Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Egyptians Doubtful About New Secret Security Agency

Critics fear it will repeat same rights violations of its predecessor

Egypt's newly created National Security Service (NSS) marked its first success this week when it succeeded in apprehending a Somali national in Cairo's international airport suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell, the airport police reported.

Youssef Hassan had arrived in Cairo from Casablanca, Morocco, on a false diplomatic passport. After being searched, 26 forged travel documents were found on him, including United Nations and diplomatic passports. Hassan, who was also carrying nine tickets to different destinations, admitted to belonging to a Somali gang. Authorities said the tickets were a tracking decoy, a method used by the terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks against the U.S.

The NSS, which began operating in Cairo Airport on May 3, has replaced the notorious State Security Investigation Service (SSI), disbanded by Egypt's new Interior Ministry on March 15. Last Friday, a court sentenced Habib Al-Adly, the country's widely despised former interior minister and the SSI’s boss, to12 years in jail.

But as Egypt transitions into more democratic rule, many will be watching carefully to see whether the new NSS will be any different than the old SSI. And, they won’t be watching for homeland security successes like Hassan’s arrest, rather whether the new government and its chief domestic security arm observe human rights.

Gamal Munib, head of the opposition Nasserist Party in the city of Damanhour, said that the change of name meant nothing, since the SSI had also replaced agencies which were in fact the same, but carried different names such as "the Political Police" and "the General Security."

"The word 'secret' should no longer exist, everything must be transparent," Munib told The Media Line. "What authorities will this new body have? Will it be allowed to intervene in politics? In the elections?"

What’s more important is the founding charter of the new agency and understanding its authorized prerogatives, Munib said. The Nasserist Party has sent a request for clarification to Egypt's Supreme Military Council and the Ministry of Interior, but has received no reply as of yet.

The SSI, its officials and its practice were high on the list of change the opposition protestors demanded as they called for President Husni Mubarak to step down. It was routinely accused of arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention and torture A US diplomatic cable reported that police brutality and torture are "routine and pervasive."
In early March, Egyptian protesters stormed the SSI’s Cairo headquarters and took secret documents. But they also discovered that many sensitive and incriminating documents had been shredded by agency operatives.

Muhammad Kadri Said, a retired major general and head of Security Studies at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a Cairo-based think tank, admitted that the new agency's modus operandi was still being discussed and formulated, but he said he is optimistic about its future.

"The SSI functioned under Egypt's emergency law, and often violated the constitution," Said told The Media Line. "The new agency will be subject to a new law and will be more transparent; answering to the government and parliament."

Egyptian Interior Minister Mansour Al-Issawi told the television program "Life Today" in March that he would incorporate "very good" elements from the disbanded SSI in the new agency, as well as police officials who are highly competent in matters of counter-terrorism and espionage. Al-Issawi stressed that the NSS would deal solely with matters of internal counter-terrorism. All "other matters" will be treated by the police.

But Al-Issawi's reassurances don’t satisfy everyone in Egypt's opposition.

Last week, the Coalition of Youth Revolution, an umbrella organization uniting Egypt's opposition movements, conducted a conference titled "The National Security Service: Between Cleansing and Forming." Judge Zakariya Abd Al-Aziz, a speaker at the conference, asserted that SSI staff shouldn’t be employed in the new NSS. He suggested the new agency should employ recent law graduates, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

But Said, the Al-Ahram researcher, told The Media Line it was unrealistic to expect the entire security establishment, which employed an estimated 10,000 people in the Mubarak era, could be replaced all at once.

"I think there will be a comprehensive change, but not of 100%. All the top officials will be substituted, but not mid-level employees, who had carried out professional work in the SSI. It takes time to rebuild everything from scratch," Said said.

The new NSS has it work cut out for it. Over the weekend Egypt has witnessed a sharp rise in sectarian violence as the Virgin Mary Church in the impoverished Cairo neighborhood of Imbaba was torched by a Muslim mob on Saturday night, after the church was accused of abducting and hiding a Christian woman who had converted to Islam. Twelve people died and 190 were detained by Egyptian security forces for involvement in the violence.

In the Sinai desert, the pipeline delivering Egyptian natural gas to Israel, Jordan and Syria has been sabotaged twice since February. Security forces have to grapple with a country still suffering political uncertainty and a general lack of law and order that could give tempting opportunities for Islamists and other militants to operate.

Joseph Fahim, a Christian journalist with Daily News Egypt and a participant in the country's revolution, said Egypt's uncertain security situation has caused many to demand a strong security force, regardless of previous political affiliations.

"There is currently a major security void in Egypt," Fahim told The Media Line. "The army isn’t doing anything and the police are outnumbered and under-equipped. Everyone now wants a strong body that will restore security to the people."

Fahim was pessimistic that the NSS would be inherently different than the SSI.

"The one question is whether it will be accountable to a judicial body," he said. "As far as I know, it will not be. At this point, it's only promises."

Source: The Media Line

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