URGENT: From the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies
Help End the Crackdown on the Egyptian Opposition

Dear Supporter of Egyptian Democracy,

Since January, the Egyptian government has embarked upon a ruthless campaign against opposition activists and civil society organizations. On the night of May 30th, Amr Tharwat, an employee at the Ibn Khaldun Center, was arrested by Egyptian State Security forces along with four other men ( Adellatif Mohamed Saied, Ahmed Dahmash, Abdelhamed Abdelrahman, Ahmed El Sayed). It has now been over twenty days since their "forced disappearance" and despite significant local and international efforts nothing has been learned about their whereabouts or the charges filed against them.   The unusually long time period that the men have been held worries local and international human rights groups, and feeds fears that the four men have been subjected to torture while in the custody of Egyptian police.   In a further crackdown, long time democracy and human rights activist Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim has been accused of "espionage" as well as the crime of "damaging the [Egyptian] state's economic interests" under article 77 D of the Egyptian penal code. These charges have been brought as a way to punish Dr. Ibrahim for his work publicizing the recent arrests as well as his efforts to encourage the U.S. government to make its foreign aid to Egypt conditional upon democratic and human rights reforms. 

Unfortunately, the vary section of the 2008 foreign aid bill that Dr. Ibrahim and other members of the Egyptian opposition have championed is very close to being cut by the US Congress.   Many on Capital Hill believe that the matter will be decided by only a handful of votes over the next 48 hours.  For this reason, please contact your local congress people IMMEDIATELY and express your support for Section 699 of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill.   This section would withhold two hundred million dollars from Egypt's military aid if the government does not implement judicial reform, curb police abuse, and destroy the tunnel network entering the Gaza strip.   Making US aid conditional upon democratic reforms and the protection of human rights is the first step in holding authoritarian regimes accountable for their actions.   Please follow the link below in order to contact your local congressmen and women. http://www.capwiz.com/adc/dbq/officials/