FACT: Prominent Egyptian revolutionary Alaa Abd El Fattah was detained yesterday
by the Egyptian Army. He visited the United States just last week to attend a human rights
conference in San Francisco, where many US activists met him in person. Alaa also actively
supports Occupy San Francisco and Occupy Oakland.
FACT: Alaa and other Egyptian activists are calling for an end to the detention and trials of
civilians by military courts. Alaa was detained after he refused to be interrogated by the Army.
FACT: The US spends $1.3 BILLION on SCAF, the Egyptian Army that has detained
thousands of Egyptian civilian activists who are in jail for exercising their human rights.
One was tortured to death by sodomy last week for hiding a cell phone.
FACT: Americans can pressure the people holding the purse strings of the Egyptian
Army, known as The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Phone calls (rather than email)
are the most powerful tool. Here are those people:
US Senator Bob Casey (Democrat-Pennsylvania), is the leader of the Senate Subcommittee
on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs 202-224-6324
US Senator John Kerry (Democrat-Massachusetts) is Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs
Committee Washington D.C. (202) 224-2742
Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) Chair, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign
Affairs: Tel: (202) 225-3931
Perry Cammack, Professional Staff Member, Committee on Foreign Relations, United
States Senate 202-224-4651 Perry_Cammack@foreign.senate.gov
Ask them (or leave a specific message asking them) to do the following:
1. Immediately issue a public statement calling for release of Alaa Abd El Fattah and all
other political prisoners being held by the Egyptian Army.
2. Contact senior Army officials and demand the release of the thousands of political
prisoners in Egypt. Their detention and the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by
SCAF (the Army) are destabilizing efforts to transform Egypt into a civilian-run, democratic
country. It is not acceptable to try civilians in military courts.
3. Issue a public statement on whether SCAF's actions violating human rights of its citizens are
also in violation of US laws regarding foreign aid.
After you have made these phone calls, spread the word on Twitter and Facebook. #FreeAlaa
By the AIDS Policy Project @AIDSPol ( v. 1.0 10-31-2011) in solidarity
Posted via email from lissping
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.