ISSUE #83 CONTENTS:
- Cairo Human Rights Film Fest Goes Live
- Ali’s Family Appeals to Hillary Clinton
- WANTED No More: Kareem Amer Free
- Quiz: How Do You Get 25 Lashes in Front of the Office of an Electric Company?
- Become a Partner in CRIME
- Forward this newsletter to friends & encourage them to subscribe.
- Support Ali Abdulemam by joining the Free Ali Facebook Group
- Join 11,000 others in demanding Nokia stop aiding Iran's crackdown.
SPOTLIGHT CASES:
Cairo Human Rights Film Fest Goes Live
Back in 2008, Dalia Ziada, The CRIME Report's North Africa editor and director of AIC’s Egypt office, struggled to launch the Cairo Human Rights Film Festival. After permits were denied and theaters refused to host screenings, Dalia staged opening night aboard a tourist boat on the Nile. Now, two years later, the film fest (which opens Saturday) is garnering international attention and its screenings at a major theater will be broadcast live on the Internet.
This year's festival features a dynamic range of films from documentaries to animations to fictional dramas. Directors from around the world submitted entries (read interviews with ten directors here). Highlights include "2081" - an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s story "Harrison Bergeron" featuring Arnie Hammer, star of the recent hit film "The Social Network." In 2081 everyone is forced to be equal: If you are a gifted dancer you are covered in weights, if you are intelligent a piercing noise disrupts your thinking. But one young man dares to be unequal on live TV.
Other stand-outs films include "Breaking the Silence," a documentary by a young Yemeni filmmaker Ammar Basha on his country's "Akhdam," the descendants of African slaves who continue to face legal and social discrimination. A short animated film explores each of the 30 freedoms cited in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which turns 62 right after the film festival.
For complete details, visit http://www.CairoFilm.org and follow the screenings live online via Bokra Radio.
Ali's Family Appeals to Hillary Clinton
Ali Abdulemam has been in prison since September with almost no contact to the outside world. His wife Jenan Al-Oraibi has been left to raise their three children on no income. Upon learning that US Secretary of State Hilllary Clinton was visiting Bahrain this week, the 28-year-old Al-Oraibi has written a letter to appealing for intervention in her husband’s case.
Al-Oraibi - who previously witnessed her husband being arrested in 2005 – writes that he has been subject to the "crudest forms of torture and physical and psychological abuse throughout his time in prison." Her appeal notes that Ali has virtually disappeared and that before he appeared in court he was not allowed to see a lawyer against Bahraini law.
The last part of the letter takes on a personal appeal. The Leeds educated Al-Oriabi speaks of how her husband was summarily fired from his job at Gulf Air after working there for 13 years with no issues. The letter describes the agony being separated from her husband, "with my husband’s arrest alone we are immediately faced real suffering that increases with the continuation of my husband's absence which agonizes me and his three children." Now it remains to be seen if the Secretary of State will respond.
WANTED No More: Kareem Amer Free
When he was sentenced to four years in jail simply for writing on his blog, Kareem Amer became an icon of young Middle Eastern reformers under fire. But after serving out his full prison term, Kareem is at last free. In a special interview, he speaks to The CRIME Report about his ordeal in prison and his principled stand for free speech.
Has your experience in jail left you traumatized?
No negative changes have occurred within me. On the contrary, my strength and determination seem to be stronger. If it were not for what happened to me over the past four years, I would never have known that I have so much power within me. The main reasons why I was arrested and sentenced were my personal beliefs and my dedication to the civil liberty causes in my country. If I were not that dedicated and convinced about the righteousness of my battle, I would not have sacrificed my freedom for it.
How did you spend your time in jail?
Reading was one of my favorite activities, even if I could not do as much as I wanted, due to the lack of books available in jail. However, I managed to read books I never had the chance to before such as "Children of Gebelawi" from Naguib Mahfouz and the books put out by Dar Merit publishers. I also read newspapers and watched TV.
What message would like to send to Middle Eastern youth and to the world?
Nowadays, youth are more powerful than ever and are able to challenge ignorance and injustice by their own means. This is thanks to new technologies that defy government control and censorship. In fact, young people can have more impact on society than their elders, who are more afraid of repression.
Quiz: How Do You Get 25 Lashes in Front of the Office of an Electric Company?
Answer: Report on protests over power outages in Saudi Arabia. Residents in the Saudi town of Qubba had complained to the local electric company about unreliable power, with outages hurting businesses and causing damage to home appliances. When a group of residents gathered in front of the company offices to protest, journalist Fahd al-Jukhaidib wrote about the gathering and the power disruptions. Two years after the “illegal” article appeared, a local court has handed down a sentence requiring the reporter to receive 25 lashes in front of the electric company and spend two months in prison.
BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here are some ways you can contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement:
