Egypt arrests violators of dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast

September 16, 2009
Cam McGrath

Inter Press Service

Hundreds of Egyptians are reported to have been arrested for eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours as part of a police campaign against people caught breaking the Ramadan fast. “Nobody has the right to arrest someone for eating or drinking in Ramadan,” says rights activist Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). “When we hear this we wonder, is this Egypt or Afghanistan? It’s Taliban mentality.”

Local newspapers reported that over 150 Egyptians had been arrested for breaking the Muslim fast in the southern governorate of Aswan on August 30, but the motive behind the round-up could not be corroborated.

Emergency laws in force since 1981 allow police to detain individuals without charge, making it difficult to know for certain the reason for arrest.

A local police chief insisted that the press had “misinterpreted” a routine security crackdown on beggars, homeless people and drug dealers. However, reports of arrests in other governorates, and statements by security officials appear to indicate a coordinated government campaign to enforce Islam’s prohibition of eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset during the holy month of Ramadan, which began August 22.

“I’ve spoken to two who were arrested,” says Eid. “It happened [for publicly breaking the fast], and they were very afraid and angry about it.”

Arrests have been reported in many different areas. Seven youths in the Delta governorate of Dakahlia were taken into custody last week for smoking on the street during the fasting hours, and released after paying a fine of $90, Al-Arabiya news channel reported. It added that arrests were also made in Hurghada, a tourist resort on the Red Sea, where government officials ordered all cafes and restaurants shut during the fasting hours.

In an interview with Al-Sho­rouk independent newspaper published September 10, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdel-Karim Hamdy said a police campaign had been launched in various governorates to arrest people breaking the fast in public during Ramadan.

“They [the violators] have to learn modesty,” he said. “In the past, Egyptian society was very pious, and I hope this piety will be restored … I ask [opponents] to read the law well before criticizing the Interior Ministry.”

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/Sep/16/Egypt-arrests-violators-of-dawn-to-dusk-Ramadan-fast.ashx.