A group of Egyptian professors yesterday won an historic legal battle to have state security forces removed from university campuses – though it is doubtful whether the government will abide by the ruling.

Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper says human rights organisations welcomed the decision by the Supreme Administrative Court as a step towards the independence of Egyptian universities.

Reuters explains that the police presence in Egyptian universities dates back to 1981, when President Sadat rounded up political opponents and that the government-controlled guards have often been accused of interfering with university affairs such as student elections and stifling dissent.

The professors originally went to court in 2008 – and won – but the government appealed. Rejecting the appeal yesterday, the Supreme Administrative Court said "The presence of permanent interior ministry police forces inside the Cairo University campus represents an impairment of the independence guaranteed to the university by the constitution and the law." 

However, reports suggest the government may ignore the ruling or, at the very least, try to delay implementing it.

In 2005, a report on the repression of academic freedom in Egypt, by Human Rights Watch, described the situation on campuses thus:

Different branches of the state police, under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior, monitor most aspects of state university life. University guards are stationed at campus gates and have offices in each faculty. Plainclothes members of the state security forces roam campuses to stop spontaneous expression, such as speeches or posters. 

The police also hire or coerce students into spying on each other. Those belonging to the student club "Horus" are notorious for intimidating their fellow students; this club, or usra, which has branches at the major universities, works for President Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) and receives financial and moral support from the activities department in each faculty. Together these forces strive to silence activist students and deter other, less political students from joining them. They suppress specific expression while creating a general climate of fear.

University guards control access to the campus, keeping people both out and in and heavily scrutinising politically active students in particular. They make it very difficult for visitors to enter the university ... 

The university guards also sometimes block exits. To keep student and faculty demonstrations from spilling into more public areas, they close the gates and confine demonstrators to campus. The use of state security forces to monitor university behaviour affects private as well as national universities.

Members of the state security forces intimidate students with scare tactics. For example, they call students on their cell phones to advise them they are being watched. Alternatively, they call students' parents to tell them they should stop their children from "causing trouble." Family members then apply the pressure the state desires. 

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 23 October 2010.