Jack Shenker
London Guardian
Sept 16, 2011
Egyptians have returned to Tahrir Square to rally against the military junta’s reactivation of Mubarak-era emergency laws, and Amnesty International has described the move as the biggest threat to human rights in the country since the revolution of 25 January.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has ruled Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak earlier this year and has promised to hand over to an elected civilian government in November, announced that it was broadening the application of emergency law following clashes at the Israeli embassy in Cairo last Friday.
The suspension of normal civilian rights and the existence of special “security courts” were a hallmark of the Mubarak regime, which maintained a permanent emergency law throughout the former dictator’s reign.
Mubarak said last year that emergency laws would only be applied to those suspected of drug-related or terrorism offences, as public opposition to the virtually unlimited powers granted to the security forces began to grow.
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On sale now, the fabulous new Arab Spring-loaded Trap. Just when those pesky protesters think things are gonna change, Bam! you activate your patented Arab Spring-loaded Trap and they’re back in the dark ages (but only after Twitter and Facebook have uploaded all of their pertinent information, haha, silly Arab).