Kareem’s lawyers recently received a letter of complaint from Kareem who states that he is being physically tortured in prison. Details are exposed in a press release issued by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information today:

Cairo, November 12, 2007

The Arabic Network for Human Rights information and Hisham Mubarak Centre for Law sent a communiqué to the Egyptian Prosecutor-General, demanding to investigate into the issue of torturing Karim Amer in his prison. Karim who is an Egyptian blogger sentenced to prison for 4 years for ‘vilifying religions’ and defaming the president was tortured [and this abuse] was ordered and supervised by an investigation officer in Borg Alarab prison. Karim was also ordered into a solitary cell where he was assaulted again and had one of his teeth broken; this assault’s date came to mark one year since Karim was sent to jail.

Karim reported his being tortured in prison to his lawyers in the Arabic Network and Hisham Mubarak Center, the torture came at the hand of another prisoner and a prison guard, ordered by Midhat Samir one of the prison’s investigations officers. This came to pass after Karim has uncovered some corruption act in the prison. Karim was punished and tortured severely which resulted in several injuries in addition to a broken tooth. He was deprived from officially reporting the incident against the accused officer as well as denying him the right to document these injuries in a medical report. The Arabic Network for Human Rights information and Hisham Mubarak Centre for Law mentioned in their communiqué to the Prosecutor-General that the assault on Karim is manifested in the following:

* Being beaten inside ward Number 22 where he is imprisoned at the time of the assault, the battery was launched by another prisoner and a prison guard, in the presence of Officer Midhat Samir and under his supervision. Samir also gave the green light for the assault which resulted in a broken tooth “upper right canine tooth” along with a number of bruises and abrasions on various parts of the body.
* Transferring Karim to a disciplinary cell where he was handcuffed and had his feet strapped into shackles; he was beaten up again which caused him more injuries.
* Another inmate prisoner was brought over where they stripped him out of clothes and beat him severely in front of prisoner Kareem Soliman as they also threatened to inflict upon him the same punishment, if he didn’t mind his own business.

Both of the legal firms” the Arabic Network and Hisham Mubarak Centre for Law” called for an immediate investigation into Karim Amer’s complaint as according to articles 126,127 and 129 of the criminal code, it fits into the specifications of a torture crime in addition to that, those allegations had they been true, they would represent an infringement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and also to the UN anti-torture treaty and other treaties on maltreatment, harsh punishment, non- humanitarian or degradeful treatment which Egypt signed on and ratiefied.

It is to mention that Karim since he was imprisoned is subjected to a systemic discriminatory practice and maltreatment in Borg Alarb prison on the hands of the prison’s officers. He mentioned to his lawyer that the maltreatment was always coupled with this phrase “This is until you do change your mind”!! This represents a threat to his life and compounds the difficulty of the already harsh sentence. The two legal firms are calling for transferring him into another prison where he might receive a better humanitarian treatment and where his rights as a prisoner might be respected.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights information
Hisham Mubarak Centre for Law

The “No Torture in Egypt” campaign have also written about the incident here.

Local newspapers will be writing about this tomorrow, including the Daily Star Egypt. We will republish any of such articles here.

Please spread the word!

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Mutual friend who blogs at Wa7damasrya has just returned from visiting Kareem in prison. Her remarks are the following:

I have just returned from visiting Kareem. Again, I have to say that putting him there is a horrible injustice. I could no longer bare seeing him there with all those criminals.

Guards continue to shout and use wood sticks with prisoners as if they are not human beings. Kareem and his ilk are treated like animals. She says:

Every time I go there, I feel so disappointed that my country has gotten this corrupt. I was thinking about Susan Mubarak, or “Mama Susan” as I used to say as a child, I just wish that she could live that experience one day… to actually visit the prison, to see one of her own sons being abused and sentenced to prison simply because he wrote his thoughts.

Kareem is fine. He was on a strike after they put him in the same cell with criminals who were accused of actual crimes like violence or abuse. He told me they will put him back in the cell of political prisoners.

I let him talk as much as he wants because he needed that. We stayed longer than they allowed us to during my previous visit.

The good news is that Kareem has agreed upon receiving the money that we have collected so far for the past year of our campaign. He will be sent 500 LE each month. Feel free to contact our treasurer to know of the details.

Many thanks to Wa7damasrya whose help and courage we could not succeed without. Visiting political prisoners in Egypt is certainly not easy and for her to do that means that she’s a true woman of her word and a real friend, both to us and to Kareem.

Kareem’s latest letter from prison is still in the process of being translated and we’ll share it as soon as it’s ready.

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As a follow-up to our previous entry, we have just launched this video as a visual response to Mrs. Mubarak’s “peace” activities.

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The Earth Times report that up to 800 participants aged 18-25 gathered in a Sharm el-Sheikh resort to discuss peaceful means of communication within the troubled region.

Suzan Mubarak, Egypt’s first lady and core member/sponsor of the Women’s International Peace Movement, shares her insight with the young and diverse delegates:

“Peace is not a far-fetched idea. Youth is the most solid resource base,” Mubarak said in her opening speech. “Listening is a great start, but acting upon what you hear is more important.”

Unfortunately, acting upon what he heard is precisely what Kareem did, and he is facing prison time for it. We believe that with Kareem still in prison many youth writers, human rights activists, and even just mere students interested in free speech will take this message as a threat. Kareem is an example of a grand error which we hope to see corrected by the Egyptian government.

Hopefully Suzan Mubarak, who has done an excellent job preaching peace and tolerance, becomes more aware of Kareem’s imprisonment and perhaps tries to influence the authorities to free him which would give her words more practical strength. It’s indeed very important to act upon what one hears, but it’s quite dangerous for such youth activists to do that if fear and punishment is a risk, which is why it would make more sense for Egypt to correct the mistake of imprisoning Kareem which will be a positive example and reflection of Suzan Mubarak’s great words.

Read the full article here, which is very hopeful, but our friend Kareem is still in prison due to free speech and we wonder how quickly this can be addressed for the sake of real peace in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world.

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Alexandra Sandels reports:

A former student at Al-Azhar University, 22-year-old Amer was sentenced in January of this year to four years in prison for insulting Islam and President Mubarak on his internet blog. The case marks the first time Egypt sentences a blogger for ‘tarnishing’ online writings.

Correction of the article - Kareem was actually sentenced on the 22nd of February, after months of being in prison without fair trial, but moving on:

As co-chairs of the Congressional Task Force on International Religious Freedom (TIRF), Franks and Cleaver also stressed the need for the Egyptian authorities to investigate the alleged rise of Islamic extremism at Al-Azhar University and attacks on Coptic Christian communities in Egypt; topics Amer addressed on his blog.

Furthermore, following several security crackdowns on outspoken Egyptian bloggers in the past year, Franks and Cleaver urged Mubarak to protect freedom of expression for all Egyptian bloggers and “ensure Egypt’s vibrant blogging community continues to thrive without persecution.”

The alleged deteriorating press environment in Egypt has caught the attention of rights groups around the world.

It concludes:

Earlier this year, Franks spoke to the Egyptian Ambassador in Washington Nabil Fahmy, and urged him to “look into the case of Amer.”

Members of the US Congress also submitted a bipartisan letter to the ambassador in January, demanding the release of Amer.

On March 12, Amer lost his court appeal and began his prison term.

But his supporters still pin hopes on foreign governments and rights groups to take continued action in the case.

While his prison term started in late February, today marks Kareem’s 283rd day in prison, as his arrest took place on the 6th of November.

You can read Trent Franks’ press release here, which was published earlier this month.

If you are interested in a good way to spread awareness and to help us get the message across to Egypt, please consider being a part of our worldwide rallies. The next date will be Friday, November 9th, which will be 3 days after Kareem’s one year anniversary in prison.

Click here for info. Contact us if you are interested in getting involved. Kareem is depending on your help.

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The Southland Times reports, ‘Pupils join protest to support human rights’ -

Southland Girls’ High School pupil Charlotte Leask signing a gumboot to symbolise Amnesty International’s “Give Google the Boot” protest.

Girls’ High joined activists nationwide in a protest to defend human rights in cyberspace as part of this year’s Amnesty International Freedom Challenge.

Last year Google launched a self-censoring Chinese search engine, which affects Chinese users by restricting search results for topics such as human rights and political reform.

These restrictions go against the constitution of the People’s Republic of China, which guarantees freedom of expression, Amnesty International says.

The school’s challenge aims to free Chinese journalist Shi Tao and Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer who are in jail for simple internet activities.

Tao is serving a 10-year sentence for sending an e-mail containing information on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. While Amer, a student activist, is serving four years for writing a blog criticising his university and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Students raise funds, from The Timaru Herald -

Julia said the campaign was about shutting down repression and rebooting human rights. This year’s theme was internet repression and working to end the restriction of freedom of expression on the internet.
She said it was based on Kareem Amer, who was imprisoned for blogging his thoughts on the government and journalist Shi Tao, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2004 for posting information on the web instructing fellow journalists how to handle media coverage of Tiananmen Square.

Roncalli students fighting for freedom

All of these students did a great job in this wonderful opportunity to voice their concerns for innocent victims like Kareem and Shi Tao. We at the Free Kareem Coalition truly appreciate it and strongly encourage other students in the world to take their lead and support the battle for human rights and free speech.

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In a recent press release, Congressman Franks stated:

“I am very concerned about Kareem and the example Egypt is setting in the region by suppressing peaceful discussion of human rights concerns. It is time for President Mubarak to back up his stated support for democracy with action— by making the laws consistent with Egypt’s international human rights commitments, pardoning those who have been unjustly convicted, and ensuring that government officials and society respect these commitments.”

Kareem’s case is only one example of the deterioration in Egypt’s stated respect for human rights and religious freedom over the past year. Most recently, there have been serious concerns that Shaymaa al-Sayed, a Christian convert who was taken into custody by the Egyptian police, interrogated, and later released to her family – who beat her before driving her away – will be killed by them if the State does not intervene soon. In late May, five Koranists were arrested in Egypt. The letter addresses concerns related to several other religious groups, including the Baha’i, Jewish and Coptic Christian communities which have all experienced similar problems.

Read full press release here.

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From RSF:

Reporters Without Borders wrote to French President Nicolas Sarkozy today asking him to intercede on behalf of imprisoned blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman and imprisoned journalist Abd al-Munim Gamal al Din Abd al-Munim when he receives a visit from his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, on 2 August.

“When you met with President Mubarak in April, you said you wanted to pursue the ‘same relationship of friendship and trust’ that he had with your predecessor, Jacques Chirac,” the organisation said in its letter. “You called then for the ‘reinforcement of bilateral relations in all areas.’ This cooperation must be accompanied by new demands for the protection of human rights in Egypt. In particular, there is an urgent need to clearly and openly raise the problem of press freedom, as journalists are often arrested, threatened or attacked there.”

The letter added: “The promise which President Mubarak himself made in 2004 to decriminalise press offences has not been kept. Only defaming civil servants has been decriminalized. Thirty-five press offences continue to be punishable by imprisonment, including publishing inaccurate reports, defaming the president or foreign heads of state, and undermining ‘national institutions’ such as the parliament and the army. Egypt does not hesitate to censor journalists’ articles and websites, towards which President Mubarak displays a particularly disturbing authoritarianism.”

The Reporters Without Borders letter reminded President Sarkozy that Suleiman, better known by the pen name of “Kareem Amer,” was arrested on 6 November 2006 for articles posted on his blog (www.karam903.blogspot.com) in which he criticised Egypt’s leading religious institutions including the Sunni university of Al-Azhar, where he studied law. He was sentenced to three years in prison on 22 February for “inciting hatred of Islam” and insulting the president.

Click here to read full article.

We hope that Egypt will take these concerns very seriously and release our innocent friend Kareem.

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On today’s Al Masry Al Youm (Arabic), Dr. Ali Jum’a Mufti explains that God has given the freedom to all humans to alter their faith, and should they do that their fate awaits them with God on Judgment Day. Dr. Mufti uses certain verses within the Holy Quran to support this argument, “whoever wants to believe shall believe and whoever wants to disbelieve may do so,” as well as “you have your religion and we have ours,” and finally “there’s no hatred in religion.”

Dr. Mufti adds that if a person merely rejects Islam, there is no punishment against that and it should be left in the hands of God. It may only involve the judicial body should that person be actually harmful, an argument not in favor of Egypt’s ruling against Kareem Amer. What Kareem went through is a personal struggle between Him and God, and he is free to believe and express whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t preach violence, which Kareem is also innocent of.

Why, then, did Kareem get sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting” Islam, if the Koran specifically notes that he is free to do so and only God reserves the right and power to punish such person for sinning? Why does the Egyptian government take upon the role of God in this case, punishing whoever it wishes in the name of Islam? We at the Free Kareem Coalition respectfully demand a valid justification on the basis of Kareem’s sentence. Where in the Quran is this action supported? More importantly, where are the rest of the Muslim voices to condemn this grave misrepresentation and injustice?

We are Muslims. Our faith teaches us to live and let live. We are not afraid of criticism as it is normal nor should we allow our governments to play the role of God and make decisions that they don’t have the right to do. Our opinions are our own and we are free to express them, should they be against Islam then the decision is up to God to do as He wishes. The role of the government is to protect us, not imprison those they ideologically disagree with.

We kindly ask the Egyptian government to respect our individual freedoms, if not in the name of humanity, then at the very least in the name of Islam!

Read the article in Arabic here.

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Dear readers,

In a few months, on the 6th of November, it will be Kareem’s 1 year anniversary in prison. Can you believe it? One entire year in prison so far merely for speaking his mind! Sharing a dreadful place with actual criminals, because he was brave enough to express his opinions…. on a personal blog!

It’s time for the world to move, and it’s time for us to show Egypt that we have NOT forgotten about Kareem. The less action people take, the more likely similar incidents will happen. We have to oppose this and we have to do it together, as strongly as possible. We must unite to support Kareem regardless of our backgrounds, religious differences, nationalities, or whatever else that usually keeps us apart… we must unite for human rights and free speech, regardless of whether or not we personally agreed with Kareem’s political and religious statements.

We have decided to mark Kareem’s one year anniversary with another (and more powerful!) Free Kareem worldwide rally… we are aiming for at least 20 cities, where people will gather in front of their local Egyptian Embassy with signs and statements to free the innocent blogger.

Due to the fact that the 6th of November will be on a Tuesday, where many people might have work or classes, we think it’s best to move the rally date to Friday, the 9th of November.

We are looking for as much help as we can get to make this possible, so please help us by contacting us using the below info (or via our contact form) and let us know if you are willing to organize one. Please consider doing so! All we ask is that you gather with a few people in front of the embassy to make your voices heard, knowing that many people around the world are also dedicating their time towards this noble and vital cause.

Contact info:

Please provide:

Name
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Your requirements (flier information, banner advice, directions, etc)

Thank you, we are trying our best to make this as successful and effective as possible, so please contact us now for collaboration, suggestions and ideas! And more importantly…

SPREAD THE WORD!

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