The Human Rights Situation in Egypt
Violations of Human Rights
2000-2001
Seventh: The Right to Peaceful Assembly and Strike
The right to peaceful assembly and strike remains subject to immediate repression by the security forces. The use of firearms by security forces to disperse gatherings, demonstrations and peaceful strikes had led to the injury of many, in addition to the arrest of dozens of citizens who exercised their constitutional right to peaceful assembly and strike. This part of the report includes examples of those peaceful strikes and the illegal intervention by security forces in some of them:
On 15 March, 1999, Students of Ain Shams University's Faculty of Education held a peaceful sit-in protesting the decision of canceling their right to be automatically appointed as teachers after graduation. The sit-in expanded to include other faculties at Ain Shams University and faculties of education at other universities. The anti-riot squads broke into the campus and arbitrarily arrested eight students. After being detained at the university's security office, they were referred to the Public Prosecutor who charged them with holding an illegal gathering, disturbing public order and security, possession of illegal publications for distribution and assaulting security forces. The prosecutor ordered their detention for 15 days pending investigations.
On 4 September, 1999, Ahmed Said Abdel Aziz went on strike for the continuous failure of the Housing Authority to meet their promises of granting him a flat since the 1992 earthquake.
On 29 September, 1999, Khaled Abdel Hamid Ahmed, a mechanical engineer at the Central Nassr Workshops of the Cairo Public Transportation Authority went on strike in protest of being subjected to unfair treatment and unjustified punishment.
On 25 October, 1999, Tareq Mohamed Ibrahim, first deputy director of works at the Public Authority for Projects of Improving Irrigation in Isna went on strike in protest of being subjected to continuous coercive transfer [&?] and the injustice of the distribution of bonus payments on the basis of his job description, degree and employment durat
In December, 1999, workers at Coca Cola Company in Dokki, Cairo went on strike after they learned that the factory's owner had sold the factory's land without consulting with the trade union, putting the 1319-work force under the risk of losing their jobs.
Leading figures at Misr Al Fatah (Young Egypt) Party went on a hunger strike on 26 February, 2000 inside Abdeen Police Station in protest of the frequent illegal confiscation of the party's newspaper by security forces despite the court ruling that came out in favor of the part. The strike was then transferred to the party's headquarter.
200 workers at the Mahmoudeya Contracting Company in early March 2000 at the company's headquarter in Giza demanding their due bonuses. 21 workers went on a hunger strike and five of them were transferred to the 6 October Health Insurance Hospital. Security forced pressured the workers to end the strike or else get arrested under the emergency law.
The University of Menoufeya witnessed student demonstrations during the first half of March 2000 protesting the arrest of four students from the faculties of Education, Engineering, Law and Quantitative Education for belonging to different political groups. Security forces interfered and prevented the students from leaving campus grounds.
?1,614 employees and workers at the Canal Company for marine processions went on strike in the first half of March 2000 in protest of mismanagement. The workers also called for the bonus regulations to be modified complaining that the company's low income affected the level of their bonuses.
?On 20 May, 2000, 1500 workers at Bata Company for shoemaking had a sit-in to protest the administration's mismanagement of the workers' early retirement and the government's allocation of no more that L.E 30 million to settle the financial due of 1000 workers of the whole 3000-work force. During the sit-in, security forces surrounded the company and guarded its main gate as a precocious measure
On 23 June, 2000, at least 360 workers at the Ismailia Factory for Light Bulbs went on strike protesting the administration's position to refrain from paying the workers' due wages and pressure them to apply for early retirement. The strike followed the issuance of a platform that the workers opposed and considered "unfair".
?During the second half of October 2000, Ain Shams University witnessed large demonstrations in protest against the Israeli massacres against the Palestinian people. Security forces arrested 15 students and 5 other citizens and referred them to the State Security Prosecutor, which ordered their detention for 15 days pending investigations. They were charged, among other charges, of the "possession of publications that could disturb public security and peace and could cause harm to public interest."
?Workers at the United Company for Chemical Products had a sit-in for over seven weeks asking for their due wages and protesting not receiving their insurance payments- due since 1996. One of the workers died during the sit-in after his health condition deteriorated. The workers filed a lawsuit requesting that the company be put under judicial sequestration.
The EOHR condemns the oppressive measures taken by security forces against peaceful gatherings and demonstrations by workers and against their use of their right to strike. It asserts that these measures were a violation of Egypt's international commitments as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which both guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and strike, as well as the right to the expression of their opinions, stances, and beliefs.
|
E
O
H
R
A
N
N
U
A
L
R
E
P
O
R
T
1
9
9
9
-
2
0
0
0
|
eohr@eohr.org 