DigiActive.org

Campaign: Iran - Protesting Online Against the Canadian Embassy

Description: About 670 Iranian-Canadians have signed a petition to Ottawa’s political leaders protesting what they say is worsening discrimination against Iranians who want to visit Canada, some of them internationally known dissidents on the blacklist of the regime. Only a minority of several hundred Iranian artists and intellectuals invited to Toronto events this summer were granted visas.

Tools: Blog, Petition, Email

How these tools have been used:A Visa for Ordinary Iranians blog explains the situation and provides the addresses where people can sign the petition. It also informs how media covers this petition issue. People who can not post the petition or take it to six different locals, are asked to send an email to support this initiative.

Objective : Visa for Ordinary Iranians blog says that the goal is to collect 1000 signatures before 14th of October.

Impact: Lawmakers may pay attention to their requests as Iranian community is a large one in Canada but 1000 signatures are not that much. If this news finds itself through Canadian mainstream media, the impact of the petition will undoubtably grow.

Action Alert: 4 Ways You Can Help Free Moroccan Blogger Mohammed Erraji

As you may have been following through the DigiActive Twitter Feed, Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji was arrested last Friday, September 5th following the publication on the online news site Hespress.com of an article entitled “The King Encourages His Subject’s Dependency” (English) He was sentenced 72 hours later, in an expedited trial without assitance from a lawyer, to two years in jail and a fine of 5000MAD for “failure to uphold the respect due to the king”.

In a movement of solidarity reminiscent of the one which surrounded the campaign to help free Facebook prisonner Fouad Mourtada earlier this year,  the Moroccan blogosphere was quick to mobilize and condemn the arrest. Various international organizations such as Reporters without Borders, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and IFEX also issued statements calling for his immediate release. On Thursday September 11th, citing procedural misteps, a court in the southern city of Agadir granted him bail and he has been “provisionally released” pending his appeal trial next Tuesday.

Supporters who have set up www.HelpErraji.com , Moroccan bloggers and online activists are circulating messages calling all who support Mohammed Erraji to express their solidarity and contribute to the international mobilisation to free him. They have outlined a series of steps and actions including signing an online petition, joining a facebook group, sending photo messages and participating in a blog strike next monday:

1. Express Support by Sending Photo Messages:

You can display your solidarity by taking a picture of yourself with a message to Free Mohammed Erraji. Please also write where you are from in the message then send the photo to PhotoErraji@gmail.com, everyone who has a camera should participate! All the submitted photos can be viewed on this Flickr account.

2. Join the Facebook Group:

Express your support by joining the “Free Moroccan Blogger Mohammed Erraji” group and help amplify the message by changing your profile picture to the following. Don’t forget to also invite your friends!

3. Sign the Petition:

A petition calling for the immediate acquittal of Mohammed Erraji and the suspension of his sentence is available at www.helperraji.com

4. Participate in the Blogoma (Moroccan Blogsphere) Blog Strike :

Monday September 15th, on the eve of the appeal trial, several Moroccan bloggers and others around the world will start a blog strike that will last 24 hours. Those who wish to join to this movement will announce that their blog is on strike, indicate the reason they chose to participate in the strike, mention the details of the case and link back to the site put up in support for Mohammad Erraji. To introduce others to the strike several bloggers are ciculating a short descriptive text, and the english translation has been made available by blogger Jillian York.

Tactic: Saudi Activist Uses Youtube to Advocate for Womens’ Right to Drive…

Description: On International Women’s Rights day, a video of a woman in Saudi Arabia defying the country’s ban on female drivers in urban areas was posted on the video-sharing site YouTube. At the wheel of her car, rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider, describes the injustice and appeals to the Saudi Government to expand women’s rights in the country and lift the ban.

Organizer: Human Rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider. 125 other people signed an accompanying petition that was delivered to the Saudi Ministry of interior that same day.

Purpose of Action: To celebrate International Women’s Rights day and call for the lifting of the ban on female drivers in Saudi Arabia.

Organizing Tools: The video was uploaded to and posted on the video-sharing site Youtube.com

Outcome: The story was picked up by all major international news organizations which has helped to widely publicize the action. Bloggers around the world have also helped amplify the message by writing on the story and posting links to the video, which has so far been viewed more than 120,000 times.

Link to Video with English dubbing

Action Alert: Flood the Jail with Mail

What? “Flood the Jail with Mail” campaign in support of detained Egyptian blogger Kareem Suleiman

When?  April 7th through April 21st

Where? From around the world to a jail cell in Alexandria, Egypt

How? Supporters are urged to send their messages of solidarity by mail to Kareem to the following address:

Alexandria, Borg Al-Arab Prison, Room 1 Section 22, Prisoner Abdul Kareem Nabil Suleiman, The Arab Republic of Egypt, Kareem’s address in Arabic (mandatory to be included on the envelope)

Why? “to remind Egyptian authorities that Kareem, bloggers in general and prisoners of conscience over all, are not alone.”

Who is organizing the action? FreeKareem Campaign and the Committee to Protect Bloggers

Kareem Suleiman is an Egyptian blogger and law student who was arrested by Egyptian authorities on  Read more »