that no one was killed in the blast, but that it did occur because of sabotage.
Yemen LNG Company is part of a consortium that owns the pipeline, along with companies from the United States, East Asia, and headed by French oil company Total.
It has been a difficult week for the French oil-giant in the Middle East. Iraq’s oil ministry recently threatened to kick Total out of the country if it keeps pursuing contracts with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan.
On Monday night, only hours before the pipeline bombing, Reuters reported militants opening fire on a state intelligence building that had been bombed two days before in Aden.
On Sunday Reuters reported both a suicide bombing in Abyan and a mosque shooting in Ad Dali. The week’s attacks, and the lack of clarity surrounding the attackers, underscore the potential for the disintegration of the Yemeni state. This is something the US is concerned with to the point that Fiscal Year 2012 will see the Department of State sending Yemen $47 million in security assistance on top of over $110 million from the Department of Defense, which sees Yemen as one of the front lines of their “war on terror.”
