26/3/2005

Introduction

“The horizons of renaissance and reform” was the main theme of the 37 th Cairo International Book Fair. The Fair, which is considered Egypt 's cultural exhibition, opens cultural doors to millions of readers and allows the public to interact with leading Arab and international cultural figures. It is considered one of Egypt's most important cultural events because it draws thousands of Egyptian visitors, book distributors and publishers from Arab and foreign countries, and is second only to the Frankfurt Book Fair in terms of the number of books exhibited, the number of publishing houses and countries which take part in it and the number of visitors it attracts. The Cairo International Book Fair has been held annually since 1969.

For the first time, the 2005 Book Fair chose a country as an honorary guest. This forms part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture's agenda of developing and modernising the Fair to keep up with leading international book fairs. Two international figures were also invited to take part in the Fair's activities; Robert Sole, the French author of The Alexandria Semaphore and Nadine Gordimer, the South African writer awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

This year's Fair coincided with a number of events significant politically, historically and culturally for Egypt and the Arab region, such as the 700 th anniversary of the Moroccan Ibn Batouta's expedition to the East, the 300 th anniversary of the translation of A Thousand and One Nights into French which preceded the English version by fifty years, the passing of 250 years after the birth of the Egyptian historian Abdel Rahman el Gabarty, who in his book Wonders of Monuments in Translation and News described the history of Mamluk rule, the 1798 French expedition to Egypt and the reign of Mohamed Ali, regarded as the founder of modern Egypt.

This year's Fair also witnessed a number of unprecedented events which impacted negatively on its reputation, including:

1. A noticeable decline in the number of participating countries and publishers in comparison with the 2004 Fair . This came as a surprise to observers who predicted that the implementation of the GATT trade treaty would lift the book market by providing greater freedom of movement for books and reducing their prices. In fact only 25 countries (11 of them Arab), and 516 publishers participated in this year's Fair, while 97 countries and 3150 publishers participated in the 2004 Fair, of whom 1600 publishers were Egyptian, 900 Arab and 650 foreign.

2. A number of violations of two important rights , the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly and demonstration. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) received reports of several book seizures and a heavy security presence to break up peaceful demonstrations. EOHR sent lawyers to the Fair over several days to establish the credibility of these reports.

This report consists of the following three sections:

1. The legal and legislative framework surrounding the right to freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful demonstration .

Composed of two parts, this section firstly examines the legal provisions guaranteeing the right to freedom of opinion and expression contained in both the Egyptian Constitution and international instruments, before detailing domestic and international provisions on the right to assembly and peaceful demonstration.

2. Human rights violations which took place during the Fair.

This section describes violations monitored by EOHR lawyers during the Fair such as book seizures, banning of cultural meetings planned by certain intellectuals, breaking up of peaceful demonstrations etc.

3. R ecommendations.

EOHR's recommendations seek to improve the state of freedom of opinion and expression in Egypt .

Part one: The legal and legislative framework surrounding the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful demonstration.

Freedom of opinion and expression: A number of international instruments guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The fundamental importance of this right, its strengthening and protection of other rights and freedoms have afforded it a central position in human rights instruments, such as:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Freedom of expression and opinion gained its international status upon the promulgation of the Universal Declaration in December 1948 in whose drafting Egypt participated. Article 19 of the Declaration states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

Article 19 of the ICCPR provides:

•  Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

•  Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

•  The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with is special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

•  For respect of the rights or reputations of others;

•  For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

Article 19 of the ICCPR mirrors its Universal Declaration predecessor in everything except the content of the third paragraph, which evokes positive obligations, the accompaniment to freedom. There is after no absolute freedom, but rather freedom accompanied by obligation. Individuals are, after all, subject to obligations as much as they are free.

It was natural that national constitutions adopt the same tone and afford freedom of opinion and expression a unique place within other rights. This was affirmed by the Supreme Constitutional Court when it found NGO Law 153 [1999] unconstitutional. It described the right to assembly as a cornerstone of freedom of opinion and expression because it is essential for open dialogue. The Court stated that freedom of opinion and expression is one of the most important components of personal freedom, which may only be restricted via objective procedural channels as demanded by the Egyptian Constitution. (1)

The Egyptian Constitution and freedom of opinion and expression

Article 47 of the Egyptian Constitution provides:

Freedom of expression is guaranteed. Every individual has the right to express his opinion and to publicise it verbally or in writing or by photography or other means within the limits of the law. Self-criticism and constructive criticism guarantee the safety of the national structure.

Because of press freedom's status as a fundamental component of freedom of opinion, article 48 of the Constitution states:

Freedom of the press, printing, publication and mass media shall be guaranteed. Censorship on newspapers is forbidden, as is notifying, suspending or cancelling them by administrative means. In a state of emergency or during a time of war limited censorship may be imposed on newspapers, publications and mass media in matters related to public safety or natural security in accordance with the law.

Of note is article 48's greater proximity to article 19 of the ICCPR.

The Egyptian Constitution does not greatly deviate from the provisions of international human rights instruments. Indeed, it is possible to rightly say that the Egyptian legislator was influenced by them. This is attributable to several reasons the most important of which is Egypt 's participation in the drafting of the UDHR.

This being said, several provisions of articles 47 and 48 are responsible for the current sorry state of freedom of opinion and expression in Egypt . Article 47 guarantees freedom of opinion and expression for all citizens but adds the caveat that this freedom is “within the limits of the law.” These words have become the magic key for violations of freedom of expression and opinion in Egypt . Assisting it is the expression “the safety of the national structure.” These two phrases have become the hammer and anvil between which freedom of opinion and expression has been placed. The legislator has used them to promulgate numerous laws restricting freedom of opinion and expression on the pretext this legislation protects national security.

The same applies to article 48 of the Egyptian Constitution which guarantees freedom of the press, printing and publication, bans censorship of newspapers, their suspension or blocking and then wipes aside these rights in its closing breaths by allowing censorship and seizure of newspapers during a state of emergency or time of war in matters connected with public order or national security, in accordance with the law.

The right to peaceful assembly : The Egyptian Constitution guarantees, the right to peaceful assembly in its article 54 which states:

Citizens shall have the right to peaceful and unarmed private assembly, without the need for prior notice. Members of the security forces may not attend these meetings. Public meetings, processions and gatherings are allowed within the limits of the law.

Other legislation restricts this right to such an extent that individuals are prevented from exercising it. It in the process renders the article meaningless, a flagrant constitutional violation. Law 15 [1914] (notice the date of its promulgation) was issued during the political conditions created by the oppression of occupation. Its provisions ban gatherings of more than 50 people, so how therefore, can we talk about the right to peaceful assembly?

In addition to violating the Constitution this law contravenes article 21 of the ICCPR which provides:

The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognised. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security or public safety, public order (public ordre), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Despite the fact that the Egyptian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and that Egypt has ratified international human rights instruments guaranteeing these rights, unlimited violations continue to occur of the sort witnessed by the 37 th Book Fair.

The deterioration of the state of freedom of opinion and expression in Egypt is attributable to several reasons, perhaps the most important of which are;

1. The Constitution devolves the power to issue laws on freedom of opinion and expression to the legislator, leaving him to choose what to restrict and what to allow as he wishes. This, together with shortcomings in the legislation, is the primary reason for this deterioration. An additional problem is that the Constitution widely defines the circumstances allowing restrictions to be placed on freedom of opinion and expression, leaving the legislator unlimited powers to do so, when in theory the Constitution takes precedence over all other laws.

2. The continuing state of emergency permits censorship of publications. The state of emergency destroys constitutionally enshrined rights.

Part two: Human rights violations which took place during the Fair.

Seizure of various kinds of books, cancellation of writers' and intellectuals' seminars, a large security presence, prevention of participants in the Fair from expressing their opinion whether in writing or verbally, banning peaceful gatherings…these are only some of the human rights violations monitored by EOHR lawyers during the Fair.

1. Seizure of publications

Book seizures are a regular feature of the Cairo International Book Fair, and this year was no exception, book seizures representing one of the Fair's biggest problems. Works of poetry as well as religious, political, literary and philosophical works by Arab and foreign writers were all subject to seizure.

According to information obtained by EOHR lawyers, works by some 40 writers were seized. Literary and philosophical works held first position, followed by religious works and final by political books.

a. Literary and philosophical compositions

The following 20 publications were seized:

•  Eleven Minutes by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho

•  The Mountain Goats , Sparks and Story of the Emigrant Seagull by the Syrian author Haidar Haidar

•  Night of the Mistake , Love and the Other Love and Grapes from the Ship of Agony by the Moroccan author Taher Ben Jelloun

•  Parts of Cities of Salt , When we left the Bridge , Desert of Darkness and Land of Black by the late Saudi author Abdel Rahman Munif

•  Women's Dreams by the Moroccan author Fatima al Mernissi

•  Glory of the Path in an Impasse by the Saudi author Abdallah al Qasimi

•  The New Life by Arman Bafouq

•  Mariam of the Tales by the Lebanese author Alwaya Subh

•  Gazelles' Musk by the Lebanese author Hanan al Sheikh

•  The Unbearable Lightness of Being by the Czech author Milan Kundera

•  The Story of a Madman by the Germany based Egyptian author Yehya Ibrahim

•  Eleven Planets by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish

•  First Love, First Body by the Syrian poet Ali Ahmed Said popularly known as Adonis.

b. Religious compositions

Some 16 works were seized, including:

•  Interpretation of the Text , the Message and Interpretation and the Text of True Power by Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid

•  Characteristics of the Man of Faith , Leader of Example and the Road to the Muslim Community by the Islamic author Moustafa Mashour

•  Letter from the 5 th Conference and Letter from the 6 th Conference by the deceased Imam Hassan al Banna

•  Pillars of the Call by Magdy al Helany

•  The Turkish Path by Mounir al Ghadban

•  Bombs of Truth by the deceased sheikh Mohamed al Ghazaly

•  Landmarks on the Road to the Sheikh by the deceased sheikh Sayyed Qutb

•  Infidelity of the 20 th Century by the Islamic thinker Mohamed Qutb

•  The Rebab's Song of the Companion's Affairs by the Egyptian author Khalil Abdel Karim

•  The True Jurisprudence of the Sunna and its Evidence by Abu Malak Kamal Eddin

•  The Manifestation of Truth by Rahmat Allah Bin Khalil al Hindy

c. Political compositions

Four books were seized:

- The Future of the Arabs , The Future of the Arabs and their Neighbourhood , Democratic Society and the State in Arab Countries and the Dirty War by the Algerian officer Habib Soweidiya.

Publications seized during the 37 th Cairo International Book Fair

The graph shows that the majority (52%) of books were seized were literary or philosophical, followed by publications on religious topics (38%) and political publications (10%).

In terms of publishers, 10 books were seized from the Syrian Dar el Ward publishing house, 7 from the Islamic Distribution and Publishing House, 5 from the Arab Foundation for Diffusion, 4 from Dar al Shurouq, 3 from the Arab Unity Studies Centre, 2 from Dar al Gamal, and 1 from Maktabat al Nasr al Hadith, Dar al Saqy and Dar al Fath for Arab Media.

Publishers whose books were seized and their number during the 37 th Book Fair

2. Preventing peaceful demonstrations

On the 28 th January 2005 at 1.30 p.m. security force officers in the Book Fair arrested two activists from the Centre for Socialist Studies, lawyer Marwa Farouq and Bahu Bakhsh, an American University in Cairo student of Saudi origin with British nationality. The pair were arrested on charges of handing out leaflets in the name of the Popular Movement for Change with the slogan “no to inherited power.” The pamphlet invited people to a peaceful gathering on the 4 th February 2005 . They were also charged with possession of four publications including “the Socialist Path to Change” and “A Combative Vision for Change” published by the Centre for Socialist Studies. These books had previously been approved for distribution inside the Book Fair. The pair were detained in the Book Fair security office.

Al Alam al Youm journalist Ibrahim al Sahary subsequently went to the office to inquire about the reasons surrounding Farouq and Bakhsh's arrest. A dispute broke out between him and a police officer in front of the office, and he too was arrested. Farouq and Bakhsh were taken to Nasr City police station no.2 where a report was drawn up and they were detained. At around 10 p.m. they were taken to the state security prosecution office and charged with inciting disturbances of a nature to endanger security and public peace, as well as possession of pamphlets and documents intended for distribution to others. (2)

Ibrahim al Sahary was taken from the state security prosecution office to the forensic doctor for examination of his injuries.

On the 7 th February 2005 the state security prosecution office public prosecutor ordered Farouq and Bakhsk's release on 500 LE bail. Al Sahary was released on 1000 LE bail.

A heavy security presence

On Friday 4 th February 2005 scores of armoured vehicles appeared at the Fair, and some 50,000 security force officers encircled two demonstrations, one organised by the Popular Campaign for Change, and the other by the Labour Party (al Mugammad), headed by Party secretary general Magdy Ahmed Hussein. The demonstration condemned Mubarak's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit Cairo .

Security forces spread out in order to contain demonstrators and prevent others from joining them, and erected a series of security cordons inside the Fair, dispersing the demonstrators between the various stalls and in the process forcing the majority of visitors to leave. One eyewitness remarked that the Fair, rather than being concerned with books and visitors, turned into a “state security fair.”

The Fair's book sales, activities and cultural seminars were completely paralysed, the rooms and tents where they were supposed to be convened being located within the bounds of the security cordons.

While acknowledging the importance of a security presence within the Fair in order to keep its visitors safe, EOHR maintains that the size of the security presence was an unwelcome development which negatively impacted on the Fair's image. It was also completely unjustified, especially since the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights instruments.

3. Prevention of writers from taking part in the Fair

Certain writers were prevented from taking part in the Fair because of their political convictions. Mohamed al Sayyed Said, director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies was removed from the list of several Fair seminars following his calls for constitutional amendment.

In the 7 th February 2005 edition of the independent Sowt al Umma, Said recounted what happened when he was among a group of intellectuals and writers who met President Hosni Mubarak in mid January just before the Fair began. At the end of the discussion President Mubarak described Said as an “extremist” because of the latter's commitment to the necessity of constitutional reform in order to reduce the wide powers enjoyed by the president.

This is not he first time that Egyptian intellectuals and thinkers have been prevented from participating in the Book Fair. In the 1996 Fair the well-known writer Mohamed Husseinein Heikal was prevented from following the speech he gave in the 1995 Fair on the deteriorating political, economic and social situation in Egypt .

Part three: Recommendations

In defence of freedom of opinion and expression the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights makes the following recommendations:

1. Cancellation of all forms of censorship of publication, circulation of books and intellectual and artistic creativity. Information must be allowed to circulate freely, and certain laws connected with information secrecy repealed with the exception of those concerned with national defence.

2. The Egyptian government must abide by Constitutional provisions concerned with freedom of opinion, expression and the right to peaceful assembly and demonstration. Laws which violate these rights must be repealed. The Egyptian government must also honour its obligations under international treaties which deal with the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, namely articles 19 and 21 of the ICCPR which were incorporated into domestic legislation upon ratification.

EOHR renews its demand for an end to the state of emergency which destroys many basic rights and freedoms including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression.

3. Repeal of Riotous Assembly Law 15 [1914]. Law 15 must be replaced with legislation in line with Constitutional and international standards on the right to assembly. Demonstration organisers should only have to notify the Interior Ministry of the date, time, location and course of the demonstration, whose free movement should not be obstructed.

4. Lifting of all restrictions placed on the right to form groups, political parties and unions - main actors in the right to peaceful demonstration.

5. Repeal of the Law of Censorship of Foreign Publications, which has been rendered obsolete by the information technology revolution – this is even more pressing given that Egypt has two censorship apparatus; one belonging to the Ministry of Information and another belonging to the Al Azhar Islamic Research Council.

(1)Supreme Constitutional Court ruling 153 [judicial year 21] issued on the 3/6/2000 .

(2)Supreme State Security case no. 201 [2005]