IUF Berlin, who also organized our previous rally in Germany [video], assisted us once again with this important rally for Kareem. Here is a video:
And a picture:
We sincerely thank everyone at IUF for making this possible! We are incredibly grateful for their constant support.
A great friend in San Francisco got involved within a day of hearing this news and managed to put something together in the very last minute for Kareem’s sake and the general cause of freedom of speech. She made great posters and stood in front of the Egyptian Consulate in San Francisco, California. We are extremely appreciative of her support! Here are some pictures:
A note from Peter Eyre, the rally’s organizer:
The rally in DC was a success. There were 18 freedom fighters who showed up to help spread the word about Kareem and vocalize their opposition to government-imposed censorship. Foot traffic in the area was moderate, and we handed out around 350 flyers.
I had a short conversation with an employee at the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau (where the Free Kareem rally has been held the past three times as well, as the Egyptian Embassy is a bit off the beaten path). I wanted to communicate why were had gathered outside their property. He was surprisingly pleasant and in agreeable about Kareem’s right to free speech because, as he put it, he is a “human being” (he noted that he had himself moved to the U.S. to more fully enjoy his rights). I asked him to tell his colleagues and those he works for that we don’t support Egypt’s policy on this issue.
My colleague Drew got some footage from which the attached stills were pulled. I hope to put together a video on Kareem and the larger issue of free speech, similar to what we did for the DC gun ban case and the larger case for freedom in Heller Yeah!
(Click on each image for a larger picture.)
Members of Jong VLD, LVSV, Jeunes MR and FEL joined up to protest before the Egyptian embassy. According to the organizer, Philippe De Backer, their action made the national newspapers websites. The rally was a great succes with over 40 participants during the 2-hour protest!
Here is a news article covering the event in Dutch.
Latest press release from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) concerning Kareem’s completion of his 2nd year in prison:
Reporters Without Borders today renewed its call for the release of Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer, aged 24, sentenced in 2006 to three years in prison for “insulting Islam” and one year for “insulting the president”, who will have served half his sentence on 6 November 2008.
“Two years have gone by and nothing has changed. His family have never come to visit him. Only his lawyer reports to the outside world, about his morale, which weakens day after day, and his fragile state of health. His parents, probably as a result of intimidation, have even publicly disowned their son and called for him to be sentenced to death. Wardens have prevented him from leaving his cell since 1st September. Two years, that’s enough. It is time to free him”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
Kareem Amer was arrested on 6 November 2006 because of articles he posted on his blog (www.karam903.blogspot.com) criticising the authoritarian abuses of President Hosni Mubarak, and the administration of the Sunnite al-Azhar University where he was studying law. On his website he challenged the university’s practice of separating the sexes and he revealed pressure brought to bear on some clerics to support President Mubarak.
“One year has gone past and I am still deprived of my freedom. The pain of the experience has taught me that no feeling is as bad as that of injustice”, he wrote from his cell on September 2007. “Enemies of freedom, symbols of oppression [...], know that your days are already clouding over. The dawn of future generations is coming. Tomorrow belongs to us”, he ended.
Egyptians alone represent almost 30% of the region’s bloggers. Most of them are human rights activists, victims of ever harsher methods of dissuasion. Egypt figures prominently on Reporters Without Borders’ list of “Internet Enemies”. Since this summer, bloggers wanting WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) network access have to provide their email address and their mobile phone numbers before getting access to the World Wide Web. These are vital bits of information for advertisers, spammers … and security agencies.
We encourage all our supporters in London to participate in the Free Kareem rally there!
An entry about this rally has been posted by Andrew Gimber, the rally’s organizer, at the Oxford Libertarian Society blog. If you have any questions concerning this rally please contact him: andrew[dot]gimber[at]balliol[dot]ac[dot]uk, or simply use our contact form.
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 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 1998His Excellency Cr Mamdouh Muheiddin Marei
Minister of Justice
Magles El Shaab St
Justice Bldg
Cairo
Egypt
Fax: 202 7958103It 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?
Alaa Al Aswany is an up and coming Egyptian author, who, in an article detailing his writing career, mentions Kareem briefly as to why young bloggers are at risk in Egypt:
Al Aswany concedes that his success may have given him greater freedom as a writer. “A young blogger could be arrested easily.” He cites Kareem Amer, serving four years in jail for a blog deemed insulting to religion and the president, and his own friend Ibrahim Issa, editor-in-chief of the oppositional daily Al-Dustour, who is facing a six-month prison sentence for speculating on the health of the elderly president. “It’s a pretext – they wanted him in prison by any means.”
Read the full article from The Guardian here.
