Update:

Protester in Tahir Square, Egypt. Assertions of Torture

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Dear Friends,

Lillie Paquette is a specialist in international affairs with a MA in Global Studies from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.  We recently met at the Abrahamic Family Reunion and Media Conference at Esalen Institutue.

She was in Egypt the year before the revolution working with the Washington DC based non profit International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and was able to make a film, “We Are Egypt-Voices of Egypt’s Youth about  Egyptians who were organizing and preparing for the revolution in March.   It was a dangerous place for such activities, and it was a difficult task as people were afraid to be seen on film, and the  police kept her away from demonstrations that were already beginning to take place.

Lillie returned to the US a month before the revolution took place in March to finish her film.  However, she has returned to Egypt.  These  are her latest reports.  Her first dated April 8 and latest just one day later is April 9 when circumstances changed dramatically on Tahrir Square.

Ruth

Egyptian Protesters Say Revolution Not Over Yet

Although the military council has taken some steps in recent days to bring more prosecutions, demonstrators are outraged at the slow pace. Earlier in the week, Mubarak’s former chief of staff, Zakariya Azmi, the highest-ranking member of Mubarak’s regime, was detained for questioning on corruption allegations. Yet democracy activists complain the late arrest has given Azmi weeks to shred key documents. Furthermore, many demonstrators say they want officials to be tried for political crimes and the murder, torture and suppression of dissidents over many years, not just for financial corruption.

Since his ouster by the military on February 11, Mubarak and his family have been under house arrest at a presidential palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. At the Friday protest, demonstrators in Tahrir Sqaure claimed they would lead a march all the way from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh to arrest Mubarak themselves if the military fails to act sooner.

Demonstrators are also unhappy that the interim government military council is being led by a close colleague of Mubarak, Defense Minister Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi. Friday’s rally featured a huge banner that read “Tantawi, are you a guard for Mubarak?” Demonstrators created a mock cage in Tahrir Square, with pictures of Mubarak and his family inside.

Following Mubarak’s forced resignation, prosecutors have arrested three high-ranking officials from the previous regime, including interior minister Habib el-Adly, housing minister Ahmed Maghrabi and tourism minister Zuheir Garana, but protesters are demanding that investigations also be pursued into other key figures of the former regime, including Safwat el-Sherif, speaker of the upper house of parliament, and Fathi Sorour, speaker of the lower house.

The current schedule for Egypt’s transition to democracy includes new parliamentary elections set for September, after which a committee will be established by the parliament to draft a new constitution. New presidential elections are set for around November. Some democracy activists have complained that this schedule is moving too quickly, as it will not give the new smaller political parties enough time to become known and build support, giving an advantage to the existing larger parties and the Muslim Brotherhood.

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On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 3:07 AM, Lillie Paquette  wrote:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Thank you for all your support and interest during the screening of the rough draft of my work in progress documentary, “We are Egypt”.

I arrived back to Egypt a few days ago, and met up with my friend, Rick Rowden, to spend the month of April collecting footage and interviews of the post-Revolution era. We want to document people’s views on the next steps in transition to democracy.

As many of you know, I was not fortunate enough to be in Egypt during the uprising and revolution. I had returned to the US nearly one month before, after spending over a year filming my documentary about events that eventually led to the revolution.

How amazing it is to be back, and how things and people have changed since I was last here. When I left in December 2010, people were still reeling from the rigged November Parliamentary Elections.

Now, there seems to be a general sense of euphoria and goodwill among citizens. It’s as if there is a silent understanding or secret that everyone is in on. It’s almost hard to explain. One of my happiest surprises has been to find that certain of my friends, who previously refused to speak about politics on camera and were almost afraid of being associated with me because of my association with opposition figures, are now raging democracy activists. Strangers on the street will now talk freely and openly with me about the state of the nation – this includes policemen, who previously would have sternly told me to lower my camera, but now they whistle me over and ask to be in my pictures.

Just a couple of days ago, I was filming the burned out remains of the NDP (National Democratic Party) headquarters where I had interviewed the lead government spokesperson just days before the parliament election last year. The previously high security building is now in ruins and completely abandoned. It was astonishing to see. As Rick and I walked freely around the corner of the building (before, this would have been impossible to do), a group of policemen smiled at us and waved us over. When I asked them what had happend to the fancy NDP building, they excitedly told my camera that that the people of Egypt burned it down.

Today, Rick and I attended the largest protest in Tahrir Square since the toppling of Mubarak. It was an amazing experience. However, while my above comments may sound somewhat euphoric and celebratory, I am by no means overlooking the difficult road the Egyptians still have ahead. But it looks like they are on the right path, and doing everything within their power to keep the interim military government as honest and accountable as possible.

Please see the following short article that Rick and I wrote about the events of the day, along with a link to some pictures Rick took during the protest. (Video footage will be added to the film later).

Please feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook if you would like to follow our updates more carefully. I will also do my best to send out periodic e-mails such as this one. Also, if you do not wish to be on this e-mail list, please do not hesitate to let me know so I can remove your address.

Thank you again for you interest and attention, and I look forward to remaining in touch with you!

Best wishes from Cairo,
Lillie

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