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Brief presentation of the March 18 Movement by its co-founder at the TH!NK3 launch event in Brussels, 23 March 2010.

In the summer of 2008, I survived an assassination attempt in Iraq. My “crime” was that I am “an enemy of God,” a promoter of concepts that “offended” religion. My crime was writing articles calling for the protection of religious minorities and calling for the rights of women, children, and homosexuals in Iraq, urging people to protect innocent people from brutal attacks by armed militias.

My principles forced me to live in harsh humanitarian conditions as I search for a safe haven, and as many of the countries which adopted human rights protection, bloggers from Iraq are not in the ranks of immediate threat, and I am thus forced to stay in search for protection.

We pay a high price in order to convey the reality of death and destruction in Iraq and to defend freedom of expression. While I live the reality of my search for a lifeline away from a death sentence awaiting me in my home country, I receive no means of protection and every day I come closer to face death again because of the programs forcing Iraqis to return, adopted by several European countries through treaties the Iraqi government put fourth.

Through my continued search for safety, I think of my conditions and imagine the reality of my fellow bloggers inside Iraq, and I know in my heart that they have a more difficult reality and they face more risks as every day the challenging for blogging are bigger and more dangerous.

A few months ago an Iraqi female Ophthalmologist disappeared on her way back to Iraq. She was on her way to participate in a project to help Iraqi children with a delegation of medical professionals from Jordan, an informant for the Iraqi border police accused her of being a blogger known as “Hiba Shemary” who blogs under the false name of the daughter of the Baath. After inspection of her personal laptop, several articles were found to support the charge, and she was arrested on charges of promoting terrorism. Me and many Iraqi bloggers believe in the new Iraq and reject the return of the past and we disagree with her and her beliefs, but the truth is that she was not more than a doctor who promotes ideas and opposition to the government of Iraq through a personal blog, which had limited followers, obviously not enough to be regarded as a promoter of terrorism in a time when the government allows many satellite and radio channels, the kind that would have allowed here to potentially reach millions of people, so the claim against her remains ridiculous.

At the beginning of March, a known Iraqi activist in the field of human rights, who operates on the Internet, specifically on Facebook, received 2 death threats. The first accused her of being a Western agent and is anti-Islam (the same charges I received) because she promote the rights of women and children, freedom of education and discusses the failure of the educational system in Iraq. The second accused her of insulting Iraqi religious figures, threatening her not to cross the line against the characters of religions working in politics. She was forced to reduce her activities because she still lives in Iraq.

In another incident, a young Iraqi blogger living in upscale Shiite areas of Baghdad was attacked by the security forces and intimidation because of his support for the young Iraqi blog which promotes freedom of expression, the army officer who searched the room for evidence of relation to any potential threat posed against the officer and his troops. Asked about the many books in the young boy’s room, are they school books? When the answer was that it’s novels by Marquez… the officer asked “Marx? Are you a communist?”

During the recent elections, bloggers carried a camera and took pictures documenting the elections and whenever he was arrested by a police officer he or she would tell them that they’re working for a channel or a newspaper, that follow to one of the sectarian groups depending on what the soldier would like to hear, in order not to be arrested on charges of “terrorism.” Other bloggers carried their phones, posting into sites like Twitter, moving between different houses in order to prevent anyone from detecting their signals. Especially since a number of religious parties had made precautions against repeating the “new media” experience of the Iranian elections with bloggers and activists.

Political assassinations with silencers, explosive adhesive bombs, kidnapping, arrests for unknown reasons, hacking Iraqi sites, psychological and intellectual warfare: this is the reality of the Iraqi bloggers.

Any believer in freedom of expression, warrior against corruption, observers of the reality of political and financial corruption and advocate for reform and national reconciliation, fighters for the rights of minorities and other persecuted groups… anyone with the objectives of turning away from religious totalitarian regimes and ideology will face the hard reality that Iraqi bloggers continue to suffer through.

I asked a number of Iraqi bloggers about how to describe blogging in Iraq, they said, primitive, isolated, like a small child lacking guidance, a severe shortage of support. We are not recognized or treated like “media men,” we are neglected, forgotten, ignored.
The best description of Iraqi blogging came from a veteran blogger who describes himself as an unarmed Iraqi soldier alone in a battlefield.

Iraqi bloggers learned blogging without a teacher, they do not get support or training from any person. They work in a country governed by customs, traditions and religion.

They are working in conditions of bad electricity to run the computer, using very bad Internet services, forced to walk long distances to reach the Internet café to publish his blog. Iraqi bloggers are working in complete secrecy because of the eyes that lurk in the Internet cafe from religious groups and parties. If we write in support of the new Iraq, we are an agent of the occupation. If we blog criticizing the Iraqi reality, we are an agent of terrorism. We don’t have any rights, it’s like we are unknown.

Iraq is a country living a conflict, it is in the middle of many powers trying to force their views to shape it close to the image that serves their interests.

Bloggers are people suffering from the frustration of political reality and the intellectual life in Iraq, they lack of any areas of expression in the country, their world is filled with concrete walls and subunits of security, inspection and shared by groups and parties.

Bloggers want to convey their vision of the nation, a vision we may like or not, but in the end a person wants to express himself and say a word in a peaceful manner, and has the right to work without fear or intimidation.

Unfortunately, through my experience that I live today I discovered that many of those who were outside Iraq and encourage us to express ourselves and convey images of a new Iraq, were at the forefront of abandoning me and others in my position. Today I face the risk of death or displacement, I risk my life, but I took to myself to fight in my remaining days to prevent a repetition of tragedies with other Iraqi bloggers who face the realities of working in an atmosphere of danger.

Help Iraqi bloggers, with support and protecting. Do not leave us fighting windmills alone, because we will fight like heroes and die without trace. Help us leave a trace in this struggle.

After three years of being a regular blogger, I was flabbergasted when I received a comment on one of my posts that threatened to sue me for an exorbitant amount of money, dangled the prospect of jail over my head and slyly hinted at taking my passport away so as to prevent me from travelling to the UK for my education.

After a whole host of events too tedious to describe, I was forced by a multitude of circumstances to pull down the post permanently from my blog. I even had to go so far as to change my moniker on that blog (wherein I was already writing under a pseudonym) because the threats – although thankfully by this time completely hollow – kept coming. As my original pseudonym was alarmingly close to my real name, it had to go.

The question begs to be asked… what had I done that was so reprehensible?

In a wrap of an event, I dared say I did not like a person’s choice of apparel.

Clichéd perhaps, but I whole-heartedly abide by the quote found in the book The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S.G. Tallentyre: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Freedom of speech, to me, signifies being able to say what you think without the fear of repercussions. It means allowing people to opine unreservedly without them indulging in morbid thoughts of what can befall them if they do so. Society seems to be moving back to Tudor times when it was wholly possible to have your head lopped off for not agreeing with the king. That scares me.

While I am a supporter of preventing the spread of abject lies, why should bloggers be penalized for being truthful and accurate? I firmly believe that to be a trusted blogger, you cannot lie in your posts. Because of the two-way and immediate conversation available to bloggers and their readers, there lies the possibility of a near-immediate response to any mistakes made in the blog post.

Was I a coward for removing the post from my blog? Perhaps. Should I have fought for the right to say what I thought, as it harmed no one and was most definitely not defamatory? Many might think so. Do I think twice before posting something on a blog now? Yes, however harmless I think it might be.

The most important question, in my opinion, remains: will I ever put that blog post online again? Yes. But only when I hold the power in my hands. Because sadly, right now it’s all about who has the power to exercise free speech as opposed to who has the right to.

Devina Divecha alternates between living in muggy Sheffield and hot Dubai, despite originally hailing from rainy Bombay. If she’s not talking, she’s advocating the right to talk. It just works better this way. Read more at http://devinadivecha.wordpress.com/ and predictably enough, her Twitter handle is @DevinaDivecha

“Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign”
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859.

But sovereign are we, over our blogs and the contents and comments therein?

We are bloggers. We want freedom. But who are we?

Are we mere individuals, exercising our right to free speech? Or serving in a larger reserve corps of citizen journalists, doing the menial chores mainstream fleet streeters balk at, breaking community stories and spotlighting abuses that may otherwise be ignored?

If the latter, we are all scribes. But while our bold brethren scribing for broadsheets a enjoy the protection of law for work, property and ideas,  we tend tend to fall inebriated between the barstool of individualism and the wooden pew  of public reach. Even though  we may be genuine aggregators and investigators of information, we are not offered the  protection afforded to journalists, nor privy to the same outrage when one of us is hoisted out of the public sphere and into an anonymous cell.

If the former, we are individuals who generate, in part opine and pontificate  and in others prevaricate. But in doing so, we meet the basic human need of self-expression and ask permission for the right to exercise freedom of expression. Thinkers like Stuart Mill have argued for liberty on the premise that it increases happiness. As beings capable of abstraction, rationalization and expression, the life of a pebble is not for humans. The artisan hews, the painter paints, the poet sculpts reality out of verse, thus so should a blogger be permitted to throw together prose.

If either of the narratives above describes us, we shall call it our own, for both  present obvious pressing arguments for blogger rights – the first as foot soldiers for transparency, the second as mere individuals who wish to be individual.

But both narratives also imply a sense of duty, responsibility and measure. One we ignore at our peril.

If we are to be journalists, we must then be very good journalists because we are our own editors, sources and type-setters. We can not throw around accusations on whim and cast doubts on fancy, because we then fail our cause and cannot in good faith ask for protection afforded to accredited and audited correspondents.

If we are to be mere individuals, we must recall that the right to swing our fists – and opinions-  ends at the tip of our subjects’ noses. Salaciousness, fabrication and mendacity are not pleasing attributes, be they evident in real life or the blogosphere.

The world does not yet know how to treat us because we don’t yet know who we are- journalists, individuals, citizens or all three.

But of two points we can be sure.

One,  bloggers the world over have been invaluable in offering perspective, insight, indignation  and indeed new information that has held the world’s attention and created pressure for constructive change – in political as well as corporate matters. From Egypt to Iran, Dell to Etisalat, blogging  has  represented  a democratization of information that, while may not always be correct, offers empowerment often translating into positive action.

Second, freedom of expression is the flimsy catch preventing functioning societies falling into autocratic tyranny. For that purpose alone, it should be encouraged. We  will not stand up and insist that every single factual nuance ever noted by us is accurate and cross-checked as we’d ideally want. But we will, proudly and vehemently, insist on our right to expression -not merely as bloggers but as humans- without the fear of persecution. So let the first blogger who dies in prison be the last. In fact, expand that remit. Let the next person who dies in prison for  exercising expression in any form be the very last. Ever.

For more information on blogger rights, it may be helpful to refer to http://news.cnet.com/Bloggers-have-rights-too/2010-1034_3-5632544.html

Hisham Wyne

The author has writing pretensions, and dabbles in social commentary, political analyses and cultural waffle. He calls himself an amateur armchair sociologist. You can find some of his scribblings on www.hishamwyne.wordpress.com and www.huffingtonpost.com/hisham-wyne, and can find him on twitter @HishamWyne.

A term that weighs different on the scales of every individual. Be it invisible fetters that hold back tears, or physical restraints that gag your right to scream. Be it the dread of a tyrant’s wrath, or the fear of thoughts out loud breaking that bubble of denial.

We all have our own hurdles to overcome, our own liberties to fight for. For freedom is most valued and most dear to the ones for whom it is forbidden. For only the shackled truly get to taste in full effect the sweetness of liberty.

Now I’m no polical blogger; preferring instead to take the more cushioned route of broadcasting a few select whimsical musings. Not because I fear for my life, but solely because I’m not passionate enough about a subject to give political science the justice it deserves.

But for those who do; for those who choose to assert their hypotheses/ideologies onto print or online realms, more often than not they do so at the risk of their own lives. Knowing very well that they are provoking the ire of the government they’re resisting or the influential figure they oppose.

As human beings we have a societal duty towards the one another. When two people are in danger, they’re in it together. When a whole community is in peril, they all fear with each other. When an entire nation has a crisis, every single individual is at risk.

So when made aware of a potential threat, will you not warn your neighbour? When informed of impending danger, will you not signal the others?

In most Western nations, anti-regime blogs aren’t given a second glance; the governments preferring instead to ignore the opposition and in some (very rare) cases make an actual effort to  resolve the existing conundrum. But in countries with high sensitivities, a passionate anti-administration blogpost is quite literally (and rather cliche’edly) a matter of life and death.

With media censorship causing a serious problem in the relaying of information, most reporters resort to blogging or other online forums to get their message across. To inform the public of what they have learnt, but cannot be said ‘out loud.’

It is incumbent however, that in spite of the licenses bestowed on us by online forums, it is our moral obligation as bloggers, tweeters and purveyors of information, to tread responsibly. In factual reportage to make sure our sources are verified, and in the expression of opinions to ensure that our viewpoints are not baseless’ly declared.

We all have a responsibility towards the leaders that govern us, and to the parliament we represent.

Having said that however, but what if they disappoint? If a friend (let alone a foe) does something to displease, will you not let it be known? If your meal was unsatisfactory, will you not reflect that in your review?

And when it boils down to the voicing of opinions or feelings being emoted, no one (technically) has the right to tell you you’re wrong. Quashing an individual’s right to speech is on par with nullifying thought. Synonymous even, with the censorship of expression as a whole.

The principal questions still linger. How far does the horizon of the term ‘freedom’ take us, and who allocates these boundaries? Who are we responsible for (putting Divinity aside), and who is it that has the right to stop us?

Is expressing dissatisfaction a crime punishable by law? Deserving of the death sentence even? If so, how is it then that the punishment delivered for the articulation of a personal viewpoint is on level with the charge doled out for the assassination of a human life?

The March18 movement was created in memory of Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian blogger and journalist who died in Evin Prison in Tehran on the 18th of March 2009. The movement intends on commemorating this day to highlight the risks taken by bloggers around the world, when all they want to do is tell their story.

Omid was the first blogger to die in prison. Let him also be the last.

For afore-mentioned whimsical musings visit Chronicles of a TestTube

How you can help:

• Gather your friends, family and colleagues in one location and create an art piece dedicated to the cause. Please take a look at this event taking place in Dubai for example. You may get in touch with the organizer via e-mail, to help get some ideas and suggestions for your own event.

• Follow the steps in this blog post on ways you can get involved online.

• Take a video or a photo expressing your solidarity with persecuted bloggers everywhere.

Don't judge. Free speech is for all.

Tips:

• If you’re a Twitter user, create a Twtvite for your event (see example) and start tweeting about it, tagging tweeps in your area.

• If you’re a Facebook user, create an event (see example), and start inviting your friends. In order to do this, just click on “Events” on the left sidebar and then the “create new event” button from the top of the page.

• Create a mailing list of potential participants and invite their involvement.

Need help setting up an OR318 event?

Get in touch with us! We’ll be more than happy to assist you and promote your event on our accounts.

Protests are so passe.

(Plus with the country’s stringent laws on protests, we don’t want to be stepping on anyone’s toes here.)

Everybody deserves the right to freedom of speech so long as it doesn’t turn into slander or libelous accusations.

In order to honor the death of Omid Reza, the Iranian blogger who was killed in Evin Prison under the pretense that he spread propaganda against the country, I was thinking of organising a tweetup (location to be confirmed) and arranging for a community-made art piece for the Movement on Thursday, 18 March.

The art piece would comprise of a large canvas where supporters of the movement can gather and express what freedom of speech means to them. They can use any conceivable medium – pictures, drawings, poetry, or even a plain ol’ simple “I want free speech. kthxbai” scrawled across the canvas to convey their messages.

All of us at OR318 are hoping to send the finished canvas to the same prison where Omid was killed.

Twtvite and RSVP here
Facebook event and RSVP here

If it takes off, this could very well be done globally in the coming years.

I’m still looking for a decent location, a few photographers, and a cameraman. Money and Rupert from Twitter have been kind enough to help get a location — although finding one is still proving difficult — so if anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

All photos and videos will go up on the March 18 website.

Contact me if you have any ideas:
uzma@mideastyouth.com
@Lhjunkie on Twitter