Egypt Moves to End Decades Old State of Emergency

Posted August 11th, 2011 at 12:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Egypt has begun steps to end the country's three-decade old state of emergency, a key demand in the protests that led to former President Hosni Mubarak's resignation.

The Al-Ahram newspaper quoted Deputy Prime Minister Ali El-Selmi on Thursday as saying the Cabinet has begun “formulating laws and mechanisms” that would replace the emergency decree.

The state of emergency measure gives law enforcement officers sweeping powers to make arrests and hold detainees for long periods of time without legal process. Mr. Mubarak imposed the measure shortly after he became president, following the 1981 assassination of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat.

In April, Amnesty International called the state of emergency a “corrosive system of administrative detentions.” The rights group said it had resulted in “tens of thousands of people” being detained for months or years without charges being filed.

Egyptian officials have vowed to repeal the measure before parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year.