On Monday, April 21, was the official deadline for our letter campaign “Flood the Jail with Mail“. So far, we had about 60 confirmed letters from around the world, but we are assured that it’s not over - some people are getting ready to hold small events where they collect letters for Kareem, so they can send them all together in a big envelope. Our aim is to collect at least 30 letters per event.

People have sent Kareem letters, postcards, pictures, books, etc. We are hoping that he will write back confirming to us that he received all these letters, or at least most of them. But even if the campaign is over now you can continue writing to Kareem. He is always happy to receive letters from his friends and supporters.

We also have in mind to create another campaign of this sort during the end of the summer in August, and in between, we’d have other kinds of campaigns to keep people aware of Kareem. If anyone wants to help out, they should contact editor@freekareem.org and we’d be happy to accept any suggestions or help.

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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]

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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.

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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 Egypt

Kareem’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.

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Photographer’s caption:

Shahinaz encouraged everyone in the group to write letter to Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman, the blogger who was jailed last year for insulting Islam and President Mubarak, and facilitated matters by providing stamped envelopes.

Please follow this lead and write a letter to Kareem this week.

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Mutual friend Shahinaz received a letter from Kareem, noting:

I just got a letter from Kareem Amer, the envelope was already open, of course they read every single word Kareem is writing but anyway his letter reached me which is the important thing.

Kareem is fine AlhamedLallah (thank God) , I want to thank all the people who sent him letters in his prison supporting him, Kareem said that he got about 6 letters from all over the world.

So keep doing a good job and support him. Kareem says a special hi to all the bloggers and supporters.

We would like thank everyone who took the time to send him letters. You really helped to keep Kareem hopeful and in high spirits.

If you didn’t send Kareem a letter yet, please do so! It’s really making him hang in there during such a difficult time. His prison address may be found here.

Previous letters from Kareem may be found here.

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From the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance: [For Arabic readers, click here]

Congress Investigates Plight of Jailed Egyptian Blogger

When Kareem Amer was detained by Egyptian police last November, the 22-year-old student could not have imagined his case would become an international incident. But now Congress is on the case.

The prosecutors interrogating Kareem demanded he recant opinions expressed on his blog. Kareem refused; he was placed in solitary confinement; and a judge sentenced him to four years in prison for “insulting religions” and “defaming Egypt’s president.”

At a recent Congressional hearing in Washington, HAMSA Outreach Director Nasser Weddady, testified about Kareem’s case and threats to other Egyptian bloggers.

“Blogging is the new frontier for free expression – and government repression,” said Weddady. “The uncensored space of blogs enables young Egyptians of diverse backgrounds to publish their thoughts for a global audience. But there has been a dramatic rise in harassment of bloggers, some of whom are now closing their blogs.”

Nonetheless, bloggers from around the world have united behind the “Free Kareem” Campaign. “Over 8,000 people have signed petitions calling for Kareem’s release,” Weddady noted. “The campaign organized rallies outside 12 Egyptian embassies around the world and generated international media coverage of Kareem’s case.”

Basic rights like free expression are not guaranteed, Weddady explained, but rather only given by authorities when citizens submit. Kareem was jailed simply because Egyptian officials felt his opinions crossed a red line.

Weddady asked Congress to intercede with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “The mistake made by one judge can be corrected by President Mubarak,” noted Weddady. “Surely the president of Egypt is not bothered by the blog of a random student.”

More updates on Kareem’s case coming soon.

Read rest of the newsletter here. Also linked within the newsletter is our letter campaign.

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For the Arabic readers and bloggers, here is a translation of our letter campaign:

(You may also download the document in word.)

Kareem’s latest letter from prison was published a few days ago in Arabic here, and now Dalia Ziada provides an English translation for the international readers:

“I am concerned that others may stop expressing themselves through blogging in fear of facing the same destiny of mine. I want to clarify that my situation is so special. I was writing with my real name. I refused the idea of hiding my real identity with a pseudonym and preferred to be frank with my self in everything whatever the consequences are. I have some reasons for this; the most important is that we cannot change our society according to our beliefs while covered and frightened.

Criminals, holders of retarded thoughts, and extremists are not ashamed or afraid of talking openly about their ideas. They do not hide behind masks. It is better for us then not to panic and speak plainly, even if guns are pointed to our heads. Others do not hesitate to commit suicide and bomb themselves in favor of their beliefs… Not everyone is committed to agree with my point of view. When people use nicknames, no one will pursuit them because they are too stupid to use information technology. If I did not confess that I am the writer of the articles that put me to trial, they could not do any thing for me. Furthermore, I was a student of Al-Azhar University, which motivated the whole case against me. Not all those who write belong to Al-Azhar like me. There are some more reasons that I do not need to mention now. I do not want to be a reason for people to be afraid of facing the same fate. Certainly, other writers did not face the same fate although they provide writings that are more daring than mine are.”

Please consider joining our letter campaign for Kareem so you can help by interacting with him!

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We’d like to announce a new letter campaign for Kareem where supporters will be given the opportunity to directly connect with him. Some of you already have, and have received appreciative responses from Kareem, which is great! But now it’s time for us to make sure that Kareem stays in people’s minds. His most recent letter proved that he is in need of interaction, especially with his worldwide supporters. You are very important to him, and you are the only ones who can truly help him, so you need to take this chance and make an even bigger difference in his life. Get to know him better, and have him know who is behind all this support!

Here is how the campaign will work:

On the 15th of each month, we will all be uniting worldwide in writing supportive letters for Kareem. You will be able to do this in two ways:

- For those with time restrictions, simply contact us with your full name, message to Kareem, and address. We’ll mail it for you. Be sure that the message is long enough for us to mail - ideally it would be no less than 5-7 sentences.

- Send a letter yourself to Kareem using this address.

The latter option increases the chances of Kareem responding to you personally. We leave the decision up to you.

You may ask yourself, “why should I bother doing this?” This is so Kareem feels safe, cared for and loved. He is, after all, an innocent young man whose only crime is bravery and free speech. He deserves and needs our support. Take a few minutes, write a letter, it doesn’t have to be lengthy! Just a supportive pat in the back to encourage him to stay strong.

To help us spread the word about this letter campaign to Kareem, please make a post and announce it on the 15th of each month, starting on this coming 15th of July. Include a copy of your own letter to Kareem for others to see, hopefully your readers will be inspired enough to do the same.

Copy/paste the code here to add this to your blog!

General FAQ about letters:

Q: What language shall I write in?
A: English and Arabic. Kareem understands and writes in both, his English is not fluent but easily understood.

Q: I sent Kareem a letter and he didn’t reply, why not?
A: We can never be sure whether or not Kareem receives some of the letters. Sometimes he confirms it by sending a letter back, other times he can’t send his reply. It’s not easy for a prisoner to have access to the outside, especially foreign, world. It’s very much worth sending him a letter, however. For his sake, please don’t give up on contacting him.

Q: What is Kareem’s address?
A: It’s posted here, and also on our “Write to Kareem!” page. Note: If you saved an earlier version of the address, it has been changed. Double check and make sure you are sending it to the recently updated address instead.

Thanks so much for those willing to do this! You have no idea how much you will be helping Kareem.

Get started now! Grab a banner, write a letter, spread the word, help Kareem, help free speech!

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