Category Archives: Egypt

Egypt freedom of press downgraded to ‘Not Free’

123995618_51nFreedom House is an organization that is dedicated to promoting free institutions worldwide.  In order to do this the organization gives reports and statuses on the freedoms of every country.  In 2013 Freedom House downgraded Egypt’s freedom of press from ‘Partly Free’ to ‘Not Free’.  This downgrade in status speaks volumes on the contentious and ever-changing situation with the Egyptian government.  The reasons behind the downgrade were that Egypt has had campaigns to intimidate journalists, that there have been increased efforts to persecute journalists who talk badly about political leadership and there is a reduced availability of balanced coverage in the country.

The reduction of balanced news coverage in Egypt is related to when former president Mohamed Morsi took over power in 2012.  Morsi was a leader for the Muslim Brotherhood and appointed a fellow Muslim Brotherhood member to be in charge of producing a pro-government bias to the national media.  The Brotherhood’s newspaper, Freedom and Justice, became a platform to the overt promotion of Morsi’s policies.  Now that Morsi has been thrown out of power the interim government has seemed to go too far on the opposite end of the spectrum.  As mentioned in another blog post the interim president, Aldy Mansour, prohibited the printing of the Freedom and Justice newspaper and any publication that was in favor of Morsi.  By taking these actions the new government is doing exactly what Morsi did, which is restrict news coverage to only things that are favorable to them and that virtually eliminates balanced news coverage.  I find it a little ironic that Morsi was thrown out of power for promoting a biased media, but the new government is doing the same exact thing by not allowing news that isn’t favorable to the current leadership situation.  By limiting news from multiple and sometimes conflicting news outlets it hurts citizens’ abilities to see multiple perspectives on issues.  By not allowing this to happen the Egyptian government is influencing how they want their citizens to think, whether they realize it or not.  This absence of balanced coverage in Egypt is a huge hit for their freedom of press and because of that I feel they were rightfully downgraded to ‘Not Free’.

Posted by Tyler Ainge

Source: http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/egypt

Greyson detainment highlights mistreatment of journalists

johngreyson-slider-680x340Since the removal of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi there have been over 40 cases of detainment where journalists and media members are put in jail without facing any formal charges.  Most of these detainments are related to media members that are sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood or former president Morsi.  However, in the case of Canadian filmmaker John Greyson I feel it highlights how this unfair treatment can have affects on anyone.  On August 16, 2013 Greyson was on his way to Gaza to film a movie but he could not reach Gaza because Egypt had closed its border.  While in Egypt he documented police cracking down on a Muslim Brotherhood demonstration.  Egyptian authorities found the video on Greyson’s camera and a spokesman for the Egyptian military said that he would be charged with “participating in an illegal demonstration.”  Greyson faced horrible conditions in jail where he shared a cell with 40 other people.  He was also searched, interrogated, beaten, shaved bald and refused phone calls while in jail.

Finally with help from the Canadian government and international authorities Greyson was released from jail.  During the protest to get Greyson out of imprisonment the Canadian government and several other organizations wrote a letter of support for Greyson that was signed by 311 cultural and academic figures from around the world.  Also an online petition was signed by nearly 150,000 people.  On October 5th the Canadian government announced that Greyson had been released, however the Egyptian military said he could not leave the country while under investigation.  On October 10th Greyson was finally able to get on a plane and leave Egypt.  I feel that this one example shows how unfair journalists are treated in that country.  In this case it was a foreign filmmaker who just got stuck in the country and happened to film the wrong thing, but this same type of harsh and unfair treatment happens everyday to journalists in that country.  I think the main point to highlight from this example is that Greyson was held in jail without ever being formally charged, but due to help from his government he was able to be freed.  Egyptian journalists are not afforded this same luxury and when they are detained without formally receiving charges their stay in jail can be indefinite.

Posted by Tyler Ainge

Source: http://cpj.org/blog/2013/10/john-greyson-detention-exposes-egypts-arbitrary-po.php#more

Egyptian censorship continues under new government

Adli Mansour, Egypt's chief justice and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, attends his swearing in ceremony as interim president in Cairo

In July, 2013 the new Egyptian government began detaining journalists and censoring news outlets, especially those associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.  This concerned the Committee to Protect Journalists because the new government and interim president Aldy Mansour originally expressed the intention to being more of a liberal media system by being inclusive with the media, but these actions clearly contradict that.  The Muslim Brotherhood is a religious and political group that believes Islam is not just a religion, but a way of life.  The Muslim Brotherhood officially rejects violent means to secure goals, but offshoots of the group have been linked to attacks in the Middle East.  Former Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and therefore has much support from the organization.

The CPJ’s Middle East and North African program coordinator, Sherif Mansour, said that if the new government in Egypt is sincere about pursuing democracy it must begin to respect the freedom of press and all voices, including the Muslim Brotherhood, should be heard.  Examples of recent censorship in Egypt include the Al-Ahram government printing house refusing to print the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice daily.  The military also raided Al-Jazeera’s Egyptian television station and shut down at least three stations that are supportive of previous Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi.  Police also arrested two Islamist television hosts and dozens of staff, including journalists, were detained in undisclosed locations without contact to lawyers or families.

Reading this article it is easy to see the hypocrisy that the Committee to Protect Journalists is noticing with the new Egyptian government.  The interim president expresses the want for Egypt to be a democracy; however he censors any form of media that is supportive of the former president.  By raiding media outlets and detaining journalists they are censoring the voices of people in the country that contradict the current president.  Egyptian citizens have the right to know about the viewpoints of all different political organizations, so they can form their own informed opinion on their current and former leaders.  As long as Egypt continues to not follow freedom of press to the full extent than the country will never be a true democracy and liberal media system.

Posted by Tyler Ainge

Source: http://www.cpj.org/2013/07/egyptian-authorities-step-up-censorship.php