A number of Representatives just sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he pressures Egyptian President Mubarak to release Kareem. A copy of this letter found below:
Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, writes a letter to President Hosni Mubarak condemning the state’s oppression against bloggers, noting Kareem amongst those abused by the government for their blogging:
Dear Mr. President,
The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the relentless campaign of persecution against Internet journalists and bloggers by Egypt’s various security services. Regrettably, the routine harassment and detention of bloggers, according to CPJ research, is only one element of an overall decline in press freedom in Egypt in recent years. In 2007, CPJ concluded that Egypt was among the 10 worst backsliders in terms of press freedom worldwide, due to a massive number of legal proceedings being launched against critical journalists. Since then, this trend has continued unabated with hundreds of lawsuits, criminal complaints, and summonses being issued against editors, reporters, bloggers, and free expression advocates.
[...]
CPJ research also shows that at least three bloggers remain in administrative detention, held without charge under the Emergency Law, or are serving prison sentences.
Abdel Karim Suleiman, widely known as Karim Amer, was arrested in November 2006 for writing critical articles about prominent religious figures and the president of the republic. He was convicted in February 2007 of insulting religion and the president, and is currently serving a four-year jail term for both charges. He is the only Egyptian blogger to ever be convicted for his online writings. Since then Amer has been mistreated in prison. In November 2007 he was severely beaten by another prisoner and a guard, according to his lawyer and to multiple local human rights groups. He was prevented from documenting his injuries in a medical report, local human rights organizations widely reported. In August 2008, he was prevented from leaving his cell and exercising in a courtyard like other prisoners. Around the same time, some of Amer’s books and other reading materials were arbitrarily confiscated. Lawyers at ANHRI told CPJ that they filed an appeal as soon as Amer was convicted, but that the authorities have failed to consider it two years into his four-year prison term. Legal experts in Egypt told CPJ that such appeals are usually processed within six months.
Egyptian blogger “Wa7da Masrya” received another letter from Kareem, stating:
I got a letter from Kareem today. He is fine and again would like to thank everyone for what they are doing to help free him. He’s waiting for the day he’d be released from prison and hopes that by next November, when he’d have spent the majority of his time in prison, the government may be able to release him. He is hopeful.
Kareem writes:
Prison has become a part of my imagination. I don’t remember how life was before my imprisonment and how people look like outside.
Shahinaz, Kareem’s friend and one of his frequent visitors, adds:
I wrote to him and reassured him that we are all supporting him and we’ll continue our campaign to protect him during his detention.
Any requests to free Kareem has been refused despite other prisoners being discharged.
Please write to him and express your support and solidarity.
Egyptian blogger “Wa7da Masrya” received a letter from Kareem a few days ago stating that he’s doing fine for the time being, despite feeling frustrated and lonely. Fortunately his situation has improved now that the prison guards and the prison’s administration are aware of the trouble that would ensue should they harm and torture him as they did last year. “Activists and Kareem’s lawyers are keeping eyes on him,” she noted.
In a brief e-mail to us she went on to add:
In his letter, I could sense that he’s frustrated and afraid. He asked me, ‘do you think that outside of this prison would be better than it is here, or would it be even more hell?’
He is feeling very lonely, he needs more moral support, and to be reassured that when he will be released, he would be safe, since he’s now known as an atheist.
He also thanked everyone who is fighting for his freedom and wishes that all supporters would continue. So please do!
An Egyptian blogger noted yesterday in his blog post that a letter will be submitted to the People’s Assembly Representative, addressed to the president. One of their calls is to release Kareem and drop the charges against him. Hopefully this call for his release can finally be respected, after almost 2 years of Kareem’s wrongful imprisonment.
We will post more news as soon as we find more information regarding this and any possible outcome.
In his latest letter to a friend, Kareem states that he’s feeling hopeless, and doesn’t know whether or not his situation will ever improve. “I am afraid that prison will break me, as it did with many others,” he says.
He is having a very hard time, and could no longer bear the suffocation and suffering of being imprisoned, especially since he didn’t do anything wrong.
He notes clearly that he needs people’s support. This support is the only thing that can guarantee his strength. So we ask our readers never to give up support for him, because it truly makes a difference.
This letter is by Rebecca Witonsky, a longtime supporter of Kareem, who expresses her concern at the fact that the U.S government has not taken any effective steps in attempting to free Kareem and in fact continues to politically and financially support the Egyptian government, which has consistenly abused people’s human rights within the country.
Dear Kareem:
I have not forgotten about you. I am appalled that the U.S. government, my democratic government, has abandoned you to the clutches of the tyrannical Mubarak regime. Sadly America’s democratic principles don’t seem to apply consistently beyond our shores, and we take our freedom for granted, not realizing the sacrifices that brave young people like you are making around the world for the sake of basic justice.
I am outraged that you have been beaten and denied access to books, sunlight, and exercise. This type of cruelty is completely immoral and intolerable. It is a reminder that your oppressors are afraid of you. They wouldn’t be subjecting you to such brutal treatment if they didn’t fear the ideals for which you so bravely stand. Your continued imprisonment under brutal conditions is a constant reminder of the injustice which undergirds the whole Mubarak regime.
I stand with you in solidarity because I couldn’t imagine being completely disowned and abandoned by my own parents. You deserve the support of free people everywhere.
Sincerely,
Ms. Rebecca Witonsky
USA
Rebecca’s concerns have been echoed by thousands of other American supporters for Kareem, which hopefully soon, will be taken very seriously by both Egypt and the U.S government.
Originally sent to this blogger:
First in Arabic, followed by an English translation -
بعيش يومين شكلهم مش حيتكرروا بسبب إن معايا مجموعة من المعتقلين على ذمة أحداث 6 أبريل
معظمهم ناس مثقفة و عندها قضية مؤمنة بيها بجد بعضهم أفرج عنهم و الباقي منتظرين قرار الإفراج ساعات بأفكر بيني و بين نفسي يعني
كان لازم يجوا هنا عشان يحسروني على الأيام اللي قعدوها معايا لما يمشوا
للمرة الأولى من ساعة ما غتحبست ألاقي في السجن ناس قريبن مني فكريا على الأقل إحتمال يفرج عنهم الأيام الجاية و هابقى انا لوحدي كما كنت في الاول.أنا نفسي أخرج ….كل ما اشوف الناس بتروح بقول إمتى حيجي اليوم اللي أروح فيه زيهم أنا عملت إيه عشان أتحبس المدة الطويلة اوي اوي
أنا عمري ما حسيت في يوم من الأيام اللي قضتها في السجن إني إرتكبت جريمة أستاهل عليها إني أتسجن معنى كده ان الغرض من عقابي ما بقاش له معنى
لأن السجن ما قدرش يغير فيا أي حاجة و لا عمرة حيغيرأنا عندي هنا جوابات كتيرة وصلوا 2300 جواب أنا بفرح أوي لما توصلني جوابات بأبقى حاسس إن لسه فيه حد فاكرني لاني احيانا في ناس هنا لما يحبوا يضيقوني يقولوا لي خلاص ما حدش فاكرك و لا فاكر
قضيتك دي كانت وقت و إنتهى و الدنيا نسيتك ساعات الكلام ده بيضيقني بس لما أبص على الجوابات ت الكتير أوي اللي ملياه الاوضة بسخر بيني و بين نفسي من الكلام ده لأن الدليل الحي قدامي
موجود م مشاركني جزء من الأوضة اللي انا عايش فيها
نفس يجي يوم الاقي نفسي خارج الشرنقة اللي أنا محبوس فيها ديكريم عامر
عنوان كريم أهه إكتبوا له:
سجن برج العرب الإحتياطي عنبر 22 غرفة 1
الإسكندريه
English:
I am living through some decent days here which I know will not last. I have several activists with me who were detained during the strike on the 6th of April in Egypt. They are people like me. They are educated, and staunch believers in certain values which they are fighting for.
Some of these people are out now, and the others are waiting to be released. Sometimes I wonder if the reason why they’re here in the first place is to make me more sad when they leave me alone in the dark.
This is the first time since I’ve been in prison that I meet people who are intellectually similar to me, but they will soon be released and I will be lonely again.
I wish I can get out of here. Every time I witness people being released from prison to go back to their homes, I wonder when it’s time for me to also leave. I never did anything worthy of this punishment. I’ve been here for so long, and throughout my detainment, I was never convinced that I ever committed a crime. Their punishment is not effective. This prison never changed my mind, and it never will.
I got 2,300 messages from all over the world. I feel ecstatic every time I receive a letter. I feel that people didn’t forget about me. Sometimes, the prisoners here mock me and try to hurt me by telling me that people forgot about my existence, but when I look at all of these letters that I have in my cell… I don’t care about what the prisoners are saying, because I have concrete evidence with me proving them wrong.
I just wish I could get out of here.
Kareem Amer
Borg el Arab prison, Section 22 Cell 1
Alexandria, Egypt
You may write to Kareem at the above address.
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
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.
