Egypt and India are two regimes which repress opponents and defenders of freedoms by accusing them of terrorism. Like Mohamed El Baqer in Egypt, lawyer imprisoned for two years and Khurram Go to India, human rights activist.
In Egypt, a lawyer specializing in the defense of human rights arrested in court
In Cairo, a case is emblematic of this abuse of anti-terrorism legislation, that of Mohamed El-Baqer. He is a lawyer specializing in the defense of human rights. He has been imprisoned for two years. Charges, trumped up and an arrest that says a lot about the level of repression in Egypt.
Mohamed El-Baqer was preparing to plead on September 29, 2019. He was defending an opponent who was also arbitrarily imprisoned. And that day it was in a court that Mohamed El Baqer was arrested. This is to say the state of Egyptian justice, totally in the hands of power. Mohamed El Baqer is indeed accused of belonging to a terrorist organization. Even more hallucinating, in August 2020, he was imprisoned for a year, when he was accused of preparing an attack from his cell while he was of course cut off from the outside world.
Then, three months later, in November 2020, Mohamed El Baqer was placed on a terrorist list. For a period of 5 years. That is to say that, even released, it would remain forbidden to leave the territory. His passport is confiscated and his assets frozen. A decision taken without Mohamed El Baqer’s lawyers having been able to defend their client. His case is far from isolated. Such abuses are facilitated by the state of emergency, constantly renewed since 2017. President al-Sisi put an end to it in October 2021.
This absolutely does not change the situation of its opponents accused of terrorism. First of all because the emergency courts established by the state of emergency remain competent for ongoing cases. But also because an anti-terrorism law passed shortly after the election of President al-Sisi enshrined these emergency measures in common law. They are giving the powerful security agencies a free hand to continue making arbitrary arrests. Terrorism suspects can be detained without the presence of a lawyer and without informing their families. As was the case with lawyer Mohamed El Baqer.
This terrorism accusation was initially focused on sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood. Today it applies to all forms of opposition. In the name of the fight against terrorism, the regime even goes so far as to imprison for simple messages shared on social networks. Thousands of people are thus kept in detention.
In India, the activist Khurram Parvez arrested for terrorism
In India, in the Kashmir region, a human rights activist has just been arrested for terrorism and conspiracy against the state. Very heavy loads that could keep him in pre-trial detention for many months. This action was immediately condemned by the UN rapporteur for human rights defenders. On the spot, many see it as a sign of a more severe repression on the civil society of Kashmir.
Khurram Parvez is the Programs Coordinator at the Kashmir Civil Society Coalition, and for years he has documented enforced disappearances, as well as the effects of army torture in this breakaway region. His work is recognized abroad and admired in Kashmir, but the Indian government sees Khurram Parvez as a danger. In 2016, he was jailed for more than two months, and he is now being prosecuted under a draconian anti-terrorism law. A text used more and more frequently. “This law is supposed to protect citizens against terrorism, explains Meenakshy Ganguly, the director of Human Rights Watch in South Asia. But the government is using it to arrest activists who criticize its policies. For example, it has been used against people demonstrating against the citizenship law. And a judge recently said the government is confusing the right to dissent with terrorism. “
The situation is even more worrying in cashmere. Two years ago, the federal government abrogated the autonomy of this region, and regained full control. He claims that this has enabled him to reduce terrorist acts and that the situation has calmed down.
But what we observe is also that the whole of Kashmiri civil society is under pressure. Major local politicians have been arrested for over a year, newspapers lose public advertisements if they openly criticize the government, and journalists are regularly questioned and even arrested by police. This seems to respond to a global policy, because two weeks ago the government security adviser said that the new front line of the war in India involves civil society. And that everything had to be done to, he said, prevent it from being “manipulated”.