guardian.co.uk,
Peter Beaumont and Paul Harris in New York, Thursday 29 December 2011
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| The IRI said it was 'dismayed and disappointed', while the NDI said the raids sent a 'disturbing signal'. Photograph: Mohammed Asad/AP |
Relations
between Egypt's military rulers and the United States threatened to hit a new
low after Egyptian security forces launched unprecedented armed raids on a
series of high profile human rights and pro-democracy organisations.
The raids
included targeting the US-government funded National Democratic Institute –
founded by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright – and the International
Republican Institute, whose chairman is Republican senator John McCain. Both
organisations are affiliated with the two major US political parties.
The
orchestrated move by Egypt's generals, apparently keen to play up to anti-US
and nationalist feelings in the country, will be seen as highly provocative in
Washington, which underwrites military aid to Egypt to the sum of $1.3bn
(£843m) annually.
"We
are deeply concerned," a State Department official told the Guardian.
The raids
prompted a stern response from the organisations targeted. The IRI immediately
condemned the raids, claiming they were worse than took place under Egypt's
former dictator Hosni Mubarak.
"IRI
is dismayed and disappointed by these actions. IRI has been working with
Egyptians since 2005; it is ironic that even during the Mubarak era IRI was not
subjected to such aggressive action," the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile,
NDI president Kenneth Wollack urged Egyptian authorities to allow the centre to
reopen and to return any confiscated property. "Cracking down on
organisations whose sole purpose is to support the democratic process during
Egypt's historic transition sends a disturbing signal," Wollack said.
Security
forces also raided the offices of Washington-based Freedom House.
During the
raids riot police confined staff to their offices and forbade them from making
phone calls. Seventeen Egyptian and international groups were targeted as part
of a widespread investigation into foreign funding of Egyptian civic society
groups.
The State
Department official said US authorities had been in touch with senior Egyptian
figures at "high levels" and that ambassador Anne Patterson had been
in contact with the prime minister, Kamal al-Ganzouri.
"We
call on the Egyptian government to resolve this issue immediately and to end
harassment of NGO staff as well as return all property," the official
said.
In recent
months, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has accused local
non-governmental organisations of receiving money from abroad, and has argued
that the recent unrest in the country is by "foreign hands".
Hana
el-Hattab, an NDI staffer trapped inside her office, tweeted: "We're
literally locked in. I really have no idea why they are holding us inside and
confiscating our personal laptops." In other tweets she wrote: "I was
on the balcony, dude with machine gun came up and told us to go in and locked
it … we asked if they had a search warrant, they said the person who issues
warrants is in building & doesn't need to issue one for himself. They're
even taking history books from people's bags."
The
National Democratic Institute is supported in its work by the US State
Department, USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Heba
Morayef, who works with Human Rights Watch in Egypt, said she had received a
message from an NDI staffer confirming they had been confined inside their
offices by riot police. Images posted on Twitter showed armed police in body
armour stationed outside.
The
Egyptian news agency Mena said the 17 "civil society organisations"
had been targeted as part of an investigation into foreign funding of such
groups.
"The
public prosecutor has searched 17 civil society organisations, local and
foreign, as part of the foreign funding case," Mena cited the prosecutor's
office as saying. "The search is based on evidence showing violation of
Egyptian laws including not having permits."
Security
forces, both uniformed and plain-clothes, forced their way into the offices,
where employees were informed that they were under investigation by the public
prosecutor. According to witnesses, laptops and other documents were also
seized during the raids.
The raids
follow a far-reaching investigation into the foreign funding of human rights
and civic advocacy groups launched under the aegis of the country's ruling
generals earlier this year.
Ironically,
the law being used to pursue the groups is one from the era of Mubarak, which
the government had said it intended to repeal.
During the
Mubarak era, groups such as NDI and IRI and others had existed in a grey area,
unable to obtain permission to operate in full legal compliance.
Other
groups reportedly raided, according to activists, include the Konrad
Adenauer-Stiftung, which supports political dialogue, Freedom House, and the
Egyptian Public Budget Observatory.
Morayef
condemned the raids, and the investigation that led to them, as "entirely
inappropriate", adding: "This is part of a wider crackdown on civil
society groups in Egypt using Mubarak-era laws. They are using these
pre-revolution laws as a broadbrush investigation that could result in
wholesale shutting down of human rights and other groups that have been at the
forefront of criticism of the army.
"This
is very selective and really, really serious. It has huge potential
implications for human rights in Egypt."
The Cairo
Institute for Human Rights Studies said: "The NDI, IRI and Freedom House
have been previously investigated by the ministry of justice on charges of
receiving foreign funding, while the Arab Centre for the Independence of
Justice and Legal Professions has not been yet investigated."
The army
has pledged to step aside by mid-2012. "In Mubarak's time the government
never dared to do such a thing," said prominent human rights activists
Negad el-Bourai on his Twitter account.
Political
experts said the groups raided on Thursday have taken a neutral political
stance, focusing on fostering democracy in Egypt by training members of nascent
parties. "The National Democratic Institute has been training new parties
… in how to participate in elections," a leading member of a liberal party
said on condition of anonymity. This has been with the full knowledge of
authorities and was not clandestine."
The NDI and
IRI say they take a neutral political stance, fostering democracy in Egypt by
training members of nascent parties in democratic processes.
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