Hey ya'll! Below is an article I just wrote for one of our Peace Corps publications, Reclama. Enjoy!
The Twitter Revolutions? Revolutions for Democracy in the Middle East and Their Underlying Causes.
-Cairo, Egypt
The Twitter revolution? The last time I checked, technology cannot start a revolution, people can. However, technology is a powerful tool and the right to information technology should be protected. One commanding reason is because information technology can be strategically used to aid or hinder people to communicate and gather behind a cause. That is exactly what has been happening in the Middle East since mid December 2010. Up until recently, this part of the world has been stubbornly immune to the surge of democratization that swept Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The toppling of the dictatorial regime in Tunisia has inspired a domino effect of revolutionary demonstrations in Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Algeria and probably even more Arab countries by the time this article goes to print.
Many news medias sources, have been noting the important role social media sites have been playing in the current Arab revolutions. It’s true that 18% of Tunisia’s population is on Facebook, and since the site was left unblocked by the Tunisian government, many were able to write updates of the protest. Youtube served as a popular forum for current news about the revolution. Wikileaks has exposed much corruption in the governing of these countries. Twitter was widely used to accelerate the mobilization of demonstrators by quickly disseminating information. When citizens of Egypt started using social media to organize their own revolution, the government was so threatened that they shut down all Internet and SMS texting service nationwide.
Although social media may be changing how revolutions are organized, lets not forget that social media is not the cause of these revolutions. The underlying factors are the years of poverty, unemployment, income disparity, and political repression that have characterized many modern Arab nations. Although, Tunisia is thought to be one of the richer Arab countries, it is also characterized by income disparity, with powerful elite ruling the country.
IT ALL BEGAN IN TUNISIA
In Tunisia, demonstrations began in response to police corruption and brutality concerning merchant, Mohamed Buoazizi, when they confiscated his fruits and vegetables he was trying to sell on the street. On December 17th Buoazizi protested the stealing of his merchandise by setting himself on fire in front of the municipal building. Demonstrators began to gather in front of government headquarters in the city Side Bouzid to protest the ill treatment of Buoazizi. Although images of police dispersing youth during the riots were shared on social media sites such as Facebook and Youtube, coverage of the demonstrations was mostly limited to Tunisian media and went widely unnoticed.
Demonstrations escalated over the weeks, which included more protests include self-immolation. On December 22nd, Lahseen Naji, a protestor, responded to "hunger and joblessness" by electrocuting himself after climbing and electricity pylon. Ramzi Al-Abboudi also killed himself because of financial difficulties arising from a business debt by a micro-credit program. Larger groups began to protest in solidarity. On December 28th the Tunisian Federation of Labor Unions held a rally in Gafsa, which was blocked by security forces. At the same time about 300 lawyers held a rally near the government's palace in Tunis. As demonstrations by lawyers continued, Mokhtar Trifi, president of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), said that lawyers across Tunisia had been "savagely beaten.” The demonstrations in Tunisia have been described as non-violent but there are many reports of police brutality in response to protesters. On the 12th of January, a reporter from the Italian state-owned television broadcaster RAI stated that he and his cameraman were beaten with batons by police during a riot in Tunis' central district and that the officers then confiscated their camera.
Along with police brutality, protesters ran the risk of arrest. Reporters Without Borders said the arrest of at least six bloggers and activists, who had either been arrested or had disappeared across Tunisia, was brought to their attention and that there were "probably" others. Even with all the fear that the government was trying to instill in the protesters, the demonstrations continued and grew stronger. On January 14, 2011, the military chased off the security forces of the former President Zine El Albidine Ben Ali and forced him into exile. Ben Ali dissolved his government and a “state of emergency” was declared to protect Tunisians and their property. People were also barred from gathering in more than groups of three people otherwise courting arrest or being shot if they try to run away. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia, and he has been excused of extorting gold from the government. Saudi Arabia demanded Ben Ali to remain “out of politics” as a condition for accepting him.
AFTER THE OUSTER OF BEN ALI
After Ben Ali was removed from the presidency, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi then briefly took over as acting president. Looting and violence continued days after Ben Ali was ousted, but the perpetrators have not been identified. The main train station was torched. Furthermore, a prison director in Mahdia freed about 1,000 inmates following a deadly prison rebellion that left 5 people dead. Many other prisons also had jailbreaks or raids from external groups to force prisoner releases, some suspected to be aided by prison guards. General pandemonium was said to have occurred in Tunisia as residents who were running out of necessary food supplies had armed themselves and barricaded their homes, even to the extent of having formed armed neighborhood watches. Al Jazeera's correspondent said there were apparently three different armed groups: the police (250,000 people of the country's population were supposedly part of the police force), security forces from the Interior Ministry, and irregular militias supportive of Ben Ali who were vying for control.
Demonstrations continued after the removal of Ben Ali to protest the former government and request the removal of all political officials connected with Ben Ali’s regime and his party the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). On January 27th, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, enacted a major reshuffling of the government leaving only two ministers from Ben Ali’s old government, the industry and international cooperation ministers -- but neither of these had been a member of his ruling RCD party. Although this was seen has a major concession to protesters, demonstrations have continued to remove the Prime Minister from power. Ghannouchi has declared that he will resign after holding transparent and free with elections within six months.
TUNISIA INSPIRED REVOLUTION ACROSS THE ARAB WORLD
The recent success of the Tunisia demonstrations have inspired the citizens of other Arab countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Algeria and Jordan to try to topple their oppressive regimes. An article in Al Jazzera by Lamis Ardoni said that the protests had "brought down the walls of fear, erected by repression and marginalization, thus restoring the Arab peoples' faith in their ability to demand social justice and end tyranny." He also said that the protests that succeeded in toppling the leadership should serve as a "warning to all leaders, whether supported by international or regional powers, that they are no longer immune to popular outcries of fury" even though Tunisia's ostensible change "could still be contained or confiscated by the country's ruling elite, which is desperately clinging to power."
Since the 25th of January, Egypt has been in an upheaval of “non-violent” demonstrations with many protesters carrying Tunisian flags as a symbol of their influence as they protest the removal of current President Hosni Mubarak. Although, Egypt has also notably been using Facebook and Twitter to communicate, coordinate, and document events from the protests, the real reasons for their revolt are focused on legal and political issue including police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections and free speech, and corruption, as well as economic issues including high unemployment, food price inflation, and low minimum wages. Demands from protest organizers included rights of freedom and justice, the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime, and a new government that represents the interests of the Egyptian people.
SIMILAR PROTESTS IN EGYPT BUT DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Although, the Egyptian demonstrations have been inspired by successful protests in Tunisia, the two situations are very different and it is unclear if the Egyptian protests will have a similar outcome as Tunisia. First, Egypt is much poorer than Tunisia. Approximately twenty percent of the Egyptian population lives below the poverty line, and another twenty percent live very close to the poverty line. Although GDP growth has been strong in the past for Egypt, the country suffers from a very high inflation rate around 25%. Thus, prices increase much more rapidly than income, making it increasingly more expensive for Egyptians to live. Many products are highly subsidized by the government because the poor cannot buy them. In 2008, 13 people died while fighting in a long line for subsidized bread.
Furthermore, Egypt has suffered from much more political oppression than Tunisia because it has been ruled under a continuous state of emergency with a heavy hand, cracking down on Islamic militants since President Anwar El Sadat’s assassination in 1981. Hosni Mubarak has ruled since the assassination under the state of emergency, and is the longest serving president in Egypt’s history.
EMERGENCY LAW IN EGYPT
Emergency Law (Law No. 162 of 1958) highly restricts the political rights of Egyptians. Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended, censorship is legalized, and the government may imprison individuals indefinitely and without reason. The law sharply limits any non-governmental political activity, including street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations. Thus, you can see that the law basically outlaws any protest against the current regime.
The Mubarak government has cited the threat of terrorism in order to extend the emergency law, claiming that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentary elections, confiscate the group's main financiers' possessions, and detain group figureheads—actions allowed under emergency law. Therefore there has not been free and fair elections in Egypt since Mubarak has been in office.
Pro-democracy advocates in Egypt argue that this goes against the principles of democracy, which include a citizen's right to a fair trial and their right to vote for whichever candidate or party they choose. Human rights organizations estimate that in 2010 between 5,000 and 10,000 people were in long-term detention without charge or trial, and that in the 1990s the number of detainees was over 20,000.
THE BRAVERY OF EGYPTIAN PROTESTERS
Inspired Egyptian protesters have been taking on extremely high risks to protest for their human rights and a democratic government, since under emergency law; Egyptians can be imprisoned without trial for any reason. Still the demonstrations continue to increase in strength no matter what the regime lays on the protesters. On Friday, January 28th Egyptian government stepped up efforts to limit Internet access, especially to social media. The government turned off almost all Internet access and mobile phone service on the eve of major planned protests on Friday, causing a nationwide "blackout". In response there has been an outpouring of hacktivism with global groups attempting to provide alternative communication methods for the Egyptians. Some limited mobile service was resumed on Saturday, 29 January, but protesters have been left without Internet.
In early February, thugs presumed to be supporters of the Mubarak regime slipped into the non-violent demonstrations causing much violence. Similar Mubarak thugs are also thought to behind much of the looting that has been taking place with the motive of making the “non-violent” demonstrations appear chaotic and violent. There have been also reports of violence towards international reporters along with many reporters being detained. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it had received 100 reports of attacks on journalists. A crew from ABC News was carjacked and threatened with beheading. A Swedish journalist was stabbed. Authorities also arrested reporters from the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, and other outlets. In addition, backers of Mubarak dismantled satellite equipment making it impossible for most TV stations to broadcast scenes from the square. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks on journalists and peaceful protesters. "Violent attacks against peaceful protesters are completely unacceptable. It is important to ensure an orderly and peaceful transition. I have urged all parties to engage in such a process without delaying, with a full respect for human rights, in particular the freedoms of speech, expression, association and information."
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
The pain many protesters have endured has reaped already some results in Egypt. Mubarak has made some initial changes to quell dissent, including dissolving his government, and appointing military figure and former head of Egypt's intelligence service Omar Suleiman as Vice-President. On February 5th Vice President Omar Suleiman is meeting with opposition groups to begin negotiations concerning a new government. But representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's largest opposition party - said they had not participated in the talks. Nor did Mohamed ElBaradei, the democracy advocate and Nobel peace laureate, who had earlier been chosen by opposition parties as their spokesman. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, secretary general of the liberal Wafd Party, said he and other party officials had presented Suleiman with their proposals for constitutional change. Nour said that Suleiman ruled out Mubarak's resignation from the presidency. "Not only will he not resign, he will not cede or delegate his powers," Nour said. That stance means it is unlikely other opposition parties will join the talks. Mubarak’s refusal to step down is unacceptable to the protesters and opposition parties, so the demonstrations continue into its twelfth day on February 5th. Although concessions have been made, only time will tell, if real democratic progress will be made in Egypt.
A CONTINUED FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
Although the demonstrations are still continuing, the fervor of youth demonstrating democracy represents a hope for a changed Arab world. Many battles have already been won. On Thursday, the president of Algeria promised to lift a 19-year-old state of emergency and to provide more political freedoms. The move comes as anti-government protesters have announced plans to hold mass protests on February 12th.
In Yemen, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched on February 3rd and called for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years. On February 2nd, Saleh announced he would not seek to extend his presidency beyond 2013.
In Syria, anti-government protesters are planning to demonstrate on February 5th calling on the government to end the state of emergency, which has been in place since 1963. On Wednesday, a small group of Syrian protesters attempted to gather in Damascus to hold a candlelight vigil for the Egyptian demonstrators. According to Human Rights Watch, the protesters were beaten by a group of 20 people dressed in civilian clothing. The police, who were present nearby, failed to intervene.
QUESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE?
The fight for democracy across the Arab world is truly inspiring. The saga continues, but I have faith that regimes will be toppled and a new era of democracy will ensue. Social media has changed how people can organize and we must continually think how new technology is affecting politics. But, lets not lose sight of the real bravery and fervor for political rights that are the true catalysts for these revolutions.
As we continue to follow the demonstrations in the Middle East we must be aware of how the access to technology and information is a basic human right that must be protected. Without the Internet, it would have been much harder for demonstrators in Tunisia to quickly get information out about protests. In China, Google has blocked the word “Egypt” from the search engine, leaving the Chinese oblivious to the current democratic revolutions. Even in the U.S., we were left much in the dark about the Tunisia revolutions because of the lack of press covering the riots.
We also must value and protect are right to information and technology. Think of how your current perception would be changed in a world where the government could choose what you could and could not know. In the last session of Congress the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, was a proposed bill in the Senate that could lay the foundation for blocking communications in the United States in the case of a "national threat." The bill was struck down, but there is support to reintroduce the bill in the next Congressional session. Let us have the same fervor as the youth population in the Middle East and not stay indifferent to politics. We are lucky to live in a country with many political freedoms, but we must be weary and cognizant of such proposals to take away our rights to information, and thus are rights to free thought.
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