Ahmed Maher: Egypt

Status:
Update November 08, 2010: Watch a recent interview of Ahmed Maher on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace web site for Egypt's Elections. Also available in Arabic on the site.

Under observation by Egyptian government; three of his colleagues have been abducted and questioned about his activism since September 9th, 2010.

Activism:
General coordinator of the April 6th Youth Movement, member of the Democratic Front Party and Ex-member of Elghad party. Ahmed Maher is a blogger, a member of the coordinating group of Youth for Change Movement, and member of Kefaya Movement. He was previously arrested in April 2006 and July 2008. He was abducted in May 2008 and brutally beaten and tortured by Egyptian State Security in an attempt to force him to give the password of a Facebook group he made with over 73,000 members that called for a general strike in Egypt.

Current Situation in Country:
The Egyptian State Security has been actively suppressing pro-democracy efforts, as illustrated in the recent abductions of three prominent activists (all members of the Democratic Front Party). These are: Amr Salah, human rights defender and researcher at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; Ahmed Eid, active DFP member; and Shady Elghazaly Harb, Assistant Lecturer of General Surgery at Cairo University. All three were released within 40 hours of their abduction, and were questioned about Ahmed Maher.

More Information:
http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=impression&id_article=38298 and
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/05/16/egypt-torture-for-bloggers-and-activists/

Suggestions for Action:
-Create a video of solidarity in support for Ahmed’s work as an activist. Let him know that there is great international attention to his cause and will continue to be in the face of future injustice.
-Write letters to local embassies to voice concern over freedom of expression and association in Egypt, and call for an end to emergency law.