We are the Committee of Solidarity with Egyptian farmers of  Agrarian reform

In recent years, the decedents of former feudalist land owners have launched a vicious attack on farmers. The attack itself has been steered by a number of political decrees made by late presidents Anwar Sadat after assuming power in the early 1970s. The first was lifting the sequestration of agricultural lands which had been confiscated by the State in the 1950s and 1960s. The mass sequestration had been implemented according to three agrarian reform laws: 178/1952, 127/1961 and 50/1969.

After the departure of Sadat, his successor, current president Hosny Mubarak, continued to pursue this policy. In 1992, Mubarak passed law 96, which altered the relationship between landowners and tenants. As it put an end to permanent tenancy contracts, it represented the final move in a long way aiming to evict hundreds of thousands of peasants from the land they had been cultivating for 40 years. It also paved the way for other laws and regulations, such as the rent hikes of agricultural land. This move thus prevented farmers who cultivate both agrarian reform land and credit land – another land category – from making sustainable economic returns from their harvests.

This attack is void of both legitimacy and political rationale.  One could hardly imagine how millions of farmers can make ends meet after losing the only source of income the have. This situation becomes worse if the overpopulation is taken into account—as the number of peasants has doubled over the past decades. Qualified for nothing except for farming, peasants have no other to earn living.

What are the socio-economic consequences of stripping farmers of their land? Most obviously, in light of the harsh economic conditions, a sharp rise in unemployment and widespread economic stagnation could be traced.  Confronting the ruling regime's attack remains the only alternative at hand. In so far as this attack on peasants' legitimate rights has much to do with regional and international developments, one could expect their results to be more deep. Hence the dire need to join forces and employ effective tactics.

  A group of friends who are concerned about peasants' rights in a number of governorates has taken the initiative to resist the inhuman attack on peasants. They have set up a body to organise their activities. They have defined a group of tasks and confirmed that transforming the nascent committee from a being a mere paper on ink into an active and strong body is imperative.  

BACKGROUND ANDFIGURES

For the benefit of readers we would like to stress the following information.

Firstly, the total area of land sequestered from land owners according to the three Agricultural Reform laws mentioned above was approximately 900,000 Feddans ( 1 feddan is 4200.833m). 450 farming families benefited from the land sequestration.

*    The law stated the following:

*    The farmer should have been working on the land before he took control of it.

*    He had to have completed military service, and have more than four children, a stipulation ensuring that the land would be given to the needy.

*    We can presume that 450,000 families were given the land on the three following standards

*    Either they had four or more children, making the total family number 7 persons at least

*    Those who benefited from the laws were farmers who worked for large landowners. They can be split into three categories.

Each group was made up of 50,000 people (Unmarried men, those who had two children, and those who had four children.)

 Group one – those who had completed military service.

150, 000 x 1 = 150,000 people

Group two – A family with five children or more 150 x 7 = 1050 thousand people

Group Three – 50,000 bachelors x 1 = 50 thousand people

 Families of two children or more 50,000 x 4 = 200 thousand  people

 Families with four children or more 50,000 x 6 =  300,000 people

*    Thus this makes the total number of beneficiaries 1750 thousand people

If we assume that the number of each rural family is doubled every 25 years. Thereby, by 2005, these numbers would have risen to:-

1750  x 3 ( = 5250 thousand people

And Suppose the death percentage in this period is 15%, therefore the number of total deaths would be:

5250  x 15% =787 thousand

Which brings the total number of those living now to:

5250 – 787 = 4463 thousand people –

That’s an estimated 4.5 million people:

We can also confirm that the expulsion of farmers from their land is not the only danger they face. Their overheads are rising at a rate that exceeds crop prices. In addition, they face rising costs of living which actually affect all Egyptians though their impact on the countryside is more intense. 

These dangers threaten poor farmers in general and land reform beneficiaries in particular, as well as those who rent small plots of land. It is worthy of noting that there is a difference between depriving farmers of the most important means of production by force (court rulings to evict farmers, the police forces, and bloody acts of violence) and depriving farmers of their means of production via economic factors.

It is of much significance to fight the attempts to evict peasants from their land and define the role of Tadamon. We aim to make this committee worthy of its name in responding actively, in accordance with a clear mission.

*    Thirdly, the form of this committee must be flexible, able to respond to urgent cases and new developments…and reflect the capabilities of its members – especially those who are more active.

*    Its membership should be personal not representative. This will avoid interference in its affairs from external bodies such as political parties. Moreover, it this approach will allow it to benefit from the efforts of all its members.

*    We do not aspire to establish a front…i.e, we are not a facade for other political organizations. Although this does not preclude cooperation with unions, parties, political organizations and centres which are willing to support the committee’s activities without jeopardizing its independence.

*    Four groups are excluded from membership:

 1 – Those who support normalization with Israel

2 – Americans

   – 3 – The National Democratic Party.

    – 4 – Those with political Islamist  leanings.

For those that don’t apply to the above categories, membership is open to those who intend to take an active role.

  Membership means taking an active role in any of these fields: Research Activism – which includes investigating issues as they happen –Media Activism –Legal Activism –

Political Activism

  We confirm that all activists will be directed by the team first and foremost. However, the political activists, who adopt the agenda of ‘Solidarity’ in its nature as a resistance movement, constitute its base. ..  

It is important for ‘Solidarity’ to respond to new challenges by launching campaigns with fresh impetus. This is something that is already happening within the committee, such as the mission to support the farmers affected by the attacks.

Fourthly: The committee is consistently meeting new challenges and broadening its scope through introducing new members who are providing assistance, and carrying out recent successful missions. It will be a great success to see one day the establishment of independent rural committees.

Fifthly: A temporary Secretariat is currently managing the affairs of the committee. It oversees the work of ‘Solidarity’, especially in relation to rapid changes. However, this is under the condition of membership rotation, with each member staying no longer than two months.

The Secretariat does not have a designated chairperson, a spokesperson, a Secretary or a Secretary General. The individuals of the committee assume rotating chairmanship of the meetings. Decisions are taken only on unanimously, except in practical situations which demand immediate action. In these cases the current Secretariat enjoys the right to chose representatives of ‘Solidarity’ in contacting other bodies, as well as representing the committee in speaking to the public and other solidarity organizations. Each member has the right to act in two committees. However, his/h
er vote is limited to one committee.

The committee holds a monthly meeting, whereas the Secretariat meets weekly. The activist committee set the time and agenda for their own meetings.

Sixthly: The committee is funded by members' donations only. Its headquarters is the office of Lawyer Mr. Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly.

Seventhly: The committee will release a bulletin under the auspice of its committee of Press activists. As long as it has an editorial body, it is not necessary that contributors be members of the Press committee. The secretariat will remain in charge of this process until organizational procedures are completed. It will supervise that the pamphlet it printed in simple language to ensure its   accessibility to everybody.

The missions of the committee could result in a great victory for farmers, or resolutions to certain political issues. The most important issue of all, however, is collective action by all of those interested in the peasants' questions.

 9/5/2005