Author Description

In February 2001 Committee on Human Rights (CHR) member Morton Panish (a member of the NAS and NAE) and former National Academies staff officer Jay Davenport attended the February 2001 hearings in Cairo of the trial of renowned sociology professor, Saad Eddin Ibrahim. This report provides a summary of the February trial cycle and developments in Dr. Ibrahim's case from the time of his arrest in June 2000 through the end of May 2001, when he and 27 staff members of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies (which he directs) were convicted. It also describes the CHR's efforts in behalf of Professor Ibrahim and provides an overview of the political and legal environment in Egypt at the time. The report concludes that the outlook for the development of a healthy civil society in Egypt appears to be growing dimmer. By prosecuting a person as highly esteemed as Dr. Ibrahim and closing the Ibn Khaldun Center , the government was sending a clear message that there will be little tolerance of those working in Egypt to promote democracy and the growth of civil society there.