Egypt Violence Exposes Secret Tools of State Repression

After a week of reporting on Egypt’s pro-democracy protests, international journalists abruptly became the target of harassment and attacks from plainclothes police and men expressing support for President Mubarak. Some reporters were beaten, handcuffed, interrogated – routine intimidation of ordinary citizens by police forces in nations under authoritarian rule. If intended to curtail coverage of the protests, the attacks backfired. Protests in Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt are largely fueled by citizens “fed up with not being able to express their dissatisfaction with sometimes even the most trivial aspect of government policy without fear of arrest and mistreatment,” reports BBC’s Frank Gardner. Since taking office in 1981, after Anwar Sadat was assassinated by extremists, Mubarak insisted to Western counterparts that brutal controls prevent Islamic extremism. In reality, suppression of all criticism has corrupted and weakened the nation. Global audiences follow round-the-clock television and internet coverage of the protests, and increasingly question if inhumane attacks ensure or threaten stability in the Middle East. – YaleGlobal