As President Bush prepares to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak this weekend, U.S. Reps. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sent a letter with 13 of their colleagues to President Bush urging him to call for the release of Kareem.

Kirk, Frank to President Bush: Pressure Egyptian Government to Release First Imprisoned Arab Blogger

Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman imprisoned for condemning Islamic extremism and defending women and minorities

First blogger in Egypt convicted for peaceful Internet expression

WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), along with 13 other Republicans and Democrats sent a letter to President Bush today urging him to press Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to release human rights activist and blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman. Soliman was convicted for condemning Islamic extremism for its poor treatment of women and minorities on his blog. The case has attracted strong international attention and the personal interest of the President.

“Over the past year, the human rights of Egyptians have deteriorated, specifically with regard to freedom of expression,” said Congressman Kirk, a member of the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. “Hundreds of prisoners of conscience are sitting in Egyptian prisons, but perhaps the most troubling case is that of young human rights activist and blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman. His only crime was speaking out against extremists who seek to persecute women and minorities. For that, the Egyptian government sentenced him to rot in prison for four years. We have a unique opportunity to right this injustice – President Bush should call on Egyptian President Mubarak to release Soliman and reestablish the freedom of expression that every person, regardless of location, deserves.”

Mr. Soliman is known more commonly by his Internet pen name “Kareem Amer.” In March 2006, he was expelled from his religious university for comments posted on his blog denouncing the university’s discriminatory teachings and practices. “I call on Egyptian government officials to take the necessary procedures to protect the Egyptian youth from the spread of subversive religious ideologies among them by permanently shutting down religious institutions in this country,” Soliman wrote. “Shutting them down will stop the prevalence of the tone of hatred and sectarian enmity, heated by what [religious university] students study from things that incite [the] hatred and scorn of non-Muslims.” Soliman was later arrested by the government and convicted of “contempt of religion” and “defaming the President of Egypt.” On February 22, 2007, he was sentenced to four years in jail.

“It is inevitable that the Internet will grow, and so too must the freedoms that founded it,” the lawmakers wrote. “We therefore request that you press President Mubarak to commute the sentence of or grant amnesty to Mr. Soliman as a way to show that Egypt is a force for moderation on the Internet, our new global village. By accepting broad liberties within this vast new medium, Egypt can demonstrate its role as a pioneer in showing tolerance to different and new ideas.”

Egyptian prisoners are occasionally released by the President in honor of various national holidays, including the recent release of 861 prisoners to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. July 23, Revolution Day, is Egypt’s next national holiday.

Bush will meet with Mubarak on Saturday. The bipartisan Kirk-Frank letter is below.

________________________________________

Dear Mr. President:

As Members of Congress concerned about freedom of speech in Egypt, we are writing in advance of your visit with President Mubarak to respectfully request that you strongly urge him to release human rights advocate and blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman.

Egypt and the United States are allies in the fight against extremism in the Arab world. A new part of this effort is the establishment of Internet rights, such as blogging. The right to peaceful, free expression through newspapers or now the Web will have an enormous impact on the reputations of nascent democracies, especially for the new generation under forty that now seems to live on the Internet.

Mr. Soliman, known more commonly by his Internet pen name Kareem Amer, was convicted for statements made on his personal web blog condemning Islamic extremism for its poor treatment of women and minorities. On February 22, 2007, he was sentenced to a total of four years in prison. While we recognize his comments were offensive to many Egyptians and Muslims around the world, this sentence sets a troubling precedent. Mr. Soliman is the first blogger in the Arab world to be convicted for the expression of personal views.

We recognize that Egyptian law is sensitive to all denigration of religion and protects Islam, Christianity and Judaism from any religious defamation. However, Egypt must honor these laws under its commitment to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These solemn international agreements state that “everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference” and “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression.” Such rights include “the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”

It is inevitable that the Internet will grow, and so too must the freedoms that founded it. To continue on the path of modernization, development and reform, it is critical that Egypt expand the scope of acceptable Internet dialogue such that expressing views on religious extremism does not constitute a violation of law.

The Egyptian judiciary has on occasion commuted the sentence of political prisoners. Journalist Howayda Taha Matwali was convicted of making or possessing pictures likely to harm the country’s reputation in January, 2007, but the Court vacated her prison sentence just this past February.

The Egyptian Constitution also affords the President the right to grant amnesty or commute a sentence. President Mubarak has exercised this right on a number of occasions, including the release of 861 prisoners to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Revolution Day, July 23, would seem the perfect opportunity to commute Mr. Soliman’s sentence to time served, seventeen months.

We therefore request that you press President Mubarak to commute the sentence of or grant amnesty to Mr. Soliman as a way to show that Egypt is a force for moderation on the Internet, our new global village. By accepting broad liberties within this vast new medium, Egypt can demonstrate its role as a pioneer in showing tolerance to different and new ideas.

Thank you for your attention to this precedent-setting case. We look forward to working with you on this and other human rights abuses around the world.

Sincerely,
Mark Steven Kirk, Member of Congress
Barney Frank, Member of Congress
Frank R. Wolf, Member of Congress
William D. Delahunt, Member of Congress
Christopher H. Smith, Member of Congress
Al Green, Member of Congress
Ted Poe, Member of Congress
Bob Inglis, Member of Congress
Robert B. Aderholt, Member of Congress
Shelley Berkley, Member of Congress
Trent Franks, Member of Congress
Thaddeus McCotter, Member of Congress
Howard Berman, Member of Congress
John Conyers, Jr., Member of Congress
Joe Courtney, Member of Congress

Tomorrow, Mubarak celebrates his 80th birthday. We hope that he wakes up to the realization that, while he may be celebrating, thousands of innocent prisoners, including our friend Kareem Amer, are unjustly suffering in jail. This is a grave mistake by the Mubarak regime – please, free Kareem and his ilk. Frankly we are not asking for much! And we have been requesting this consistently for the past 544 days! Kareem did nothing wrong and he should be released unconditionally as soon as possible.

Below are some photos of the rally that took place in Washington DC in defense of Kareem on the 22nd of February. This is the fourth rally to take place for Kareem in Washington!

Big thanks to Jonathan Blanks for the photos and for making much of this possible! And thanks to everyone who made it through despite the uncooperative weather.

Kareem’s case has been featured in an op-ed article written by supportive students of the London School of Economics. Below is a sample of the page:

[Click photo for larger image]

Alexandra Sandels, a Cairo-based Swedish journalist, writes about the growing lack of press freedom in Egypt for Menassat:

Despite the freedom of expression boundaries being pushed by the independent press and the blogging community, 2007 witnessed an upsurge in clampdowns on the press and free speech in Egypt.

[...]

Egypt’s decision to sentence 23-year old blogger Kareem Amer to prison in February sparked a fury among the civil society and attracted much unwanted attention from international media. A critic of both the leading Islamic institution al-Azhar and the Egyptian government, Amer was sentenced to a four-year prison sentence for insulting Islam and President Mubarak on his blog. The case marks the first time Egypt refers a blogger to a prison term.

Amer’s lawyer Gamal Eid, who is also the director of the Cairo-based non-governmental organization, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), stressed that “Kareem crossed the line by criticizing Islam, the President, and the Al-Azhar institution.”

Abdel Hadi suggested that the regime might have sought to “protect its legitimacy” by sentencing Amer, thus “demonstrating that they are tough on those criticizing religion.”

When combined with public activism, blogging is a particularly dangerous activity, according to Eid. In April, security officials at Cairo airport arrested Brotherhood-affiliated journalist and blogger Abdel Moneim Mahmoud as he attempted to travel to Sudan to do reporting on human rights in the Arab world.

Read the full article here.

Bahraini activist Mohammed al-Maskati who leads the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights is a personal friend of this campaign’s organizers as well as Kareem Amer. He rallied for Kareem in December when he was first imprisoned without trial and helped make Kareem’s case known throughout the Arab world:

IFEX reports in a recent press release:

Mohammed al-Maskati is a young activist from Bahrain who has fought for human rights across the Arab world, from rallying for jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer to making local media outlets aware of human trafficking activities. Now he is facing serious legal issues that could end his career. Show your support by signing a petition and expressing your outrage through your own organisations, media contacts or blogs.

Al-Maskati, head of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, is currently on trial for running an unregistered NGO. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights and other groups are supporting his case. The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (APHRA) says it is just the latest example of the government using judicial measures to silence human rights activists.

APHRA is asking the Bahraini government to drop all charges brought against al-Maskati and to immediately release him. APHRA also invites authorities in Bahrain to revise their laws and regulations to be in accordance with the international conventions signed by Bahrain, including the international covenant on civil and political rights that guarantees the right to free association.

There is a petition for Mohammed here. Please sign it and spread the word.

We have written many times about Shahinaz, or “Wa7da Masrya”, an Egyptian blogger and human rights activist whose efforts are unmatchable.

Shahinaz has contributed greatly to the Free Kareem campaign, giving us reports on his trials and after his official sentence, she was mainly delivering to us letters that Kareem wrote to her. She also made a couple of visits to Kareem to see how he is and to assure him that the fight for his freedom will continue. You may read such posts here:

- Kareem’s trial today

- Fellow Egyptian blogger visits Kareem in prison

- Latest letter from Kareem in prison

- Visit to Kareem in prison

- Latest visit to Kareem in prison

Global Voices Online recently conducted an excellent podcast with Shahinaz, where Kareem’s case and her visits to Kareem were also mentioned. Please listen to it here:

Interview with Wahda Masrya – An Egyptian Girl

There’s also a recent interview with her in French here.

The Free Kareem Coalition is honored to work with Shahinaz, who helped us overcome some of the biggest challenges in the campaign and helped us build a stronger network of supportive individuals. Her support is noted and is much appreciated!

Following up on our previous article, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) just published a press release [Arabic] noting that blogger Hossam el-Hendy is freed.

Kareem, however, remains in prison and is undergoing torture. Please help by sending him a letter of support, and see our ‘what you can do’ page for more information on how you can help!

RSF notes in an urgent press release:

Journalists and bloggers arrested and censored

Reporters Without Borders today strongly condemned the arrest of journalist Hossam el-Hendy at Helwan University, south of Cairo, as “an attempt to intimate all bloggers in Egypt” after officials there reported him to police for taking photos and sending messages about a demonstration on his mobile phone.

El-Hendy, 22, who works for the daily paper Al-Dustour and the website Eshreen (www.20at.com), was covering a 28 November protest that erupted when a speaker at a university conference on information technology said it was important to regulate online activity in Egypt.

The press freedom organisation also deplored the suspension on 21 November of the YouTube account of journalist and blogger Wael Abbas, who had posted scenes of police brutality towards suspects, and of his Yahoo! E-mail account on 29 November.

“Abbas is seen by the country’s bloggers as a key figure who alerts Egyptians to acts of torture,” it said. “If some of his clips are too shocking, YouTube can ask him to remove them, but suspending his account is excessive.” Abbas has suggested a parallel event to the Cairo Film Festival that would award a “golden whip” to the video of the worst example of police torture.

Egypt is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “enemies of Internet freedom.” One blogger, Kareem Amer, 22, is in prison for posting material online and has become a symbol of repression towards the country’s bloggers.

Also relevant:
‘Golden Whip’ for best Egypt torture video

Kareem’s alarming case continues to be noted by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).

In their latest press release:

Egyptian bloggers, often at the forefront of exposing human rights abuses, are planning an online festival of torture videos to run alongside the 31st Cairo Film Festival, from 27 November to 7 December.

According to the “Middle East Times”, the parallel festival is the invention of a blogger named Walid, and will feature “controversial acts of torture allegedly committed by the security authorities.” Prizes, including a “Golden Whip”, will be awarded to the best entrants.

Egypt’s bloggers have exposed many incidents of police torture. In a rare case of security forces being sentenced for abusing detainees, two policemen got three years in jail for torturing a man in their custody earlier this month. Footage of the abuse filmed with a mobile phone was widely distributed on YouTube and sparked nationwide and international outrage.

But bloggers who are critical of the government can also find themselves as victims. Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer, who is serving a four-year jail term for insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak, has recently been tortured while in custody, reports the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo). Amer, the first blogger to stand trial in Egypt for his Internet postings, has three more years left in his sentence.

Link to original article.