Amnesty: Egypt to sign controversial anti-terrorism laws

New counter-terrorism legislation that is to be approved by Egypt’s president is “deeply flawed and must be scrapped or fundamentally revised”, Amnesty International said on Friday.

The organisation is particularly concerned about two draft anti-terrorism laws, sent to the Interim President Adly Mansour on 3 April and set to be signed off at any time, which will give Egyptian authorities increased power to suppress freedom of expression and to imprison opponents and critics.

The laws impose penalties of up to three years imprisonment for actions such as verbally insulting a public employee, member of the security forces or any person in charge of a public service while performing their duty. This new legislation is in violation of the right to freedom of expression.

Another law has been altered to give authorities unlimited access to bank accounts and phone calls of both individuals and of businesses, all without the approval of an independent authority.

The draft laws also give the president the power to declare a state of emergency without seeking the approval of parliament. Amnesty calls this a “worrying echo of President Hosni Mubarak’s rule”, when people were held without charge or trial – sometimes for decades – under Egypt’s emergency law.

“The draconian nature of this legislation, which flouts Egypt’s obligations, suggests that it will pave the way to further clamp down on civil society and government opponents and critics, rather than tackling the threat of terrorism,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

Arbitrary detentions and more mass death sentences

Egypt has seen a rise in deadly armed attacks since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013. The authorities are primarily targeting government buildings, army checkpoints and other security institutions and personnel, particularly in the North Sinai region.

The main issue with these vaguely worded terrorist offences is that they “potentially allow the authorities to bring a terrorism case against virtually any peaceful activist”, said Sahraoui.

As we have seen before in Egypt and other states in the region, the definition of terrorism can potentially criminalise peaceful demonstrations such as those that take place in schools, universities and mosques, under the pretext that such legitimate activities harm national unity, obstruct the work of national institutions and damage the economy.

In the draft laws sent to Interim President Adly Mansour, the existing definition of terrorism is extended to comprise actions aimed at “damaging national unity, natural resources, monuments… hindering the work of judicial bodies… regional and international bodies in Egypt, and diplomatic and consular missions” Amnesty said in a press release yesterday.

Furthermore, it is also extended to “any behaviour or preparation with the purpose of damaging communications, or information systems, or financial and banking systems, or the national economy.”

Another proposed regulation will enable security forces to hold detainees for 72 hours during which they risk an additional extension for a further seven days. This violates international law and also Egypt’s recently adopted constitution, which guarantees that citizens will be referred to a prosecutor within 24 hours of detention. Sahraoui explained how the new laws also undermine protection currently in place against torture and arbitrary detention. Furthermore it expands the already extensive scope of the application of the death penalty.

Amnesty International’s research has shown that the period after arrest is the time detainees are most vulnerable to torture and other ill-treatment and that the new proposals fail to recount the illegitimacy of “confessions” extracted under this treatment.

History of misrepresentation worsens

In December the Muslim Brotherhood were labelled a terrorist group by the Egyptian authorities, even though no factual evidence that it is engaged in terrorist activities was provided. Fair trial safeguards in death penalty cases, which are required by international law, have frequently not been upheld in Egypt including in cases of individuals suspected of terrorism-related activities.

Under this draft law a public prosecutor, rather than an independent judge, can authorise surveillance including checking bank accounts and monitoring phone calls.

Without an independent monitor this law is likely to be abused by the authorities to harass and intimidate NGOs and human rights groups involved in work that criticises the government.

The draft laws also impose heavy penalties for acts that are entirely peaceful, such as the mere belonging to a group labelled as ‘terrorist.’ Those who break the law could face up to ten years in prison. Hundreds of Morsi supporters now stand before this charge.

The law also puts aside Article 17 of the Penal Code, by which a judge can reduce a penalty for specific crime. “Such a move would undermine the principle of equality before the law,” Amnesty stated.