On Thursday May 10th we will blog, tweet, share news on Facebook and other social media, we will make noise!
On Friday May 4th, hundreds of Egyptians were arrested during the protest in the area surrounding the Ministry of Defense (MoD). The Military Junta claimed that the Ministry of Defense building was under threat in an attempt to justify the brutality and the massive arrests that followed. Such a claim can easily be refuted judging the distance separating the Ministry from the demonstration itself, the amount of armed forces present, and the fact that there was no serious attempts to break the military barricades.
Most of the people were arrested from the streets surrounding the protest location: some were taken from Al-Nour Mosque where they were hiding peacefully (including volunteers and medics from the field hospital); many detainees were taken from hospitals where they were receiving urgent medical attention; numerous arrests were reported from streets far off the protest area where people were simply trying to leave.
There are dozens of disappeared and hundreds of detainees (320 documented cases, though various groups fear the number is much bigger). On a daily basis, the No Military Trials campaign receives information about new undeclared detainees, or gets surprised by the release of unregistered ones despite the continuous attempts to get information from the military prosecution. The detainees and the disappeared join thousands of prisoners in military jails. Since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians have been the target of arbitrary arrests, fabricated accusations, standing military tribunals, and receiving unjust jail sentences -- in some cases, up to 25 years. The military trials didn´t even spare minors and kids as young as 14 years old. On May 5th, during the solidarity protest in front of the Military Prosecutor´s office, four people were violently beaten and arrested. They too risk to stand military trials. This is a new and escalated repression wave from the Military Junta, and WE NEED YOUR HELP.
On Thursday May 10th, we invite you to join us in an electronic protest demanding the freedom of the detainees. We invite you to contact media both locally and internationally, and send faxes or call the Egyptian embassy in your country of residence.
We encourage you to blog about this cause, tweet about it, post on your Facebook wall and on groups you might be a part of, send emails to human rights groups... use your imagination to express your support to the detainees and those facing charges. Stress the following:
1- Demand freedom for all the detainees and the dropping of all the fabricated charges (what constitutes a political message of intimidation from the Military Junta);
2- 6 of the detainees we know of are minors, and many detainees are students who are to present their final exams and are at high risk of failing their year;
3- Demand medical attention and care for the detainees taken from hospitals;
4- An immediate end to the brutal torture taking place, and a guarantee of safety of all detainees providing those tortured with the needed medical attention;
5- Demand the lifting of obstacles imposed by the military in the provision of food, medicines and basic needs to the detainees;
6- Demand that the military prosecution provide information about all the detainees they have and their whereabouts so lawyers and families can contact them and provide the needed support.
7- An immediate end of military tribunals and the freedom of all detainees.
We will soon provide links to news and videos about this massive wave of repression to be used in blogs, tweets, and on Facebook... and everywhere!
Use your keyboard, make noise for Egypt´s detainees.
https://www.facebook.com/events/231114876997753/
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