Human Rights First has launched a letter campaign for you to request the release of 3 detained bloggers/activists. The letter will be aimed at the Foreign Minister’s recent visit to New York in order to represent Egypt in the United Nations General Assembly, despite the fact that Egypt clearly doesn’t believe in free speech or human rights. Please take a moment to get involved:

This week an Egyptian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit arrived in New York City to participate in the United Nations General Assembly. Even as these officials speak on behalf of their country, the Egyptian government continues its assault on free expression.

At this moment, three bloggers in detention are:

Mosaad Suleiman Hassan (better known by his pen name Mosaad Abu Fajr), novelist and activist from the northern Sinai, detained since December 26, 2007;

Mohamed Refaat, a 22-year-old student at Cairo University, arrested on July 21, 2008, whose detention continues under Emergency Laws. He faces accusations that include incitement of a strike;

Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman (a.k.a. “Kareem Amer”), a 23-year-old former student at Al-Azhar University currently serving a four-year sentence for views he expressed on his blog.

This year Egyptian authorities have arrested, detained, and prosecuted at least 20 bloggers, journalists, and activists. Using broadly-worded laws that criminalize insulting the president or religion, or harming Egypt’s reputation, and relying on Emergency Laws to justify prolonged detention, the government has clamped down on one of the most basic rights-the right to free expression.

Please call on the Egyptian authorities to release the bloggers currently detained and stop using vague, overly-broad laws to repress free speech.

The message to release these innocent detained individuals will be directed to:

Take action here.

In his latest letter to a friend, Kareem states that he’s feeling hopeless, and doesn’t know whether or not his situation will ever improve. “I am afraid that prison will break me, as it did with many others,” he says.

He is having a very hard time, and could no longer bear the suffocation and suffering of being imprisoned, especially since he didn’t do anything wrong.

He notes clearly that he needs people’s support. This support is the only thing that can guarantee his strength. So we ask our readers never to give up support for him, because it truly makes a difference.

This letter is by Rebecca Witonsky, a longtime supporter of Kareem, who expresses her concern at the fact that the U.S government has not taken any effective steps in attempting to free Kareem and in fact continues to politically and financially support the Egyptian government, which has consistenly abused people’s human rights within the country.

Dear Kareem:

I have not forgotten about you. I am appalled that the U.S. government, my democratic government, has abandoned you to the clutches of the tyrannical Mubarak regime. Sadly America’s democratic principles don’t seem to apply consistently beyond our shores, and we take our freedom for granted, not realizing the sacrifices that brave young people like you are making around the world for the sake of basic justice.

I am outraged that you have been beaten and denied access to books, sunlight, and exercise. This type of cruelty is completely immoral and intolerable. It is a reminder that your oppressors are afraid of you. They wouldn’t be subjecting you to such brutal treatment if they didn’t fear the ideals for which you so bravely stand. Your continued imprisonment under brutal conditions is a constant reminder of the injustice which undergirds the whole Mubarak regime.

I stand with you in solidarity because I couldn’t imagine being completely disowned and abandoned by my own parents. You deserve the support of free people everywhere.

Sincerely,

Ms. Rebecca Witonsky
USA

Rebecca’s concerns have been echoed by thousands of other American supporters for Kareem, which hopefully soon, will be taken very seriously by both Egypt and the U.S government.

In a recent bullet post, English PEN, an organization in support of free speech with a record of working on behalf of persecuted writers around the world, and which Kareem is an Honorary Member of, express their concern for Kareem after being aware of the news from his lawyers that he’s being mistreated:

English PEN is seriously concerned for the well-being of our Egyptian Honorary Member and Internet writer Abdel Kareem Nabeel Suleiman (Kareem Amer) following reports that he has been ill-treated in detention at Borg Alarab prison, where he is serving his four-year sentence.

According to a lawyer from the Arabic Network for Human Rights, who visited Kareem Amer on 30 August 2008, Amer is in a poor state of health and continues to be ill-treated in jail. He must follow the strict rules that apply to political prisoners during visits, although he remains in the criminal prisoners division, where he is treated without any consideration of his rights as a political prisoner. Reports suggest that the prison administration does not allow him to go to the prison yard as others do, and that fellow inmates harass him under orders of the prison administration.

Kareem Amer has previously reported being threatened and ill-treated in prison by officials and by other prisoners, and that he spent time in a disciplinary cell, where he received further beatings and was denied sufficient food and water. The incident followed an allegation of corruption made by Kareem against the prison authorities in late 2007. His lawyers filed a complaint to the Prosecution Office ten months ago. However, no investigation has yet started.

Background:

Kareem Amer was summoned to appear before the office of the Public Prosecutor in Alexandria on 7 November 2006 after posting articles critical of Islam on his web log. He was charged with ‘incitement to hate Muslims’, ‘defaming the President of the Republic’ and ‘insulting Islam’, and was held on renewable two-week detention orders until his trial began on 18 January 2007. He was sentenced to four years in prison on 22 February 2007.

Kareem Amer is a former al-Azhyar University student and is known for his secular views and his critical writings on Islam and Egypt’s highest religious authorities published online.

This is not the first time that Kareem Amer has been detained for his critical writings. He was held for 12 days in October 2005 for his articles on Islam and his coverage of sectarian riots in Alexandria. These articles also led to his dismissal from al-Azhar University in March 2006 after its disciplinary board found him guilty of blasphemy against Islam.

Please send appeals:

• Expressing serious concern at reports that Kareem Amer is being ill-treated while in detention in Borg Alarab prison, urging that they are fully investigated and the reports made public;

• Reminding the Egyptian authorities of their obligations to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Articles 126, 127 and 139 of the Egyptian Criminal Code;

• Seeking assurances of Kareem Amer’s well-being, and calling for his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Egypt is a signatory;

Addresses:

His Excellency Mohammad Hosni Mubarak
President of the Republic of Egypt
Heliopolis
Egypt
Fax: 202 390 1998

His Excellency Cr Mamdouh Muheiddin Marei
Minister of Justice
Magles El Shaab St
Justice Bldg
Cairo
Egypt
Fax: 202 7958103

It may, however, be more effective to send your appeal via the Egyptian diplomatic representative in United Kingdom:

His Excellency Mr Gehad Refaat Madi
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
26 South Street
London
W1K 1DW

Click here to read the official posting.

This week on Listening Post: How the Egyptian government are keeping tabs on internet use, and punishing those who are accused of misusing it.

We have a special report on the case of imprisoned Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer. Jailed in 2006 for, apparently, “inciting hatred of Islam” and “insulting” President Hosni Mubarak, Kareem’s case has thrown into stark relief the power of the state to exert control over new media. And what effect is this case having on cyber dissidents still operating in Egypt?

Kareem was featured on the Listening Post three times in total, this being the third round of coverage:

In Newsbytes, we revisit the case of imprisoned Egyptian blogger, Kareem Amer and the new laws that the Mubarak government is employing to keep tabs on internet users. We report on Ingushetian journalist, Magomed Yevloyev, who was shot in the head whilst in Russian police custody. Finally, still in Russia, we see how prime minister and self-styled Action Man figure, Vladimir Putin, supposedly acted the hero when he shot a predatory Siberian tiger dead.