Egypt police block workers' assembly

CAIRO -- Egyptian police prevented hundreds of workers from holding a meeting in Cairo to commemorate International Workers' Day on Sunday, while independent trade union leaders urged the government to allow them freedom of assembly.

Kamal Abbas, of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers' Services, said about 650 workers descended upon the city center and initially sought an alternate location to hold a news conference after police prevented them from entering the journalists' syndicate building.

The area was under lockdown by dozens of uniformed and plainclothes security forces, some wearing face masks and carrying automatic weapons. A smaller group of workers later convened at Abbas' organization's headquarters and spoke out against what they described as government suppression of their constitutional rights.

The journalists' syndicate has been a rallying point for demonstrations in the past and was blocked in a similar way ahead of planned anti-government protests last Monday.

After nightfall, police stormed the building and arrested two Egyptian journalists, Amr Badr and Mahmoud el-Sakka, who had been inside, syndicate leaders posted on social media. The two had been posting on social media and had appeared in a photo circulating online holding a banner that read "journalism is not a crime" after they said police raided their homes.

Senior syndicate leader Khaled el-Belshy called for a "swift response by the journalistic community" for what he described on Facebook as a "brutal and unprecedented aggression" against the institution founded in 1941.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the government to legalize independent trade unions and end a decades-old system that enshrines a single official union.

"Egypt's government is ignoring the basic right of workers to organize independently," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Worker movements were among the early supporters of the 2011 revolt that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, ushering in years of tumult as the country was ruled by the military, then elected Islamist Mohammed Morsi, and eventually President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Under Mubarak, the syndicate building was one of the few places demonstrators could gather to voice grievances, as long as they stayed on the building steps or the area directly in front of it.

That changed under el-Sissi, the general who ousted Morsi in 2013. Protests now are effectively banned, and activists from a wide spectrum -- Islamists to secularists and liberals -- are labeled terrorists and enemies of the state.

The journalists' syndicate building drew particular attention because it was from there that about 2,000 demonstrators gathered last month to protest el-Sissi's decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens to break up the protests, the first significant wave of street demonstrations since the former army chief became president in 2014.

A second round of mass demonstrations over the issue planned for last Monday were stifled by a massive security presence, with hundreds of arrests and only small flash mobs managing to assemble, drawing tear gas and birdshot from the riot police.

Spokesmen for the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police, as well as the presidency's office did not respond to repeated telephone calls Sunday seeking comment. Sunday coincides with Egypt's Orthodox Easter as well as a long holiday weekend celebrating the beginning of spring.

Last month, the International Labor Organization urged Egypt to respect international labor conventions on freedom of association that it has ratified. In its April 8 statement, the organization also demanded the repeal of measures that prevent unions from publishing official documents and prohibit collective bargaining, exposing union leaders to the risk of dismissal and arrest.

Elsewhere on International Workers' Day, demonstrations broke out over local issues.

In France, trade unions, teenagers, pensioners and families held largely peaceful marches Sunday in Paris and cities around the country. This year, the protests came as parliament is debating a bill that would allow longer working hours and let companies lay workers off more easily.

In Turkey, police used tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators trying to reach Taksim Square. One man died after being hit by a water cannon vehicle.

Taksim has symbolic meaning as the center of protests in which 34 people were killed on May Day in 1977.

Tensions are high in Turkey after a string of deadly suicide bombings linked to either Kurdish or Islamic State militants. In the capital, Ankara, police rounded up four suspected Islamic State members who were allegedly planning to attack May Day demonstrators.

In Moscow, tens of thousands of people marched across the Red Square in a pro-Kremlin workers' rally. The protesters were carrying the Russian tricolor and balloons.

As is typical for rallies organized by the ruling United Russia party, the May Day rally steered clear of criticizing President Vladimir Putin or his government for declining living standards. The slogans focused on wages and jobs for young professionals.

And in Britain, Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn joined thousands of people at a May Day rally in central London, using the occasion to condemn the progress of far-right groups throughout Europe.

Standing atop a red London bus, Corbyn said the party is united against discrimination.

"We stand in solidarity now against the growth of the far right in Europe," said Corbyn, whose faltering opposition party has been accused of anti-Semitism in recent days.

Corbyn, who represents Labor's left wing, was the first Labor leader to address a May Day crowd in decades.

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/02/2016

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