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Egypt Incidence of Crime
Ordinary crime, that is, crime unconnected to political dissent
or sectarian strife, was perceived to be a major problem during the
1980s, although it was difficult to demonstrate a strong upsurge in
criminal activity on the basis of the limited data available. Minor
crimes, such as petty theft, pickpocketing, and purse snatching,
were widespread in the streets of metropolitan Cairo, but violence
in the commission of these crimes was uncommon. In rural areas,
crime victims generally sought retribution without going to the
authorities, especially in cases where the honor of an individual
or a family was tarnished. An informal analysis found that more
than half the murder cases in rural areas occurred within the
family and commonly involved issues of passion, honor, or
vengeance.
Reliable official statistics on crime were not available, but
an Egyptian report to Interpol, the international police
organization, in 1988 recorded 784 murders, 364 serious assaults,
189 morals offenses, and 322 robberies involving violence in 1984.
Thefts totaled 19,964, including 1,397 auto thefts but only 14
armed robberies. There were 1,313 cases of fraud and 10,559 drug
offenses. The police claimed to have solved more than 90 percent of
the major crimes and 75 percent of the thefts. The level of
criminal activity reported appeared to be surprisingly low and the
success rate in solving crimes unusually high, particularly in
light of the belief that urban crime was escalating. The police
recorded a total of more than 1,500 infractions of all kinds;
presumably this included petty crimes and misdemeanors and such
offenses as evasion of price controls.
In an interview in late 1989, the director of security for
Cairo attributed higher crime rates to bad economic conditions,
high unemployment, population growth, and changes in social norms.
In 1988 Cairo experienced sharp increases in the theft of cars and
other goods, offenses by women and juveniles, kidnappings, and vice
cases. Bank robberies, gang activity, and other violence continued
to be uncommon, however.
White-collar crime, smuggling, black marketing in currency, and
other economic offenses were rampant and increased under the Sadat
and Mubarak regimes. Sadat established special commissions to
investigate official corruption. Soon after taking office, Mubarak
condemned favoritism and graft and replaced several cabinet members
whom he thought were inadequate in their efforts to detect and
expose corruption. Nevertheless, economic crimes continued to be
widespread. These crimes included embezzlement, tax and customs
evasion, illegal currency transactions, smuggling and trading
contraband, diversion of subsidized goods, "leakages" from free
trade zones, kickbacks, and bribes to officials. In 1986 Egyptian
officials arrested about 102,000 individuals for "supply
violations," which included petty infringements by shopkeepers and
vendors, such as their failure to observe price controls. Some of
these violations, however, involved large enterprises engaged in
major infractions, often with the connivance of government
officials.
Data as of December 1990
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