Sign On: Condemn Arrest And Torture of Human Rights and Legal Workers in Egypt

The NLG-NYC is collecting signatures of lawyers, legal organizations, and supportive organizations for this statement. Click here to sign on, or email info@al-awdany.org!

National Lawyers Guild NYC Chapter Condemns Arrest and Torture of Human Rights and Legal Workers by Mubarak Regime and Demands Their Immediate Release

After almost one week of peaceful mass protests by the people of Egypt, the Mubarak regime continues to refuse the wishes of the people and has, instead, launched a brutal assault against the Egyptian people, leaving ten dead and thousands more wounded.

On February 3, 2011 at approximately 3:30 p.m., Mubarak’s intelligence agents raided the Hisham Mubarak Legal Aid Center. The legal workers and human rights advocates were severely beaten and taken into state custody to an unknown location, for an unknown duration and without probable cause. In this atmosphere of chaos and impunity, the National Lawyers Guild – NYC Chapter (NLG-NYC) issues its strongest condemnation and appeals to all human rights organizations and legal unions to stand in defense of the workers of the Hisham Mubarak Legal Aid Center and all human rights workers who have come under increasing attack under the Mubarak regime.

The NLG-NYC calls on U.S. government officials to exert pressure on the Mubarak regime to ensure the safe and immediate release of the workers of the Hisham Mubarak Legal Aid Center and all victims of wrongful imprisonment, and calls on all human rights advocates to join the campaign for the release of the legal aid workers and to monitor the conditions of the legal workers until they are released.

Human rights advocates have historically played a pivotal role in defense of people seeking the restoration of their basic rights to life and liberty. In times of uprising, the role of the legal aid workers becomes more critical as they are tasked with defending the people against false charges and bear the great burden of documenting the abuses the people suffer. It is imperative that all legal aid and human rights workers be free to conduct their duty of serving the people.

We also call for the immediate end of all Egyptian government orchestrated attacks against the pro-democracy movement in Egypt and call on the government of the United States to end its support for the Mubarak regime by terminating all military aid to Egypt until democratic elections are held. The U.S. government should also refrain from backing newly-appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman, who is notorious for his participation in human rights abuses and is viewed by the pro-democracy movement as part of Mubarak’s regime.

We further call on the international community to launch an investigation in preparation for prosecution of the crimes against humanity and other gross violations of human rights law as committed by the Mubarak regime against the people of Egypt.

The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.

We are asking lawyers, legal workers, and legal and activist organizations to sign on to this statement. It will be widely distributed and sent to the White House, the State Department and the Justice Department.

Sign On Here!

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Current Signatories

Signatories – Lawyers, Legal Workers, Law Students and Legal Organizations
National Lawyers Guild Executive Committee, New York
Center for Constitutional Rights
Case Western Reserve University Student Chapter National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild Labor and Employment Committee
National Lawyers Guild International Committee
National Lawyers Guild Free Palestine Subcommittee
Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice
US Human Rights Network

Dean Hubbard, Washington, DC, USA
Lamis Deek, Attorney, New York, NY, USA
Suzanne Adely, New York, NY, USA
Lama Fakih, New York, NY, USA
Bradley Parker, International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at CUNY*, New York, NY, USA
Michael Letwin, Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys*, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Jamil Dakwar, New York, NY, USA
Jocelyn Rosnick, Cleveland Heights, OH, USA
Annette Dickerson, New York, NY, USA
Leili Kashani, New York, NY, USA
Charlotte Kates, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Robin Alexander, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Judy Somberg, National Lawyers Guild Massachussetts Chapter*, Cambridge, MA, USA
Natraj Bhushan, CUNY School of Law*, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Lucy Rodrigueza, USA
Victoria Sanford, Lehman College Center for Human Rights*, New York, NY, USA
Gregory Butterfield, New York, NY, USA
Martha L. Schmidt, Seattle, WA, USA
R. Michael Flynn, NLG SF Bay Area*, Oakland, CA, USA
Veronica Musa, USA
Russell Bates, Berkeley, CA, USA

Signatories – Activist Groups and Supporters

Al-Awda New York: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
International Action Center
National Education Association – Human Rights Caucus
New York City Labor Against the War
US Palestinian Community Network
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
WESPAC Foundation

Paul Teitelbaum, Tucson, AZ
Karen Pomer, Los Angeles, CA
Marion Munk, Middlesex County College*, USA’
Michael Corcoran, New York, NY, USA
Sangeeta Kamat, Amherst, MA, USA
Joan Hill, Murfreesboro, TN, USA
Dorothy Ji, East Brunswick, NJ, USA