A new initiative from Egyptian bloggers. The 2007 Cairo Torture Film Fest has opened the nomination doors for its grand awards:
The Golden Whip Award: For the best police torturer
The Silver Whip Award: For the best silent court judge
The Bronze Whip Award: For the audience who are watching the movies, and still vegging
Please submit your nominations to the following blog: Kharbana ya Geda’an!
The NYC-based rights watchdog slammed the Egyptian regime, in a statement yesterday, for going after Howeida Taha, Al-Jazeera reporter who’s been putting together a documentary on police abuse in Egypt and the Arab World.
“The Egyptian government seems willing to do anything to silence discussion of its torture scandal,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “This reaction makes a mockery of any claims by Egypt to be a government that respects human rights.”
UPDATE: The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced govt intimidation against Howeida…
“This case is a sham and reflects this government’s disdain for critical media,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “We call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately drop charges against Howayda Taha Matwali.”
Activists involved in the solidarity with the Sarando peasants (victims of police torture and assaults from NDP-affiliated feudalists) have arranged for buses to be ready, in front of the Lawyers’ Syndicate in Ramses St. at 6 am, to transport any citizen or journalist interested in attending the trial in Damanhour on 22 January.
Your presence is IMPORTANT!