UPDATE: Violent Crackdown at Ministry of Interior Protest

it is 17:54 in cairo, protest started as planned at 17:00 in front of the ministry of interior to protest the brutal murder of Khaled Said at the hands of security force officers last week and ongoing usage of torture in Egypt

follow here and here for live video feed updates

Arabawy's last feed:

reports over twitter that many arrests have been made, the police force according to Arabawy is lead by officer Hisham el-Iraqi.

The approx 200 protestors are now encircled and the police force is closing in on them

Security forces arrested lawyer Malek Adly from Hisham Mubarak, Emad Mubarak (then released again by 18:12 according to RamyRaoof), Mohamed Waked, Ashraf Omar, Shadi and Hani el-hosseiny

and

Islam Al-Zanaty, Mohamed Nowar (according to ielsakka)

latest kidnapped activists reported by Emad Mubarak at 18:40:

Ahmed Badawy, Hosam Al-Sayad, Amr Ali, Nour Ayman Nour, Ali Hassan, Mostafa el-hosseiny, Samir Girgis and confirming Islam AL-Zenaty

According to RamyRaoof by 18:00 security forces had arrested 20 activists this number raised to estimates between 25 (RamyRaoof) and 60 by 18:25 (according hossam_karama)

Activists urgently calling for water supplies

Those leaving the protest are promised to go free and then arrested once outside of the cricle (Arabawy)

Ayman Nour reported to be in hospital according to btnafas7oria

Despite police brutality and kidnapping, protesters standing strong

We say NO to torture

At 19:30 demonstrators negotiations with security fail. Demonstrators won't leave till detainees are released via SarahCarr

urgent update 19:55:

security forces kidnap blogger-activist hossam el-hamalawy, ahmed kheir

update via ramyraoof:

new names:

rasha azb-ahmed kheir-malek mostafa-yehia sami-hassan hamdan-mohamed ansari-fouad fawaz-mohamed hosny-maikel nabil- mamdoh safwt

latest via SarahCarr:

security releasing people one by one, kidnapping those wanted

latest image from the scene

at 21:05 security forces are releasing the protesters two by two, only a small group left surrounded

at 21:10 blogger hossam el-hamalawy picked up at hospital and TravellweW taking him home.

Protest taking place at High Court for those kidnapped

Joining the protest now

Responding to the Lies of a Crumbling State

A response from the Nadeem Center to the Ministry of Interior's statement on the Murder of Khaled Said:

We shall not back down as long as you don't

On the 12th of June 2010 the department of media and public relations of the Egyptian ministry of interior issued a statement denying the content of the testimonies of eyewitnesses as well as reports by human rights organizations regarding the killing of Khaled Said in Alexandria, accusing those statement of inaccuracy, flagrant falsification, and crossing the line in dissemination of lies etc. the following is our reply:

The statement by the MOI refers to "certain elements and circles": We are not "elements" or "certain circles". We are human rights organizations which will not stop to monitor and expose each and every violation committed by the MOI, as well as its violation of rights, the law, the constitution and international conventions ratified by the Egyptian government to boast the international community, while it exercises all forms of humiliation and oppression against Egyptians, men and women, every day in each police station, security office, and detention center. Our names are known, our addresses are known and our statements are public.

MOI refers to "two police staff from the investigation unit at sidi Gaber police station in Alexandria who, while observing the security situation on the 7th of the current month in one of the streets of Cleopatra district, saw the convict/ Khaled Mohamed Said Sobhi accompanied by one of his friends; and when they approached to arrest him…" Why did the police informers go to arrest Khaled. Did they have an arrest warrant. If it is true, as claimed by the MOI, that Khaled was wanted for two court sentences, why didn’t an official police force in uniform go to his house and arrest him from there, after showing the arrest warrant and the alleged court sentences?

Why couldn't Khaled swallow the wrapped narcotics found in his throat, which MOI claims has resulted in his death of asphyxia? Could it be that this pack of narcotics was forcefully stuffed down his throat after he was dead, so he failed to swallow it, since, as we all know, the dead can not swallow? Is that what the MOI did in those ten minutes during which Khaled was taken away in a police car and then returned to the spot where he was beaten to death? How could Khaled, with a throat stuffed with that alleged narcotic pack scream "I am dying" while the informers were hitting his head against the marble of the stairs?

More questions to pose:

What were the chief investigation officer of Sidi Gaber police station and the director of Alexandria investigation department doing at the office of the prosecution yesterday, moving around freely from one prosecutor's office to the other, while an important eye witness had to wait for four whole hours in front of that same office, uselessly waiting for his testimony to be taken by a prosecutor who said "he did not have the time"?

How can the prosecutor claim, as a law and not medical graduate, that the fractures and disfigurements of Khaled's face and head were the result of autopsy? What was the forensic department looking for that necessitated a fracture of the skull, a dislocation of the jaw and the excessive bleeding? Were they looking for the narcotics inside his skull although MOI claimed it was stuck in his trachea?

Why did the public prosecutor issue a circular banning the photocopying of Khaled's file by the lawyers who had to go through the file and take hurried notes?

How does MOI and the prosecution refer to a forensic report that has not yet been issued and was nowhere to be found inside the file?

The MOI statement says that "the police authorities are committed to the law and human rights principles within the framework of the state's policy".. and we are committed to change that state's police which at the UN human rights council rejected the ratification of the optional protocol of CAT as well as a mechanism which allows for indirect individual complaints to the UN, thereby securing its immunity and complacency of the prosecution which seeks to protect the perpetrators of torture.

The MOI statement then concluded that it will not "back down no matter how much the allegations". Nor shall we, no matter how much MOI spread their lies and terror. We shall continue to expose crimes of torture, reach out for the victims, provide legal, psychological and media support as well as all other forms of support until the torturers are brought to justice.. As long as there is no public apology.. as long as there is torture.. as long as the perpetrators are not brought to justice.. we shall not back down

Egypt: Torture as the Norm

Over the past few months I have been working on a video project about torture, so when I heard about the public beating and murder of 28-year old Khaled Sayed Thursday night it came as no surprise. According to blogger Mfatta7, Khaled had either filmed or obtained a video that reveals a number of police officers involved in a drug deal. This is the video provided by his sister:



Once again to most Egyptians neither the police involvement in drug dealing, nor security forces' use of torture for a personal vendetta comes as a surprise. And yet, this time there is an outrage that started on the streets of Alexandria and has spread around the country because the act was done so blatantly... and the news and images have spread online. On Sunday June 6 security agents sought to carry out a random search of the internet cafe Khaled was in. Following Egypt's emergency law amendments such random searches are not legal and he refused. Consequently he was beaten to death, his body was taken to a nearby police station and according to the man's uncle, Khaled's body was later thrown in front of his home.

Meanwhile there is an Egyptian delegation at the UN Human Rights Council trying to whitewash the Egyptian governments image on torture and other rights violations. Reporting from Geneva, Hosam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights told Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm that, the government had pledged to "revisit the articles identifying torture in the penal code." The representatives furthermore promised to set up an "institutional mechanism" to follow up on the commitments made to the council. A similar mechanism the government set up to assess minimum wage needs in 2003 failed to ever meet, much less implement any changes. Aida Seif-Aldawla from the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence told AP, "we live in a country where there is absolutely no law. We want the sacking and trial of the head of the police."

So while government officials bullshit their way through UN apparatuses...

join us at a protest at the Ministry of Interior at 5pm Sunday

قصة من اعتصامات مجلس الشعب

قصة من اعتصامات مجلس الشعب from tabulagaza on Vimeo.

for translation visit

عمال مصر تضامنا مع اسطول الحرية

The Egyptian Shura Council Elections Masquerade

I was rudely awoken this morning at 9:30... "are you following the news?" I heard... the only "news" I could think of, was that I was still reeling from the Israeli massacre on the Gaza flotilla yesterday and editing till 3:30am...

Shortly thereafter I found myself in a taxi heading to Nadeem Center to meet up with Haitham to follow the chaos of Egyptian elections for the Council of Ministers. Personally, I have no experience in life that has made me have any in faith in electoral processes.

My taxi driver- 62 years old- told me he didn't have an election ID, nor did he ever have one, nor has he ever known anyone who has an election ID- and he has many relatives, five brothers and over 50 nephews- except for one: a brother-in-law, but he died.

So I ended up in Helwan and this is what I saw:



These voters tried to storm the polling station because they were prevented from voting.

When people asked for the rules, it turns out security were in the wrong and everyone there is was permitted to vote using their nation ID:



But it didn't matter. They weren't allowed in anyway.

They made up a new rule that says unless you have the little red card, you don't get in to vote. So in this last station in a district with 12,000 registered voters, only five entered the polling station to cast their vote, all of them NDP members.

This man is saying (paraphrased)... we live in shitty conditions here, our children can't find jobs, if you would see the poverty we live in, we want change, so we came to vote for it...



And so like anybody would these people held a protest:



I am no fan of organized religion, but I would be in that crowd too, did I not believe in elections to begin with.

Change will come from below.

Irish Boat the MV Rachel Corrie proceeding to Gaza #flotilla

via aliabunimah.posterous.com:

I received the following message from a member of the Belfast Palestine Solidarity Committee which has received word from the Free Gaza Movement that those aboard the Irish vessel "Rachel Corrie" have decided to proceed to Gaza. A full press release is expected shortly.

Niamh Moloughney of the Free Gaza Movement has just sent the following message :

>> Ok just got word from Derek,
>> they have all agreed to take the Rachel Corrie to Gaza as intended,
>> she's 2 days away, it's a Malaysian & Irish partnership
>> on board we have Denis Halliday, Mairead Maguire, Derek & Jenny Graham, Fiona Thompson (film)
>> and Mathias Chang human rights lawyer, Malaysian MP & media - bios attached
>> The Malaysians are serious contenders- they are very close to their government & have FULL support.
>> We have 2 days to turn this outrage into a victory & get the Rachel Corrie into Gaza with the support of the world
>> and open this sea route.
>> Will get press release together when I finish work - hopefully can stay awake!
>> all the best,
>> Niamh

It's vital that we now give full support to this ship reaching Gaza.

and here the "weapons" found aboard the Marmara where Israeli soldiers massacred 19 activists:

One more bloody Israeli massacre

Israeli troops storm the Turkish aid boat:

Protests in Istanbul following the massacre:

Live from the Flotilla: Break the Siege on Gaza

and by ipadio (in English) here

Amonsito Workers Will Return