|
Jurists and members of parliament call for a legislation to fight terrorism and protect human rights
|
6/2/2008
At a workshop held yesterday on 4/2/2008 by EOHR in collaboration with European union under the title of “Problematic definition of terrorism and the Egyptian legislation for fighting terrorism” , number of law professors , members of People's assembly and human rights activists called Government for the necessary of involving all political, partisan and community forces in discussions made concerning the new terrorism law , and the necessary for government to respect the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and the international standards of human rights ,besides taking into consideration all contributions which will be launched by all forces of society in this regard . They condemned government secrecy for not declaring any details about terrorism law whose drafting is confined to the members of Committee and the National Democratic Party (NDP).
The Egyptian legislation doesn’t require a new law for fighting terrorism because there is an already existed law No. 97 / 1992, so if they wanted to set a new law to combat terrorism , this law must perform a balance between the protection of human rights and combating terrorism , Mr. Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights , confirmed
The amendment of Article 179 of the Constitution shows us the intention of Government on the new draft law of combating terrorism. This article violated with no doubt The guarantees of individual freedom , stipulated in Article 40, 41, 42 of the Constitution, so government depended deliberately on drafting this project on the principle of concealment and secrecy despite its promises that the draft Law subject will be stipulated for discussion, Mohamed Nour Farhat, Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law - Zagazig University , added
Farhat confirmed the absence of a specific definition of terrorism, as well as the reluctance of major countries to formulate a specific definition as the confusion existed between this crime and the right of peoples to struggle for their independence. When drafting a new law to combat terrorism , we should look into two things: first: to set a specific definition of terrorism, while the second is : the nature of the exceptional proceedings against terrorism, especially that Law No. 97 / 1992 defined the crime of terrorism and introduced exceptional procedures .
At the end of his speech ,he pointed out that protecting the security of the nation must not come in any way at the expense of the freedoms of citizens and their rights.
Mr. Saad Hagras , vice chairman of El Gomhoria Center For Fighting Terrorism , had agreed with Mr.Farahat on the necessary for enacting this law with the participation of all communities, civil society organizations and intellectuals . He condemned basically what the commission of Dr. Mofeed Shehab does secretly the matter which raises uncountable question marks.
Hagras refused to set a new law for terrorism as there are enough legislations to fight this crime in various ways .
General Fuad Allam , security expert ,indicated that there are various definitions of terrorism, each party has its vision of this phenomenon, some include the mixed violence and extremism, while others associated with a particular gender or religion , and therefore we are in front of several directions in the definition of the crime of terrorism. He added that terrorism is not a phenomenon linked to the Middle East, but it exists in every country in the worldwide.
Allam disagreed with Hagras as he confirmed that there is no objection from the presence of terrorism law, but the law must be credible and trustable ,and to protect and respect human rights ,and it should be drafted by all forces of society .
The fight against terrorism is not just legislation, and thus what the actual necessity and justification for a law on schedule !! .Government has its justifications behind the enactment of a new law for terrorism not to keep security in the society but to achieve targets and other political purposes , Aza Kareem ,professor of Sociology at National Center for Criminal Research , said
Essam Shiha , member of the Supreme organization for El Wafd Party , emphasized that government doesn’t need a new law to combat terrorism as there are many democratic countries have no laws to combat terrorism. Shiha also strongly criticized the constitutional amendments which carry us from bad to worse ,as he described.
Mahmoud Amer , member of people’s assembly agreed with Shiha on his opinion as he confirmed that forming a new law to fight terrorism will lead us to enter a vicious circle . It was ridiculous for whom repeating such slogans concerning the need to enact this law in order to protect national security because the terrorism bill will achieve the political security at the expense of national security. He added that the constitutional amendments is something insignificant.
Abdel Hamid Al Ghazali ,professor of economic at Cairo University , criticized government attempts to enact a new law to combat terrorism, as he confirmed that the system is moving in an specific line without referring to community and political powers . Therefore if we are talking about the law of terrorism, distinction between individual terrorism and system terrorism is a must .
|
|
