Raed in the Middle - Brother Khalid in jail, day 3

Who is Khalid and why should you care
Khaled is involved in many peace organizations and the whole family worked with Marla Ruzicka on the project to count the Iraqi civilian deaths caused by the war.

Update [2005-7-25 5:13:45 by lawnorder]: As of Saturday 7/23/05 Khalid is free Raed in the Middle: Khalid Is Free!

Fear and worry

My mom freaked out yesterday and deleted all the Arabic posts on her blog. She thinks the Iraqi government would keep khalid imprisoned if they knew his family is anti-occupation and critical to the current regime. She reminded me of what my old friend Salam (aka salam pax) did three years ago when he deleted our joint blog fearing that Iraq's old mukhabarat would find it, I couldn't sleep that night.

I can't sleep tonight either.

history repeats itself
:*)

posted by Raed Jarrar @ 4:25 AM

Please sign the petition
A few days ago a member of the international blogging community named Khalid Jarrar, and Iraqi blogger was picked up by Mokhabarat (iraqi intelligence) at his university and remains under custody.
http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/820522461

Update [2005-7-17 15:9:27 by lawnorder]: Apparently Khalil's mother has requested that we keep a low profile as she fears too much international attention may make things worse. Pray for Khalil if you want to help. I'd like to still ask you to sign the petition. We can keep it online gathering support without forwarding it to the Iraq embassy. And when and if their family wishes the proof of international support, we will have it ready.

This is yesterday's diary on the subject: Daily Kos: Juan Cole pleads for jailed Iraqi blogger - please help you can read the whole story at his brother's blog: http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com Raed, is of course, part of the dynamic duo that made up the famous Bagdad Blogger blog.

Neocon "compassion" shows itself: kick them when they are down
(after signing the petition, consider stopping by his brother's blog, as many neocons are posting some awful comments, kicking this people when they are down -- law)

Jeffrey said...

    Raed, this is called BLOWBACK.

    You never once sympathized with the difficult jobs that good Iraqis like Shahristani and Hoshyar Zebari were trying to do. You could only call them stupid idiots and puppets

Yesterday Juan Cole wrote (not in his blog anymore ?)

Iraqi Blogger Jailed
Iraqi blogger Khalid has been tossed into jail, apparently for being critical of the Iraqi government on the Web. The arrest was reported by Riverbend.
Please consider writing in protest. The consular email address is bouncing. But this is the other contact information from the web site:
' 1801 P Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 Tel: [phone]
Embassy hours: Monday-Friday 9:30 AM - 5 PM Consular Section hours: Tuesday-Thursday 10 AM - 3 PM
Please note: [e-mail] will continue to operate. However, the new general e-mail address is [e-mail].
Ambassador's Office Fax: [phone]
Faiz Al-Gailani Counselor / Deputy Chief of Mission Fax: [phone] '
Also, note that your congressional representative or senator may have some pull here.
posted by Juan @ 7/16/2005 08:30:00 AM

Applicable Law lawnorder: TAL - The current Iraq law : Freedom of Expression is in it Those who arrested Khalil are following the law, as they let he call his family yesterday. Yet they have not disclosed anything else which makes it hard to be at ease, for those who worry about Khalil and his family's fate. But if they follow the current law, I believe Khalil will have nothing to fear.

The current Iraq law supports freedom of expression, and innocence until proven guilty specifically Articles 13 and 15 of the "TAL" - as the LAW OF ADMINISTRATION FOR THE STATE OF IRAQ FOR THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD, approved on March 8, 2004 is called

http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/TAL.html

Article 13. (A) Public and private freedoms shall be protected. (B) The right of free expression shall be protected. (C) The right of free peaceable assembly and the right to join associations freely, as well as the right to form and join unions and political parties freely, in accordance with the law, shall be guaranteed. (D) Each Iraqi has the right of free movement in all parts of Iraq and the right to travel abroad and return freely. (E) Each Iraqi has the right to demonstrate and strike peaceably in accordance with the law. (F) Each Iraqi has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religious belief and practice. Coercion in such matters shall be prohibited. ...

Article 15. (C) No one may be unlawfully arrested or detained, and no one may be detained by reason of political or religious beliefs. (D) All persons shall be guaranteed the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, regardless of whether the proceeding is civil or criminal. Notice of the proceeding and its legal basis must be provided to the accused without delay. (E) The accused is innocent until proven guilty pursuant to law, and he likewise has the right to engage independent and competent counsel...