Some of the new penalties recently enacted in Egypt, such as the one against sexual harassment, have long been demanded by political forces across. Others, like one that clamps down on demonstrations, are clearly reactionary. Meanwhile, still others, like one regulating dumping garbage in streets, have attracted controversy all of their own.

Flawed anti-harassment law

Some of the new penalties recently enacted in Egypt, such as the one against sexual harassment, have long been demanded by political forces across. Others, like one that clamps down on demonstrations, are clearly reactionary. Meanwhile, still others, like one regulating dumping garbage in streets, have attracted controversy all of their own.

Flawed anti-harassment law

A few days before Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took over power, interim President Adly Mansour, issued a law increasing the punishment for sexual harassment to minimum imprisonment of six months and/or a fine of L.E. 3,000-5,000 ($420-700). It also included increased penalties for repeat offenders or those in a position of power that enabled them to pressurize the victim or their families.

Following the law’s promulgation, the first harassment convictions took place even as el-Sisi was being installed as the new president, after seven women were molested or raped at Tahrir Square.

Though the new law was welcomed by most of society, the Fouada Watch initiative – which leads one of the most effective campaigns against sexual harassment in Egypt – identified a number of flaws, such as the fact that it does not provide for the protection and confidentiality of victims and witnesses.

On top of this, Fouada Watch has complained that the law does not heed calls for rehabilitation for victims and harassers. Nor does it specify that the latter be isolated from other prisoners to ensure that they do not come out of prison loaded with more psychological trauma. Civil society organizations were also disappointed that there were no special facilities set up for reporting sexual harassment – the called for stations staffed by female police officers and equipped with forensic instruments to spare the victims going through procedures at ordinary police stations.

Although some human rights activists believe that the penalties also fail to differentiate between verbal harassment, physical harassment, and rape, many people still consider the law a quantum leap in women’s rights and confronting sexual harassment, which has been widespread in Egypt over the past decade.

This is the first time that Egyptian law has addressed the sexual harassment crisis. Previously, the penal code only criminalized public indecency and penalized violators to a maximum term of one year and a fine of no more than L.E. 300, though rapists could be sentenced to three to seven years’ hard labor.

Tough anti-demo law

The new anti-demonstration law is much more controversial, especially since the number of detainees arrested under it has amounted to over 40,000 in one year, according to Wikithawara, an Egyptian human rights initiative engaged in documenting the revolution’s detainees, martyrs, and casualties.

Staging an unlicensed demonstration is now punishable by a fine of L.E. 10,000-30,000, while wearing a mask in order to commit a crime during a procession, meeting, or demonstration is punishable by a maximum of one year in prison and/or a fine of L.E 30,000-50,000.

Although the traditional parties have accepted this law and deem it an appropriate way to prevent Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations, the vast majority of young activists’ groups have expressed disapproval, especially since they say it is being brutally enforced. Since el-Sisi took power, Egypt’s revolutionary youth has been targeted – in one instance, a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment was brought against 23 young men and women for demonstrating in front of the Shura Council.

All of Egypt’s former regimes had tried vainly to enact a demonstration law, and there were attempts to adopt different sanctions, including a decree enacted by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and de facto head of state between the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 to the inauguration of President Mohamed Morsi in June 2012. This law effectively criminalized union strikes and sit-ins, but was only enforced in a few cases. Then Morsi drafted a demonstration law that was rejected by all political sides, before the Ministry of Justice redrafted it.

But most opposition parties had a different vision of the demonstration law than what the new one contains. Among the sections they objected to was Article 15 – “Demonstrators may not hold banners, shout slogans or sing songs during demonstrations” – as well as another article banning sit-ins at the demonstration site.

They also demanded commitments by the government to the right to peaceful assembly, expression of opinion, and demonstration with no draconian restrictions – though this has not materialized.

Expensive garbage

An eccentric penalty that the government has not yet enforced covers garbage dumping. Disposal of garbage, as well as construction and factory waste, in the street is subject to a tougher punishment than the penalties for sexual harassment. Amending a previous law, the new law states: “Dumping construction waste, destruction or digging in public roads, squares, tunnels, empty spaces, bridges, railways, archeological sites, the Nile River course, water canals, drainage networks, or seashores shall be punishable by one-year imprisonment and/or a fine of L.E 20,000-100,000.”

But the law does provide some succour: violators may reconcile punishment with local municipal authorities, against a payment of L.E. 200 for passers-by and L.E. 5,000 for other offenders, as long as it happens within a week of the date the violation was detected.