Group items tagged idiocy - authoritarianism in MENA

The group had “no information that this region is banned, no warning signs, and no instructions from checkpoints on the road, or the Tourism & Antiquities policeman present with them,” Hassan el-Nahla, the chairman of the General Union of Tourist Guides, said in a statement.“Egypt will pay the price of the impact of this incident on the tourism industry,” he said.
...

Cancel
Although the helicopter that conducted the attack was military, a spokesman for the Egyptian armed forces sought to deflect responsibility, saying “when it comes to tourists, it is a Ministry of Interior issue, not ours.”
...

Cancel
“This incident has nothing to do with the army even if the army and police carried out the operation together,” the spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Samir, said. “This is the system of this country, and you don’t have the right to question it.”
...

Cancel
...1 more annotation...
Residents of the North Sinai say that the security forces’ reliance on air power and shoot-first tactics often lead to many civilian deaths. The Egyptian government, however, has acknowledged virtually no collateral civilian casualties. Instead, the government routinely releases only the numbers of “militants” it has killed. None of the assertions can be confirmed because the government bars independent journalists from entering the area.
...

Cancel

shared by Ed Webb on 07 Mar 16 - No Cached

there is no way of telling how a person is chosen
...

Cancel
Authorities “scoop” up people,” Lotfy said, “like throwing a big net into the sea, and fishing out what they can.”
...

Cancel
everyone accompanying a “suspect” who is arrested is also arrested, followed by arrests of people from their circles. This is a common practice in the districts of Nasr City, Shubra and Matareya, where those detained are mainly children, he said. 
...

Cancel
...2 more annotations...
one high school student was arrested, and his whole class went missing for five days.
...

Cancel
All tales tell the same story. Hundreds of blindfolded and shackled Egyptians fill the corridors of Homeland Security’s invisible realms. They are forbidden to speak to each other. When they are interrogated, the questions don’t involve certain charges, but pry into personal information about friends such as what books they read and which places they frequent, according to several interviews Al-Monitor conducted. A pivotal topic is how the disappeared are related to the January 2011 revolution. One victim recounted being told, “Tell me what you are planning! You revolutionaries brought down the country. Without Homeland Security, Egypt would have gone down in flames!”
...

Cancel