The Free Kareem Campaign is an important partner of OR318. For information about the imprisonment of blogger Kareem Amer, you may read this article from the Mideast Youth site:
Kareem is a young Egyptian blogger who was only 22 years old when he was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Egyptian government for criticizing Islam and the President of Egypt on a personal blog. Kareem was threatened and harassed consistently for his writing, and was previously arrested prior to his sentence, all of which were attempts to silence his opinions which he should be free to express. He challenged the Egyptian government and the self-proclaimed “scholars” at the Al Azhar religious institution which he attended (and was eventually expelled from) by criticizing them and their policies. His latest arrest was on the 6th of November, 2006, and he has been in prison ever since that date. Months after that, while he was imprisoned without charges, he was formally sentenced to 4 years in prison on the 22nd of February, 2007, causing him to be the first blogger in the Arab world to be sentenced officially by a court for his blog.
Since the 6th of November, 2006, on the day of his arrest, I created FreeKareem.org to try and secure his release, and dozens of volunteers soon piled up to help out, making the campaign one of the most visible campaigns for a blogger in the world. Despite that, and the outrage expressed by thousands of people worldwide, including government officials and MPs who shamed Egypt and the Egyptian government for this gross human rights violation, the Egyptian authorities failed to acknowledge this mistake. We created many campaigns over the years to help keep the mainstream media interested in covering this story, knowing that this is what the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak is scared of most. We did this through worldwide simultaneous rallies which took place in at least 15 major cities around the world, the “Flood the Jail with Mail” campaign, other letter campaigns throughout the year, #FreeKareem Twitter days, creating Free Kareem events in schools and universities around the world, involving musicians and artists, and much more.
This certainly worked in terms of raising awareness and mainstream media attention, which went wild, everywhere from the Washington Post to Czech TV. Staff at the Egyptian consulates and embassies around all these countries were certainly aware and felt the pressure multiple times throughout every year. They heard us say: We are aware of the mistake the Egyptian government has caused and we are here until you CORRECT IT. They never did. 1080 days later and they never did.
Kareem shouldn’t be forgotten. He is not merely an example of what could go wrong for bloggers under oppressive regimes. He is a human being and my friend who deserves his freedom. Please help me free him, and communicate this message to the Egyptian government or journalists around the world, and perhaps to the U.S government that continues to fund this regime out of self-interest at the expense of basic human rights.
Kareem must be freed.
For more information please visit www.FreeKareem.org and do your part to spread the word. If you Tweet this news, please use the hashtag #FreeKareem.
In order to aid the Free Kareem Campaign, Bureaucrash and other liberty activists in Washington, DC will be holding a Free Kareem rally from 12pm – 1pm, November 6th at the following location:
Egyptian Cultural & Educational Bureau
1303 New Hampshire Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036
Map:
Please join us to show your solidarity for individual liberty and free speech. If you would like to network with people attending the rally please view the following websites:
On the same day, there will be a rally held for Kareem in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. A note from the organizer:
For three years now, Kareem Amer has been in prison for expressing his opinions. Although the authorities customarily grant a release request after three quarters of a prisoner’s sentence, Kareem’s hearing has been repeatedly postponed and is still pending.
In the West and especially in Switzerland, we enjoy free speech. That is why we are organizing a rally in front of the Embassy of Egypt, Elfenauweg 61, in Bern, on Friday, November 6, 2009, between 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Map:
If you are in Bern or in Washington DC, please consider attending these rallies. It is important that we continue the struggle for free speech in the Middle East, and indeed, this can only be achieved with help from around the world.