Cablegate: Kefaya's Report On Corruption in Egypt
VZCZCXRO9216
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHEG #4981/01 2260301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140301Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0517
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 004981
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
NSC FOR MIKE SINGH
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: KEFAYA'S REPORT ON CORRUPTION IN EGYPT
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On July 4, the Egyptian opposition movement
Kefaya published a 274-page report entitled "Corruption in
Egypt: The Black Cloud is Not Disappearing." The report
concludes that corruption has permeated all levels and
aspects of Egyptian society, and stands in the way of further
economic and social development. Although the report draws
from Transparency International, Human Rights Watch, IMF and
UNDP reports, as well as Egyptian media sources and legal
records, it also relies heavily on information from
unreliable sources such as internet blogs and questionable
local dailies. It fails to cite the sources for many
assertions, several of which seem exaggerated and of
questionable veracity. It is not a systematically conducted
study, but rather a conglomeration of articles and reports,
and does not unveil new cases of corruption or substantiate
claims that already are public knowledge. However, Kefaya,s
efforts to raise Egyptians, awareness of, and engage in
discourse on, the major problem of corruption in Egypt is in
itself a notable step, and demonstrates that Egyptians are
becoming increasingly vocal about sensitive issues despite
the possible government backlash. END SUMMARY.
-----------------------------
Overview of the Kefaya Report
-----------------------------
2. (SBU) On July 4, the Egyptian opposition movement Kefaya
published a 274-page report entitled "Corruption in Egypt:
The Black Cloud is Not Disappearing." Kefaya,s report takes
a broad view of corruption. It includes sections on
corruption in the Ministries of Health, Agriculture,
Petroleum, Finance and Antiquities; corruption in Egypt's
privatization program; and a section on the interference of
security forces in public life. General examples of
corruption given in the report include:
- election rigging;
- the Emergency Law;
- nepotism in government and public sector jobs;
- capital flight through official banking channels;
- the use of carcinogenic pesticides without informing the
public;
- preferential allocation of lands and housing under the
Housing Sector;
- misappropriation of armament commissions;
- nepotistic selection procedures used by the Ministry of the
Interior for the police academy;
- torture of police station detainees;
- prostitution rings linked to high-level government figures;
- corruption in the judiciary;
- corruption in the state-owned press;
- the payment of "loyalty bonuses" to high-ranking army and
security officials;
- corruption in the education sector;
- corruption in the health sector, including the importing of
defective medicines.
--------------------
The Report In Detail
--------------------
3. (SBU) Although the report draws from Transparency
International, Human Rights Watch, IMF and UNDP reports, as
well as Egyptian media sources and legal records, it also
relies heavily on information from unreliable sources such as
internet blogs and questionable local dailies. The report
also fails to cite the sources for many assertions, several
of which seem exaggerated and of questionable veracity. For
example, it does not offer supporting evidence for the
incendiary claim that President Mubarak's sons control
fifty-percent shares in major companies such as Mobinil and
Vodafone. With that caveat, following are some highlights:
-- In the introduction, under the title "Corruption Rules
Egypt: The Government of Corrupt-istan", the report states,
"the biggest problem with corruption lies not in the falling
of society,s icons ) who belong to the ruling class - one
after the other, but in the fact that it became a social law
and an underlying behavior that rules the different aspects
of the Egyptian life," and asserts that "living in Egypt has
become tied to the ability to cope with the governing
corruption." The report decries that "the Emergency Law has
become the actual constitution of the country," and that
President Mubarak, less than a year after his election, has
"brushed away all his promises, especially in so far as
freedoms and political and constitutional reform." The
introduction concludes that, "in his daily life, the average
Egyptian citizen is unable to obtain any governmental service
without resorting to bribery."
CAIRO 00004981 002 OF 002
-- The report maintains that both of Mubarak's sons have
fifty-percent shares in companies like Alkharafi, Mobinil,
and Vodafone and that Egyptian First Lady Suzanne Mubarak
heads hundreds of charity NGOs and transfers their funds to
her secret accounts in Swiss banks.
-- The report asserts that National Democratic Party (NDP)
Secretary-General and Shura Council speaker Safwat El Sherif
SIPDIS
and his sons are working with a prostitution ring; MP Ibrahim
Soliman is involved in "swindling and bribery"; Minister of
Interior Habib Al Aadly, together with President Mubarak,s
sons, is engaged in drug dealing; MP Kamal El Shazly and
Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny are smuggling antiquities;
and Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghaly is involved in
"stock market manipulation."
-- The report accuses the renowned Abou Ghaly and Effat Al
Sadat families of involvement in drug dealing that results in
their providing monthly payoffs to the Egyptian Drug Agency.
-- The report cites a People's Assembly scandal of January 3,
1999, involving MP,s misappropriation of an aid program that
largely benefited 21 companies owned or represented by MPs
from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
-- The report examines the beating, sexual abuse and
extortion of street children detained in mass arrests by
police.
-- The report claims that individuals are often put on no-fly
lists for purely political reasons. This, despite the fact
that individuals facing arrest warrants can use their
connections to flee the country, as was allegedly the case
with Mamdouh Ismail, the owner of the recently sunken
Al-Salam ferry.
-- The report accuses numerous businessmen of defaulting on
bank loans and fleeing the country, including Tawfeeq Abdel
Hay in 1982; Ashraf El Saad in 1991 and 1995; and George
Hakim in 1994. The report claims that by 2001, 853 cases had
been filed against businessmen who had fled the country to
escape charges.
4. (SBU) Comment: The Kefaya report is not a systematically
conducted study, but rather a conglomeration of articles and
reports from various sources. It does not unveil new cases
of corruption or substantiate claims that already are public
knowledge. However, Kefaya,s efforts to raise Egyptians,
awareness of, and engage in discourse on, the major problem
of corruption in Egypt is in itself a notable step, and
demonstrates that Egyptians are becoming increasingly vocal
about sensitive issues despite the possible government
backlash.
RICCIARDONE