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Amnesty International's 2010 Egypt Report
It explained that Emergency Law powers are used "to detain peaceful critics and opponents as well as people suspected of security offenses or involvement in terrorism." Some are detained administratively. Others get unfair military trials. Many are tortured. Death sentences are freely imposed. Freedom of speech, assembly and association are extremely restricted.
"Rising food prices and poverty fueled a wave of strikes by private and public sector workers." A UN Special Rapporteur for human rights criticized Mubarak's counterterrorism policy, human rights abuses, and repressive emergency powers, called the "norm" under his regime.
Besides various lawless acts discussed above, forced evictions have also been commonplace. In 2008, residents of 26 Greater Cairo areas were affected, their communities called "unsafe" under a government master development plan. Administrative orders were implemented "without notice or prior consultation," preventing the likelihood of legal challenge.
In November 2009, AI issued a report titled, "Egypt: Demand Dignity: Buried Alive: Trapped by Poverty and Neglect in Cairo's Informal Settlements," saying:
Evictions from areas called unsafe "breached the international standards that states must observe, (requiring they) have procedural safeguards in place." Instead, hundreds of homes were demolished with inadequate or no notice or consultation given affected communities, including plans for resettlement. As a result, homelessness and other state-imposed harshness followed. Egypt's poor, marginalized population suffers grievously under repressive regime policies.
A Final Comment
Given this backdrop and sustained visceral mass protests, the Obama administration is stalling for time, a White House February 5 press release saying:
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