Human Rights Organizations Condemn the Ongoing Detention of Egyptian Blogger and the Violation of His Right to Freedom of Expression
Kareem Amer is detained for an additional 15 days

Cairo – 11 November 2006

The Public Prosecutor Office of Alexandria re-detained the Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer for additional 15 days on Wednesday 8 November. This is considered a violation of his right to hold opinions without interference, which is stipulated in the Egyptian constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Egypt is a state-party.

“The arbitrary accusations against Kareem Amer indicate the authorities’ inclination to detain Kareem simply for expressing views contradictory to theirs. The Public Prosecutor told Kareem that if he did not abandon his views, even though personal, he may be imprisoned,” the undersigned human rights organizations stated.

The case of Amer is eventually testing the extent of respect granted by the Egyptian government to the right to freedom of expression, the Egyptian Constitution, and other international covenants which that right.

Kareem Amer deserves encouragement and support for risking his freedom for the sake of upholding his right to believe in secularism. His insistence on his right to freedom of expression had previously resulted in his expulsion from Al-Azhar University. The right to freedom of thought and expression is a basic human right that should not be undermined. Article 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, states:

Article 18: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change religion or belief, the freedom to manifest religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching either alone or in community with others and in public or private.”

Article 19: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The undersigned human rights organizations call upon the Egyptian government to immediately release Kareem Amer, protect him against more harassment, and guarantee his right to freedom of expression.

Signatory Organizations:

From Egypt:

1. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
2. The Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement
3. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
4. Association for Human Rights Legal Aid
5. Habi Center for Environmental Rights
6. Al-Nadeem Center for Psychological Rehabilitation and Treatment of Victims of Violence
7. Hisham Mubark Law Center
8. Land Center for Human Rights
9. Shomuu Assocaition for Human Rights and People with Disabilities
10. Egyptian Center for Human Rights
11. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
12. The Civil Observatory of Human Rights
13. Al-Ganob Center for Human Rights

From Bahrain:

14. Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights

To read the Arabic origional Click HERE

Students for Global Democracy, a student activist group based in the US, has endorsed the campaign to free Kareem.

The Students for Global Democracy Condemns the Detention of Egyptian Blogger “Kareem Amer” and Sponsors HAMSA petition for his release

The Students for Global Democracy strongly denounces the arrest of Egyptian blogger Abdel Karim Suliman Amer, known as “Kareem Amer,” for expressing secular opinions on his blog. Kareem, a former student at Al-Azhar University, was illegally arrested in October 2005 by security forces due to opinions he expressed online regarding the sectarian violence in Alexandria that year. After his arrest and release, Al-Azhar University dismissed Kareem and filed a communiqué with the Office of the Public Prosecutor against Kareem. Despite the arguments of Kareem and a human rights lawyer from the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information who was representing him, the prosecutor decided to detain Kareem again on November 6 for four days, on a renewable basis, pending an investigation.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, states:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The Students for Global Democracy fully supports Kareem’s right to free speech, as we stand by all those brave enough to express their views, however controversial, in repressive societies.

We formally sponsor the petition drafted by the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA) to release Kareem, and we ask all of our readers to express their solidarity with Kareem by signing this important document.

We have been just notified that Elaph covered the story of Kareem’s detention. Read it:

اعتقال شاب مصري لانتقاده الازهر

وكانت مصر من بين الدول الجديدة المدرجة على القائمة الى جانب ميانمار وبيلاروسيا وايران وكوريا الشمالية. وقالت المنظمة ان “العديد من اصحاب المدونات تعرضوا للمضايقات والسجن هذا العام في مصر، ولذلك فقد تمت اضافتها الى قائمة العار التي تضم الدول التي تنتهك حرية التعبير على الانترنت بشكل منهجي”. واضافت ان “الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك، الذي يتولى السلطة منذ عام 1981، يظهر قدرا كبيرا من السلطوية المقلقة فيما يتعلق بالانترنت”.

To visit the website CLICK HERE

Reporters Without Borders has at last picked up Kareem’s case:

Blogger arrested for criticism of Islam

Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrest by Egyptian authorities of Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, also known as Kareem Amer, for posting articles critical of Islam on his blog and called for his immediate release.

Since his arrest on 6 November, he has been held and questioned at a detention centre in Alexandria, 200 kilometres north of Cairo.

“This arrest took place on very day we announced that Egypt was being added to the list of 13 ‘Enemies of the Internet’” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “It shows just how much the country deserves its place on this black list.”

“Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, takes a very authoritarian stance in relation to the Internet. The arrest of Kareem Amer is a serious press freedom violation,” Reporters Without Borders added.

Last week, the 22-year old blogger condemned the government’s religious and authoritarian excesses. He was expelled this year from the Islamic University of al-Azhar for the same reasons. He criticised his professors, saying that their authority would be ended and the Egyptian government would finish “in the dustbin of history”. University administrators then laid a complaint against the cyber-dissident, who is accused of “spreading rumours endangering public security” and “defamation of President Mubarak”.

Police arrested Kareem Amer for the first time, on 26 October 2005, for posting anti-religious articles on his blog and held him for 13 days.

To visit the website CLICK HERE

We have just been informed by Laila that Al-Qabas newspaper covered the story of Kareem’s detention. The following is the English translation of the original Arabic article:

Accused of Thinking and Expression
By: Laila Al-Sarraf

November 10, 2006

Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, the Egyptian blogger who is recently arrested by Egyptian authorities, is detained because he dared to think. On his blog, Abdel Kareem wrote with the purpose to liberate the human mind from superstitions and to open the way for logical thinking. This provoked the Egyptian authorities, represented by Moharam Bek Prosecutor Office in Alexandria, to arrest Abdel Kareem and charge him with the crime of expressing his views. He is still detained since Monday November 6.

When and where is the human right to live with dignity getting violated only because of expressing one’s views? When will we stop paying so much to gain our freedom? Kareem is one of the Arab youth who are suffering tyranny, repression, and arbitrary imprisonment for their call for freedom.