CAIRO - In his worry about Egypt's current security vacuum, Nader Bahaa cannot hide out his pleasure at the almost total disappearance of the policemen who used to give him a hard time on the streets of Cairo. Bahaa, a 26-year-old taxi driver, says he has seen the ugly face of policemen himself and this is why he does not want a quick return to the streets and in police stations. “At least they should give us some rest,” Bahaa told The Egyptian Gazette. Everybody in this country has a bad experience with policemen. Generalisations are not logical in a populous country like Egypt, but there is almost universal agreement in this country on the violations the nation's policemen committed over the years. One month after the nation's security system fell apart following bloody clashes that started on January 25 between riot police and anti-regime demonstrators nationwide, ordinary Egyptians feel free to criticise their country's policemen. These ordinary citizens even demand a new chapter in their relations with these policemen, one where there is no place for the failures of the past. “The majority of policemen had nothing but brutal force to apply in their relations with ordinary people regardless of whether they were good or bad,” said Wael Nabil, a 31-year-old accountant. “I can tell you of tens of bad personal experiences with policemen. These people need to change.” “Change” is the buzzword in Egypt these days, a country that seems to be totally obsessed and consumed with this word. Whether it is on the streets or inside State and private institutions, everybody is talking about this change. But will Egypt really change? Some Egyptians are sceptical, including some policemen who say “it takes two to tango”. You can t talk about change in the context of the policemen alone,” said a retired police general. “Ordinary citizens too need to change. Without this change, we will be wasting our time,” he added on condition of anonymity. The ex-police officer conceded that Egypt's Interior Ministry had proved an extreme failure under the former Interior Minister Habib el-Adli who is now in jail on corruption and abuse of power charges. He said el-Adli himself was a “bad” man who used to humiliate the nation's policemen and also subjected them to extreme financial derivation. “This means that you need to solve the financial problems of these policemen as a step on the way of reforming the whole system,” the ex-policeman said. “Policemen take peanuts for salaries and this makes for a very bad performance on their part.” As a major general, he used to receive LE2,800 ($474) for a salary before he retired. But people like Bahaa, the taxi driver, say whether these policemen take high or low salaries is non of their business. Bahaa says he had to pay bribes wherever he went in his relationship with the Interior Ministry. “I had never issued or renewed my driving licence without paying bribes to the traffic officials,” he said. “The same happened everywhere, even inside police stations.” Egypt's policemen still make themselves scarce on the streets around the nation even three weeks after a new Interior Minister was appointed and the anti-regime demonstrators went home. This creates a state of fear everywhere, while ordinary Egyptians talk about a rising crescendo of violence and crime on the streets. One reason why policemen might be absenting themselves is what some people call the “persistence of a bad mental image about them”. A policeman was attacked by tens of angry citizens in Cairo a few days ago when he shot at a minivan driver who allegedly bothered him on the way. Other policemen talk about a rise in public animosity against them on the streets. “If the policemen change, the people will automatically change,” Bahaa said. “It will all depend on how they will treat citizens in the future.”
