At a seminar organized by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights on Saturday under the title "The new anti-terror law: fears and aspirations", human rights activists and security experts disagreed on the need to introduce a new anti-terror law, but agreed that violence might escalate in the coming years.
Maj. Gen. Fouad Allam, former deputy chairman of the National Security Council, said terrorism was still present, and expected more terrorist attacks in the future.
"Terrorism is a technique used to obtain rights or to impose a political vision. International factors to spread terrorism still exist, so it is likely to increase in the years to come».
Allam attributed this to what he described as «double standards» and the destruction of legitimate rights at the domestic level. He also pointed out that freedom and democracy helped reduce terrorism and strengthen culture and tolerance.
He expected terrorism to increase in the future, saying: "The situation at the Arab and international levels confirm that terrorism and its ideology will spread, thus leading to the formation of groups with various references».
Bahey el-Din Hassan, director of the Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), rejected a new anti-terror law, pointing out that Egypt already had an emergency law (the Law 97 of 1992), which he described as a «legislative setback» for human rights. He said such law included a vague definition of terrorism in order to curb activists’ and politicians’ freedom of opinion and expression.
Hassan said there was no need for a new law, noting that such the 1992 law had reduced violence and terrorism but had failed to entirely prevent them.
Dr. Ashal Abdullah, former Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, agreed with Hassan, adding "There is no need for a new law on terrorism", pointing out that terrorism resulted from oppressing citizens from inside and outside.
Ashal slammed the previous U.S. administration. "Under Bush, the US has made fool of Egypt and the Middle East by staging a play called "terrorism". At the same time, terms and concepts have been turned upside down. We became terrorists while we were just defending ourselves, while Israel, which has burnt the Gaza Strip in front of the world, has become the victim » he said.
Ashal said: «We will have to co-exist with terrorism and it will seriously harm us".
Finally, he described what was happening in Sudan as a conspiracy against Egypt.