Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CAIRO3089
2005-04-24 15:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

EGYPTIAN JUDGES LAUNCH "INTIFADA", THREATEN TO

Tags:  PGOV KDEM EG 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 003089 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN JUDGES LAUNCH "INTIFADA", THREATEN TO
SKIP ELECTIONS


Classified by Charge Michael Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 003089

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN JUDGES LAUNCH "INTIFADA", THREATEN TO
SKIP ELECTIONS


Classified by Charge Michael Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) Over 1000 Egyptian judges meeting under the auspices
of the Alexandria Judges' Club launched in mid-April what one
paper dubbed "the judges' intifada." In their meeting, the
assembled judges threatened to abstain from their supervisory
role in the fall 2005 elections unless a new draft judiciary
law, containing expanded guarantees of independence, is
passed during the current parliamentary session. The judges'
defiant position poses a potentially serious dilemma for the
GOE, which has clung to its system of judicial supervision of
the elections as its key argument against foreign monitoring
proposals. Some of our contacts, and other observers,
believe the judges' move has major implications for the
near-term political reform outlook, but one senior
(reformist) judge we spoke with was dismissive and described
the push for a new law as a cloaked effort to get judges a
pay raise. We may have a clearer picture of the reformist
judges' momentum and resonance after a national judges'
organization meeting in to discuss next steps, which we
understand is tentatively set to be held in Cairo on May 13.
End summary.


2. (SBU) International and domestic media gave significant
coverage in the past week to an April 15 meeting in
Alexandria at which over 1000 judges demanded the passage of
a new judiciary law and threatened to abstain from their
supervisory role in the fall 2005 elections. The
participating judges want a new judiciary law, a draft of
which is currently before the parliament, to expand
guarantees on their independence by reducing the ability of
politicians to control their salaries and assignments, and
also to more broadly define their supervisory role in
elections. With characteristic hyperbole, the weekly tabloid
al-Osboa described the judges' meeting as the launch of a
"judges' intifada."

--------------
An Insider's Readout
--------------


3. (C) Counselor Assem Abdel Gabbar (protect),an Egyptian
Supreme Court judge who resides in Alexandria and took a
leading role in the April 15 Alexandria Judges' Club congress
in that city, recently shared his views with A/DCM on the

club's declaration. Abdel Gabbar said more than 1000 judges
had attended the meeting (out of a total of approximately
8000 judges nationwide),which was normally limited to
members of the Alexandria club. The other judges had come
when they had heard the issue to be discussed, reflecting,
Abdel Gabbar emphasized, the fact that the judges were "fed
up." He said "only two of the judges out of the one thousand
attending" had expressed any opposition to the final demands.
He had received calls of support from judges from all over
the country.


4. (C) Abdel Gabbar said that the move reflected the boiling
over of the judiciary's frustration at the interference of
the executive in judicial matters. He cited a 1986 effort by
the judges to legislatively strengthen their independence
which had been met with promises for action by the Government
and then "sent into innumerable committees for study."
Following the 2000 elections the judges had tried again to
militate for judicial independence in terms of legislation
clarifying their role in "monitoring" elections. Again the
government had promised to take steps and had simply made
motions without taking any real action. The judges'
credibility was now on the line, Abdel Gabbar argued, stating
that if they were to retain the the public's respect, they
could not possibly certify another election plagued by the
machinations of the ruling National Democratic Party and
outright intimidation.


5. (C) This was not an attack on the government or a
"political" move, Abdel Gabbar argued. The judges were
reacting to years of frustration as they watched their role
becoming increasingly circumscribed by the executive. Abdel
Gabbar said he had received a call from the Minister of
Justice himself, after the club released its findings and the
Minister had said the government intended to act on the
judges demands. However, Abdel Gabbar said, the Minister had
suggested the formation of a committee to consider how to
draft a new law. This was transparently another ploy by the
Government to put the judges off, he emphasized, but this
time the judges would continue to press.


6. (C) The next step would be a conference of judges at the
national level, which Abdel Gabbar predicted would be held
within 2-3 weeks. (Note: We subsequently heard that it is
tentatively set for May 13, in Cairo. End note.) The
government had to react favorably, Abdel Gabbar reasoned, and
he was optimistic that their would be a favorable response.
Participants at a politically-themed lunch in Alexandria
(which included Abdel Gabbar) characterized the judges' move
as the most significant crisis the government has faced in
the recent reform wave. Some speculated that the current
atmosphere of openness had emboldened the judges but all
agreed that the government was in a tight spot.

--------------
Judicial Watchdog Optimistic
--------------


7. (C) Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Center for the
Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Processes (ACIJLP),
told us that he thought the judges are motivated by two
separate but related issues. One motive is simple
self-interest: the judges have long sought improved pay,
benefits, and operational independence. The second motive is
their resurrection of a demand for greater independence from
executive interference.


8. (C) The judges' demands in this regard stretch back at
least to 1986, according to Amin. At a 1986 judicial
conference attended by Mubarak, judges demanded the lifting
of the state of emergency, the elimination of emergency
courts, and full judicial independence. According to Amin,
this move so annoyed the President that the GOE subsequently
engineered the election of a pro-GOE judge to the leadership
of the Judges Club, which in turn ensured the less vocal
tendency that has characterized Egyptian judges for most of
the past two decades. The latest Judges' Club election,
however, put Zakariya Abdel Aziz (one of the leaders of the
1986 effort) in charge, and thus resurrected the 1986 demands.


9. (C) Amin's ACIJLP issued a statement hailing the decisions
taken by the Alexandria Judges Club and endorsed the call for
revisions to the laws governing the judiciary, full
independence for the judiciary from executive interference,
and a revision of the political rights law to ensure
"judicial supervision of the electoral process from A to Z."
The judges now seek full and total independence, according to
Amin, for the judiciary and the election (instead of
executive appointment) of the Higher Council of the
Judiciary. He estimated that approximately one fifth of all
judges strongly support this platform, and that their numbers
are sufficient for them to have an impact if they decide to
follow through on their threat to boycott the elections.


10. (C) Asked about the timing of the judges' initiative,
Amin argued that "there are pressures from everywhere and the
mood is one of change. The political parties are demanding
it, civil society is demanding it, and so are the
journalists, lawyers, and also the judges." Amin added that
the judges feel that the GOE "needs" them to bolster the
credibility of the elections and will therefore be likely to
try to placate them, if not directly address all of their
demands.

--------------
A Less Sanguine Judicial View
--------------


11. (C) Judge Nabil Omran (protect),a Vice President of the
Court of Cassation with U.S. training and reformist
instincts, gave poloff a less sanguine view of the April 15
judges' meeting and its implications. The judges' principal
goal, Omran argued, was to secure a salary raise, a critical
clause being folded into the draft judiciary new law. The
judges' collective pride precluded the overt disclosure of
this demand, Omran asserted. He described talk of the judges
boycotting the elections as an empty threat.

--------------
Other Reformists Bullish
--------------


12. (C) Omran's skepticism notwithstanding, many of our
reform-inclined contacts are enthusiastic about the judges'
move and its implications. Hisham Kassem, publisher and
senior member of the opposition Ghad Party, described the
activism of the judges as a welcome step toward "rebuilding
the instruments of government." According to Kassem, the
Mubarak government has dramatically weakened "the four
estates" and there is now a pressing need to rebuild these
institutions." Kassem observed that the judges'
assertiveness could play a key role in supporting the
establishment of true "civilian rule" in Egypt.


13. (C) Hossam Baghat, director of the Egyptian Initiative
for Personal Rights, a respected human rights NGO, told us
that the recent statements by the judges signaled a political
development that could eclipse the importance of Mubarak's
proposal to allow multi-party presidential elections. Baghat
believes that the judges are prepared to push for full
judicial control of the elections process, both inside and
outside of the polls, as well as full (read financial)
independence of the judiciary. According to Baghat, the
judges first signaled their willingness to abandon the
quietism of their civil law tradition in March 2003 when they
issued a statement linking the U.S. invasion of Iraq directly
to the lack of freedom in that country.

--------------
A Word of Caution
--------------


14. (C) According to Hossam Baghat, the USG needs to be
careful not to take steps that would allow the GOE to tar the
judges with charges of collaborating with foreign influences.
He suggested that the USG could most constructively help the
judges' movement through indirect support to the
International Commission of Jurists, based in Geneva, which
is interested in deepening its engagement with Egypt. In
addition, said Baghat, the USG could encourage the GOE to
permit a visit to Egypt by Leandro Despouy, the Special
Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the
U.N. Commission on Human Rights. According to Baghat,
Despouy, an Argentinean, has a long-pending request with the
GOE to visit.

--------------
Comment
--------------


15. (C) The judges' move threatens to put the GOE in a very
awkward position. Senior GOE officials have steadfastly
refused all suggestions of foreign election monitoring,
insisting that its "unique" system of judicial electoral
supervision was above reproach. Should the judges themselves
criticize this process, and sustain their threats to abstain
from participating, the GOE's claims of electoral credibility
would be seriously undermined. We will be watching with
interest the results of the general assembly of the national
Egyptian judges' organization, which we understand is
tentatively set for May 13. This meeting should give us a
better idea whether the Alexandria judges' demands have
momentum and national resonance. Post recommends that, if
asked, we respond with general statements about the USG
respect and support for the independence of the judiciary.
In our private discussions with the GOE, we will urge them to
address the judges' concerns in a way that supports a reform
process led by Egyptians for Egyptians. End comment.


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CORBIN