Tag: Human rights

Ten years ago: the Abu Salim massacre

HRW, which has recently gotten unprecedented access into Libya, is calling for full disclosure on the 1996 massacre that took place at the Abu Salim prison:

In the summer of 1996, stories began to filter out of Libya about a mass killing in Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison. The details remained scarce, and the government initially denied that an incident had taken place. Libyan groups outside the country said up to 1,200 prisoners had died.

In 2001 and 2002, Libyan authorities began to inform some families with a relative in Abu Salim that their family-member had died, although they did not provide the body or details on the cause of death. In April 2004 Libyan leader Mu`ammar al-Qadhafi publicly acknowledged that killings had taken place in Abu Salim, and said that prisoners’ families have the right to know what took place.

Read the rest for an account of HRW’s investigation and links to Libyan opposition groups.

How to pass your exams in Egypt

Brian Whitaker posted on the Guardian’s blog an article on Alaa Farag Megahed, the high school student who failed her exam because of a composition she wrote critical of Bush.

How to pass your exams in Egypt
Brian Whitaker, June 27, 2006 11:13 AM
“Blessed with abundant supplies of water, fertile soil and a flourishing tourism sector, Egypt has fewer economic problems than most countries in the Middle East. Under the wise leadership of President Hosni Mubarak, its prosperity has increased beyond all expectation …”
Yes, I know, it’s rubbish. But if you’re an Egyptian student and happen to get an exam question on the economic problems facing your country, this would probably be a good way to start. I mean, you do want to pass, don’t you?
According to several reports in the Arabic media, 15-year-old Alaa Farag Megahed, from a girls’ secondary school in the Nile delta, got it all wrong. The examiner marking the papers didn’t like her essay and passed it to his boss, who passed it to the ministry of education. (Full article)

Also, the Arab Press Freedom Watch issued statement calling for a “stand against the killing of free thinking in Egyptian schools.”

Journalist sentenced to one year in prison for “insulting” Mubarak

Ibrahim 3eissa, the popular liberal editor of Al-Dostour, has been sentenced today to one year in prison, for “insulting” the president in an article he published April last year, that included a copy of a lawsuit filed by an Egyptian lawyer against President Hosni Mubarak and his family.
The court sentenced also another Al-Dostour reporter, Sahar Zaki, to a year in prison, together with Sa3eed Mohamed Abdallah Suleiman the lawyer who filed the original lawsuit quoted by Al-Dostour‘s article. Three other reporters were released on a LE10,000 bail, pending their appeal.
The article, published 5 April 2005, Issue 55, included accusations by the lawyer against Hosni Mubarak, Suzan Mubarak, and Gamal Mubarak of “waisting the country’s resources” by “selling the public sector for a cheap price, … squandering foreign aid.” Suleiman demanded, in his lawsuit, that the president “returns LE500 billion to the treasury.” He also accused the president of turning the “Arab Republic of Egypt into a monarchy” and “replacing the constitution with State Security rule.”
Mubarak has usually been a favorite target for criticism on the weekly tabloid’s frontpage.
There will be a press conference in the evening at Al-Dostour’s office, 7pm, 29 Tanta St., 3agouza.
UPDATE: CPJ has issued a statement denouncing the court verdict. Continue reading Journalist sentenced to one year in prison for “insulting” Mubarak

Chain of hatred

I previously posted on the blog a letter from a former Islamist detainee, narrating the torture he went through in prison, during our 1990s Dirty War. I was going through my inbox today, and came across a good article from last September by my friend Sara Khorshid, who writes for Islam Online, and other media outlets.
Sara’s report demonstrates clearly, how the regime’s abuses are breeding the next generation of terrorists. Continue reading Chain of hatred

High school student fails exam for criticizing Bush

Remember when George Bush highlighted reforming education in the region, as a way of fighting “terror,� giving young Arabs a chance for a bright future and bla bla bla bla bla? Well, it seems to be working.
A high school student in a Nile Delta province failed her Arabic language exam two weeks ago for criticizing the US in a composition piece! Yes, I’m not joking wallahi.
Al-Wafd initially ran the story on Thursday, then the Qatari Al-Raya, and other media outlets picked it up. Alaa Farag Megahed, a student at the Sherbeen Modern Girls School, was taking her Arabic exam, when she was asked to write an essay on the “economic problems facing Egypt.�
It seems the girl wrote an essay, critical of Bush, and discussed the support given to corrupt dictators without much concern for their people’s needs.
As soon as her teacher at the “Control Room� (where exam papers are graded) read her essay, he went directly to his boss, who took her paper to the ministry of education branch in Dakahliya. The undersecretary for education, together with other ministry officials, sent for the girl, from her home, and brought her to the ministry for interrogation.
Her father was not allowed into the room, according to press reports, where Alaa was interrogated by three ministry and governorate officials, who accused her of belonging to a “secret organization.� Alaa could not understand half of the questions they asked. She was clueless, in tears. The ministry officials decided in the end to fail her in the exam, and ban her from taking the second term final exams!!!
The world is sure a safer place now, without terrorists like Alaa in our schools… Alhamdolillah!

Leftist detainees released

Ibrahim el-Sahary, detained socialist journalist, called me five minutes ago. He’s free! Cheerful! He said he and a group of the detainees were taken from Tora Prison to State Security Giza premise (Gaber Ibn Hayyan) few hours ago, before they were released, including Wael Khalil, Kamal Khalil, and the rest.

Mabrouk! It’s a great day!

But again, we should NOT forget there are still two Youth for Change activists Mohamed el-Sharqawi and Karim el-Sha3er in Tora Prison, together with at least 700 Muslim Brothers detainees, after their arrest in pro-democracy demos. Their release is a cause leftists, liberals and Islamists have to lobby for.

Statement from 3alaa’s lawyers; New letter from Sharqawi

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has welcomed 3alaa’s release. Still, it denounced the State Security Prosecutor’s office, and called for reviewing its legal status. You can find the English statement here.
The Arabic statement is followed by a scanned copy of a letter from Sharqawi, dated Wednesday, complaining of maltreatment.