Facing down jail and wealthy foes, Arab rights defenders soldier on
| CAIRO, Egypt, and AMMAN, Jordan
On a December Thursday in a nondescript Cairo apartment building, a table is spread with plastic containers of Egyptian morning mainstays 鈥� fava beans, taamiya, scrambled eggs, and聽falafel. And a box of Dunkin' donuts.
Reporters at聽the online newspaper聽Mada Masr are gathering for a tradition observed in newsrooms across the world: the end-of-week staff breakfast.
As they break bread, laughter and gossip fill the air. There are no聽obvious聽signs of the police raid聽a few weeks earlier that led to the brief detention of the paper鈥檚 top editors聽鈥� except, that is, the bolted front door.
Why We Wrote This
If support for democratic norms and institutions is eroding in the West, where does that leave rights activists and journalists in the Arab world? Seventh in our global series 鈥淣avigating Uncertainty.鈥�
At Egypt鈥檚 last independent media outlet,聽which reports in a country that jails more journalists than almost any other, displaying聽normalcy is not just a coping mechanism, it鈥檚 a moral code.
鈥淲e live and work like any other news organization. We won鈥檛 let repression change us,鈥� says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, an editor.
That sort of stubborn determination is common to reporters and human rights defenders throughout the Middle East who are fighting 鈥� and sometimes defeating 鈥� a wave of repression.
As Europe, Latin America, and even the United States witness a steady erosion of democratic norms and institutions, Arab activists and journalists are embroiled in an all-out war聽in defense of those values,聽facing arrest,聽sham trials, even聽torture.
If today the world order is shaking,聽the Arab world, in tectonic terms, has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade.
In聽much of the聽region, which less than 10 years ago聽experienced an awakening of political and personal freedoms,聽culture, and聽the聽media,聽activism has become a matter of life or death. For in the wake of the聽2011 Arab Spring protests to end autocratic rule and聽foster聽democracy has come聽an anti-democratic聽counterrevolution that聽rages聽to this day.
In the belief that democracy in one Arab state is a threat to all,聽regimes flush with petrodollars have cracked down聽mercilessly聽on political activity and media.聽One of the fiercest campaigns continues聽under President聽Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt,聽funded by Gulf allies, who聽has jailed 60,000 political prisoners and dozens of journalists,聽according to Human Rights Watch.
Committee to Protect Journalists
Goliath with a rocket launcher
Western governments rarely talk about human rights in the Arab world these days. Consumed by political divisions at home,聽and lately by the coronavirus pandemic,聽they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them.
The silence has an impact.
In late November,聽Egyptian police raided a Cairo coffee shop and arrested three independent journalists: Solafa Magdy, Hossam al-Sayyad, and Mohamed Saleh.聽Their聽detentions received no domestic or international media coverage. Today they remain in prison in cramped conditions and denied medical care, like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region.
Meanwhile, America and Europe continue to enable Arab regimes鈥� crackdowns with money, weapons, and technology. Canadian and French firms have sold software聽to聽the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt that those governments have used to block the websites of human rights organizations and media outlets,聽internet watchdogs say.聽Former U.S. National Security Agency employees聽have been widely reported as saying they聽worked with the UAE to monitor and spy on journalists and rights defenders.
The聽technology has aided聽regimes鈥櫬爑se of anti-terror laws that criminalize as 鈥渢errorism鈥� Facebook posts聽that are merely critical of聽the government.
In the words of one veteran Arab activist, 鈥渋t is as if in the battle between David and Goliath, Goliath was given a rocket-launcher.鈥�
鈥淭hese regimes have the support of the West, they have money, they have armies, and they have the latest technology. What do we have?鈥� asks Khalid Ibrahim,聽co-founder and聽director of the Beirut-based聽Gulf聽Center聽for Human Rights. 鈥淲e only have the word. And it is our duty to get the message out any way we can.鈥�
Activists as 鈥渢errorists鈥�
One person fighting to get the word out is Gamal Eid, among the last human rights defenders operating in Egypt.
His Cairo-based聽Arabic聽Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which once worked to reform police practices, is now consumed with defending the growing number of Egyptians jailed for 鈥渢errorism.鈥�
From 2013-17, ANHRI dealt with around 300 cases a year,聽but聽in 2018 and 2019 its caseload surpassed 500 a year.
Today few organizations or lawyers are willing to defend the increasingly varied range of Egyptians brought before the courts as 鈥渢errorists.鈥� Many who dare to defend activists, such as human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer, end up being arrested themselves.
Mr. Eid and his staff fear that if they shutter their doors, Egyptians being held in pretrial detention will go undefended, undocumented, and unseen.
鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for us, these people would be lost to the system forever,鈥� says an ANHRI lawyer聽who requested anonymity. 鈥淲e are their last, and only, hope.鈥�
ANHRI defends suspected members of the former Muslim Brotherhood, which backed the government that General Sisi overthrew in a 2013 coup. It also defends a growing number of young liberal Egyptians who once supported Mr. Sisi but are now persecuted for failing to toe the regime鈥檚 line.
鈥淲e cannot turn our backs on each other because of ideological differences,鈥� says Mr. Eid. 鈥淭hat is how the regime wins,鈥� he sighs.
ANHRI has paid a heavy price. Its lawyers have been arrested, and Mr. Eid聽says he聽has been attacked by suspected regime agents twice in recent months, leaving him with cracked ribs.
He now carries pepper spray, constantly glancing over his shoulder in public. But, he says, looking out from his balcony onto the bustling Cairo street below, 鈥淭he people are with me, they thank me every day for our work. That is my motivation and my protection.鈥�
Gulf citizens step up
Activism endures, too, even in the聽oil-rich聽Gulf, where citizens must maneuver under the iron grip of monarchs who repress political life and speech with more impunity and brutality than governments anywhere else in the region.
On paper,聽the聽Gulf聽Arab聽governments seem unstoppable, thanks to聽their enormous wealth and decades of shared military and economic interests with Western countries that do not dare risk the sheikhs鈥� stability with any criticism, let alone action.
With rights organizations shuttered and聽traditional聽activists in jail, democracy and social justice have one last champion:聽individual Gulf聽citizens.
Concerned citizens are now on the front lines for human right in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and elsewhere, using social media to stand up for their communities and challenge official narratives.
They are being assisted by activists and exiles abroad providing organization, advocacy, and communications and cybersecurity knowhow.
鈥淢obilization on social media has been key to raise awareness and lobby on certain issues,鈥� says Mr. Ibrahim of the Gulf Center for Human Rights in Beirut.
The end result: even with rights defenders in jail and the press muzzled, the truth is getting out, sustaining international scrutiny聽of the聽image-conscious monarchies.聽
Freedom House
In聽Saudi Arabia,聽the聽death in prison last month of leading rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid, reportedly for lack of medical care, triggered international condemnation.
Last year, public pressure forced the reversal of聽a death sentence imposed on peaceful activist Israa al-Ghomgham.聽And聽Western media repeatedly reference jailed Saudi women activists like Loujain Halhoul, tarnishing聽the image of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Such is the work of Sayed聽Alwadaei.
After taking part聽in聽pro-democracy protests in Bahrain during the Arab Spring, Mr. Alwadaei聽was assaulted by government agents, tortured, and imprisoned for six months; he still bears scars on his forehead. In 2012, he fled to the U.K.
From London,聽Mr.聽Alwadaei聽founded the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), a network of citizens and activists in his home country and abroad working to pressure Bahrain鈥檚 rulers to release activists, improve prisoner conditions, and challenge Western governments鈥� unwavering support for Manama.
BIRD carries the voice of prisoners and survivors to the international media and聽to the United Nations, sharing recordings of prisoner phone calls and firsthand testimonies of torture, abuse, and prison conditions. It has swayed public opinion at home and in the U.K., a key Bahrain supporter.
Mr.聽Alwadaei聽has changed the conversation, linking the monarchy to rights abuses, and inspiring people to question Western backing for the king. During a 2018 U.K. parliamentary debate calling attention to 鈥渃ontinuing human rights abuses in Bahrain,鈥� MPs criticized London鈥檚 鈥渇ailed鈥� policies and singled out Mr. Alwadaei for his 鈥渂ravery and tenacity.鈥�
鈥淭he moment they see their names mentioned in a report on torture or their image portrayed as torturers, they will think twice before they commit an abuse again,鈥� Mr.聽Alwadaei聽says from London.
Covid-19 raises the stakes
The coronavirus pandemic has only highlighted the urgent need for independent voices in the Arab world.
As Arab regimes struggle to confront the virus and invoke emergency powers to suppress information contradicting their claims of 鈥渧ictory,鈥� journalists and activists are聽seeking to provide dependable聽information.
In Cairo, Mada Masr聽is a lone dissenting voice challenging the pro-regime media chorus that at first downplayed the virus and now only praises the government鈥檚 response.
Its聽journalists have reported on the limited availability of tests, explored life under quarantine lockdown in rural villages, described how doctors and nurses are braving聽the聽front lines without protective gear, and聽chronicled an outbreak at the National Cancer Institute.
Meanwhile, Gulf activists have reported on the dangers Asian laborers face in crowded housing, and are mounting campaigns pressuring Egypt, Saudi聽Arabia, and Bahrain to release political prisoners amid concerns the virus will聽spread in crammed jails.
Bearing witness
Despite聽lamenting Western indifference to their fate, Arab democrats and rights defenders say their struggle remains winnable. In fact, they like their odds. For if they can keep the flame of democracy and freedoms alive in the darkest of times, they say, the future bodes well.
鈥淵ou must never feel broken or powerless, because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation; to make you overlook your own power to hold people to account,鈥� says Mr. Alwadaei.聽鈥淪ometimes vulnerability means opportunity, and you can turn it to your favor.鈥�
At Mada Masr, the young journalists聽say they聽have a simple strategy聽to聽survive a regime that bullies the press, blurs the lines between fact and fiction, denounces the media as 鈥渆nemies,鈥� and polarizes the nation using a with-us-or-against-us narrative:聽Stay above the fray.
The publication embodies classic journalistic principles:聽to analyze events and publish 鈥渁 record of life in Egypt at a time of great social and political change鈥� without聽taking sides, says managing editor聽Mohammed Hamama.
鈥淲e are not activists; we are聽witnesses,鈥� he insists. 鈥淲hat we deem deserves to be witnessed, documented, and commented on for the Egyptian people and future generations 鈥� we report it.鈥�
At the Mada Masr office, you would be hard-pressed to hear insults or complaints聽directed toward President聽Sisi聽or聽his government. The newspaper鈥檚 reports carefully weigh what the government does and says, always willing to give credit where it鈥檚 due.
The same聽edition聽might carry聽praise聽for聽the regime鈥檚 鈥渋ngenious鈥� universal health care plan and聽a聽report聽on聽a corruption scandal involving聽Mr. Sisi鈥檚 inner circle.
Mada Masr reporters聽say the need聽for solid journalism is more important than聽their own聽personal feelings, no matter how great their outrage.
Mr. Hamama and聽the聽Mada Masr聽staff聽were drawn to journalism聽during聽the聽heady days of聽the Arab Spring. But聽while聽the turbulent聽post-revolutionary period and聽2013 military coup led others to give up or emigrate,聽the聽Mada Masr staff became convinced聽that Egypt needed聽independent journalism more than ever.
To survive聽amid widespread arrests of journalists and聽the nationalization of聽most private media, they adapt.
When the government blocked their site, they provided readers with聽work-arounds.聽When authorities pressured advertisers to withdraw funding,聽they offered聽鈥渕emberships鈥� to readers, inviting them to support the news while forging a community of concerned Egyptians.
Catch and release
Mada Masr journalists held聽to聽the聽belief that they were too small聽to be聽worth jailing. But聽in聽late November, police stormed聽the paper and drove off with chief editor Lina Atallah,聽Mr. Hamama,聽and reporter Rana Mamdouh.
The three were convinced they would not see the light of day for a year, if ever. Since 2014, authorities have routinely subjected detainees to months or years of pretrial detentions.聽And聽due to crowding and聽poor conditions, a prison term can be a death sentence in Egypt.
Mada鈥檚 readers alerted Western reporters in Cairo. They called their embassies, and diplomats queried the Interior Ministry. After 90 minutes,聽a聽鈥渕iracle,鈥� in Mr. Hamama鈥檚 word: The police car returned and dropped the reporters at聽the office.聽They were released without charge.
Two days later, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the raid in a rare public rebuke of the Sisi regime.
The cost-benefit for the government shifted; arresting Mada鈥檚 reporters and subjecting them to years聽in prison is more trouble than it鈥檚 worth for now.
But what if the government鈥檚 thinking changes again?
鈥淭hat is what we are all wondering,鈥澛燤r. Hamama聽says, sitting on the iron balcony of Mada鈥檚 office. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know if or when the regime will change its calculations and we will be arrested for good.鈥�
He shrugs. 鈥淪o we might as well continue.鈥�
