America, Egypt, Italy and the Kidnapping Business

The Middle East Times begins its report today with the line "America is in the kidnapping business." The line has shock value, but it's accuracy is getting harder to deny. All of this unfortunately is making the work of human rights activists in Egypt more difficult.

Three different events occurred this week to bring the kidnapping business into light. One, Amnesty International and a number of other HR organizations issued a joint statement citing evidence that 39 people had been "disappeared" by the CIA. It's not just terror suspects. Our documentation indicates that suspects' relatives, including wives and children as young as seven, have been held in secret detention.

Second, in Italy this week, a number of Italian intelligence agents and 26 CIA agents went on trial for the kidnapping of Egyptian national Abu Omar. Omar was taken to Egypt, held in detention for almost four years and tortured on several occasions before being released. Here's the BBC report on the first day of the trial.

Finally, today the European Union released its report on CIA jails in Europe. Investigators uncovered proof that jails in Poland and Romania held secret detainees outside of the legal system. Here's Amnesty's reponse to the report.

Together, the picture is painted of a system where individuals, both suspect and innocent, are subject to kidnapping and secret detention with no access to legal rights or to anyone outside of the prison for that fact. It's a system that has been tried in many places before, such as Egypt, and frankly I don't believe it's been all that effective, or at least any more effective than traditional and standard legal techniques. What is clear is that when it comes time to taking a stand against torture, against illegal and prolonged detention and against secret trials, a country that builds the system as described in these three reports doesn't have much credibility... or effectiveness.

Egyptian Blogger Disappears?

Unfortunately there is a new turn in the case of Abdel Moneim Mahmoud. According to friends, he was scheduled to be released on May 30. Instead he was taken, allegedly, to the Alexandria Transfers Department in Alexandria, Egypt, where prisoners are taken for processing. According to Moneim's attorney, Islam Lofty, Moneim was able to send several messages to him during the process.

Then nothing. The third and last message the attorney received indicated that Moneim arrived at the department in the early hours of June 1. But when Lofty attempted to reach Moneim there, authorities denied he was there.

"It is illegal to keep Monem for more than 24 hours after his release. I am worried Monem is being subject to re-interrogation by State Security, or even torture and re-detention," Lotfy stated.

Amnesty International has documented that prisoners are at greatest risk for torture when their whereabouts are kept secret or are denied. Urgent action is requested. Please call the Egyptian embassy and tell Ambassador Nabil Fahmy that we are concerned about the status of this prisoner of conscience. The embassy can be reached at 202.895.5400. Click here to find out addresses of consulate offices in other parts of the country.

Update on Karim Amer

Yesterday I wrote about Egyptian blogger Abdel Moneim's problems with the law and compared it to those of blogger Karim Amer. Today there is new information about Amer's case.
Two representatives of an Egyptian human rights consortium was able to meet with Amer this week. Activists have been concerned that Amer was sent into solitary confinement in prison for more than 60 days between March and May. The punishment was not justified, the representatives said and was in contradiction to normal Egyptian procedure. The confinement seemed to coincide with the appearance at the jail of Egyptian prosecutors.
There's been some controversy about funds raised for Karim's defense. Some of his opponents have used the efforts to label him as an outsider who is against Egypt and who is benefiting financially from the situation. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
While Karim doesn't need financial support for his defense, he does need other kind of support. The representatives sent out an appeal for people around the world to write Karim and offer support. He still faces a four year sentence, and while work is still continuing on his case, writing to him directly will be the best way for him to maintain his spirits. I encourage anyone who cares about the case to support him directly by writing. At a time when diplomatic and political approaches don't seem to work, we need to find other means to support Egyptian human rights defenders. Sometimes the most effective way to ensure they continue their work is to let them know they are not alone.
Below is his address.
Address of Correspondence
Alexandria
Borg Al-Arab Prison
Room 5 Section 2 -
Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman

Human Rights and the Muslim Brothers

Karim Amer has attracted some attention in the American media and from some American politicians, as well as he should. The heavy-handed and politically motivated arrest and conviction of the Egyptian blogger for his peaceful exercise of freedom of speech is just another example of how this government seeks to muzzle civil society and is determined to shut down the Internet as a force for civil society and democratic change.
But fewer Americans know about Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, and they should. Like Karim, Abdel is an Egyptian blogger who has brought attention to human rights abuses in Egypt. Like Karim, Abdel now is in detention and faces criminal charges for his activity. Like Karim, Abdel has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International
Abdel in particular has done much to publicize abuses about torture in Egypt, which as I've mentioned I believe to be one of the core human rights concerns in the country. He's met with Amnesty International officials previously on the topic, and the organization is concerned that meetings with AI and other international groups may be one of the reason for his arrest.
But Abdel is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that may be one obstacle to Americans speaking out on his case. It shouldn't.
I don't agree with basic MB positions on a lot of issues, and the organization has a past history that is connected to violence. But since the mid-1990s, the organization has renounced violence, and pledged to seek political change through non-violent means, specifically the ballot box. And they've been somewhat successful, and for that success it has faced significant oppression from the government, Abdel's arrest just being the latest in a long line of detentions.
And frankly its success has some American policymakers scared. It's hard for Americans to take on support for political Islamists.
But Egyptian human rights activists have no such reluctance, as seen by this statement from a consortium of Egyptian HR groups, and they're watching us to see if we're following.
This is a clear example of why it's important to have a single standard in applying human rights. Doing human rights work requires setting priorities to be effective, but if those priorities are skewed by non-human rights concerns, such as fear of political Islamists, it's not going to be credible. Credibility is essential to the effectiveness of this work. That doesn't mean we have to work on every possible case -- we can't. But over the long term, that work must reflect the general pattern of HR concerns in a region.
For more about the Abdel's case, click here.
Please write a letter to the Egyptian ambassador declaring Abdel Moneim Mahmoud to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release. Also ask that Egyptian officials stop the continued harassment of Egyptian bloggers, reminding them of their responsibilities under international agreements and the Egyptian constitution to protect citizens' peaceful expression of their freedom of speech.
Address
Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington DC 20008

Karim Amer sentenced to Four Years

Blogger Karim Amer today was sentenced to four years in jail for "disparaging remarks about Egyptian President Mubarak," according to Egyptian activists. This very troubling result will bring about a further chilling climate for free speech and democratic activism, both online and in other public venues. Amnesty International has declared Karim to be a prisoner of conscience. In today's statement, Amnesty condemns the conviction.

"This sentence is yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director. "The Egyptian authorities must protect the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, even if the views expressed might be perceived by some as offensive. Amnesty International considers Karim Amer to be a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression of his views."

"It is a gloomy day for all the advocators of freedom of expression not only in Egypt but also in the whole world," Gamal Eid, HRinfo Executive director said. "When a young man is punished for having secular views in a country claiming respect to citizens' right to freedom of expression, it is a catastrophe. The democratic countries all over the world have already expelled such charges from their laws".

For a fuller update on the case, click here.

All activists are urged to take action. Once again the key places to protest are with the Egyptian ambassador.

Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Court N.W., Washington, D.C., 20008
202-895-5400

The embassy e-mail is embassy@egyptembdc.org

Habib Ibrahim El Adly
Minister of the Interior
25 Al-Sheikh Rihan Street
Bab al-Louk
Cairo
EGYPT
e-mail: moi@idsc.gov.eg

Counsellor Mamdouh Mohyiddin Marie
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Midan Lazoghly
Cairo
EGYPT
e-mail: mojeb@idsc.gov.eg

You can also support Karim by adding comments to his website, or by adding comments to the Free Kareem website here.

Keeping Up the Pressure on Blogger's Case

Amnesty today released a web feature on Karim Amer, the blogger facing a 10-year sentence for his blogging activities. Here's a link to the feature and a link to a previous statement on the case. And here is a link to Karim's own blog (in Arabic).

Charges against Karim Amer include "spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country's reputation", "incitement to hate Islam" and "defaming the President of the Republic".

Amnesty states, "His trial is particularly worrying as the Egyptian blogsphere is expanding as an area of free expression and bloggers have increasingly been posting information about human rights abuses in Egypt, including allegations of torture and police violence against peaceful protesters. Their writings and postings of information on human rights violations, including graphic evidence of such abuses, have been relayed by international media and highlighted by national and international human rights organizations, putting pressure on the Egyptian authorities to open investigations into some of these allegations."

Amnesty has declared Karim to be a prisoner of conscience. If you want to take action on this case, in the U.S. you should write letters of support for Kareem to the Egyptian ambassador:

Ambassador Nabil Fahmy
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Court N.W., Washington, D.C., 20008
202-895-5400

You can also support Karim by adding comments to his website, or by adding comments to the Free Kareem website here.