History of Egypt under Hosni Mubarak
The history of Egypt under Hosni Mubarak spans a period of 29 years, beginning with the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat and lasting until the Egyptian revolution of January 2011, when Mubarak was overthrown in a popular uprising as part of the broader Arab Spring movement. His presidency was marked by a continuation of the policies pursued by his predecessor, including the liberalization of Egypt's economy and a commitment to the 1979 Camp David Accords. The Egyptian government under Mubarak also maintained close relations with the other member states of the Arab League, as well as the United States, Russia, India, and much of the Western World. However, international non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly criticized his administration's human rights record. Concerns raised include political censorship, police brutality, arbitrary detention, torture, and restrictions on freedoms of speech, association, and assembly.[1]
For a biography of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, see Hosni Mubarak.Mubarak's presidency greatly impacted Egyptian society and politics. This is in large part due to Egypt's political structure, in which the President must approve all pieces of legislation and state expenditures before they are enacted.[2]
Arab Republic of Egypt
Sufi Abu Taleb (acting)
Hosni Mubarak
6 October 1981
14 October 1981
17 November 1997
7 September 2005
25 January 2011
1,010,408 km2 (390,121 sq mi)
41,706,000
50,900,000
62,600,000
80,500,000
Propaganda[edit]
Mubarak "fostered a culture of virulent anti-Semitism in Egypt" and turned Egypt into "the world's most prolific producer of anti-Semitic ideas and attitudes".[16] During the Mubarak years, the Egyptian media portrayed the infamous anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as genuine, accused the Jews of spreading venereal diseases in Egypt, of working to sabotage Egyptian agriculture, and of causing the problems of drug addiction among the Egyptian youth.[17] The anti-Semitic pamphlet Human Sacrifice in the Talmud was made mandatory reading by the Egyptian Ministry of Education.[17] The Israeli historian Major Efraim Karsh wrote in 2006 that in Egypt's "...numberless articles, scholarly writings, books, cartoons, public statements, and radio and television programs, Jews are painted in the blackest terms imaginable".[17] In 2002, a mini-series Horseman without a horse aired on Egyptian state television which portrayed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as genuine.[17]
Unrest and terror[edit]
Unrest was not uncommon during Mubarak's reign. In February 1986 the Central Security Forces mutinied taking to the streets, rioting, burning and looting in demand for better pay. The uprising was the greatest challenge of the Mubarak presidency up to that point and only the second time in modern Egyptian history the Army was dispatched to Egyptian streets to restore order.[18]
In 1992, 14,000 soldiers occupied the Cairo shantytown suburb of Imbaba (est. population 1,000,000) for six-weeks arresting and removing some 5000 people, after al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya followers of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman attempted to take control there.[19] In the following years al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya waged war against the state and against foreigners. In one year (1993) 1106 persons were killed or wounded. More police (120) than terrorists (111) were killed that year and "several senior police officials and their bodyguards were shot dead in daylight ambushes."[20]
In 1997, at least 71 people, mostly Swiss tourists, were massacred by al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya gunmen at the Hatshepsut Temple outside Luxor.[21] In July 2005, a series of bombings left 86 people dead and over 150 wounded in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
During 2007 and 2008, Egypt witnessed more than 150 demonstrations and strikes, which were partially "violent and required heavy deployment of the security forces."[22]
Human rights[edit]
A state of emergency remained in force throughout the entirety of Mubarak's presidency and provided a basis for arbitrary detention and unfair trials.[23] Human rights violations on the part of Egyptian security services during Mubarak's rule were described as "systematic" by Amnesty International.[24] In 2007, Amnesty International reported that the Egyptian police routinely engaged in "beatings, electric shocks, prolonged suspension by the wrists and ankles in contorted positions, death threats and sexual abuse".[24] In 2009, Human Rights Watch estimated between 5,000 and 10,000 Egyptians were held without charge. Police and security forces regularly used torture and brutality.[23] According to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, 701 cases of torture at Egyptian police stations were documented from 1985 to 2011, and 204 victims died of torture and mistreatment.[25] The group contends that crimes of torture "occur in Egyptian streets in broad daylight, at police checkpoints, and in people's homes in flagrant violation of the people's dignity and freedom."[26]
Freedom of speech, association and assembly were limited under Mubarak. The Press Law, Publications Law, and the penal code regulated the press, and called for punishment by fines or imprisonment for those who criticized the president.[27] Freedom House upgraded Egypt's Press Freedom status in 2008 from "Not Free" to "Partly Free" in recognition not of a liberalization of government policy, but "of the courage of Egyptian journalists to cross "red lines" that previously restricted their work and in recognition of the greater range of viewpoints represented in the Egyptian media and blogosphere. This progress occurred in spite of the government's ongoing—and in some cases increasing—harassment, repression, and imprisonment of journalists."[28]
In 2005, Reporters Without Borders placed Egypt 143rd out of 167 nations on press freedoms,[29] and its 2006 report cited continued harassment and, in three cases, imprisonment, of journalists.[30] The two sources agree that promised reforms on the subject have been disappointingly slow or uneven in implementation.
State corruption[edit]
While in office, political corruption in the Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior rose dramatically, due to the increased power over the institutional system that is necessary to secure the prolonged presidency. Such corruption has led to the imprisonment of political figures and young activists without trials,[38] illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities,[39][40] and rejecting universities, mosques, newspapers staff members based on political inclination.[41] On a personnel level, each individual officer is allowed to violate citizens' privacy in his area using unconditioned arrests due to the emergency law.
In 2010, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index report assessed Egypt with a CPI score of 3.1 out of 10.0, based on perceptions of the degree of corruption from business people and country analysts, (10 being no corruption and 0 being totally corrupt). Egypt ranked 98th out of the 178 countries included in the report.[42]
Society and education[edit]
Early in the Mubarak presidency (1986), a census found Egypt's population at 50.4 million, including about 2.3 million Egyptians working in other countries. More than 34% of the population was twelve years old or younger, and 68% under the age of thirty. Fewer than 3% of Egyptians were sixty-five years or older. Like most developing countries there was a steady influx of rural inhabitants to the urban areas, but just over half the population still lived in villages. In 2010, The Economist reported the claim that Egypt's population was mostly rural was due to the fact that the villages whose population had expanded to over 100, 000 people were not classified as towns and in fact three-quarters of Egyptians were living in urban areas.[24] In 1989 average life expectancy at birth was 59 for men and 60 for women. The infant mortality rate was 94 deaths per 1,000 births.[43] A survey in 2010 showed that 93% of Egyptians living in villages complained that the villages lacked proper sewage with human excrement being dumped in the Nile.[24] The same survey showed that 85% of Egyptian households did not have garbage service, leading to people burning their rubbish, dumping it on the streets or canals, or letting animals eat their rubbish.[24] Visitors to Egypt almost always commented on the "grubbiness" of Egyptian streets that were covered with garbage and human excrement.[24] The World Bank estimated that there were about 16 million Egyptians living in squatter settlements.[24] Almost all Egyptian households had electricity and piped water, but the quality of the service varied widely with the poor households getting only a few hours of electricity per day and erratic amounts of water that was often polluted, leading to high rates of kidney diseases.[24]
Under a law pass shortly before the Mubarak presidency, the structure of pre-university public education in Egypt made a nine-year education compulsory. Despite this most parents removed their children from school before they graduated from ninth grade. The basic cycle included six years of primary school and after passing special examinations, three years of intermediate school.[44] Another special examinations gained admittance to the non-compulsory secondary cycle (grades ten through twelve). Secondary students chose between a general (college preparatory) curriculum of humanities, mathematics, or the sciences: and a technical curriculum of agriculture, communications, or industry. Students could advance between grades only after they received satisfactory scores on standardized tests.[44]
As in many poor countries the enrollment rate for girls lagged boys. In 1985–86, early in the Mubarak presidency, only 45% of all primary students were girls. An estimated 75% of girls, but 94% of boys, between the ages of six and twelve were enrolled in primary school. In Upper Egypt less than 30% of all students were girls. Girls also dropped out of primary school more frequently than boys.[44] Girls accounted for about 41 percent of total intermediate school enrollment and 39 percent of secondary school enrollment. Among all girls aged twelve to eighteen in 1985–86, only 46 percent were enrolled in school.[44]
Overthrow[edit]
Mubarak was ousted following eighteen days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which began on 25 January.[45] On 11 February, Vice President Omar Suleiman, who was appointed thirteen days prior, announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.[46][47] On 13 April, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power.[48] He was then ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the revolution.[49]