CAIRO, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Late at night and unannounced by the media, Egypt's parliament renewed for another three years its Emergency Law, which restricts freedoms and gives great leeway to security forces to arrest suspects.
The renewal Sunday of martial law, which has been in force since 1981, took democracy activists by surprise as they had expected the law to be renewed in May, when it was set to expire. A lengthy campaign to limit the law's scope and duration had been planned.
"We were preparing a demonstration on March 9 and gathering signatures from many thousands of people asking to end martial law in Egypt," said Hussein Abdel Razeq, a senior member of the leftist Tagammu party and leader of a coalition of political parties against the law.
The government justified renewal of the law on the grounds it was needed to combat drug dealers and terrorists -- the same reason that it has been invoked for 22 years. On Monday, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid affirmed that the law aims "to protect the country against its enemies and protect citizens against those that want to harm them."
Most political activists and opposition party members scoff at these claims and blame the moribund nature of political life in Egypt on martial law. Citing the lack of terrorist incidents or drug crimes, they suggest it has more to do with government fear over popular opposition to an expected U.S.-led war on Iraq.
"They are afraid they can't control this country without this law," said Ibrahim Dessouqi Abaza, a member of the liberal Wafd party. "They are afraid in general of opposition and especially because of Iraq," he said.
Egypt's position on the situation was far out of step with the general population, Abaza said, and greater unrest would result when the war began.
Cairo has seen almost daily protests against U.S. policies in the Middle East over the past few weeks, but none of them have been larger than a few thousand demonstrators because of a massive police presence. Some 15 activists have been arrested over the past month under the Emergency Law for taking part in these protests.
International human rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have condemned the sudden upswing in incarcerations related to street demonstrations.
"We are extremely concerned about the detention of people in connection with their peaceful participation in recent demonstrations in Egypt," said an AI press release. Human rights activists acknowledge the upcoming war could be construed as a reason for extending the law, but they question the need for a three-year renewal.
"If you want to renew it because of this situation, do it for six months or a year, but not three years," said Hafez Abou Saada, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. "Everyone knows the war is only going to last a few months."
The Emergency Law has been credited with depoliticizing Egyptian society over the past two decades. The law prevents the public assembly of more than five citizens and allows banning of publications deemed harmful to national security. In addition, it has created a parallel system of courts whose verdicts cannot be appealed and whose fairness has long been questioned by democracy activists.
Under Emergency Law, civilians could also be tried in military tribunals, a measure used extensively in the 1990s against both radical Islamist militants and professionals associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
"The regime renewed it so as to have the 'legal' means by which it can crackdown on its opposition -- especially the Muslim Brotherhood -- when it needs to," said Muhammad Mursi, the head of the 16-member delegation of MB members in parliament.
Unable to stage mass rallies, political parties have withered, leaving the MB as one of the few mass-based organizations in the country. In the past few legislative elections, the Emergency Law was invoked to detain MB backers and prevent them from mobilizing voter support.
Tactics like these have ensured a huge ruling party majority in the 454-member legislative body, where only 30 opposition members and independents opposed the renewal of the law. With the law in place now for another three years, it is not clear what its opponents will do.
Most agreed that Egypt won't be criticized by the United States or other Western powers that would prefer the current government to maintain its tight grip on power. Abou Saada of the EOHR says that campaigns will continue to limit the law's scope or at least its duration, but it is unclear how that is to happen.
While it was able to mobilize 150,000 supporters for the recent funeral of its leader, the MB is ruling out any protests over the law or even substantial participation in anti-war demonstrations.
"Any street activities without the authorities' permission will lead to bloody clashes," said Mursi.
