Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 19. januar 2005 / Time Line Januar 19, 2005
Version 3.518. Januar 2005, 20. Januar 2005
01/19/2005
Democracy, Egypt
On Tuesday night, January 18, 2005, "security forces" stopped the
public meeting arranged by 'The Egyptian Movement For Change:
Enough' (Arabic: 'Kefaya').
The coordination office of the movement had previously reached an
agreement with the management of Faysal Nada theater, the
headquarters of Hoda Sharaawy Association, to host the meeting, but
tens of political activists, as well as international news agencies
correspondents and several satellite Arabic TVs were surprised when
an iron-pillar-supported security cordon stopped them from entering
the theater. The security forces also compelled the theater's
management to close its outside gateways in the face of the
crowd.
For a while, the crowd -- in heavy rain -- shouted calls to end
Hosni Mubarak's family monopoly of authority, denouncing the
dwarfing of Egypt's role in the region and the theft of its
wealth.
In the face of the blockade, Kefaya issued a statement confirming
the continuation and intensification of its activities until the
public demands of comprehensive political and constitutional
reforms to rid Egypt of the consecutive crises it has been going
through are fulfilled.
While the police forces held the crowd under siege, Human Rights
Watch issued its annual report, where, in the section under Egypt,
the report confirmed continuation of violating the most basic of
political and civil rights by the regime.
The report said that Egypt's record on human rights has not gotten
any better during 2004. Although the government has founded a
'National Council For Human Rights', the main issues, especially
the torture and unjustified detentions of political opposition,
were not addressed. Martial law is still in effect for the 23rd
year in a row, providing the legal umbrella for detentions without
accusations, and trials before martial and state 'security
courts'.
The victim list of torture and bad treatment is extended to include
not only political activists, but also those accused in regular
criminal investigations, men thought to have consenting homosexual
relations, and homeless children. The right to form civil
associations (NGOs) is still chained with prohibitive laws and
regulations. For example, this group's application for recognition
by 'The Egyptian Association for Countering Torture' was declined
for the specific reason that one of its stated objectives was 'to
change Egyptian legislation to comply with human right treaties'.
The Ministry of Social Affairs stated in its reply that "It is
"legally" forbidden for NGOs to "care for legislation". Such
activity is unconstitutional."
The report also mentioned that the United States remains the major
sources for Egypt's foreign military and economic aid. Egypt still
hosts, twice a year, the war simulation known as 'Shining Star'
with US and other countries military forces. Shining Star is the
biggest war simulation to run in the region. The US considers Egypt
an "effective partner" in the global war on terrorism. In June
2004, David Starfield, Deputy Assistant to the US Secretary of
State, stated before a Congressional committee that "the
administrations of the two countries [Egypt and USA] are closely
cooperating on a wide scale in combating terrorism and enforcing
the law."
[Translated and abbreviated by Mohamed Allam, lightly edited for
clarity by John Wilmerding.]
01/19/2005
FBI puts Carnivore out to pasture
By Wilson P. Dizard III
Washington Technology
PostNewsweek Tech Media
The FBI has replaced its Internet surveillance tool formerly known
as Carnivore with commercial software, according to documents
obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center under
the Freedom of Information Act. The bureau in 2001 changed the
tool's name to Digital Collection System 1000 following an outcry
over the system's privacy implications. According to a report the
FBI filed in 2003 with the House Judiciary Committee, "The FBI made
no use of DCS 1000 to effect court-ordered surveillance during 2003
but rather used commercially available software." FBI spokesman
Paul Bresson confirmed that the bureau had adopted commercial tools
to carry out court-ordered Internet surveillance. "Back in 1999
when we [began] using Carnivore, it was the best software available
for effecting court ordered wiretaps and protecting privacy,"
Bresson said. "What we have seen in the last four or five years is
that vendors have seen that the FBI needs" commercial surveillance
software, Bresson said. He added that bureau officials had always
expected to switch to commercial monitoring applications. A
congressional source familiar with the technology said that
Carnivore is different from the bureau's current Internet
monitoring technology because it is able to access private
databases closed to the commercial tools. The FBI had sought to
negotiate agreements with owners of the proprietary databases to
permit federal access to that data, the source said. Bresson said
the FBI had designed Carnivore to assist smaller Internet service
providers that did not have the technological resources to
implement court-ordered wiretaps. The bureau now receives its
wiretapping information directly from the ISPs, according to the
documents EPIC obtained.
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