Top 5 most popular stories of oppression in Egypt

Egypt is on the headlines and people worldwide have turned to the internet to read up about the country, perhaps in search of more information about the culture of repression and endemic impunity not covered by mainstream media. This explains why stories of oppression and police brutality in Egypt make up the list of top 5 most popular articles this week on this blog.

The top 5 most popular stories of oppression in Egypt on this blog as of today include the following (starting with the hottest):

1. Khaled Mohammed Said: Another Casualty of Egyptian police brutality. It is worth mentioning that "Khaled Mohammed Said" has been the most popular "keyword" and has sent the most traffic (predominantly from Google) to this blog since the story of the the young Egyptian brutalised to death by Egyptian police in Alexandria was posted in June 2010.
2. The U.S should respect rights and demands of Egyptians: An opinion piece about the role of the U.S. in the on-going Egyptian crisis.
3. Egypt: Don't forget Khaled Mohammed Said: Shines light on a postponed trial of police officers arrested in relation to the death of Khaled Said.
4. Ahmed Shaaban: Tortured to death by Egyptian police? This is the story of another young Egyptian allegedly beaten to death by police in Egypt in Alexandria barely 5 months after Khaled Mohammed Said met his end in the hands of plainclothes officers.
5. Egypt: Two police officers arrested over death of Khaled Mohammed Said.

It is no coincidence that Egypt is the hottest topic online and offline this week, and that all the above articles are about the Arab Republic.

Thousands of people are out in the streets for 7 days now - defying boots, batons, water canons, teargas and a curfew imposed by a 30-year-old autocratic regime. Rights have been violated in full glare of the world, but the message of thousands of repressed Egyptians is still loud and unmistaken - they want an end to 23-years of "emergency rule" under a 30-years old regime.

The people have spoken. Democracy should take its course.

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The U.S. should respect rights and demands of Egyptians

Photo: Sulekha.com.

Egypt is in chaos as thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets to demand political reform and an end to 30 years of repression under the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak. For the past five days, demonstrators have suffered in the hands of President Mubarak's so-called "no-nonsense" security agents who suppress the rights and demands of Egyptians - including the right to association, assembly and expression - with lethal  force powered by live bullets, batons, boots, water canons and teargas reportedly made in the U.S.

The oppressive Mubarak regime is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid (largely military aid). This revelation has amplified calls for the U.S. to stop funding an undemocratic regime and respect the rights and demands of the Egyptian people.

It's interesting to note that according to Reuters, the U.S. has given Egypt an average of 2 billion dollars a year since 1979. In 2010 alone, Egypt received 1.3 billion dollars in military aid.

President Mubarak has been in power since October 1981 without the support of a majority of Egyptians. But he enjoys the support of the U.S. and considered a "key" U.S. ally. This is testament to the fact that the U.S. has religiously supported 30 years of oppression in Egypt. For more than 30 years, successive U.S. administrations have closely worked with a regime that cracks down on basic rights and freedoms of its citizens.

Egyptians have had enough and have taken to the streets to protest and voice concerns over 30 years of [U.S. funded] oppression.

Watching the demonstrations on a program titled "Egypt in Crisis" on CNN International this Sunday morning, an embattled demonstrator held up a slogan that caught my attention. The slogan which read: "USA Stop supporting Mubarak..." was hard to ignore. This is a genuine concern.

The U.S. should respect the rights and demands of oppressed Egyptians and stop supporting a government which is neither "by the people" or "for the people."

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Botswana: Court of Appeal grants Bushmen water rights

Bushman man. Photo: Survival.

Botswana's Appeals Court has overturned a 2010 High Court decision that denied the Kalahari Bushmen the right to access water from a well on their ancestral land.

According to a Survival news release, 5 Appeals Court judges unanimously ruled amongst other things that the government's ban on access to water amounted to "degrading treatment" of the Bushmen.

The government of Botswana evicted the Bushmen from their ancestral land in 2002 after diamond deposits were discovered on the land. It was not until 2006 that a High Court ruled the eviction unlawful and unconstitutional. Although some Bushmen gradually returned to their ancestral land following the 2006 court ruling, the government continued to make life on the land difficult for the Bushmen by banning access to water on the land. The Bushmen dragged the government to court again and although a judge dismissed the case, the Bushmen pressed on with an appeal.

The Court of Appeal's decision on 27 January 2011 to uphold the Constitution and reinstate water rights of the Kalahari Bushmen is a victory for basic human rights and the rule of law.

This judgement (in pdf) comes barely a week after the government of Botswana approved the construction of a $3billion diamond mine in the disputed ancestral home of the Bushmen.

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