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 حيغير

أنا 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 دي

كريم 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.

Via RSF:

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard has sent a message of support to imprisoned Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabil Suleiman on the first anniversary of his arrest on 6 November 2006. Suleiman, better known his blog name of Kareem Amer, was sentenced on 22 February to three years in prison for “inciting hatred of Islam” and another year for insulting President Hosni Mubarak.

The letter, sent to him via his lawyers, talks about the press freedom organisation’s campaign for his release.

“Dear Kareem,

Your arrest outraged many free speech groups, human rights organisations, bloggers and diplomats. Reporters Without Borders has been following your case and has been supporting you for the past year and we will continue to campaign on your behalf.

United Nations secretary-general Ban-Ki Moon promised us that he would intercede on your behalf with the Egyptian government during his visit in March, just after you were sentenced. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights assured us that your case was raised with the Egyptian authorities at the start of May by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy is aware of your plight and has told us “this question is and will continue to be regularly raised during my contacts with the Egyptian authorities and will, in particular, always be raised during my interviews with my Egyptian counterpart.”

In the light of these efforts, we hope there will be positive developments in your case.

On 9 November, we will take part in an international demonstration being organised in Paris by your support committee to reiterate the request for your release that we already sent to the Egyptian justice minister and public prosecutor in February, after you were sentenced.

Please continue to send us news of yourself. We consider your news to be very valuable and it is evidence of your continuing struggle for free expression. Our campaign on your behalf continues and will only get stronger.

You may count on our friendship and support.”

Link to article.

Fellow Egyptian blogger Shahinaz notes in an e-mail to us that Kareem received two visits in prison: one from Gamal Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, and the other from Howaida Taha, an Al Jazeera documentary maker who was briefly arrested in Egypt due to her video footage on police torture. Her husband accompanied her to this visit.

Kareem was also supposed to receive a brief visit from Sarah, a friend who lives in Alexandria and who lives not far from him, but unfortunately the prison guards refused her entry because Kareem had already received visits during the week from Shahinaz, Howaida, and Gamal and it is not possible to accept more within such a short time span.

Kareem is glad that he is still receiving support internationally. He continues to receive letters from abroad from people who participate in our letter-writing campaign. If you haven’t sent a letter to Kareem yet, please take the time to do so, as it is the best way to help keep him hopeful and in high spirits.

Don’t forget to spread the word about our worldwide rallies on the 9th of November (NOT the 6th!)

If you want to get involved, please do contact us.

Below you will find a translation of the 6th letter Kareem sent from prison. The Arabic version is available here.

I write, while the completion of a “whole” year in prison approaches, with my cuffed freedom and restricted movements. The tough experience pushed me to realize the bitterness of injustice that indescribable feeling which has no resemblance, particularly if applied on a victim that committed no guilt. I did nothing but merely practicing my legitimate right to speech, guaranteed by all civil and humanitarian rules despite the tyrants who do not approve it.

Apparently, a quite long time has passed since the day of unjustly sentencing me to four years in prison. Until recently, I was not able to comment on the event because I had no access to media and I was deprived from exchanging mails or talking. I spent more than two months in the cells dedicated to those sentenced to death and serving punitive penalties. The prison officials claimed that there was no other proper place for me. They prevented me from having pens. Whenever I wanted to write a letter, I had no choice but to dictate it!

Now, things have changed greatly. At least, I can write and exchange mails, not with complete freedom though. My letters unlike the letters of other prisoners are subject to censorship. However, the prison officials deny that any of the letters coming to me is confiscated. They confirm that they send them to me after reading the content regardless of content. Therefore, I found it a good opportunity to talk after a long period of forced silence and staying away from those who “invested” my crisis – according to my Tunisian friend, Emad Habib – because they do not deserve my slightest attention.

I still clearly remember that day. I prepared myself, psychologically, to the final session of announcing the judgement. I did not care for the expected sentence, then. I was preoccupied with history and the anniversary that coincided that day. History repeats itself all the time; yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all alike. My final judgement session was held on February 22nd the day that I can never forget.

On the same day forty six years ago – particularly in February 22nd, 1943 – a military court in Germany headed by a “racist” judge sentenced three University of Munich students to death. They are the brothers Sofia and Hans Scholl and their friend Christoph Probst. They were punished because they dared to confront the fascist regime in a non-violent way. They established a resistance movement against the ruling regime. They called it “White Rose Movement.” Their peaceful activism, for which they were executed, was limited to confronting the ruling fascist regime by simple tools like drawing on street walls at night, writing and distributing street bulletins, with the purpose to expose the inhuman crimes against ethnic and religious minorities in Germany. They used to distribute their bulletins inside the campus; computers and blogging was not known for them.

Sixty-four years later, a “tyrant” judge in an Egyptian court, motivated by Al-Azhar University, sentenced me to four years in prison because I practiced my right to free speech online. Al-Azhar University released me recently by expelling me out and I am still paying for this freedom.

I am not trying to compare myself to those brave heroes; I just wanted to focus on the historical coincidence. The blogger friend, Shahinaz mentioned in one of her letters that “tyrants and dictators looks alike in every place and time” However, I was preoccupied by the situation of university in both cases. At that time, University of Munich took the initiative to expel the three students out and handled them to the Gestapo. At this time, Al-Azhar University took the initiative of expelling me out, then informed the prosecutor with my activities… No comment!

Every day in the morning, I find an urge need inside my mind to think of my current situation, as if I am discovering it for the first time. I ask myself many questions with hope to find appropriate answers to justify my current situation. I am detained with dangerous criminals who resemble danger against individuals and properties. I tried to find convincing answers for my questions. At a certain moment, I decided to abandon logical thinking. I decided to look for a good interpretation based on the prevailing inherited concepts of inhuman characteristics and which are mostly related to our miserable facts.

I found out that the accusations levelled against me, regardless of its legal paraphrasing, can be divided into two sections:

A total section related to using my right to free expression in an unfree climate and daring to exceed social, political, and religious limits and redlines.

A detailed section, which can be summarized in the following points:

First: my absolute rejection of violence, particularly that hidden under religious covers and justified by Quran texts, which lost their value by time.

Second: using my mind to analyze the unseen and unbelievable facts derived from religious superstitious heritage.

Third: my rejection to be classified according to any affiliations imposed forcefully on me because I decided not adopt something which does not express what I feel.

Fourth: I believe naively that I live in a democratic free atmosphere and that I enjoy my basic civil rights, including my absolute right to free expression in addition to the aforementioned points. I did not realize the bitter fact that I live under the rule of repressive regime chasing those who have different opinions.

Fifth: Bending myself to frankness and transparency in expressing my views. For example, I am not disguised behind a false name and had been able to do so. It was evident during the investigations conducted by Disciplinary Council of Al-Azhar University and the Public Prosecutor. I think this is the real reason behind everything that happened to me so far.

I think these are the true accusations leveled against me. Things will not change as long as our country does not change. These days, we cannot neglect the tyrant judgment against columnist and poet, Ahmed Abdel Muti Hijazi who was charged with defamation against a mohatasib. He simply talked about religious fundamentalism in one of his articles published in Rosalyousif newspaper, few years ago. He compared between political Islamists and inquisition courts in the Middle Age and Israeli religious extremists who insist that their country is a religious one.

Al-Azhar University is currently planning for a new conspiracy against freedom of thought and expression against Ph.D. Dr. Mahmoud Al-Khayal. He mentioned a TV show that he wants to translate an American book titled “End of Faith” into Arabic. Now, the supporters of retardation are preparing to chase him with the charge of disdaining Islam like what happened with me.

I announce from her that my accusation is not a shame for me. I have it like a crown on my head and necklace on my chest. Every one must know that I did not force myself to respect any tyrant law that hinders freedoms. I am against any act to limit the right of freedom of expression of any person. Laws were created to regulate the relationships between individuals inside the same society. They are not meant to limit their freedoms and violate their basic rights. It is not logic to say that: “… there are limitations on the right to freedom of expression …” according to those who work against freedom. These limitations, according to them, include justifying suppression and intellectual circumcision supported by shallow-minded fundamentalists who cannot go abreast with the modern age.

Let everyone, including the tyrant judges who sentenced me and those who misused my crisis to get me, know that prison will not work out with me. I do believe in myself, respect my right to free thought and expression, and use their minds all the time. My thoughts which deprived them of night sleep, will not change until I get convinced of other thoughts. Terrifying and intimidating me, expelling me out of university and putting me in prison will not change my mind. Also, inciting people to kill me and claiming hisba cases against me and any other barbarian methods will not panic me. Only stupid, weak, and inflexible people use these methods to justify their violent actions by breaking the pencils of writers and silencing their voices. They cannot achieve what they want.

I do not know how to address Al-Azhar University that led me to jail, the tyrant judges who sentenced me to prison, and the leaders of the repressive regime who are preventing us from breathing. The best message I want to deliver to them is quoted from the young Sofia Scholl who were in my age at the time of her execution. She said to the judge who sentenced her to death: “One day, you will be at my place!” This happened.

To the enemies of freedom, tyrants, and authoritarians, heads of religious institutions, officials of the governing regime and their supporters, I say:

“The garbage of history will be stuffed with you soon. The coming generations will not have mercy with you. They will do as I am doing now. They will curse you. Please, make sure that no one will shed a tear for your sake, because you do not deserve it. Tomorrow is ours. It does not matter how tyrant you are in your attempts to silence us and confiscate our views. You should be aware for our revival because your days are counting down. Your dark night approached its end. Our dawn will come up very soon. Tomorrow is ours.”

Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman

To read all previous letters, click here.

“You can cage the singer but not the song.” – Harry Belafonte, in International Herald Tribune, 3 October 1988