IJCentral: International Justice Central

One year has passed since the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian fruit vendor whose actions ignited a chain of protests against social inequity in the Middle East, and almost as long since the January 25th Revolution in Egypt. The Arab Spring was remarkable in its ability to mobilize citizens through the use of non-violent methods and sometimes, even, through humorous slogans and posters. Yet while some government bodies initially responded to non-violence in the like (i.e. the Tunisian and Egyptian armies), others in Syria and Libya have since the start provoked the use of violence and undermined the main goals of the movement for social justice, better living conditions, and freedom, causing civilians to take up arms against the state.  Last year’s advancement in the democratic aspirations of citizens across the Middle East and North Africa was phenomenal, yet with immediate living conditions becoming dire, a reconsideration of the virtues of the revolution comes as no surprise and leaves it difficult to legitimately claim that the revolution has been wholly beneficial. But sometimes conditions will become worse in order to get better. Overcoming the corruption and civil injustice of previous decades will require consistent efforts toward the rejuvenation of civil society and government.

The issues to be tackled over the coming months are varied and heavy. While I do not claim full understanding of any issue at hand, I’ve outlined my hopes for 2012, using mostly examples from Egypt. The ideas expressed are based on my understanding of the issues through first hand experience and from surveying both U.S. and Middle Eastern reports.

1) Education
Education reform is essential for the emergence of a generation of students receiving a decent public education and college degrees allowing them to attain a career in their field. This problem is not specific to Egypt, but when so many people behind the wheel of a taxi actually have degrees that can place them in engineering and public health positions, the education and economic systems are lamentable. An increase in teacher wages is probably key to eliminating the widespread need for private tutoring outside of the classroom, which has undermined the integrity of public education. What I don’t think is immediately necessary is the alteration of textbook narratives honoring Hosni Mubarak for his service in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, among other things. Physical evidence of his negation were evident as of March, when none of his previously omnipresent portraits were visible as I roamed Alexandria’s streets. The removal of his portraits, his name from schools and subway stations cannot change history, but positive measures toward changing an education system that aimed to foster blind obedience to the state can help correct the thirty years of Mubarak’s rule which saw Egypt suffer.

2) Moral Reform
With the relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Salafi Party soon to hold a majority of legislative power, the external image of Egyptian society might change. If they choose, unwisely, to focus on minute aspects of social reform rather than on larger ones such as the economy, laws might advocate the compulsory veiling of Muslim women or banning certain aspects common to tourism such as alcohol. Who knows? What I hope is that if measures such as these are indeed to be imposed, that steps to remove corrupt practices of the state first be achieved, so that religious reform will logically follow moral reform. Corruption is not compatible with religious ideals of virtue and honesty, and state policies should not encourage citizens to take on religion in a ritualistic sense while opting for daily forms of bribery, political favors, and police brutality in the name of state service or even survival. The degradation faced by citizens at the hands of police brutality continues to be unjustifiable, and the restoration of dignity through moral reform is a priority. For more, please read Alaa al-Aswany’s segments on Social Justice and State Repression in On the State of Egypt and Galal Amin’s Egypt in the Era of Hosni Mubarak.

3) Civil Society and NGOs
In the face of the ever-extended state of emergency law that legalizes censorship, restricts basic freedoms, and allows police forces to detain any citizen suspected of dangerous behavior, the presence of human rights organizations and observers is important to record, if not prevent, violations. Of course the Egyptian Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) knows this and has been cracking down on those organizations which it feels are funded by foreign powers and present a potential threat . Yet it is essential for these organizations to persist in their struggles in order to help meet the demands of the revolution, and to form strong civil society networks to hold their governments accountable and to establish a strong justice system. The actions of the SCAF to cover up the public exposure of certain violations such as the continued use of tear gas and beatings to disperse protests, by cracking down on human rights organizations, is regrettable. This leads me onto the next topics:

4) Military
The military forces of the Arab countries facing revolution have been pivotal determinants of the country’s ensuing circumstances in their choice of siding with either the leader or the people. The Egyptian military was deemed heroic in its refusal to apply armed force against protesters during the initial days of protest, while Mubarak still reigned. Proof of this sentiment was evident on the streets in Egypt as of March, with slogans painted along the Alexandrian shore claiming, “The army and the people are one hand” and “The army and the people are in Egypt’s service”. Yet this civilian-military unity was subsequently proven false, as the SCAF’s eventual resort to violence against civilians has shown. Is it possible to regain their reputation as heroes? We have yet to see the SCAF reform abusive practices and government policies. My hope for the militaries of the region is that they will not massacre their own people for the short-term goal of keeping the current leaders in power. Their rule shall eventually end, whether by means of internal or foreign influence, but an abusive human rights record will live to tell of these atrocities.

5) Internal Justice and International Organizations
The leaders of Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya have sealed their fate either by finding deals of impunity or facing death. It is Mubarak’s pending trial that is expected to set up a system of accountability. I hope that his trial, and those of his sons and his minister of interior is not merely a symbolic gesture; this needs to set a precedent against the impunity of top-ranking officials and businessmen which had previously pervaded Egyptian trials. Future leaders should remember this trial, should they ever step out of line. Mubarak and his sons should not be executed for justice to prevail, but the trial should set a precedent for the rule of law to establish an effective internal system of justice. In the case of internal justice fallbacks, it would be wise for Arab governments to consider the jurisdiction of international bodies such as the ICC. Delegations from Arab states, particularly Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, and Syria that participated in the Rome Conference and the Preparatory Commission meetings in 1998, were actively involved in the establishment of the International Criminal Court.  I wish for effective measures to be taken against the systems of impunity present in the region, whether or not this involves the actions of international organizations. The ICC has procedures in place for applying the rule of law to account for the actions of authoritarian leaders, but it can only do so much on its own. There is a need to work with cooperative representatives, and this goes back to my third point on civil society building.

2011 was a year to realize the power of non-violent movements, the strength in thousands of bodies gathered together in a single square, with a single goal. The power of the collective will. 2012 will be a year to explore new methods of government accountability, experiment with new forms of self-expression and push toward new frontiers in justice and civil liberty. Maybe my aspirations have been inspired by viewing the overly-optimistic advertisements on Egyptian television depicting a sun gleaming over smiling citizens proudly waving their flags. Or maybe it’s this positivity that is needed to continue this revolutionary drive, past the toppling of authoritarian leaders, one year since the beginning of the revolution. Of that, at least, I’m certain.