EGYPT: The real Egyptian revolution is yet to come

[b]Hi Ihrgian
[/b][b]FOR PUBLICATION
[/b]AHRC-ETC-005-2011
February 14, 2011
[b]An article by George Katsiaficas published by the Asian Human Rights Commission
[/b]
[b][size=16]EGYPT: The real Egyptian revolution is yet to
come [/size][/b]
[i]by George Katsiaficas[/i]

Around the world, people are enthusiastically greeting the "Egyptian
Revolution" -- the astonishing victory won by the historic 18-day People Power Uprising. As
events move more rapidly than anyone can anticipate, not only has Mubarak been deposed,
his corrupt parliament has been dismissed and new elections promised
within six months. People's ecstasy in the aftermath of these great
victories belies the fact that Mubarak’s authoritarian system remains
intact --nay, strengthened--by the ascension of Suleiman and the military
to supreme power in Cairo. While the world hails the Egyptian
"revolution," a more sober assessment of recent events would question
the accuracy of that label, at least for now.

If we look at other countries for comparison (and there are many recent
examples of People Power Uprisings suddenly ending the reign of
longstanding authoritarian regimes), I am especially struck by parallels
with Korea's 1987 June Uprising, when for 19 consecutive days, hundreds
of thousands of people illegally went into the streets and battled tens
of thousands of riot police to a standstill. On June 29, the military dictatorship
finally capitulated to the opposition’s demands to hold direct
presidential elections, thereby ending 26 years of military rule.

As in Egypt on
February 11, 2011, the man who made the announcement in Seoul on June 29, 1987
was none other than the dictatorship’s No. 2 leader. Roh Tae-woo went on to
become the country’s new president after elections marked by both a
bitter split between rival progressive candidates and widespread
allegations of ballot tampering. People’s high expectations and optimism
after the military was forced to grant elections turned into bitter
disappointment. Throughout the country, new massive mobilizations were
organized, during which more than a dozen young people committed suicide
to spur forward the movement for change.

Like Suleiman, Roh was a long-time US asset with ties to a list of
nefarious deeds. In 1996, Roh and his predecessor Chun Doo-hwan were convicted of high
crimes, sent to prison, and ultimately ordered to return hundreds of
millions of dollars they had illegally garnered. (Roh eventually
returned around $300 million; Chun deceitfully pleaded poverty and,
although thereby dishonored, he absconded with even more than that
amount of Korea's wealth.)

Roh was never linked to any direct act of sadism, but Suleiman is known
to have personally participated in the torture of CIA rendered terrorist
suspects. As "the CIA's Man in Cairo," he helped design and implement
the American rendition program through which dozens of suspected
terrorists were kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured. Suleiman took a
personal hand in the torture of Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib. In his
memoirs, Habib recounted one torture session of electric shocks, broken
fingers and being hung from meat hooks that culminated in being slapped
so hard that his blindfold flew off -- revealing Suleiman as the
purveyor of the violence.

While Habib was innocent, another rendered suspect, Ibn al-Sheikh
al-Libi, confessed to participation in training anti-US fighters and
famously asserted under torture that ties existed between al-Queda and
Saddam's government in Iraq.
That lie became one of Colin
Powell's most significant assertions to the UN Security Council
when the US convinced much of the world to attack Iraq. When al-Libi
later recanted and threatened to expose his lie, he "committed suicide"
in a Libyan prison--coincidentally at the same time as Suleiman made his
first ever visit to Tripoli.

For his extraordinary efforts on behalf of the US, Suleiman found his
fortunes rise. Thanks to WikiLeaks, we know today that almost three
years ago, the US was prepared to elevate him to the top slot in Egypt.
According to a US diplomatic cable of May 14, 2007, entitled
"Presidential Succession in Egypt," Suleiman was to be named
vice-president (as occurred on January 29, 2011).

The chief of the Egyptian armed forces, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, like Suleiman and
Mubarak, is a regime insider with long ties to the Pentagon. One U.S.
Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks noted that, "Tantawi has opposed
both economic and political reforms that he perceives as eroding central
government power." While Suleiman and Tantawi are clearly cut from the
same cloth as Mubarek, my objection is not simply to these men but to
the system they embody. For a genuine revolution to take place, Suleiman
and his kind must be driven from power--even punished for their
crimes--not elevated to the highest levels of government.

What the masses of Egyptians want is freedom from dictatorship and
foreign domination. They want the right to participate in their own
government and to do so freely, with a free press, and in a society
where civil liberties
are guaranteed. They want an end to the country's poverty and to take
back the mountain of wealth stolen by the super-rich.

As it seems that Korea's democratization might hold possible lessons for
Egypt, so might the Philippines in 1986. Less than a year after the
first "People Power
Revolution" sent long-time dictator Ferdinand Marcos into exile, Corazon Aquino’s new
government shot to death 21 landless farmers who marched in Manila to
demand she keep her promises for land reform. The Philippines today is
plagued by increasing hunger, and more than three million children are
underweight and underheight. In 1973, students in Thailand overthrew a
hated military dictatorship after 77 people were gunned down in the
streets of Bangkok. After a two-year hiatus, one of the most free
periods in the history of Thailand, the military bloodily reimposed
dictatorship and killed dozens of students. In Nepal in 1990, fifty
days of popular protests during which 62 citizens were killed won a
constitutional monarchy, but within a few years, the royal family again
seized absolute power. A 19-day People Power Uprising in 2006 ended the
monarchy altogether, but only after 21 more unarmed civilians had been
killed by the forces of order.

No one can anticipate the outcome of what has been set in motion in
Egypt, but historical antecedents may provide insight into possible
outcomes. Will the blood of the 300 murdered citizens in Egypt, like the
hundreds of martyrs of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, water the tree of
liberty? Or will their sacrifice grease the wheels as US banks and
global corporations rush to replace "crony capitalism" with ever more
profitable arenas for wealthy investors?

Young activists in Cairo remain camped in Tahrir Square--for now at
least--where they have already had to stand up to the army’s attempt to
clear them out. Remaining steadfast, they are calling for substantive
reforms--for a new system and democracy worthy of the name. Even with
Mubarak gone, so long as his military commanders and chief of
intelligence remain in power, nothing like a revolution can be said to
have transpired in Egypt.

For that to be said, rather than celebrating their victory from high
positions of power, Suleiman and his buddies should themselves be guests
in the very prisons where they were previously hosts. The full turning
of the wheel of justice--a revolution in the true sense of the
word--demands nothing less. The sites where Suleiman tortured Habib and
al-Lidi should become public museums open to ordinary Egyptians to sadly
recount the country's decades of suffering under the US-backed
dictatorship of Mubarak. Instead, unless the movement continues to
propel the country forward, Suleiman's torture chambers may be destined
to be used against young activists whose only crime is to insist upon
making reality what is today claimed by nearly everyone--a revolution in
Egypt.
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[i]The views shared in this article do not necessarily reflect those
of the AHRC, and the AHRC takes no responsibility for them.[/i]
[i][b]About the Author[/b]: George Katsiaficas, whose
mother was born in Cairo, is a professor of humanities at Wentworth
Institute of Technology in Boston. He is currently completing Asia’s
Unknown Uprisings, a study of recent People Power uprisings. [/i]
# # #
[i][b]About AHRC[/b]: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia,
documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform
to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong
Kong-based group was founded in 1984. [/i] [img(1,1)]http://internal.ahrchk.net/phplist/ut.php?u=7c3c5b5dbe0fc92d1541e643b13e6256&m=6464[/img]

[b]International Human Rights
Day 2010 - Download our pre-print PDF version of the annual reports [url=http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/hrreport/2010]here[/url].[/b]


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