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Problems on hold
So much for fact-finding
Youssef Sidhom
Following the
sectarian violence which erupted in Alexandria last April, when a reportedly
deranged man attacked three churches, I wrote that alarming incidents of the
kind should not be reduced to over-simplified explanations. In disciplined
communities, society’s ills are not explained away on the pretext of mental
illnesses, but are investigated to reach the roots of the problems. Moreover,
mental patients are either treated, or—if this proves impossible—secluded so as
not to harm society by actions they cannot be held responsible for.
I wrote that Alexandria, with its long record of political and sectarian strife,
should be closely scrutinised to trace the factors behind religious extremism.
In shanty towns south of the prosperous, well-developed coastline, thriving
poverty, unemployment, backwardness, and despair have throughout four decades
provided a fertile soil for extremism, terrorism, and madness.
The sectarian violence of 16 April resulted in a single positive outcome. MPs
strongly condemned the regrettable event, as well as the numerous grievances
long placed on hold which ultimately led to the violence. They stressed Copts’
entitlement to full citizenship rights. They formed a fact-finding committee,
and announced that it should issue a report no later than 30 days, that is on 16
May at the latest. Yet the parliamentary round has expired, and no report
materialised. The end of the story was therefore worse than the worst scenario
anticipated. Pessimists had feared that when the required report was issued it
would come under elaborate discussion in Parliament, then be frozen just as the
Oteifi Report of more than 30 years ago had been. The Oteifi Report, issued by a
parliamentary committee headed by the late MP Gamal al-Oteifi in 1972 to
investigate sectarian violence which had then erupted in al-Khanka and al-Zawya
al-Hamra districts in Cairo, was courageously candid. It cited the factors
behind the incidents, and warned of looming sectarian division unless the State
moved to correct the ills. The State never did, and the report’s dire
predictions proved true time and again.
What happened with the committee formed on 16 April, which I would like to call
the Second Oteifi Committee, should not pass unquestioned. In this context, it
appears appropriate to instate a parliamentary tradition, or—if one already
exists but is placed on hold—to activate it, so that draft laws which are not
discussed till Parliament recesses are listed at the top of the following
round’s agenda. Along the same line, the fulfilment of tasks assigned to
parliamentary committees should be strictly monitored.
Subsequent developments appear to indicate that there was a hidden intention to
discreetly waive aside the task assigned to the Second Oteifi Committee. The
committee was headed by Dr Zeinab Radwan, deputy to the speaker of the
Parliament, included members from the parliamentary committees of defence and
national security, human rights, culture and media, and religious affairs; and
should have issued a report within the month. It should have visited the sites
of the sectarian violence during the week following the event, but the trip was
postponed until after Easter which was on 23 April. Weeks and months passed
however, and still no visit. Some members even claimed that the visit was not
the core of the committee’s work; it was better to forego it to avoid sectarian
sensitivities!
The committee substituted for the visit by demanding official reports on the
events. The security apparatus and health ministry submitted reports, and so did
the Alexandria churches, which specifically pointed out that they had not
repaired the damages in anticipation of a scrutiny by the fact-finding
committee. The committee duly studied the reports and had them updated. Until
the parliamentary round expired, the committee convened five times where the
so-called courteous relationship between Muslims and Copts were extolled, and
the Alexandria violence was pronounced an individual act.
Committee member Georgette Qellini proposed that the committee would refer to
the Oteifi Committee report for better insight, but the majority of the members
rejected the idea. And when Dr Qellini insisted that the committee should visit
Alexandria, Dr Radwan declined, while Ahmed Omar Hashem, head of the religious
committee, hinted he was not going. Discussions went on though and, strange
enough, most focused on the historical warm relations between Muslims and Copts.
It was thus clear that the committee was persistent in disregarding the present
reality, a situation that drove Dr Qellini to resign, upon which a colleague
accused her of fanaticism!
So much for fact-finding. Until mid-July when Parliament recessed the report
which should have been written by 16 May had not materialised.
For now, some still hope the committee would perform its task, though it is not
clear how, whether or not it will visit Alexandria, or what procedure it would
follow to report the facts.
Those concerned with citizenship rights stand waiting for the Second Oteifi
Committee report, or revival of the First Oteifi Committee’s report.
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Watani, July 30,
2006, p. 1 |
