Workers Solidarity Movement

Mark Malone speaks to Nazly Hussein about recent detentions and torture, much of it within the Egyptian National Museum just off Tahrir Square, Cairo.  Whilst the world's eye has moved to Libya, the army has attempted to squash down the demands of Egypts revolutionaries via violence and military courts

Nazly Hussein speaks from outside the military courts which this afternoon (Friday 12th March) he was supposed to address the people the army had harrassed and arrested last Wednesday during a brutal attack on those occupying Tahrir Square. Nazly describes how several hundred plain clothes thugs was deployed against people in the square on Wednesday, who set about pulling down tents and beating people up. The army, under the pretence of ‘protecting’ those remaining in the Tahrir then began beating, arresting and electrocuting people within the the pro democracy movement. Over 170 people were arrested, most of whom where later released without charge. Many had been beaten and tortured with electrocution.

As people remaining in Tahrir Square demand the complete dismantlement of the security apparatus that played such a strong role in supporting Mubarak’s rule, the military has begun to charge people via a military court, with little or no legal support or mechanisms for defendants. The military is acting without the slightest concern for basic human rights, and it seems obvious that these are the actions of a regime that feels the need to demonise, criminalise and isolate the pro democracy activists at the center of Egypts popular revolution. Some people are openly talking about a strategic counterrevolution

Despite the resignation of Mubarak, it is clear that the State security apparatus is able to act with impunity against the population. There has been clear video evidence of army brutality against those demanding the end of the militarys grip upon wider society. This linked video show the injuries of Ramy Essam, a singer who has been in Tahrir square for some time. So obvious were the beatings that the army announced an apology for its violence and announce that all would be released without charge.