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

ISSUE #76 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

Cairo Heats up over Blogger Death

cairo Our correspondents in Cairo report: Sunday was 93 degrees, relatively cool for Egypt in mid-June – unless you happened to be in Lazoghly Square, where the atmosphere was heated as over 150 people protested the controversial demise of 28 year old blogger Khaled Saeid. Officers in plain clothes and riot gear hauled off 40 demonstrators, many of whom chanted provocatively: “If Khaled were a minister's son then the head of  Adly [Egypt's interior Minister] would roll!”

Protestors gathered to express their outrage after word leaked out that the young blogger had been beaten to death by police officers outside an Alexandria cyber-cafe. The circumstances surrounding Saeid's death remain uncertain. Officials claim the man choked on a bag of narcotics attempted to conceal from police. Yet eyewitnesses report that he was instead the victim of a lethal police beating. Disturbing photos of Saied’s brutalized corpse have been widely circulated on the web. And his family claims he was murdered for video-taping Alexandria police officers dividing the spoils of a drug bust amongst themselves.

The photos in particularly have caused a firestorm of outrage among grassroots activists, prompting the demonstrations in downtown Cairo. Some dubbed Saeid a "martyr” of Egypt’s controversial emergency law, which was recently extended by the government. "I was sure we were going to beat us and probably arrest us, but I insisted on going," explained Ahmed Rafaat, one of the 40 detained protestors, who was interviewed by The CRIME Report after his release. Rafaat has one simple question: "Why did police torture a peaceful man to death?"



No Slack for Slacks: Lubna Al-Hussein on Refusing “Amnesty”

Al-HusseinLubna Al-Hussein made headlines when she was arrested by Sudanese police last July for the crime of... wearing pants. Faced with international scrutiny, the Sudanese regime backed down and offered Lubna amnesty – but she refused. Instead the journalist and women’s rights activist insisted on challenging her sentence in order to repeal the infamous Article 152, frequently used to persecute Sudanese women with flogging for “indecent” attire. Last month at the Oslo Freedom Forum, she gave a highlight presentation justifying her civil rights legal battle – standing before the crowd in gleaming white pants.

Khartoum’s “morality” police arrested Lubna at a social hall along with 12 other women. Ten immediately pled guilty and received ten lashes. Lubna and two others insisted on standing trial. “When I was in the courtroom with other women charged with indecency,” Lubna explained in her talk. “I saw this young Christian girl from southern Sudan who wet herself in fear. At that moment I decided not to remain silent about Sudan’s inhumane laws… Had my own grandmother been alive today, she would have been sentenced to lashings, as unmarried Sudanese women traditionally wore attire that today would be considered revealing.”

Lubna’s talk in Oslo was translated live by HAMSA’s Nasser Weddady, who hailed the Sudanese journalist as an inspiring example of principled civil rights activism. “43,000 women were arrested just in Khartoum in 2008 alone” Lubna told Weddady. “Doesn’t the government have better things to do than women’s clothing? On the day of my trial, Sudanese women came out in drove, not to support me personally, but to demand that these unjust laws be repelled.” Watch a clip of Lubna’s Oslo Freedom Forum address:



WANTED to Unite Americans in Solidarity with Iranians: Sohrab Ahmari

IranAt first glance, Sohrab Ahmari seems like a typical law student, with black-rimmed glasses and a backpack filled with legal tomes. But the young Iranian-American is helping spearhead a new effort to engage Americans of all backgrounds to support civil rights in Iran. Last Friday, The Boston Globe published his heartfelt appeal to fellow Bostonians to stand united in solidarity with Iranian grassroots reformers. And on Saturday, Ahmari helped lead an interfaith vigil in Boston marking the one year anniversary of the brutal post-election crackdown in Iran. The CRIME Report spoke to Ahmari about the roots of his passion and the goals of his advocacy.

How did you experience repression growing up in Iran?
Like many Tehrani families, mine was forced to lead a "double life" - adhering to the strict Islamist code in public while practicing a tolerant version of Islam at home. This included parties hosted by my parents where men and women interacted freely and where political discussions were open. Of course we were in constant fear of being interrupted by Iran's ubiquitous party-poopers: the Basij force. My parents’ friends endured brutal lashings for possessing alcohol, Western music, and other contraband. I will never forget the sight of their permanently bruised backs. I got in serious trouble once when I accidentally brought a Star Wars Betamax cassette to elementary school. Back in those days, even having a video tape of an American movie was a kind of crime.

Why did you start speaking out on Iranian civil rights issues?
I began blogging anonymously about Iran in late 2007, about a decade after I moved to the US. But after the 2009 election and the subsequent uprising, I lost my fear and began writing openly on prominent websites like Tehran Bureau. Like many Iranian-Americans, I figured if my compatriots are risking so much to secure liberty inside Iran, then surely I can speak up here in the US using my real name.

What did you achieve at Saturday’s vigil?
The first accomplishment was putting convening the Free Iran Coalition, a grassroots organization representing Iranian-Americans and non-Iranian allies. We wanted to create a common space for people of all backgrounds to unite in support of free elections and human rights in Iran. I am proud that we recruited co-sponsors and speakers from outside the Iranian-American community, including Amnesty International and ¿Oíste?, the premier Latino-American advocacy organization in Massachusetts. We got statements of support from Senator John Kerry, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Maz Jobrani, the famous Iranian comedian. Despite the rainy afternoon, 150 people came out to send a message of solidarity to people inside Iran that they are not alone.

 

QUIZ: What reporter got 6 months in jail for a kissing photo he did not take?

quizANSWER: Former Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari. As part of the crackdown following last June’s presidential election, Iranian authorities arrested Bahari and detained him for months. An international campaign helped get the journalist released on bail, and he soon left the country. But Bahari was recently sentenced in absentia to 13 years in jail, plus six months. Bahari took to the pages of Newsweek to explain the mysterious extra six months: “Someone tagged a photo of a young man kissing Ahmadinejad so that it appeared on my Facebook wall. My interrogator said that the picture implied that Ahmadinejad was a homosexual and that it was an insult.”


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