Egypt's women up pressure on military over violence

By Nehal El-Sherif and Ramadan Al-Fatash, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – After she was beaten by soldiers during clashes in Cairo, ativist Ghada Kamal is more determined than ever to force Egypt's military rulers to hand over power to a civilian administration.


Egyptian women protest against military violence/AP

    “If there are still men in Egypt, they have to turn up in the streets to join us in our struggle against the military,” Kamal, a physician, told an anti-military rally in Cairo on Tuesday.
  
   The image of another girl, whose shirt was ripped by policemen who beat and dragged her on the floor during clashes last week, drew international criticism. Fourteen people were killed and nearly 800 injured in clashes that started on December 16.
  
   Thousands of women marched in the Egyptian capital this week, chanting slogans against the military, saying police and soldiers should be ashamed for the attacks on women.
 
   Placards raised at the demonstration read: “Egypt’s girls are a red line” and  “It's a shame on our soldiers to attack protesters and assault women.”

   Some women activists have threatened to take the case to international courts if the incident is not investigated and the culprits punished.

   In an apparent attempt to appease the protesters, the military rulers, who have been governing since former president Hosny Mubarak's resignation in February, expressed their ”extreme regret” over what they called transgressions against female demonstrators.

   “We fully respect Egypt's women and appreciate their positive engagement in the political life on the road to Egypt's democratic transformation,” said the junta in a statement on Tuesday.

   Its promise to punish the culprits did little to placate women activists.

   “The military council has been at pains to prevent women from engagement in making the future of post-Mubarak Egypt,” said Reem al-Khafesh, a female activist. “The military has even sought to degrade girls by subjecting them to virginity tests”.

   Al Khafesh was referring to virginity tests reportedly forced by military authorities on women detained during a pro-democracy protest in Cairo in March.

   Egyptian newspapers on Wednesday quoted the head of the military judiciary, Adel al-Mursi, as saying that the suspects in the incident were being tried before the Supreme Military Court.

   Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the military over the violence against women protesters.

   “This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," said Clinton.

   Meanwhile, a dozen Egyptian opposition groups have called for a fresh mass protest on Friday to condemn violence by police and soldiers against demonstrators.

   The rally will demand that the military expedite power transfer to a civilian administration by February 11 at the latest - the day that will mark the anniversary of Mubarak's ouster.

   The military has pledged to hand over power to an elected president by next July.

   “Instead of being honoured for our role in the revolution (against Mubarak), we have been marginalized and even beaten up,” said Huda Nasrallah, who is standing for parliament.

   “Many people have blamed the girl brutalized by the soldiers (at the weekend) rather than standing by her,” Nasrallah, told dpa.

   “We still need a long time to change society's perception of women.”