Human Rights Watch(HRW) points out the Egyptian government's unprecedented blackout of the nation's internet poses a major threat to basic human rights, and should be reversed immediately. The shutdown of the web is an apparent response to massive countrywide demonstrations that began as protests against police torture and quickly escalated into calls for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's three decades of rule.
Emulating the disgusting paradigm of infamous Graecokleptocrats, who persecute and jail dissident bloggers, the government of Egypt terrorizes dissident bloggers. Blogging in Egypt and Greece is considered an extreme-risk avocation. Freakish kleptocrats accuse dissident bloggers of treason, confiscate their computers, and lock them is jail! Freak galore! These prisoners of conscience follow the long tradition of Socrates, who was killed by the Athenian democracy.
HRW notes Egypt's internet blackout is an extreme step designed to disrupt planned marches, to block images of police brutality, and to silence dissent once and for all. But the shuttering of the internet and most telecommunications by the Egyptian government also means that the government can take unmonitored action against its citizens, which poses a dire threat to human rights.
Mubarak has ruled Egypt since 1981 under emergency laws that give his security forces the power to arbitrarily arrest and detain thousands without charge for unlimited periods of time, and to ban demonstrations. A culture of impunity has enabled systematic torture. Against this backdrop, determined young internet activists have increasingly taken to the internet and used it to organize street protests and share information about cases.
HRW asserts that Egypt is flagrantly violating its treaty obligation to respect freedom of expression and information by this radical action. The protests, while widespread, are largely peaceful and certainly can't justify a nationwide blackout on internet and cellular service.
Freedom of expression and information may be limited to the extent necessary in a democratic society. However, spontaneous protests, even to advocate changing the government, are not considered a threat to the territorial integrity of a country, nor would the need to control crowds justify the comprehensive cut-off of basic services. Egypt has lived under repressive and widely criticized state of emergency laws since 1967 that the government uses to justify wide curtailment of civil liberties such as the right to protest.
HRW points out the internet and mobile communications are essential tools for rights of expression, to information, and of assembly and association. The United States, European Union, and influential regional governments should take immediate steps to press Egypt to end the nationwide telecommunications blackout. Companies and internet service providers in and outside of Egypt should act responsibly to uphold freedom of expression and privacy by pressing Egypt to stop censoring their products and services.
The Egyptian government pulled the plug on the web during a week of escalating public demonstrations, which were set off by a Facebook group in the name of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old man brutally beaten to death on an Alexandria street by police officers in June 2010. Said's story has come to symbolize the Egyptian government's endemic use of the emergency, torture, and blatant disregard for basic human rights.
HRW notes that a state-directed national attack on internet is deeply chilling and threatens to encourage other governments in the region to take similar action. The international community must respond swiftly to put an end to Egypt's information blackout and human rights abuses.
Global Tax Revolt points out the persecution of dissident bloggers is unquestionably a serious attack on freedom of speech, and contrary to Article 2 of Lisbon Treaty, Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The disgusting governments of Egypt and Greece cannot bully the blogosphere without repercussions and blowbacks. The international civil society got a shock and awe from the brutality of the infamous Greek government on October 18, 2010.
Premier George Papandreou of Greece crossed the Rubicon on October 18, 2010, when his deranged minister destroyed a distinguished professor and dissident blogger. That's why the Global Tax Revolt declared October 18 as the International Day Against Cybercop Brutality. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globaltaxrevolt
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