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

ISSUE #66 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

$10,000 in Prizes for Sharing Your Dream

The deadline for the Dream Deferred Essay Contest on Civil Rights in the Middle East is fast approaching. At stake is over $10,000 in prizes for outstanding essays, with winners to be selected by a panel of celebrity judges. Entries are coming in from across the Mideast and the United States, with young people sharing their visions for grassroots activism to protect basic individual rights.

This year, to help entrants improve their chances of winning a prize, the contest features specific tips for answering the essay questions. The tips are designed to help writers compose essays that clearly and creatively address the questions. People entering the contest are encouraged to review these tips for inspiration. Good luck!



MLK Comic Book Inspires in Mahalla & Iran

Martin Luther King’s birthday was celebrated earlier this week with events around the world. AIC Egypt office brought the celebration to an unlikely location: Mahalla, Egypt’s biggest industrial city and site of several grassroots protest movements. AIC’s Egypt director Dalia Ziada was invited to present an Arabic comic book about Martin Luther King at the only book fair in Mahalla.

Ziada distributed 50 free copies of the comic book and led a discussion about the dynamics of nonviolent activism. One activist grabbed the comic book with passion and looked at the cover, asking: “Is this Gamal Abdel Nasser?" Ziada briefly recounted MLK’s story and the man got inspired, having never heard of the Montgomery Bus Boycott before. Ziada pointed out that Martin Luther King was still in his 20s when the Montgomery Bus Boycott began, a reminder that age is not a barrier to activism.

Meanwhile, the comic book continues to attract international attention, including a recent mention on the BBC. And a recent translation into Farsi has brought King’s message and strategies to young Iranian activists.



Serve Your Sentence, Get Re-Tried: The Hanevy Scandal

Hanevy Ould Dahah founded the most popular news source in Mauritania, building readership through independent journalism exposing corruption and tackling taboos. After returning from a visit to the US, he was arrested in June without a warrant and then sentenced to six months in jail for publishing an article by a woman calling for greater sexual freedom. His six months are now up, but Hanevy remains detained without cause and launched a 15-day hunger strike.

Last week, Mauritania’s Supreme Court declared his trial illegal. Sounds like good news? Think again. The Court instead ruled that despite having already served his sentence, Hanevy should be re-tried. So he stays in prison and can be re-sentenced to an even longer jail term. You can follow his struggle via his news portal Taqadoumy.com (“progressive” in Arabic), which continues to be run by staff despite their editor being stuck behind bars.

 

QUIZ: What can Sturday Night Live Do that Anisa Osman cannot?  
ANSWER: Criticize Yemen’s president. Two weeks ago, NBC’s Saturday Night Live show began with a comedy skit featuring Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh (played by the same actor who impersonates Barack Obama). As blogger Jane Novak noted at the time, “In Yemen, you could go to jail for a decade for something like that.” Sure enough, last week Saleh’s regime sentenced journalist Anisa Osman to three months in jail for “insulting” the president - and banned her from writing for a year. Ms. Osman is, in a way, a pioneer: the first female journalist in Yemen jailed for such a “crime.”

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