Posted: 12/23/11 02:46 PM ET
The violence in and around Cairo ' s Tahrir Square that began on December 16th between military police and an increasinglybelligerent core of protestors, has been particularly ugly. In fact, thecircumstances surrounding this violence represent clear evidence that theruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has taken domestic andinternational indifference as a license to act with total impunity, and it hasdropped all pretense of restraint and tolerance for dissent.
U.S. policymakers must use their leverage and speak out against the following:
1) We can no longer avoid the clear pattern ofwillingness by SCAF to encourage disorder and brutality among its conscriptsoldiers and officer toward those engaging in social and political dissent.This latest violence erupted when military police, armed with sticks and guns,began to break up a sit-in before the Egyptian cabinet, coinciding with theirdestruction of the protestor ' sencampment in the middle of the Square. Not only did soldiers tear down andtorch protestors ' tents, but in afrightful show of disdain, circulating footage also shows officers themselvesstanding on top of the parliament building, hurling rocks and chunks of cementdown on the protesters below -- and even apparentlyurinating on them at one point. The most damning portrait of this nastybusiness, of course, is in the shockingand widely-circulated image of a veiled female protestor being stripped toher bra, dragged along the pavement, and stomped upon by a soldier.
2) The SCAF and its new prime ministerKamal al-Ganzouri have renewed claims that a foreign conspiracy is at work in Tahrir Square , andhave treated with particular brutality domesticand foreign journalists in the last few days. Reporters from a variety oflocal press outlets (e.g., al-Tahrir, al-Masry al-Youm) and internationalnetworks (e.g., Al-Jazeera English) have been beaten, detained, and forciblyrelieved of their of equipment. Joseph Mayton, an American journalist andeditor-in-chief of BikyaMasr.com, experiencedjust such a detention: he has reported his experience being beaten andarrested simply for taking pictures of the violence on Saturday, of having theAmerican Embassy in Cairo explicitly decline to intervene in his case, and ofobserving the severe treatment of detainees -- including children -- inmilitary custody, before his eventual release. SCAF is thus actively tramplingpress freedoms along with the protestors ' basic right to assemble and express themselves, and such brutality is utterlyunacceptable under any circumstances.
3) In a disturbing reprise of SCAF ' s press conference on October 10th, following theMaspero Massacre of peaceful Coptic demonstrators, the military leadership hasalso geared its official rhetoric in a way designed to incite the Egyptian toviolence against political dissidents. Ina press conference on December 19th, Gen. Adel Emara praised thesacrificial efforts and restraint of it soldiers, blamed the violence on theusual conspiracy against the country, and (while ignoring the clear evidence tothe contrary) stated thatthe army's use of violence against civilians was a baseless fabrication bythe media. The previous day, Gen. Abdel Kato commented that protestors wholashed back at the army in the most recent clashes deserved the fate of"Hitler's ovens" instead of the public ' ssympathy.
It is important to note that the above dynamics are not new;rather, they represent an intensification of the Egyptian military ' s violent approach to the nation ' s struggling protest movement. This also holds thepotential to play directly into the hands of Islamist parties. The MB is keenlyaware of this, and afterstrategically remaining aloof in casting blame for previous clashes, theorganization on Monday explicitlycondemned SCAF for its brutality. This is an important shift in theBrotherhood ' s rhetoric, and evidencethat is preparing to seize the moment to take a moral high ground in the chaos-- even as itscommitment to the current political timetable remains central to itsstrategy for success.
It is time that the SCAF is finally held accountable for itsactions, by the international community and especially by its most importantbenefactors in the U.S. government. Secretary of State Clinton has made an important first step by clearlycondemning the violence perpetrated against women in the recent violence,but such denunciation must be transformed into action. So far, the Obamaadministration has refused to make military aid to Egypt -- which currently stands at$1.3 billion each year -- conditional on swift and genuine progress towardcivilian rule and the protection of fundamental human rights. This stance is,in fact, hurting American interests, as the sense of impending chaos is likelyto drive Egypt further toward Islamist rule and economic disaster (among otherconcerns). In this case, the protection of basic human rights andaccountability for Egypt ' s failed leadership are one and the same withAmerican interests.
Such a stand will draw a bold and unmistakable red line infront of the sorts of abuses that we have seen in the streets of Egypt inprevious days and weeks. The situation is untenable in the meantime: freedomsare being crushed, Egyptian protestors and members of the media are suffering,and anti-Americanism is likely to skyrocket.