Egyptian human rights organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Egyptian human rights organizations - Essay Example A. In a four part article entitled "The Effect of the Emergency Law on the Human Rights Situation In Egypt: 1992-2002," the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights traces the historical background of emergency law in Egypt throughout the twentieth century. According to the facts offered, the history of emergency laws in Egypt can be traced back to 1914, at which time it was first enacted due to the break out of World War I ("History" ). Significant to mention for purpose of discussion is that one of the laws enacted under the wider emergency law was the Gathering Law 10 of 1914 ("Conclusion"). Noteworthy here is that during this period in history, Egypt was increasingly falling under British political control and World War I was, as it may have been interpreted by Egyptian masses at that time, a war against Britain and her allies by Germany and her allies. This meant that there was an atmosphere of great excitement among the Egyptian population, many of whom supported a British defeat believing that would mean liberation for Egypt. Accordingly, within this politically tense and unstable climate, demonstrations were carried out by Egyptians against the British, their foreign occupiers. Accordingly, emergency laws and the law of gathering which accompanied it, were passed in order to control the growing resentment against Britain and to limit, as much as possible, public demonstrations against it. B. Within this context, it is possible to state that Egypt experienced its first emergency laws at the hands of its enemy and occupier and was explicitly intended to subdue the Egyptian masses, deprive them of the right to demand their freedom and liberation, and limit their ability to fight for this freedom ("Conclusion"). In other words, it was a law passed by an occupier and a colonizer to ensure continued occupation and colonization. C. Now you will explain that the Egyptian people continued to suffer from emergency rule, except for a couple of brief breaks, until the revolution of 1952. In other words, in the pre-revolutionary period and due to the circumstances of occupation, emergency laws were part of Egyptian political climate. III. Emergency Law Under Nasser: Post-1952: A. " the emergency law that the regime inherited in 1952 had two chief features: it gave the government very strong powers (for instance, verdicts of military courts could not be appealed but were submitted to the military governor for approval), and it could be portrayed as a creation of the British" (Brown 82-83). B. With a new government in place, many Egyptian intellectuals and nationalist emphasized the second feature of the emergency law. Unfortunately, the Nasser regime preferred to focus on the first feature, insofar as it gave them the power to deal effectively with all those elements