Participate in a campaign :" solidarity with Egyptian farmers ."
Dear Readers,
We, the Egyptian Peasant Solidarity Committee, are starting a solidarity campaign with Egyptian farmers. This campaign uses the internet and written media to express its message of solidarity, and writes press releases to human rights centers and civil society organizations to inform them of what is happening to Egyptian farmers. We also hope to put pressure on Egyptian public officials by sending them faxes (their fax numbers are attached to this message).
Please respond and comment if you find this campaign of interest to you. Below is a copy of the proposed message that will be sent to those working in solidarity.
Show solidarity with Egyptian farmers!
· Stop the forceful removal of farmers from their land!
· Stop the impoverishment of farmers!
To all concerned persons of the world,
The Solidarity Committee with Agrarian Reform Farmers and the Egyptian Network of Agricultural Labor plead with those who stand for justice in Egypt, the Arab World and around the world to support Egyptian farmers to face the calamity threatening their communities over the last few years. In solidarity we work:
First, to stop the ongoing assault and removal of farmers from the land they have farmed for a half century or more.
Second, to stop the collapse of the economic viability of farming as a profession.
We propose to achieve these goals using the above-mentioned strategies.
· Regarding the first goal:
The Egyptian state is leading the effort to remove farmers from their land through the General Committee of Agrarian Reform, the Ministry of Agriculture, the security forces, and those in charge of judicial rulings. In addition, the state is operating through the ‘Court of Value’, for which the government appoints half of its members, who are brought from outside the judicial system. This effort to throw farmers off their land is made in the interest of the elite, the successors of former landlords, and bandits.
The following are the categories of farmers who are being thrown off their land:
1. The agrarian reform farmers who were given re-distributed land paid for their land in full, but the Committee of Agrarian Reform has arbitrarily refused to grant them their legal ownership rights. (This pertains to the areas of Dekernis, Bhoot Dahlia and Samadun Menoufiya.)
2. The agrarian reform farmers who rent land from the Committee of Agrarian Reform are waiting for the Committee to decide a buying price for the land, in order to become owners. If the Committee does not make a decision about the buying of land (as it said it would), then the farmers demand the right to at least stay on the land as renters. (This pertains to the areas of Horreya Daliya, Meet Shahala, Menoufiya, Adinet Muharm, and Brody Baheira.)
3. Some farmers who rented bequeathed land from the Waqfs Ministry (or land from the Committee of Agrarian Reform through this Ministry) were able to purchase their land, while others were not. Currently this Ministry is selling the land to security services, sport and judges’ clubs, and business men. These sales are being made under the pretext that this land is non-arable. (This pertains to the lands of Mamoura region and its surroundings in the east of Alexandria.)
4. Some farmers who bought old recovered land from the state received legal titles to their property, while others did not. (This pertains to the Nahada region in Ameriya, south of Alexandria.)
5. The farmers of desert lands have cultivated them for more than 150 years. They bought their land from the state or from the landowners, and have proper legal titles. (This pertains to the Bedouins of Burj El-Arab, in the south of Alexandria.)
In light of these injustices the Solidarity Committee and the Egyptian
Network of Agricultural Labor demand the following:
A) The General Committee of Agrarian Reform should give to all farmers, who paid the price of the land, property titles according to the Agrarian Reform Law 178[1] and its amendments. Also, the Committee should set a price to the land rented by farmers and sell it to those who have cultivated it.
B) The Waqfs Ministry (of bequeathed assets) should stop selling the land that it rented to farmers as non-arable land to non-farmers. Also, the Ministry should stop selling “arable” land even if it is close to city parameters, in order to preserve the agricultural landscape surrounding cities and the life and stability of its tenant-farmers. Better yet, the Ministry should sell this land to the tenant-farmers who cultivate and preserve it.
C) The Egyptian Parliament, the Egyptian Consultation Council and the legal and judicial committees concerned should exercise all of their power to overturn the laws that permit the handing over of agricultural land in the courts. In addition, these authorities should review for the purposes of prosecution all of those who are found to be involved in the forceful removal of farmers from their land. This inquiry process should be undertaken by a trustworthy “popular committee,” outside the jurisdiction of the police.
D) A solidarity campaign should aim to discredit the legal, judicial, political and moral foundations of the ‘Court of Value’ by bringing attention to its dangers, and to stop the Court’s functioning.
· Regarding the second goal:
To stop the quick collapse of farming’s economic viability, the following conditions need to be put in place:
· Farmers should have access to the means of production (i.e. seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, straw, fuel, machinery) – meaning, access at the time, with the quantity and for the price that is appropriate for farmers given their conditions and needs.
· Farmers should be able to rent land for prices that correspond with the prices received for their crops and with their income overall. Rents should be given for relatively long periods in order to promote stability for the farming communities and to preserve the fertility of the soil.
· Farmers should have marketing opportunities that correspond with the rising cost of living, the costs of inputs and an acceptable level of revenues.
· Farmers should have access to low-interest loans for agricultural inputs.
In order to create these conditions, we argue for the creation of a legal and economic committee, which would investigate avenues to compensate farmers monetarily for their losses. (Capital inputs from farmers’ associations, particularly from Agrarian Reform associations, were seized by banks for investments in consumer goods, at high interest.)
The sustained effort to stop farmers from being thrown off their land, and the collapse of the economic viability of farming, will bring about:
ü stability for farming communities.
ü development of agriculture (increases in production.)
ü balance in food prices.
ü prosperity for society (with greater food security and lower social inequality.)
ü prevention of farmers from joining the “army of the jobless” and violent groups.
To achieve these ends, we plead with you to join us in this campaign.
With appreciation,
The Egyptian Peasant Solidarity Committee
Thursday, June 26th 2008
To sign and comment use the following link:
http://www.ahewar.org/camp/i.asp?id=131
Fax nos:
National Council of Human Rights fax no. 002025745776
Parliament fax no. 002027942721
Interior Ministry fax no. 002025792031
Justice Ministry fax no. 002027958103
Foreign Affairs Ministry fax no. 002025748822
Agriculture Ministry fax no. 002027498128
Prime Minister fax no. 002027356449 & 002027958016
President, Hosny Mubarak fax no. 002023901998
Our committee email : egyptianpeasantsolidarity@gawab.com
Our committee web site: tadamon.katib.org
[1] The 1952 Agrarian Reform Law No. 178 began the process of land reform in Egypt, immediately following the 1952 July 23 Revolution.
