ANHRI Statement: Egypt’s State of Emergency failed to Stop Terrorism

 The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information issued a statement stressing
that the terrorist act in Alexandria which killed tens of Egyptians, during the Church bombing on New Year’s eve in the Sidi Bishr district, failed to be prevented  by the 30 year Emergency Law imposed on Egypt
 
The 30 year law did not provide security and safety for Egyptians and did not uproot the terrorism that is still lurking in the dark as an expected result of poverty, oppression and corruption. This law resulted in nothing but an acute retreat in civil and political freedoms and wasting the rights of both Muslim and Christian Egyptians.
 
The bombing of the Alexandria Church occurred in the first minutes of 2011, while celebrating the New Year, in a densely populated district. Ten of Egyptians were killed, mostly Christians, in a tragedy that exposes the failure of governmental policies that resort to the police as a solution when handling terrorism instead of dealing with the reasons behind terrorism which is ending Egypt’s state of emergency, combating corruption, respecting the will of Egyptian citizens and conducting fair elections.
 
The Arabic Network said, “We will repeatedly and continuously declare our stance, which is the necessity of adopting alternate radical policies to deal with terrorism, starting by ending the state of emergency, allowing for fair elections, and endorsing the independence of the judiciary in order that the judiciary would do their duty in pursuing corruption and respecting the rule of law and the principle of equality without exceptions.”
 
The Arabic Network expressed their surprise that the Minister of Interior is not yet dismissed as he was expected to resign after the tragic accident, as is usual in democratic countries. He should step down and make way for a more efficient minister who could perform better to provide security for Egyptians instead of the atmosphere of fear that the poor suffer because of their poverty and which activists suffer because of their opinions, and these constitute the majority of Egyptians.
 
The Arabic Network expressed its concern that terrorism will be an excuse to impose more restrictions on civil and political freedoms under the pretext of combating terrorism, especially when the international community is complicit with shameful silence; overlooking rigged elections that resulted in an illegitimate parliament and declaring their satisfaction with fragile stability at the expense of democracy.
 
Combating terrorism is a duty for all Egyptians. It is time that the government listened to the public and resorted to alternative policies that would certainly control terrorism, as they are far better than police methods that crush human rights.