Joshua Curry recently wrote this article, where he incorrectly noted:
Iran arrested Kareem Amer for a sophomoric rant against his university and gave him a four-year prison sentence. His lawyers say since then, his teeth have been smashed and he’s beaten regularly.
Iran has nothing to do with Kareem’s case. The government responsible is Egypt’s.
In our previous post, we wrote that the most recent “The World” podcast will feature a discussion about the “Flood the Jail with Mail” campaign which is co-organized by the wonderful and hard working Committee to Protect Bloggers (CPB) This podcast features the director of the Free Kareem Coalition (myself), Curt from CPB, and Elijah Zarwan, a Cairo-based human rights researcher.
You can now listen to the short 4 minute talk here. [MP3]
BBC’s “The World” is going to feature a new podcast concerning the upcoming 2-week long letter campaign for Kareem, detailed by Curt from the Committee to Protect Bloggers here.
Curt and I (Esra’a) will be discussing the Flood the Jail with Mail campaign [click here for info] which goes live on Monday, April 7th. We encourage everyone to get involved!
Visit the website and make sure you listen to Friday’s show to learn more about the campaign and Kareem’s situation in general.
We are happy to announce the launch of a joint mail campaign in support of Kareem together with the Committee to Protect Bloggers.
From April 7 through April 21, both organizations are encouraging their readers to go analogue and write Kareem a letter or postcard.
There are several reasons for another analogue campaign:
First, we’ve organized demonstrations and public outreach events all over the world but nothing that targets Kareem directly. It is time for a campaign that focuses on him in personal way! He really enjoys letters and they make a difference to him, as he has stated before. Second, a sufficient amount of such mail will remind Egyptian authorities that Kareem, bloggers in general and prisoners of conscience over all, are not alone. Remember, when Kareem was being tortured several months ago, the focus of international media was instrumental in stopping it. And finally, this campaign means an opportunity for us to really do something directly for Kareem.
We have asked you to write to Kareem before, and by all means continue it! But now we are especially asking you to send him at least one letter between April 7 and April 21. During this period, let’s “flood the jail with mail”!
Below you find the address in English, followed by a picture of it in Arabic. It goes without saying that both versions (if you are writing from a non-Arabic country) must be on the mail to assure that it gets delivered.
Alexandria
Borg Al-Arab Prison
Room 1 Section 22
Prisoner Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman
The Arab Republic of EgyptKareem’s address in Arabic (mandatory to be included on the envelope)
Please also have a look at Alexandra Sandels’ article about this campaign at Menassat, which includes statements by Esra’a and Wa7damasrya as well as some background information.
If you need more information about the “Flood the Jail with Mail” campaign, please feel free to contact us.
The heart of the desert, the prison of Borg el Arab where Kareem is imprisoned.
Shahinaz, an Egyptian blogger, Rawda, Kareem’s lawyer, and Doa’a Sultan, a journalist, drove all the way from Cairo to Borg el Arab prison in order to visit Kareem and see how he’s doing. The prison is situated in a cruel, dirty, and isolated location.
Shahinaz tells us that Kareem is doing good and was very glad to see them all. They spent most of the time encouraging him, and mentioned the latest worldwide rallies which he was very happy to hear about. He thanks everyone who was involved. Likely due to the international outrage which took place the last time we were aware of his torture, Kareem is no longer being physically abused in prison.
Kareem has been receiving several letters from abroad which really help keep him in good spirits. The Free Kareem Coalition is considering launching another letter campaign, calling for people across the world to send letters to Kareem and making sure he’s not alone.
If you would like to write to him, you may use this address:
Abdel Kareem Nabil Suliman
Borg el Arab prison
Section 22, Room 1
Alexandria Egypt
You can also FedEx small packages or books to this address.
Kareem will also be featured in a local newspaper. He has spent some time writing down his thoughts and this will hopefully be translated as soon as possible by the coalition. When Doa’a asked him about his torture in November, he had a very hard time dealing with the memory. “We could see how much this cruelty traumatized him,” says Shahinaz.
The three young women spent the full day to visit Kareem. They left Cairo at 7am and came back that same night at 7pm. We thank them all greatly for having the courage and for taking the time to visit Kareem in prison, which surely meant a lot to him.
‘We need to keep Kareem in our thoughts’:
On the first anniversary of his imprisonment, the ‘Free Kareem’ campaign launched another worldwide campaign today to draw attention to jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer.
By ALEXANDRA SANDELS
BEIRUT/CAIRO, Feb. 22, 2008 (MENASSAT) – It was on February 22 last year that Egypt sentenced its first cyber dissident to prison. Kareem Amer, a then 21-year old former law student at the Islamic Al-Azhar University had published writings on his blog karam903.blogspot.com that posed strong criticism to his Alma Mater and the regime of president Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian authorities decided it was time to pull the plug on the cyber-dissident. An Alexandria court sentenced Amer to four years in prison for “defaming Islam and President Mubarak.”
The blogger is currently spending his days at Burj al-Arab prison outside Alexandria, “a notorious institution for criminals,” as one activist describes the facility.
Over the past year, international rights groups as well as foreign politicians and policy makers have urged the Egyptian authorities to release Amer.
Egyptian foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit offered in response that he rejects interference, “by whoever it may be,” in Egypt’s affairs.
In commemoration of Friday’s one-year anniversary of Amer’s sentencing, the online campaign ‘Free Kareem’ held a global ‘Kareem Day’ in an effort to spur awareness of the case and make ‘people not forget’ about the imprisoned blogger.
Activists planned rallies outside the Egyptian embassies in Washington DC, Paris, and London and the campaign organizers urged writers to submit opinion articles on Amer’s case in newspapers and student publications.
It is not the first time the group puts on advocacy events for Amer. Last year, they managed to organize simultaneous protests in ten world capitals, including Paris, New York, Stockholm, and London.
This year, however, the team has shifted its strategy somewhat to increase its impact.
“We want to make this day as effective as possible and therefore we have changed our strategy from last year. Instead of holding worldwide rallies we have chosen three strategic cities for the demonstrations. We are also targeting the media and hope to enforce our message through the newspapers’ opinion pages,” Esra’a Al-Shafei, Director of the Free Kareem Coalition said in an interview with MENASSAT.
Al-Shafei emphasized that it is particularly important for the group to target the U.S. media and institutions because of “America’s strategic influence on Egypt.”
“Billions of dollars are being sent to Egypt from the U.S. We want to pressure the Egyptian authorities to understand that keeping Kareem in prison is harming their image,” continued Al-Shafei. “I believe the Egyptian government is aware it is being pressured on the matter”.
The physical and psychological condition of Amer himself remains a constant worry to the activists.
El-Shafei expressed concerns about Kareem’s state saying that it was “a while ago” since she heard from him.
“I’ve heard he is doing better. We are sending him letters but we don’t know if he is receiving them. For every three letters we send him we usually get one back ,” said Al-Shafei.
Egyptian blogger Wa7damasreya (Egyptian girl) stays in regular touch with Amer and is one of the few who has been able to visit him in jail.
“I am very close to him. It’s very hard to visit him in prison. I think I’ve gone three times now. You have to be there very early and they make you wait for a long time,” she told MENASSAT in a phone interview.
The last time Wa7damasreya visited Amer in prison she waited six hours and was able to meet with him for less than fifteen minutes.
She also said it has been a while since she last heard from Amer.
“I received a letter from Kareem on February 6 but it was sent to my house in Alexandria instead of Cairo where I live, so I haven’t been able to read it yet. It’s a risk for my family. They don’t like that I am receiving letters from prisoners,” Wa7damasreya said.
Life in prison is very hard for Amer but Wa7damasreya points out that the blogger always brightens up when he receives visits.
During her visits, Wa7damasreya always brings Amer books as she knows he is an avid reader.
“Kareem loves books. I always try to bring a book with me when I go to see him. Last time I brought him a book by Naguib Mahfouz”.
However, the blogger said that Burj al-Arab is filled with crooks and criminals. “Kareem is surrounded by criminals. The guards are hitting the prisoners with batons,” she said.
Amer himself recently claimed in a letter to his lawyers than he had been subjected to abuse by another inmate and a guard inside the prison.
His lawyers from the Cairo-based NGO Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) said that Amer was beaten and then transferred to solitary confinement where he was shackled and assaulted. One of his teeth was allegedly broken during the abuse.
The organization has previously stated that the incident was ordered by a prison investigation officer.
Amer’s legal advisers have raised the case with the General Prosecutor but there have been no reports on an investigation into the matter.
When asked how the public can help Amer, Wa7damasreya told MENASSAT that “sending him letters and books” is always a good idea.
El-Shafei restated the importance for people “not to forget about Kareem” and “to keep him in your thoughts.”
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.
Below is a picture of the very successfull rally that took place for Kareem in New York on Friday, the 22nd of February. Thanks to everyone who made it! Excellent big banners were created for this event.
Curt from the Committee to Protect Bloggers has made an appearance in The World’s latest technology podcast, and mentions Kareem’s case:
Latest press release from RSF concerning Kareem:
Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the way the authorities behave towards bloggers and it reiterates its call for the release of Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, a blogger also known by the pseudonym of Kareem Amer, who was sentenced on 22 February 2007 to four years in prison – three for “inciting hatred of Islam” and one for defaming President Hosni Mubarak.
“Kareem Amer should not have been obliged to become the symbol of repression of the Egyptian blogosphere,” the press freedom organisation said. “He should have been able to continue blogging on the situation in Egypt. He was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison for an entry posted on his blog. We call for his release and we appeal to Internet users to ensure that the straggle of Egypt’s bloggers is heard.”
Kareem Amer has been mistreated at Borg El Arab prison, 40 km outside Alexandria, where he is serving his sentence. In letters to his lawyers he has spoken of being “shut in an isolation cell for 10 days” and of “physical torture hushed up by the prison doctor, who has altered my medical record.”
Arrested for the first time in October 2005 for posting anti-religious comments on his blog (www.karam903.blogspot.com), he spent 18 days in detention and his computer hard drive was seized, but he was not charged.
He was arrested again in late 2006 and was tried four months later by Alexandria’s Moharram Bek court. At the second hearing, on 1 February 2007, he was accused of apostasy by Mohamed Dawoud, a lawyer appearing in an independent capacity, who called for the “maximum sentence for him who has insulted, God, His Prophet and the Koran.”
Before his second arrest, Kareem Amer often contributed to discussion forums on websites such as www.rezgar.com. His goal, after finishing his studies, was to create a human rights NGO, one that defended Muslim women against all forms of discrimination and violence. He was awarded the Reporters Without Borders / Fondation de France prize in the Internet category on 5 December 2007.
Reporters Without Borders wrote to the Egyptian justice minister on 22 January 2007 asking him to intercede on behalf of Kareem Amer. The organisation also urged the United Nations not to let Egypt host next year’s Internet Governance Forum. No answer was ever received to the letter and the forum is to go ahead in Egypt.
Sign the RSF petition to call for his release.
