CAIRO: Minister of Interior Mansour El-Essawy stressed on Wednesday that the National Security Agency won't interfere in the political arena, unlike its disbanded predecessor, the State Security Investigations (SSI). El-Essawy told the attendees of the forum— held at the National Security headquarters under the title of "National Security prospects for the future"— that the new apparatus would serve only the Egyptian people unlike the SSI which served the president and his government, according to the official news agency MENA. A number of human rights groups and members of the April 6 Youth Movement attended the forum to discuss the objectives of the new agency and the legislations that would govern it and prevent it from following in the same path as SSI. Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), told Daily News Egypt the forum was positive and promising. But it was too early to determine whether the new agency would be any different from SSI. “The apparatus hasn't started operating yet and the laws governing it haven't been issued,” Bahgat said. El-Essawy said that the ministry was still in the process of selecting staff. The process is expected to run to July 16. Assistant interior minister for national security, Hamed Abdallah, said that some officers from the former SSI were reinstated in the new agency, after proving that they weren't involved in any corruption of abuse cases. He added that most of these officers didn't deal directly with the people. According to Abdallah, the SSI included 33 generals, 99 brigadiers, and 105 colonels. Of these, eight generals, 29 brigadiers, 49 colonels and 35 percent of low ranking officers were reinstated in the new agency, adding that they were being subjected to extensive training programs. Bahgat said that El-Essawy vowed that the new agency would be monitored by the judiciary, the new elected parliament and human rights and civil society groups as well as a committee from within the apparatus. “We want guarantees that the abuses and violations that were committed under SSI won't happen again,” he said. The infamous SSI, notorious for torture and often criticized for systematic rights violations, was dismantled in March, as a response to the people's pressing demands. The National Security agency was established instead with the proclaimed task of guarding the domestic front and battling terrorism, in accordance with the law, the constitution and human rights principles. The interior ministry said that the new agency would “serve the country without interfering in citizens' lives or [violating] their right to political participation.”
