Surely the first question that we need to ask is how corrupt are our own democracies in supporting the Egyptian regime for decades. Tunisia has already revolted. We all know the story of Iraq and its present mess. It would be against all common basic decency to continue to support a clinging President who refuses to leave power because we in the West believe he is the best guarantee of security and stability in the area.
It is simply a myth and its disingenuous and insulting to suggest as former Prime Minister Blair has that while he supports democracy we should also take note that there is ‘lurking’ behind this revolt is the Muslim Brotherhood. So what? If you uphold the principle of democracy then we in the West cannot say oops wrong party got elected. Same goes for Hilary Clintons premise that the US supports Universal Human rights. Great. Then lets do something about it
What is surprising about the recent events in the Arab world is that it took so long to erupt. The harsh reality in this delay was not lack of will on the Arab masses but the short-sighted view of Western democracies. They supported corrupt brutal Arab regimes. This was always done under the pretext that the alternative to those regimes would be the rule of Islamic fundamentalists. Simply put they relied on the psychology of fear and the unknown with no deep comprehension that the biggest threat to world security was not necessarily religious fervour but the reason religious fervour was gaining support. But that is another story.
However the events in both Tunisia and Egypt have blown away this myth. The demonstrations are from the people who make up the country. They are not infiltrators but people who got fed up of being downtrodden and short-changed economically and morally by dinosaur leaders. So called Western ‘security’ relied upon the brutality of the system that guaranteed no dissent, financial corruption on a massive scale by the ruling elite and a complete absence of the rule of law. Every Arab knew that, some expressed it but the West would not listen to these voices.
Its not rocket science. Arabs are people who generally want the same respect dignity principles that we demand in the West from our Governments.
Neither the Western democracies nor brutal Arab regimes were made accountable for their actions. By mutual agreement both propagated the status quo. Both played lip service to the rule of law, civil rights, freedom of speech, democratic elections, and human rights but no one was ever made accountable and certainly nothing of substance was ever implemented.
Will the former Tunisian President be invited back to Tunis and under the rule of law have an opportunity to explain his actions or will he diplomatically find a haven to live out the rest of his days cushioned by the massive wealth he has accumulated? Will Mubarak when he is ousted have guarantees from Western democracies that he is immune from prosecution? Or will he be made accountable for the torture and deaths of countless Egyptians?
Compromise in the name of moving forward will doubtless take precedence over accountability but this is a dangerous option to take up because it compromises the basic principal of democracy. Accountability is not about revenge or retribution Saddam style. It’s about upholding standards of human decency. You cannot ever compromise on the sanctity of human life. You either believe in certain standards applicable to all of us or you don’t.
Israel argument that it Mubarak who is the biggest guarantee of security in the area is a myth. The regions best guarantee for security is equity and freedom of choice. Brutality may temporarily give the semblance of stability but its simple common sense that without addressing the problems no amount of torture or death will erase the problem. Either we accept that fundamental rights are an intrinsic right for all or not. It’s absurd to expect and have those rights in the Western democracy but not in the rest of the world
The events in Tunis and Egypt demonstrated quite clearly a much more powerful sentiment and two core principles: the rule of law, and accountability. The abuse of these very human elements of life will eventually, as we have seen in Egypt, result in mass revolt. The attack on the police, the burning down of police stations can be dismissed as vandalism, the truth is much more likely to be an out pouring of anger, a relief, an emotional release from proud and dignified citizens directed towards the sites where personal abuses and human atrocities were committed in silence from the outside world. These burnt out pillars of the president’s legacy deserved to go up in smoke, if only in homage for those who suffered at the hands of one of the West’s favoured dictators.
