Alexandra Sandels reports on further human rights violations in Egypt, noting that bloggers and activists unite for the sake of freedom of speech within the country:

CAIRO: Bloggers and activists belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood and the political opposition joined forces at a rally and conference on the defense of electronic press freedom in Egypt at the Press Syndicate in Downtown Cairo on Wednesday night.

Armed with banners, megaphones, and Egyptian flags chanting slogans like “we are forbidden to speak” and “where is our freedom?” activists staged a pre-event manifestation outside the Press Syndicate, denouncing alleged crackdowns on outspoken web activists by the authorities.

Kareem is also mentioned in the article:

In January this year, Alexandrian student blogger Kareem Amer was sentenced to four years in prison for defaming Islam and President Mubarak on his internet blog.

We would like to correct the above statement by reminding everyone that Kareem was actually sentenced officially on February 22 of this year. His case remains to be a powerful example of a grave attack against freedom of speech in Egypt.

Read the full article on the Daily Star here.

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Today Kareem turns 23. We made this video to help spread awareness and to also make people realize that Kareem really deserves all the help and support that he can get! Do join us in this struggle. Contact us to see what you can do.

To help lift his spirits up, we strongly encourage everyone to send supportive letters and birthday cards to the address posted here. Please and thank you!

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Diana Mukkaled writes a very interesting piece featured in this week’s Asharq Alawsat, one of the most widely read newspapers in the Middle East, expressing her admiration for the likes of Kareem who are brave enough to blog where they have no freedom to:

Despite various crackdowns on bloggers in which they were subjected to bans, physical assault, detention and a four-year sentence in the case of blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman bloggers can pride themselves in knowing that their efforts have begun to bear fruit. Still, the road up ahead is a long one that is full of challenging obstacles.

Let us closely examine the vast outlet that the Internet provides, and how that matter has become one that concerns and disturbs various governments and states, which did not stop at blocking websites and furthermore sentenced bloggers to long prison terms.

Read article in full.

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According to today’s Telegraph:

[Amnesty] cited research by an academic study group, the Open Net Initiative, that at least 25 national governments employed filtering technology for censorship.

They included Iran, Burma, and Saudi Arabia but also western-oriented democracies such as India and South Korea.

It also highlighted the fate of Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, a 22-year-old Egyptian blogger, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment in February.

You may read the full article here.

This wouldn’t be happening if we continue to stand up against this injustice and initiate campaigns such as this one directed to free victims of censorship.

Please visit this campaign as well, where we help our Chinese friends to free 4 unfortunate victims of China’s many crimes against free speech.

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In his article Walking off the Net, Martin Walker discusses internet censorship and the challenge the internet poses to our authorities. You may read the fascinating article here, where Walker also mentions Kareem, stating:

Governments target not only Web sites but also Internet cafes and individual bloggers like Egypt’s Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, who was imprisoned for four years in February for “insulting Islam” and defaming Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

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Dr. Abu Khoula writes on Elaph, a leading Arab liberal news Web site, an open letter to President Mubarak: A Call for President Mubarak to Free Abdul Kareem (In Arabic).

In his previous article on Kareem, Dr. Abu Khoula predicted that this case will tarnish the reputation of Al-Azhar University, as well as Egypt’s educational system and judicial branch. His letter goes on to explain how his predictions were correct due to the global outrage worldwide. For example, Amnesty International had set up a Web page to collect letters in support for Kareem, and UN Watch has brought up Kareem’s case several times. He bolsters his argument further by reminding President Mubarak that Kareem was awarded a 2007 Index on Censorship Award.

Furthermore, Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim assured the writer that the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies is determined to defend Kareem during the upcoming months, for his case is another case for freedom of opinion.

On such bases, Dr Abu Khoula hopes that the President of Egypt could pardon Kareem and end the injustice he is facing from Al-Azhar University.

(Correction: While Reporters Without Borders overwhelmingly supports Kareem, the article is incorrect to say that this Web site is set up by them. We are not affiliated with any organization.)

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And our recent video explains why not -

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We ask our readers and supporters now to please help us by creating short (and respectful) videos asking for Kareem’s release. Direct your message to president Mubarak. Please send us your videos through comments or by e-mail -

Here is one from Nasser, who recently joined our team as a PR director, to start with:

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The Free Kareem Coalition strongly objects to the election of Egypt to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on May 17, with 168 votes out of the 192-member General Assembly. The Human Rights Council was formed to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission last year, but the election of countries who themselves abuse human rights should give everyone serious concerns about the legitimacy of the council and its effectiveness to truly help those in need.

A coalition of human-rights groups opposed the election of Egypt, as well as Angola and Qatar (who won appointments) and Belarus (which lost). Before the vote, UN Watch appealed to the countries to release their political prisoners now, lest the watchdog group oppose their candidacies:

“Election to the Council is supposed to be based on the candidate’s ‘contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and [its] voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto,’ according to the Council’s founding document, General Assembly Resolution 60/251. Once it is a Council member, a country is supposed to ‘uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’ and ‘fully cooperate with the Council.’”

To elect a country that imprisons bloggers and others simply for exercising their fundamental right of free speech is wrong. However, actions such as the Human Rights Council vote also may embolden that country to continue its crackdowns, as now it has been given legitimacy on the human-rights front in an international forum. And as we know, Egypt was emboldened to begin with as they successfully prosecuted and imprisoned Kareem, then indicated further crackdowns were to come in the verdict’s wake.

Considering the number of votes that Egypt received for its appointment, we also express concern about how many member states are truly educated about the human-rights situation in the country and ask that U.N. members give the issue of Kareem and other political prisoners high priority in future votes.

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“I am a Muslim and I am proud of this. However, I will never agree with your shameful practices against my friend Kareem Amer. Clear?” - Dalia Ziada

Dalia Ziada is a human rights activist and translator based in Cairo. She has been one of the most supportive of Kareem’s friends during his difficult times.

Dalia has recently learnt that a poem she wrote in support of Kareem has caught the attention of Egypt’s State Security Service. Consequently, her blog is currently among the 50 Web sites Kareem Amer’s appeals judge wants to be banned from Internet users in Egypt. (Learn more about this from HRINFO).

Despite being a devout Muslim, Dalia is being accused of contempting religion because of her poetry. So far, it seems they are only interested in blocking her blog. However, if the claim is transferred to a criminal court, she may be handed a minimum sentence of three years. The judge is also trying to have her Tharwa_Egypt Web site down because of a published article she co-wrote in support of Kareem.

Quite frankly, this campaign would have progressed little were it not for her efforts. In fact, it was Dalia arranged for Kareem Amer to have a lawyer accompany him to the prosecutor’s office last year. It was Dalia who helped us get in touch with Kareem’s lawyers. It’s Dalia who publicly expressed support for Kareem several times (for example, here, here, and here), and she verified our translations of his writings for the world to read.

It is due to this poem that Kareem’s appeals judge is getting her into trouble - she did nothing libelous or defamatory and was simply trying to assuage a friend while he was in prison.

Dalia: If something happens to you, the entire world is going to rebel against it, and we are willing to do everything in our power to ensure this fact. Our main mission would be to help you and Kareem.

Because Kareem was jailed without the authorities facing any consequences, they clearly feel they have the power to now silence more people they disagree with. This is why we need Kareem freed. He is a symbol for our liberty. As the saying goes, the only way evil will prevail is if good people do nothing. If the world remains silent, it will cost us dearly. Our silence would be a peaceful consent to the Egyptian government’s actions.

If you wish to express support for Dalia, please leave a comment on her blog. Let’s show the judge that we’re not going to allow anything to happen to our friend!

For further information on why Dalia is supporting Kareem, read an interview we conducted with her here.

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