ABSTRACT
In tracing the origin and history of the independent Egyptian human rights movement of the 1980s, this chapter examines the movement’s formative internal debates on several key issues, including organizational structure, relationship with the government, secular and Islamist opposition, and with international actors, and foreign funding. Despite the movement’s perpetual struggle to maintain political independence from all those parties, this chapter highlights how the movement adopted what later proved to be the right strategic choices. Finally, through reexamining the long-term nature of the movement’s mission, the chapter concludes that while the human rights situation in Egypt is far worse than what it was in the 1980s, the society’s awareness of the issue has become broader and deeper.
