The C.R.I.M.E. Report

ISSUE #58 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

Iranian Rape Survivor Bears Witness by Mobile Phone

IranFollowing controversial elections in Iran, Ibrahim Sharifi joined the popular street protests. After being tracked down by Iran’s security forces, he was abducted and beaten in jail. But the young man is now in hiding for something he did after his release from jail: bear witness to his rape by security officials. Last Sunday, the world heard Sharifi’s disturbing story of imprisonment and rape via his cell phone camera.

Soon after his initial release from jail, Sharifi contacted cleric Mehdi Karroubi, a presidential candidate who was investigating reports of a wave of prison rapes by interrogators. Sharifi, along with other victims, told his story to Karroubi, who included it in an official demand for a government investigation. While Iran's Majlis (parliament) was running an investigation about the rape allegations, security agents took Sharifi off the street into a car and threatened to kill his family if he told anything to the Majlis

Sharifi immediately went into hiding. But when another state-appointed committee declared all rape allegations to be untrue and called for the arrest of those responsible for "tarnishing the image of the holy state", he felt compelled to bear witness. He recorded his testimony by video on his camera phone and sent the file to a renowned Persian filmmaker in Holland, Reza Allamehzadeh. In the video, Sharifi describes the physical abuse he endured, including blacking out during his assault. “Don’t let the bastards touch any of us again,” he urges.

Allamehzadeh released the footage, along with his own commentary, in a video that has over 125,000 views on YouTube. Sharifi may be hiding from the Iranian government, but he used his cell phone to expose to the rest of the world the abuse inflicted upon him.



The Sandwich Protest: Individual Rights during Ramadan

SandwichThis year’s celebration of Ramadan across the region has seen several clashes between personal rights and “public order.” In some countries, eating and drinking during Ramadan daylight hours is technically illegal. In Morocco, for instance, any Muslim citizen who commits such an act can be punished with up to six months in jail and a $100 fine. While the law is not often enforced, a high-profile case last year involved the arrest of a diabetic man in Fez who had stopped to drink water.

To protest “this interference in private life,” a new Facebook-based group called MALI (a French acronym for the “Movement for Defense of Individual Liberties”) organized an event at the Mohammedia train station to eat sandwiches in public during daylight. More than 100 police officers and military personnel descended on the station - and only 12 “protestors” arrived (out of over 1,300 online supporters). Anyone with food in their bags was removed and placed on the train to Casablanca.

“Our aim was to show that we are Moroccans, but that we do not fast, and that we have a right to exist,” said one organizer. The government and police claimed they were simply protecting public order, as the provocative protest could incite riots. Moroccan human rights groups have largely defended the protestors’ rights, even as they denounced the rally as not in good taste.

The same tension between the freedom to eat and social attitudes during a celebration has played out elsewhere in the region. In Iran, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi criticized the presence of water coolers in Tehran’s subway stations for encouraging public drinking. In the Egyptian city of Aswan, police have reportedly arrested people for eating during the day.



WANTED to Confront Qaddafi at the UN

Dr. Mohamed Bugaighis, a retired professor in Pennsylvania, is off to New York tomorrow to take on Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi. Chairman of the American Libyan Freedom Alliance, Bugaighis is part of a coalition organizing protests across from UN headquarters during Qaddafi’s speech to the General Assembly. In an exclusive interview, he spoke to The CRIME Report about his experience during Qaddafi’s coup 40 years ago and the failure of the UN to hold dictators accountable.

QDescribe the Qaddafi Coup in September of 1969.
I was teaching statistics at the university. At dawn, I was awakened by the sound of dogs barking. They were warning about unusual military jeeps driving by, but the king’s security forces caught sleeping. The morning radio broadcast announced a coup and commanded us stay in our homes. My mother was sick in the hospital and I had to visit her. So I drove my car toward the hospital, only have soldiers stop me at gunpoint and take me to their base. Their commander suddenly stood up and saluted me – he was one of my students. He issued me a permit to visit my mother. Alas, years later, that same officer was assassinated by Qaddafi. At the time, of course, no one imagined we would still be living under him four decades later.

What is your rally protesting?
Over the four decades of Qaddafi’s rule, 100,000 Libyans have gone into exile, many of them the country’s most talented citizens. The Libyan community in the US is now mobilizing now to confront the dictator and to inform fellow Americans about his crimes. He has denied us basic civil rights for 40 years - and he has sponsored international terrorism yet escaped punishment. For instance, he stole Libya’s oil wealth to fund murders like Charles Taylor in Liberia. Taylor is now facing trial for war crimes, yet Qaddafi, his sponsor, sits on the Security Council and lectures to the General Assembly. The UN should feel a sense of shame. We also hope that the public will pay more attention to our struggle. The media, certainly, has not been so interested in our story, almost as if we don’t matter.

Who is coming to the rally?
The morning rally will be at a park opposite the UN, on East 47th Street, between 1st & 2nd Avenue. We are expecting several hundred people, from all over the US and even from London. There will be parallel rallies by others victimized by Qaddafi: Americans whose relatives were murdered in the Pan Am bombing, as well as a contingent protesting the disappearance of Musa Sadr. I am most encouraged by the participation of the next generation of Libyan-Americans, some of whom will speak at the rally. Their message: “Our parents were pushed out of Libya, but the cause of Libya has not been forgotten.” I invite any readers who can come to join us. [There is also a major protest by Iranians – more information here.]

 

QUIZ: Who Might Be Released in November?
KareemANSWER: Kareem Amer. We hesitate to raise expectations too high. For the third time, an Egyptian judge has postponed a ruling on Kareem’s appeal. Still, in its latest update on the case, ANHRI reports that “it is expected that Kareem will be released on November 5 now that he [will have] served three quarters of [his four year jail] term.” The young Egyptian blogger was arrested back in November of 2006 and sentenced to four years imprisonment for insulting Egypt’s president and defaming Islam on his personal blog. He has already served over 1,000 days in jail for these alleged “crimes.”

BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here are quick ways to contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement: