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

ISSUE #72 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

No Picnic for “April 6” Protestors

EgypySham El Neseem (“Smelling the breeze” in Arabic) is an ancient Egyptian holiday celebrating spring and renewal, a time when Egyptians of all backgrounds like to go out for picnics. This year’s celebration last Tuesday, however, was no picnic for a group of protestors in downtown Cairo. A group of young Egyptians gathered under the banner of the “April 6 Movement,” which in 2008 organized a major strike via Facebook to protest repression. On this anniversary, the security services were out in force to shut the protest down.

Amal Sharaf, a protestor beaten at the rally, summed up the movement’s demands: “We’re trying to change the emergency law we've been living with for 28 years.” As if to prove her point, security forces attacked the peaceful crowd of 100 people with batons. One by one, demonstrators were hauled out of the crowd and placed in paddy wagons. About 90 people were detained. Many journalists on hand to cover the drama also found themselves attacked. Riot police forcibly removed journalists, even arresting one, and began confiscating cameras. One journalist got his camera returned an hour later, but the memory card had been removed. An Al Jazeera camera crew was searched and their footage confiscated.

“The violence used by the police in an attempt to suppress any visual record of this demonstration was particularly disturbing,” commented Reporters Without Borders. “The authorities cannot continue to ignore the 6 April protests.” More interestingly, a webpage was created specifically for the protest that kept track of who was arrested and where they were transported to. This then enabled volunteer lawyers to come to the defense of the protesters and get their release. In the past, detainees would be sucked in without any assistance, but activist response this time around forced the government to release people, which show signs that activists are now attempting to hit back.



Iranian Censors Offer “Suggested Browsing”

The CRIME Report recently reported that it has been officially banned in Iran. Now correspondents inside the country reveal that the “blocked message” page that comes up when accessing The CRIME Report (andIran any other banned site) has become a bit cheerier. “Happy New Year toall Iranians!” greets the page, before offering a list of “useful links” for people to visit.

Here is a sample of the Iranian censor’s suggested topics of sites to browse:

Our correspondents in Iran comment: “The ‘useful links’ are hardly useful, but the new screen is quite amusing. It gives readers a unique opportunity to peek at the good old days, before the advent of the Internet, when the state had the upper hand in forcing preapproved reactionary propaganda on the public. And the New Year message is the censors’ sad attempt at ingratiating themselves with the annoyed user.”



Wanted Justice for Migrant Workers

Sitting in his apartment in Beirut flipping through newspapers, Wissam Saliby was shocked to read that four young migrant workers had committed suicide in just twelve days. His heart overflowing with sorrow, Wissam had a dream: “that migrant domestic workers will be treated humanly in Lebanon and will stop trying to commit suicide.” To fulfill that dream, Wissam launched a blog and joined forces with Migrant Rights. But Wissam initially felt uneasy putting his name on a blog dealing with suicides and deaths and did not want to get ‘fame’ from the misery of other people. He has now opened up about his story in an interview with The CRIME Report.

Why did you decide to advocate for the rights of migrant workers? 
In October of 2009, the newspapers ran a few brief reports on an “unexplained” wave of deaths among migrant domestic workers. When four young women were discovered defenestrated or hanged within only twelve days, without much regard from authorities, I created a blog. It was as simple as that, and I was not sure if anyone would pay attention. Countries in the Mideast are notorious for discriminatory migrant sponsorship laws, known as the kafala system. This system strips migrant workers of most civil rights and irrevocably ties them to their employer sponsor. This system opens the door for uncontrolled abuses that sometimes include beatings, rape, and torture. 

What contribution do you hope to make? 
In response to brief cold news reports, I launched a blog that brings attention to the tragedies of Ethiopian, Nepalese, Bengali and Pilipino domestic workers in Lebanon. Their stories are too often downscaled or ignored and need to be heard - and regarded with the same level of care and concern as those of other victims of civil rights abuse. Stories published in L.A. Times, the Guardian, CNN, and other newspapers have featured my blog to help raise awareness abroad. I also joined forces with the organization called Migrant Rights where, together with other activists from the Mideast, I report on the abuses in Lebanon. Today 30 to 80 people visit my blog daily, a significant number for an issue-focused blog in a small country like Lebanon.

How can other people help your efforts? 
Our main mission right now is to spread awareness and to encourage social action. You can help with our mission by linking your Facebook profile to Migrant Rights website, to Ethiopian Suicides Blog and posting frequent news updates in all your social network sites. You can also follow my blog.

QUIZ: What clothes can get you arrested in the UAE?

ANSWER: The Lungi. This wraparound dress worn in numerous Southeast Asian cultures is not allowed to be worn in public in the UAE province of Sharjah. Last week, police arrested an Indian man for this alleged crime, informing him during interrogation that wearing a lungi in public is against the law. As the arrested man later told a local newspaper: “My lungi fully covered my legs. Why did the police have to arrest me while you see so many people wearing revealing dresses in public whom no one stops?”


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