House Arrest for Pinochet (again)

It was formally announed today that the former president of Chile, General Augusto Pinochet, is once again under house arrest. There is much to say about the strange story of Pinochet, his assets, how he came to power, and the violence his regime sponsored in Chile and in other countries (including the US) in the 1970s and 80s. Here are some links in case you want to read further.

The Guardian's report of the house arrest.

Several articles about Pinochet's increasing culpability in The Jurist at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

If you want to get studious, read a detailed account of Pinochet's rule, and see the declassified documents that tie the Nixon administration directly to Pinochet's installment in place of the democratically-elected President Allende, check out Peter Kornbluh's The Pinochet File. The introduction to the book is downloadable and you can even go to see the documents yourself next time you are in DC. Little of this is really contested, its just that no one is pursuing it.

Christopher Hitchens explores the US connection to Chile and other nations in that period in the angry and sparkling book, The Trial of Henry Kissinger.

If you and a friend or date are looking for a sobering documentary, check out The Trials of Henry Kissinger, based partly on the book of the similar name.

The legal actions currently pending against Pinochet are for the most part contained within the domestic law of Chile. However, the International Criminal Court may be of some promise in other such cases in the future, if more nations - to name one, a country located between Canada and Mexico - accept its jurisdiction.

Muslim Brotherhood Detentions

Detention of those critical of the government is a disturbing fixture in Egyptian politics. Today Human Rights Watch announced Egypt's continuation of arbitrary detentions of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, some of them having senior status in the organization. This is an interesting press release to me because it refers to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which I have been studying. And it may be interesting to you because it sheds light on some wider problems in the human rights situation in Egypt.

From the official Muslim Brotherhood website, here is an account of some recent detentions.

Rooftops

I took this photo recently at a rooftop party my friend was throwing. He lives downtown on a rooftop that I assume was originally built by or for a bawaab. The bawaabin are caretakers who look after apartments in the rest of the building and help with repairs or certain errands. In this case, the landlord rented the rooftop home. What you see on the left is the works for the elevator shaft. Behind it were his bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.


A view from that rooftop. Note the ribbons in celebration of Ramadan.

There are probably tens or hundreds of thousands of people living on rooftops in Cairo. To be clear, unlike this friend, most of them are not pursuing advanced degrees. Much of the rooftop housing is unofficial, and almost all of it comes as an afterthought once the building has been completed. Many office and apartment buildings are built with only a few storeys in mind at first, then more came as the city grew.


I took this picture from the rooftop "Solarium" at the Lotus Hotel while I was still staying in Wust-al-Balad. From this ninth storey, you can see lots of rooftop homes from above, including those here to the middle-left and bottom right. I like this picture because it shows the sharp light and cloudless sky that I'm getting to know here in Egypt. Towards the top right, you can see the Muqqatam Hills which mark the eastern edge of Cairo.

Yalla Fil Sina!!

Or, Let's go to Sinai!!

I was going to write something about the most recent tentatively encouraging news coming out of the Northern Ireland peace process, but then I remembered that this is "a blog written mainly for the benefit of family and friends." So, why not post some photos of my recent trip to the Sinai instead?


Friend S1 at sunrise after a long, well-spent night of cussing and discussing. In the far distance across the water you can see mountains at the western coast of Saudi Arabia.


Friend S2 is shown with a Tarabin camel curiously extending a palm frond.


Friend S3 is sitting in the main tent at our camp during Casual Friday.


Friend S4 is standing in the Gulf of Aqaba with Sinai mountains and Tarabin behind him.

Last weekend, myself and four friends (who will, for the time being, remain nameless as I find it strange asking them if they'd like to star by name in my blog) went from Cairo on a large comfortable bus to the eastern edge of the Sinai peninsula, about seven hours over the desert, under the Suez canal, past numerous checkpoints and rest stops. This part of Egypt is culturally somewhat distinct from mainland Masr, and is a tourism hotspot along the Red Sea inlets. We went to a small town called Tarabin, on the Gulf of Aqaba, about 40 kilometers from the southern tip of Israel. We stayed at a place called Soft Beach Camp in small huts. At 10 EGP per night, and 50 meters from the Red Sea, this was a steal. This is perhaps one of the only experiences I've had that might turn me into a hedonistic, martini-swilling, lobster-skinned novelist. In the past, I had supposed that a few decades of smoking and seeing urban decay were the prerequisites for such a lifestyle, but now I wonder if instead you can skip that and commit yourself to lazing around on a beach thinking of character names.