ALEXANDRIA JUDGES CLUB CHIEF ON ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001395

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y 2ND FOR PARA 3 CLASSIFICATION AND
"CLASSIFIED BY" INFO.

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2017
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KDEM EG
SUBJECT: ALEXANDRIA JUDGES CLUB CHIEF ON ELECTIONS


CLASSIFIED BY BILL STEWART FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) Summary: In a recent meeting, Mahmoud Khodiry (head
of the Alexandria Judges Club, a respected judicial figure
and frequent critic of the GOE),criticized the curtailment
of a judicial role in Egypt's elections, opining that, "the
government has no interest in truly free elections, so has
removed judges from any role in effective monitoring of
voting." He was highly skeptical of the soon-to-be formed
Supreme Electoral Comission, and asserted that in his view,
the only way forward is "to insist upon international
monitoring" of Egypt's elections. End summary.


2. (SBU) The American Center in Alexandria on May 8
inaugurated a "Legal English" training program with 19 judges
from the Alexandria Judges Club. President of the Alexandria
Judges Club, Mahmoud Khodiry, a frequent outspoken critic of
the GOE, attended the inauguration, and spoke admiringly of
the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. justice system. Prior to the
ceremony, Judge Khodiry sat down privately with PO Alexandria
and poloff, and provided his views on the ongoing sour
relations between the Judges Clubs and the Ministry of
Justice.


3. (C) Khodiry asserted that the government has no interest
in truly free elections, so has removed judges from any role
in effective monitoring of voting, through the amendment of
constitutional Article 88, and the subsequent changes to the
Political Rights Law, which provide for the creation of a
Supreme Electoral Commission (septel). He compared the
situation to the infamous "judges massacre" under President
Gamal Abdel Nasser, saying that though the methods were quite
different, the goal was very much the same -- to curtail the
limitations imposed by an independent judiciary upon the
designs of an un-democratic government. (Note: In 1969, in an
effort to quelch the vocal pro-reform leadership of the
Judges Club, Nasser dismissed over a hundred sitting judges,
that together with other restrictive measures, came to be
termed the "judges massacre." End note.)


4. (SBU) Khodiry noted that he was not wedded to a judicial
role in the elections process; rather, his aim is that an
independent and honest mechanism is in place for ensuring
free elections in Egypt. He was skeptical of the changes to
the Political Rights Law, viewing them as targeted at
removing judges from their monitoring role -- "we are paying
the price of doing our job too well in the 2005 parliamentary
elections!" Khodiry had no confidence in the to-be-formed
Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC),predicting the role of
the SEC would be limited to organizing elections and
announcing results. The critical element is who watches over
the voting boxes and the vote count. If this is not within
the specific responsibility of the SEC, then there was no
hope for it. Khodiry noted that "the only way forward" is to
insist upon international monitoring, which he
enthusiastically welcomes.


5. (SBU) When asked about coordination between the different
Egyptian Judges Clubs, Khodiry explained the history of the
organization from its establishment in the early 20th century
to serve the needs of judges, all of whom in those days
resided in Cairo with occasional trips to the hinterlands to
investigate and hear evidence. Once the court systems
developed in other cities, the club established "branches" in
each province. The Alexandria Club is therefore a branch of
the larger Judges Club, with the national headquarters still
in Cairo. He said it was the policy of the current Minister
of Justice to break the connection of the branch clubs from
one another, in an effort to weaken the overall power of the
club. The Minister has to date refused to meet with any of
the Judges Clubs in Egypt, breaking tradition from his
predecessors.


6. (SBU) Khodiry was accompanied by his deputy in the
Alexandria Judges Club, Judge Essam Tewfiq Farag, who was
critical of what he saw as the USG's "recent silence" and
"lack of pressure" in pushing Egypt towards political
reforms. Farag mused that the U.S. could have been overtly
and publicly critical of several of the proposed
constitutional amendments, for instance. We noted that
political reform was still very much a part of the U.S.-Egypt
dialogue.
RICCIARDONE