NYT: 2 Detained Reporters Saw Secret Police’s Methods Firsthand

[highplainsdem]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/weekinreview/06held.html

2 Detained Reporters Saw Secret Police’s Methods Firsthand

By SOUAD MEKHENNET and NICHOLAS KULISH
Published: February 4, 2011


WE had been detained by Egyptian authorities, handed over to the country’s dreaded Mukhabarat, the secret police, and interrogated. They left us all night in a cold room, on hard orange plastic stools, under fluorescent lights.

But our discomfort paled in comparison to the dull whacks and the screams of pain by Egyptian people that broke the stillness of the night. In one instance, between the cries of suffering, an officer said in Arabic, “You are talking to journalists? You are talking badly about your country?”

-snip-

Captivity was terrible. We felt powerless — uncertain about where and how long we would be held. But the worst part had nothing to do with our treatment. It was seeing — and in particular hearing through the walls of this dreadful facility — the abuse of Egyptians at the hands of their own government.

For one day, we were trapped in the brutal maze where Egyptians are lost for months or even years. Our detainment threw into haunting relief the abuses of security services, the police, the secret police and the intelligence service, and explained why they were at the forefront of complaints made by the protesters.

-snip-

[Turborama]

1. Rec & Long overdue Kick

Very interesting. Thanks a lot for posting!

:kick:

[suffragette]

2. Powerful and terrifying

K&R

[gratuitous]

3. Yeah, but if you didn't suffer the pain of major organ failure

You were not tortured. Alberto Gonzales can explain it all.

For two pins, I would have swapped Mekhennet and Kulish for Gonzales and John Yoo. See if it modifies their legal opinions at all when they're sitting on a plastic orange stool surrounded by hostiles instead of in a climate-controlled office paid for and maintained by someone else.

[peacetalksforall]

4. This is what Mubarak will be remembered for.

[kenny blankenship]

5. C'mon you know very well it was no worse than a little fraternity hazing!

We send people to Egypt for questioning routinely - outsourcing is very Business 2.0 you know- so how bad could it really be?

[readmoreoften]

6. K&R. Uh, yeah, let's expedite this request for "peaceful transition"

[Catherina]

7. Egyptians have been living under State of emergency Law since 1967. We gave $68 Billion to ensure it

since 1967, except for an 18-month break in 1980.

The ludicrous current shock of world leaders about brutality in Egypt defies imagination. I'm sorry for the terror so many courageous reporters went through but it's a positive thing they did. Exposing the hypocrisy is now personal for them and they're not going to provide cover for the parade of world leaders who are leaping in front of cameras now to express their *shock*. The EU and US are particularly reprehensible for writing checks for that terror (US gave $68 to ensure the Egyptians never rose up).

This is from Wiki

Egypt
Main article: Emergency law in Egypt

Egyptians have been living under an Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958)<9> since 1967, except for an 18-month break in 1980. The emergency was imposed during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and reimposed following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. The law has been continuously extended every three years since 1981. Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship is legalized.<10> The law sharply circumscribes any non-governmental political activity: street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations are formally banned. Some 17,000 people are detained under the law, and estimates of political prisoners run as high as 30,000.<11> The Emergency Law appears to be fraudulent and arouse protests from the people of Egypt.



Provisions
Provisions of Emergency Law include:<7>
Article 1: The government may declare a state of emergency across Egypt or in a specified region, whenever there is a danger to security or public order, including war, disturbances, disaster, or epidemic.
Article 2: State of emergency be announced and decided by the President of Egypt, and include the reason, region covered, and date enacted.
Article 3: When declared, the president can include the following measures:
Restrictions on freedom of people to gather
Restrict movement of people
Arrest suspects or people who pose a danger
Arrest and search people and places without restrictions
Require any person to perform any act
Control communications, newspapers, publications, and all means of expression prior to publications, and seize and shut down places of printing
Seize any property and impose security on companies and institutions, and postpone debts and obligations for what is seized or imposed by the government
Decommission weapons and ammunitions
Evacuate regions or cut-off transportation between areas

Thank you for posting this important article. Bookmarked and recommended.

[csziggy]

8. We gave $68 Billion and Mubarak's net worth is $70 Billion

In 30 years he's been using the interest from our "aid" to pay for his security forces and army and doing nothing to improve the lot of his people. And we have been paying him to keep it that way.

:puke:

[SpiralHawk]

9. The Republicons can pat themselves on the back for their torture example

By embracing torture as one of their perverted Family Values, the Republicon Crusaders gave a green light to the rest of the world to torture with impunity...

[Solly Mack]

10. K&R

[Mojeoux]

11. K&R

[AzDar]

12. K & R

:kick:

[snot]

13. K&R'd