NGO Support

Statement of the Solidarity Center

Tunisia 7/5/2001

Statement

Once again freedom of thought and expression is being persecuted and harassed in Egypt as Dr. Nawal El Sadawi, Egyptian Feminist Writer, is facing a court case calling for the annulment of her marriage, accusing her of apostasy.
Those blows to civilization have been on the increase in a number of Arab and Islamic countries raising ignorance and hatred in the face of each and every form of modernization, enlightenment and creativity, alternatively using religion and identity as a pretext.

The list of victims to such oppression of freedom of thought and expression is long: Tugan El Faisal in Jordan; Nasr Abu Zeid in Egypt; Marcel Khalifeh in Lebanon, Hakeema El Shawi in Morocco; Laila Osman in Kuwait.

The series of intellectual terrorism continues, claiming to be defending Islam, aiming to curtail any secular, intellectual or cultural initiative in our countries, labeling every attempt of enlightened thought as an act of apostasy, raising unjustified cases to waste our energies and efforts in the labyrinths of courts. This is happening at a time when we are in dire need of all our efforts and intellectual resources to advance and meet with the cultural, economic and political regional and international challenges that are facing us.

The court case raised against Nawal El Sadawi is a major violation of all humanitarian values and human rights: it is a violation of her right to freedom of expression and an encroachment on her personal freedom and her safety, both of which are granted by the Egyptian constitution and all international conventions.

• We, the Aisha -Arab Women Forum member organizations and in the name of the Solidarity Center announce:
  Our complete and unconditional support and solidarity with Nawal El Sadawi, a pioneer of Arab Feminist thought and a courageous and prominent defender of Arab women's rights.
• Our denouncement of this Inquisition, the persecution of thought and creativity and the violation of our most basic citizenship rights.
  

We call on the political authorities and the judiciary to undertake their responsibility in protecting its citizens and their exercise of their citizenship rights and to stop all Hesba cases.

We also maintain our commitment to challenge and resist each and every violation of women's rights in any Arab country and each and every restriction of their freedom of expression and basic rights.

Solidarity Center
National Coordinator
Safeya Farhat