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LCHR urges minister of agriculture and people’s assembly candidates to act to prevent jailing farmers
During the year 2000, the Agricultural Developmental Bank became something like a sword that threatens the Egyptian farmers because of the burdens due to their dealings with that bank. These burdens are not recent but it had increased within this year since the number of those farmers who could not pay back their debts and those who are sent to jail had extremely increased. This came as a result of the increase of the land rents in the addition to that administrative corruption among some employees of this bank branches. These employees are getting advantage of the farmers’ urgent need of money in the addition to their ignorance of the bank procedures, which had led to sending hundreds of them to jail.
In Kalioubia province, more than 400 farmers assembled in front of the Agricultural Developmental Bank for two days crying out against corruption. They discovered that they have to pay back large amounts of money that they didn’t borrow from the bank but by the way of deception, they were imputed to these debts.
“I didn’t have any doubt in the bank employees” says Mahfouz El-Shawarby, one of the victims. “So, after this corruption issue was revealed I ran to the bank to check my account to discover that my debt which was only 20.000 L.E.for some reason it became 130.000 L.E.!!. El-Shawarby believes that he was cheated because he had to sign a lot of forms and acknowledgements. In some cases, farmers are enforced to sign on empty papers otherwise, they will not get the loans they demand.
In Kalioub branch, the bank employees had added more debts on some dead person’s accounts in order to enforce their successors to pay it back. In some cases, guarantors discovered that according to their signatures, they owe the bank huge amounts of money. Saad Abdul-Rahman is one of these guarantors - who became a debtor with 30.000 L.E.- could not bear such shock and now he is paralyzed.
This crime was not only committed against the people of Kalioub district, but there are more than 200 farmers in Beni Omran village, Menia province just few weeks ago where the bank employees managed to get large sums of money. Not only that but the farmers were prosecuted as a result.
In an interview with LCHR researchers said Salama Hussein, Kandil village, Menia province: “I own 31 Kirats of cultivated land and someday, I got a loan (5.000 L.E.) from the Agricultural Developmental Bank and put my land as a guarantee. Six months later, I discovered that there were extra 300 L.E. as an interest. Then, before the end of the year I’ve paid 5600 L.E. and cleared my debt but I discovered that I was convicted to pay 11.000L.E. and one year in jail in the addition to other 7.200L.E. and six months in jail!!. I ran to the bank manager to show him the documents that prove my innocence but he tried to get them from me but I refused. Then I went to the prosecutor to discover that there is another receipt with 15.200 L.E. that I should pay!! That means there is extra 28.000 L.E. that I have to pay for a 5.000 L.E. loan!!”.
Fathi Abdul-Mohsen is also a farmer says: “I tried to sell my land but the buyer asked me to get a certificate from the bank that proves my land is clear of any debt. So, I got that paper and two days later I was judged! I went to the bank to check what happened with the employer who asked me not to (scandalize him) because he was in a need of some premium so he sold my land and he issued a check promising that he will pay the money back”.
The LCHR has a list of around 100 farmers who didn’t get any loan and the bank is demanding money that they know nothing about it. These events took place in many other provinces like: Beni Suif, Guiza & Rashid.
So, LCHR is urging those who are interested in the farmers’ issues to act together to face this crusade against tens of thousands of farmers who were cheated by the Agricultural Developmental Bank employees because they are not aware of the bank procedures and their urgent need of loans. LCýHR is also urging them to try to solve the problem of the other farmers who are not able to pay their debts and also to prevent sending them to jails. So, LCHR is proposing the following:
- The cancellation of the debts of those who have no lands and whose lands were expropriated due to act no.96 of1992. Since they have no source of living, to stop chasing them like criminals and also to cancel the judgements against them.
- The cancellation of the debts of the recent graduates in land reclamation projects who couldn’t achieve their projects for external reasons such as being et down by the government that offered them nothing but desert.
- Searching for compromise that enables the land tenants -who have no land now- to cultivate lands without contracts.
Finally, we should say that maybe these suggestions could not offer a concise and final solution for thousands of farmers in Egypt, but it could by a way to protect their socio-economic rights.
LCHR is urging the Egyptian minister of agriculture and all in charge to consider these recommendations to protect our people and their rights according to constitution and international conventions of human rights.
LCHR is also hopping that all candidates of the people’s assembly who are preparing for elections to pay more attention to that issue and try to form a new legislation that prevents jailing these farmers and to protect their rights.