Working Group on Egypt: Thoughts and Suggestions for Policymakers

In a report released today by the Working Group on Egypt are questions and concerns regarding the transitional government (SCAF) in Egypt. Thoughts and suggestions outlined in the report are summarized below:

• International monitoring of elections: The report suggests that, “U.S. policymakers should strongly encourage the SCAF to grant domestic as well as international monitors full access to all aspects of the polling process.” The SCAF has purported that international monitoring undermines the sovereignty of the Egyptian state, to which the report responds, “It is widely recognized, including in international instruments endorsed by the Egyptian government, that the integrity of electoral processes is improved by involving international observers and monitors…The SCAF’s latest decision to bar international monitors needlessly jeopardizes the credibility and transparency of the upcoming elections and thereby damages the prospects for a successful democratic transition.”
• Attacks and defamatory statements against political activists and journalists: The report reads, “in military statements over the last several days, the SCAF has…singled out the April 6 Movement in Egypt as ‘instigators of tumult’.” The report indicates that attacks on civil society groups such as the April 6 Movement allows SCAF to retain Mubarak-era tight-knit control over such groups.
• Military trials of civilians, continuing state of emergency, and impunity for military abuses: The report states that Emergency Law, a restrictive and repressive tool the Mubarak regime utilized, has yet to be repealed (as promised) by SCAF. Emergency Law ”allows authorities to detain people without charge and to try them in special security courts that do not meet international fair trial standards, provide no right of appeal, and have been notorious for relying on confessions obtained under torture.” Also, the transitional government has referred approximately 10,000 civilians to military court. On a final note, the report also states that the interim rulers have not yet investigated allegations of violence and torture at the “hands of military” since taking power.