The morning session has started and in the opening remarks the co-founder of Global Voices Online Ethan Zuckerman thanked everybody who came to the summit. Sami Ben Gharbia, the Advocacy director of Global voices noted that some activists could not make the summit due to visa problems and other restrictions.

Some pictures from the summit as it progresses:

The Morning Session:

Rob Faris listening to Rebecca MacKinnon

Some of the panelists

Some of the participants

Nart Villenueve: Detecting internet filtering

More participants

Roger Dingledine: Discussing TOR

Chris Walker: Between TOR & Psiphon

Afternoon Session:

Robert Guerra discussing the user perspective

Participants get interactive

Xiao Qiang on how to empower citizens’ voices

Paul Maassen questioning “is there a need for a fund for cyber activism?”

Participants placed their views

Brainstorming session

Please keep tuned in the summit website and this site for more updates.

On Sunday 11-5-2008 the State Security Court in Damascus stated its verdict on the Syrian blogger Tariq Baiasi who was held in detention since 7-7-2007. Tariq was detained for leaving a comment on websites disfavored by the Syrian government. Free Tariq Campaign condemned the State’s verdict and asks for freedom to the Syrian blogger:

The State Security Court in Damascus has sentenced Tariq to three years after lessening it from six years to three years (originally, Tariq received three years for each of the following charges):

1- Dwindling the national feeling.

2-Weakening the national ethos.

The militarily security arrested Tariq on 7-7-2007 for leaving a comment on websites considered “suspicious” by the Syrian government.

Since Tariq’s family and their lawyer were reluctant to comment on the State’s verdict, we wish that the human rights’ NGOs uncover details about this news.

Meanwhile, we put in your hands the following report published on 23-2-2008 by Syrian Human Rights Organization (Sawasiya) which briefly talks about Tariq’s case:

On 18-2-2008 the Supreme State Security Court had interrogated Tariq Biasi (1984) who was arrested on 7-7-2007 after charging him with “dwindling the national feeling” and “weakening the national ethos” based on Articles 286-285.

Tariq who was arrested because of a comment left on websites considered “suspicious” by the Syrian government, denied leaving the comment and stated that he saw it only after his arrest. He also asserted that the land line, through which the website was accessed, is not his but for a doctor (there are seven branches for this line and while all of them are used, one of them is used for an internet café).

Tariq explained that he works in computer business and he has nothing to do with politics or anything of the like. His trial was adjourned till 17-3-2008 for the Attorney General to state its demands.

The Syrian bloggers continue to call for freedom to fellow blogger Tariq Baiassi:

This harsh sentence for a merely criticism written in a website, is only an enlightening illustration of the injustice and persecution against any attempt to express the opinion that the Constitution guarantees to all people. (…)
This sentence will not cancel the freedom of expression or shut up the voices demanding their rights guaranteed by the constitution. And Tariq will remain the flame that will not be extinguished and he will still the guide for all the bloggers.

As for the bloggers, they will exercise the freedom that does not hurt anyone, whatever the consequences are!

You can find the Free Tariq campaign by clicking here for an English version, and here for the Arabic.

According to Global Voices Advocacy, Al Farhan was arrested on 10 December 2007 for unspecified “violation of non-security regulations.”

Saudi Arabia:

For Saudi Jeans, Al Farhan’s release was a good way to start his day. He writes:

I woke up around 5:30 this morning on the beeping of my iPhone which received a short message from the wife of my friend and fellow blogger Fouad al-Farhan telling me that Fouad has been released and that he is back home with his family now. That’s great news and this is just how I wanted to start my morning!

Al Farhan’s fellow blogger, Mashi 97 (Ar), from Saudi Arabia, received more than 140 congratulatory comments when he made this announcement:

قبل دقائق قليلة فقط

رجع المدون السعودي فؤاد أحمد الفرحان لمنزله بعد خروجه من السجن .

الحمدلله الحمدلله الحمدلله

A few minutes ago only
Saudi blogger Fouad Ahmed Al Farhan has returned home after being released from prison.
Thank Allah, Thank Allah, Thank Allah.

Another Saudi blogger Ibrahim (Ar) wants an explanation to why Al Farhan was arrested. He writes:

في الأمس كنا فرحين بالإفراج عن فؤاد الفرحان
ولازلنا فرحين
ولكن سؤالي .. ماذا بعد الإفراج عن فؤاد؟
أربعة أشهر قضاها الأخ فؤاد في سجن أو توقيف ( مانختلف ) تحت الإستجواب
وكان السبب في كل هذا هو ” تهمة غير أمنيه” و ” إختراق لبعض اللوائح ”
وأستغرب من هذه الكلمات الفضفاضه
أنا كمدون أحب أن أعرف ماهي اللوائح التي تم اختراقها , ليتم تفاديها
أو ماهي التهم الغير أمنيه ليتم تفاديها أيضاً
هذا في حال أنها تستحق هذا المسمى (اختراق للوائح) فكلنا يجب أن يعرف ماهي اللوائح المخترقه

Yesterday were were happy for Fouad Al Farhan’s release.
And we are still happy.
But my question is .. what after Fouad’s release?
He spent four months in prison or custody (we won’t differ on this), where he was interrogated.
The reason given was “a non-security related accusation” and “breaking some laws.”
I am surprised at those vague words.
As a blogger, I want to know what are the laws he has broken so that we don’t commit them and what are the non-security related offences, so that we can overcome them. In case they deserve to be labelled as “breaking laws,” we all need to know what are the laws which have been broken.

Rasheed Abou-Alsamh too has questions in his head and writes:

Fouad was arrested in Jeddah on Dec. 10, 2007, and was held in a detention center for for more than four months because of the various entries on his blog that called for less corruption and more accountability in Saudi Arabia.

Will he continue blogging now that he has been released? That is a question that only Fouad can answer. I’m sure we will find out soon enough. For now, Fouad probably just wants to forget his ordeal and bond with is family.

Egypt:

From Egypt, Al Anany is also excited about Al Farhan’s release and shares the following wish:

اليوم فرحة المدونين العرب وبالخصوص السعوديين منهم لا توصف بعد الإفراج اليوم عن المدون السعودي فؤاد الفرحان .. ومن هنا ، من سيناء نهنئ أنفسنا وكل من آزر فؤاد الفرحان بخروجه من السجن وعودته الي منزله ، ونتمنى من الله عز وجل أن يتم الإفراج عن كل المدونين العرب ، وعن مسعد أبو فجر ابن سيناء وصاحب مدونة ودنا نعيش

Today is a happy day for Arab bloggers, and in particular the Saudis, whose happiness cannot be measured after the release of Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan. From here, from Sinai, we congratulate ourselves and all those who stood by Fouad until his release from prison and his return home. We ask Allah for the release of all Arab bloggers, especially Musad Abu Fajr, the son of Sinai, who runs the blog, We Want to Live.

Still in Egypt, Zeinobia awaits the news of the release of another blogger - this time in Syria. She writes:

Congratulations for Fouad and his family.
Hopefully all the other bloggers detained in the Arab world will be free soon and return to other families especially Tarek from Syria.

Bahrain:

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif is still scratching his head. He writes:

We don’t know the details of his release and what he had to give up or sign for the authorities to finally let him go, I suspect we will hear his stories quite soon - I hope.
In any case, I am very happy indeed for his release.
Welcome home Fouad!

Bahraini Esra’a wonders if Al Farhan will continue blogging after his release. She writes:

We are really happy to see him safe and free, however I wonder if he will continue blogging after what had happened. Let’s hope that he will never endure what he has gone through these past few months.

Sudan:

The Sudanese Thinker makes the following announcement:

Saudi blogger Fuad alFarhan has finally been released after spending 137 days in jail for simply speaking his mind politely and eloquently. Meanwhile, the Saudi government has no problem whatsoever allowing the shouts and rants of many preachers of death.

Lovely!

Meanwhile, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (Ar) demands the lifting of the ban on Al Farhan’s blog in Saudi Arabia. It says:

من الجيد التراجع عن استمرار اعتقال فؤاد الفرحان ، ولكن رغم سعادتنا بالإفراج عنه ، فنحن ننتظر أن تعلن الحكومة السعودية بوضوح أسباب اعتقاله ، ومن كان صاحب قرار اعتقاله ، و أن يرفع الحجب عن مدونته فورا”.

It is good that Fouad Al Farhan is no longer arrested, but despite our happiness with his release, we are waiting for the Saudi government to announce clearly why he was arrested and who ordered his arrest. We also call for the immediate lift of the ban on his blog.

It all started when one did: Ahmad published several entries concerning the detention of Tariq, the jailed Syrian blogger, but it is only when his blog was added on the SYPlanet aggregator that I had the chance to be aware of Tariq’s situation. I reacted by contacting all the bloggers who reported on Tariq’s detention and asked for their help in organizing a campaign to help secure Tariq’s release. And here we are; Ahmad purchased and designed the websites, Arwa and Omar contacted human rights organizations and news agencies, Okbah is following up Tariq’s news with a lawyer, Omar created a group on Facebook. I also contributed by updating the websites and creating an online petition demanding Tariq’s release.

As it stands, we’re just five. We are five Syrian bloggers writing from our censored Syria.

You can find our Free Tariq campaign by clicking here for an English version, and here for the Arabic.

Our Statement:

Our mission is supposedly guaranteed in the introduction of Syria’s Constitution: “The freedom of the country is only protected by free citizens.”

Article 28 in the constitution dictates that: “Every accused person is innocent until he is convicted by a final court judgment.”

Tariq’s online speech does not constitute a violation of the law. In fact, he actually acted on the basis of freedom, which as stated earlier, is guaranteed by the Constitution via Article 38, which states: “Every citizen has the right to express his opinion freely and openly, orally and written and in all other means of expression. He also has the right to contribute in the control process and in the constructive criticism to ensure the safety of national reconstruction.”

Feel free to read the full statement.

Please take a minute and consider signing our petition.

You can also help us spread the word by joining our group on Facebook.

If you wish to post a banner of solidarity on your blog or website, you may choose from a list of banners here. Insert the image URL within the code here and you’ll get a badge of the banner you’ve chosen. Please contact us for any questions, or if you have a banner of your own to contribute.

Why Support Us?

Some of the arguments made unfortunately undermine the effectiveness of the likes of this campaign, assuming that there is one goal, which is simply and strictly to literally “free” the imprisoned blogger or person. This campaign however goes way beyond such claims and aims to protect the very principles of freedom and human rights. To answer and refute some of these arguments, the Free Tariq Coalition has interviewed the Syrian human rights activist and lawyer Razan Zeituna and asked her a couple of questions regarding the validity of such campaigns:

Free Tariq: Are these campaigns important? If so, in what sense?

رزان زيتونة: ‫هذه الحملات مهمة جدا، أهم ما فيها أنها أخرجت قضايا حريات الرأي والتعبير من ثنائية العلاقة ما بين المنظمات الحقوقية والسلطة، لتجعل منها قضية رأي عام، تهم دوائر أوسع من الأفراد والجماعات‬
‫وهي إلى جانب الاهتمام ب والدفاع عن أفراد بعينهم تعرضوا لانتهاكات في حقوقهم وحرياتهم الأساسية، تنشر الوعي بقضية الحريات والانتهاكات‬.
‫هذا من جانب، من جانب آخر، مضى زمن طويل في منطقتنا العربية، حيث كانت مختلف الانتهاكات تمارس بحق الأفراد بدون أي اهتمام إعلامي وحقوقي فعلي، هذا الأمر بدأ يتغير الآن، هذه الحملات إلى جانب ما تمارسه من ضغط معنوي على السلطات الحاكمة، تعطي الأفراد المنتهكة حقوقهم جزءا مما يستحقونه، باعتبارهم أفراد لهم أسماء وأحلام …الخ، أي أنها تؤنسن هذه القضايا‬ ‫وتنقلها من إطار العموميات والمجرد إلى إطار الشخصي‬.

Razan Zeituna: These campaigns are very important, mostly for unleashing the freedom of speech causes from the dual relationship between the regime and human rights organizations, to make it a public affair that would interest wider circles of people and groups. And while these campaigns lobby for and defend people whose basic rights and freedoms are abused, they also raise awareness on the cause for free speech.
Furthermore, it has been a long time in the Arab region since human rights abuses been taken place without effectual attention from media and human rights agencies. This is changing now; these kinds of campaigns and as they put symbolic pressure on the government, it gives the individuals whose rights are invaded, part of what they deserve, and treat them as people with names and dreams…these kinds of campaigns personify and humanize the abstract causes and transfer them from generalizations frames into personal frames.

Free Tariq: What about Tariq himself, how would this campaign be beneficial to him?

رزان زيتونة: هي حق له قبل أن تكون مفيدة له أم لا،‬ ‫في مثل أنظمتنا، الحكومات لا تكترث كثيرا بالضغوط من هذا النوع، هذا لا يعني أبدا أن لا تمارس مثل هذه الضغوط‬.

Razan Zeituna: It’s his right, before it can be beneficial to him or not. With governments like ours, these kinds of pressures don’t affect the regimes much; this is no reason why we should not practice these pressures in the first place.

And Esra’a Al Shafei, director of the Free Kareem campaign notes that the aim of activism is “to change,” and stresses on the movement of change:

Activists generally have a passion towards a set of issues that they feel need to be changed, and they are inspired enough to be part of the movement that changes these things, either partly or entirely (if they are part of a movement that is big and influential enough, but most activism today comes in very small doses.)

In other words, campaigns like this one might qualify as a form of “activism” (though I like to refer to it as “volunteerism”), help serve a major role in communities that suffer from decades of dictatorship like that of Syria. The Free Tariq Coalition can advocate and promote national ownership, and harnessing citizen participation within the process of the country’s development that has been exclusively up to the Syrian authorities and to Syrian opposition(s). Campaigning, volunteering, or being active is not only about raising awareness about Tariq’s case or about freedom of speech, but also about the necessity for all Syrian people and youth to contribute and to participate instead of comforting to the paralyzed community state the Syrian regime managed to build for decades by force.

Syrian Bloggers Under Threat

Tariq Biasi is not the only and the first Syrian blogger who is currently in prison, long before I have started this blog about a year ago, a Syrian blogger named Tariq Gorani was detained on 19-2-2006 for a year and four months before being charged with a seven years sentence verdict on 17-6-2007 for “endangering Syria’s security”. His blog’s name was Aldomari. “Aldomari” is originally taken from the first and the last independent Syrian newspaper that addressed and investigated the corruption of the Syrian authorities for a few months before it was shut down by the regime. (Aldomari was a revolutionary newspaper and though its price was five times the official newspapers’, its editions were always sold out.)

I could not read any post by the blogger Aldomari for the Syrian authorities have hacked his blog and deleted all his posts’ archive, all I know is that he blogs in Arabic and his posts were seethingly sarcastic. Aldomari blog was the first Syrian blog to be blocked by the Syrian authorities as reported by the Damascene blog.

Tariq Gorani (1985) was not detained only for his blogging activity, he was mainly detained and imprisoned along with his seven friends for establishing a “Democratic Syrian Youth Activity.” Because of their online organized activism, they faced harsh and serious verdicts with seven and five years sentences.

A campaign has been launched to support the young men can be found here.

‫‬

So basically whoever initiates to express and voice his/her opinions in an organized manner, they are detained and imprisoned for years. Which explains the decreasing amount of Syrian insiders who care about Syrian public affairs.

Tariq Biasi is detained for an online comment criticizing the government, but Tariq Gorani was detained and faced serious charges and is spending seven years in prison not for expressing his views as much as for expressing them within an establishment and an organized body. Hence Syrian insiders prefer to work independently, mostly anonymously and not in groups.

Another example of harassment by the authority towards Syrian bloggers is when the Syrian intelligence kidnapped Syrian bloggeress Rukana Hammour. She is very vocal about the authorities and judicial system’s corruption in Syria, and was thus threatened by the intelligence forces to withdraw her nomination to the Syrian parliament.

How You Can Help:

1. Write about Tariq or freedom of online speech on your site or blog.
2. Link to our campaign.
3. Email your friends about us and ask them to sign the petition.
4. Contact NGOs and media agencies in your circles.
5. Email us campaign-related feedbacks and suggestions.

His name is Tarek Baiasi and he’s 23 years old. He lives in Banyas with his mother and two sisters. His father was detained during the 80s by the Syrian security agents, who mistook him for a Muslim Brotherhood member, where he spent 20 years behind bars.

Tarek sells and maintains PCs. He is described by his friends as shy and quiet, spending his time surfing the web and blogging at Ektub here.

On 7-7-2007, Tarek was asked by the security branch in Banyas to answer a few questions concerning a comment he left on one of the “sensitive” websites. That was the last time his family heard from him.

I had previously mentioned Tarek on my blog when I posted about the kidnapping of the Syrian bloggeress Rukana Hammour by Syrian security agents, but had not heard anything new about him until yesterday when Syrian bloggers reported on the day which marked the completion of his six months of detention. The bloggers appealed to Syrian and international human rights agencies to highlight his case and the cases of others as well.

Syrian blogger Ahmad was the first to write about Tarek’s case:

اعتقل طارق بياسي بتاريخ 7-7-2007م.

- سبب اعتقاله تعليق له في منتدى أنا مسلم تعرّض فيه لإيجابيات وسلبيات أجهزة الأمن.

- بعد اعتقاله فُتّش منزله ، و صودرت حواسيبه.

- انتهى التحقيق معه لكونه اعترف بتعليقه مباشرة، لكن لحد الآن لم يُحال للمحكمة ، و لا يُعرف مصيره.

- طارق وحيد لأمه ، من مواليد 84 ، من مدينة بانياس الساحلية.

- اعتقل أبوه لمدة 20 عاماً من أيام الأحداث ، كان عُمْرُ طارقٍ حينها بضعة أشهر فقط

Ahmad posted several posts earlier on Tarek’s detention in which we learn that the detained blogger was later on taken to Palestine Camp’s security branch in Damascus:

لتصفحه مواقع انترنت ، طارق مازال في معتقلا في فرع فلسطين بدمشق طارق عمر بياسي ، مواليد 84، يعمل في محله في بيع أجهزة الكمبيوتر و صيانتها الكائن في مدينة بانياس الساحلية. لم يكن الدكتور عمر منظما في جماعة الإخوان و لا أحسبه مقتنعا بأفكارهم حتى يومنا هذا عن تهمة طارق فهي تصفحه و مشاركته في مواقع “مشبوهة” و ينظر لها بعين الريبة من قبل الأمن ، و هذه المواقع على الأغلب هي موقع أنا مسلم و موقع آخر شبيه به

Another Syrian blogger, Jassas, blogs about Tarek’s case asking us to write to the Syrian human rights agencies and support Tarek. Marfa’ blog owner, too, adds his voice to Jassas’ appeal and asks us to shed some light on Tarek’s case by contacting human rights agencies.

Arwa wishes that all the bloggers would agree on a certain statement to publish on their blogs:

أتمنى من جميع المدونات أن تتفق على “خطاب نصي” يشارك فيه المدونون كخطوة عملية وجماعية من أجل طارق

And finally, the owner of Msabba’ el Karat Syrian blog writes on Tarek’s detention wondering why every time a Syrian citizen is detained for merely criticizing his nation’s flaws, asserting that it’s the people who eventually defend their nation:

هل من المعقول أن يسجن الإنسان كل هذه المدة من أجل كلمة تقال في حق الوطن ؟! عندما أنتقد الوطن والقائمين عليه ، هذا لا يعني أني لا أحبهم و لا أتمنى لهم الخير ، بل أنتقدهم لأني أريد أن يكون وطني مثالا يحتذى به في كل المجالات ، هؤلاء الشباب هم زهرة الأوطان ، هم الذين سيدافعون عن قضايا الأوطان ، و بهمتم العالية تبنى الأوطان ، فلماذا تنزع كرامة الشاب من أجل كلمة تقال ، إن كنا نعرف أن بعض كلمات ستودي بنا إلى السجن ، فسنوقف أقلامنا ، و نغلق أفواهنا ، و نقطع ألسنتنا ، و نجلس عبادا نساكا ننتظر رحمة الله و فرجه القريب

Is it possible to detain someone this long for having his say on his nation’s affairs? When I criticize my nation and its leaders, it doesn’t mean that I dislike them or wish them harm. I just do it to make my country better in all fields. Those youngsters are the nation’s blossoms; they’ll defend and protect the country, and with them we build it. So why are we stripping a man of his dignity for a word he said? If we knew that a few words would lead us to jail, we would stop writing, shut our mouths, cut our tongues and sit back as slaves waiting for God’s mercy.

At the end of his post, the blogger draws our attention to important statistics:

ملاحظة : هناك 40 ألف قضية في قصر العدل لم تتطرق لها المحكمة بعد ، هذا ما أشارت إليه النائب العام غادة مراد في حديثها للجزيرة ضمن برنامج رائدات

Up to this moment, one Syrian human rights agency did report on Tarek’s detention at the very day of his detention on 7-7-2007. HRW mentioned his name in its report on Syrian officials’ continuous arrests of people over online comments:

On June 30, 2007, Military Intelligence in the coastal city of Tartous arrested Tarek Biasi, 22, because he “went online and insulted security services,” according to a person familiar with the case. Biasi remains in incommunicado detention, his whereabouts unknown.

The HRW report says Tarek was detained on June 30, but the Syrian human rights agency and his family and friends confirmed that Tarek was detained on the 7th. of July and not on June 30th. I am noting this issue for documentation purposes.

Tarek does not stand alone in these arrests policy over online comments, the HRW report lists seven names among those who’ve been detained for expressing their views online. This policy started in 2002 but it has been increasing recently and especially after the “Ministry of Telecommunications and Technology” circular; Sami Ben Gharbia wrote about the repression of internet in Syria and here he uncovers the circular’s instructions:

Recently, the new-formed “Ministry of Telecommunications and Technology” issued a new circular asking the owners of the Syrian websites “to exercise accuracy and objectivity (…) and to post the name of the writer of an article and the one who comments on it in a clear and detailed manner.” The Ministry added that “the failure to do so would result in warning the website owner and rendering his website temporarily inaccessible. In case the violation is repeated, the website will become permanently inaccessible.

Here’s my response to this circular.

It is not a secret that the Syrian tyrant regime is tight on the Syrian people and tighter on those who try to break through, but as I mentioned earlier in my blog there is no space on the ground for the youth to express their views or to embody their interests except on the cyber world. So what made li Zein al-`Abideen Mej`an, Karim ‘Arbaji (29), Tarek Biasi (22) and many others turn to the Internet? Isn’t it the very absent tangible Syria? Among all of the people who live in Syria, the Syrian government is detaining those who actually care about the Syrian public affair, those who care about Syria; those who have opinions and express them online simply because they can’t express themselves elsewhere. So by detaining these people, the Syrian government is making one of its exquisite statements: “don’t even bother to think and have a say, we’ll just do it for you”.

So there is no tangible Syria, and soon enough there might be no virtual Syria as well, I wonder how can there be Syrians without Syria, or Syria without Syrians who care.

Censorship in Syria is not a joke and it’s shouldn’t be viewed as the “norm/typical/predictable policies” of the tyrannical Syrian government. We’re not talking about the imprisonment of political activists anymore, not even human rights activists, we’re talking about detaining people, just people like you and me, mostly students, whose mere accusation was having opinions, whether I agree with them or not, and mostly I don’t, is never the case, but the fact that someone who still cares and dares to express her/his views in Syria is not the norm, it’s a rare case, and the detention of these rare people is very serious.

For those who are interested in helping Tarek and his family please send me and email at: arab.spring[at]gmail[dot]com.

From Damascus, Golaniya sets the mood:

“Facebook is blocked in Syria, would I sound naïve if I said I didn’t see it coming? Why should I? How are the Syrians facebooking? Launching opposition campaigns? What’s Facebook in Syria anyway? Active civil society? Syrian groups calling to overthrow the Syria regime? What’s so dangerous about Syrian facebookers that they shouldn’t be using it anymore? Or perhaps because the site is American so it should be blocked? Or maybe the Syrian officials have no idea what’s Facebook except that it’s an American and it’s getting popular in Syria? All the above?

My theory? I think the Syrian officials don’t have a thorough idea how Syrians are facebooking, I think they did not block Facebook–the-site, but the unfamiliar reaction to this site, the unknown consequences of this reaction that might be very much, uncontrolled!” she rants.

Golaniya further explains the backlash the ban created - with more Syrian groups popping up on Facebook as a direct result of the censorship and how netizens are finding a voice despite the repression.

“Who lives in Syria knows that it’s the country of “nothing’s going on” except to hang out in old Damascus’ cafes, but recently there has been a cultural awakening; people are starting to organize their interests in concerts, galleries, conferences, plays, screenings…etc. and Facebook is facilitating the process which is very hard to do in an inactive militarily controlled society. There are no cultural institutions in Syria, no private independent NGOs, no civic institutions, who represent the populations except the government? Syrian Facebookers are trying now to represent themselves. Those who cannot be activists in a “real” Syria can be one in a virtual Syria,” she writes.

Her final scream for opening up the world wide web is loud and clear:

“We want Syria uncensored!” she wails.

Writing in Arabic, Alloush blog urges the authorities to reconsider the ban. He writes:

Facebook in Syria isn’t that famous. Its distribution is very limited to the extent that many of those familiar with the Internet don’t understand what the site is about. However, after news spread about its fame, it started growing in popularity in Syria and it then became natural to see large numbers of Syrians starting groups which support Syria and promote it, in addition to attempts to set up smaller networks for the Syria network on Facebook. Sudan has more smaller networks than Syria.

It seems that we have the largest number of blogs that are blocked, and now the largest social gathering is being censored as well as a huge number of sites. When a person starts analysing the reasons for the bans, he will end up with illogical and funny conclusions. For instance, my friend today informed me that the person who blocked the site may have done a mistake and instead of lifting the ban had imposed it. Soon, Google may be banned and with that the Internet in Syria will be an internal system only, which will enable you to surf through the websites of the companies which make ice cream and chewing gum. That would really be interesting. Blocking access to such sites which are rich in information causes damage to Syrians. First of all, they are a slap against the free promotion of Syria and secondly, they deny Syrians access to services which are available for people around the world. I hope those responsible for this policy would reconsider their censorship policies.

Another Syrian blogger Redman has come up with a better solution to thwart censorship. He writes:

I don’t know if the discussion will end with this or whether anything we say would be of any benefit. Internet companies come up with new offers everyday and the cost of Internet access is cheaper than the price of potatoes (a kilos of potatoes costs 45 Liras) … but I have a suggestion: why don’t we ban the Internet and ask the site owners to apply (with officials) to be allowed to have sites. The problem in Syria is that we don’t know who orders the blocking of sites. The Minister of Transportation denied in a trial last week that his ministry was involved in the bans and said that he has not ordered any closures of sites.

Mohammed also uses humour to express his infuriation with the ban in this post. He notes:

By Allah, I am embarrassed and don’t know where to start but I am certain that none of the Internet users in Syria were surprised when Facebook was blocked. I was surprised that it wasn’t. Just imagine having a site which starts with w and ends with .com and not having it banned in Syria! I am thankful to God that it has been banned, so that we don’t continue to live surprised.

He also has a suggestion for netizens, who are developing websites. He says:

I also have a suggestion to site developers in Syria. They should not populate their sites with anything because either way, it will be blocked and they would just be exhausting themselves for nothing. And then seriously guys, what does the Internet mean for us? Sites are blocked and the net is so slow it brings a heart attack. Why do you need the Internet? For emails? I have a solution for you. We can go back to using carrier pigeons. At the least, they are more guaranteed and faster than the Internet we have.

We’ve received an email that appeared to come from someone who witnessed the kidnapping of the Syrian blogger Roukana Hamour, that took place yesterday, 25 October 2007. Roukana is believed to be kidnapped in front of her home, in Damascus, by six persons who brought her to an undisclosed location. Kidnapping of blogger Roukana Hamour is confirmed by the Organization for peace and liberty (OPL). This is the letter translated by my friend and colleague, the Syrian blogger, Golaniya:

Syria: Roukana Hamour has been Kidnapped!

As Rukana Hammour was parking the car in front of her place and helping her children (5 years, seven years and 9 years old) to step out, six men came out of nowhere and attacked her, violently pushed her children away from their mother, and aggressively pushed her into a car whose number tells it’s a Tartossi car. The men prevented someone from approaching Hammour and rapidly ran away not knowing who they were or where they were taking her.

It is worth noting that Hammour received a call couple days ago from the Political Security Interior Branch in Damascus demanding her presence for interrogations. When she refused to go due to the lack of legal and systematic motion, they came today and kidnapped her like gangs do.

It is not a secret that Hammour is being threatened for demanding her financial rights which was stolen from her by her brothers in cooperation with high ranking Syrian officers and officials. Her late father, Mohammad Moti’ Hamour, who was the deputy of Saudi Air Lines, had his fortune which reached milliards evaporate from Syrian banks by forgery.

Hammour had been threatened to be sexually assaulted or even to be raped if she doesn’t sign papers tells she will give up her rights especially that Hammour has sent letters to the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz presenting the cases of robbery and thievery that reached the Saudi Air Lines. The thieves fear that these letters would arrive at King Abdullah’s desk, for they won’t manage to flee by bribery as they can buy the whole security branch in Syria to push Hammour to give up her rights.
It is well known that Rukana Hammour is one of the leading Syrian bloggers whose belief can only make her consistent on both of her human rights and dignity.

Damascus, 25 October, 2007.

Roukana Hamour has been kidnapped previously for blogging her experiences with the Syrian legal system, exposing administrative, banking and juristic corruption. On October 15, 2006, Roukana was taken from her home and dragged into the street after being threatened at gunpoint in front of her young children by members of the country’s Criminal Security forces.

A recent report from Human Rights Watch reveals that two persons are being held in incommunicado detention at an undisclosed location in Syria. Karim ‘Arbaji (29) and Tarek Biasi (22) were arrested in June 2007 by Syrian Military Intelligence for expressing online views critical of the Syrian government. A third person, Ali Zein al-’Abideen Mej’an, arrested for posting online comments attacking Saudi Arabia, was sentenced by the Supreme State Security Court to two years in prison.

This reminds us once again of the Pakistani blanket ban on Blogspot and the circumvention techniques employed by Pakistani and then Indian bloggers:

• In March, 2006, the Memon brothers (Yasir Memon & Naveed Memon) created the proxy servers pkblogs.com to bypass the ban on blogspot.com. And later, in July 2006, when Indian ISPs have begun blocking access to Blogspot, Memon brothers launched Inblogs.net which is similar to pkblogs.com but more suited for the Indian traffic.
• The Pakistani blogger Mansoor has created a GreaseMonkey script for FireFox which automatically converts blogspot links to pkblogs and subsequently inblogs.
• Adnan Siddiqui has written a JavaScript that allows websites visitors to automatically use pkblogs for all outgoing blogspot links. You can download the .zip file from Don’t Block the Blog.

Now, with the Blogspot block in Syria showing no sign of abating, and if the above circumvention techniques won’t work for one reason or another, and in case you get tired finding proxies and workarounds to bypass the ban on Blogspot, you may consider it worthwhile to import your blog from Blogger.com into wordpress.com.

Click on the image to watch the video

As illustrated in this video, importing blogger into wordpress.com is a very easy procedure. However, before starting the import, please read carefully what to do after the import process, like what to do with your old images still hosted on Blogger.com and how to deal with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) issues, such as Google indexing your old blog content.

You should also think about informing your visitors and friend of your new blog (blog URL, blog name). You may also redirect them automatically to your new blog by adding a redirecting script into your blogger.com template like this one (just replace the old code with this script and make sure to put the right URL of the new wordpress blog) :

On June 7, the Mantaqa Branch of Military Intelligence detained Karim ‘Arbaji, 29, allegedly for moderating www.akhawia.net, a popular online forum for Syrian youth covering social and political issues. Persons familiar with the case told Human Rights Watch that the Mantaqa Branch may have transferred him to the Palestine Branch in Damascus, but the authorities have provided no official notification of ‘Arbaji’s whereabouts.

On June 30, 2007, Military Intelligence in the coastal city of Tartous arrested Tarek Biasi, 22, because he “went online and insulted security services,” according to a person familiar with the case. Biasi remains in incommunicado detention, his whereabouts unknown.

On September 23, the Supreme State Security Court sentenced Ali Zein al-’Abideen Mej’an to two years in prison for “undertaking acts or writing or speeches unauthorized by the government … that spoil its ties with a foreign state” because he posted comments online attacking Saudi Arabia.

HRW condemned the restrictions on online free speech and called on Syria to release the detainees and to disclose their whereabouts.

On October 15, 2006, the Syrian blogger and mother of three kids, Roukana Hamour, who was blogging her experiences with the Syrian legal system, exposing administrative, banking and juristic corruption, was arrested and interrogated by members of the country’s Criminal Security forces. Roukana is continuously being harassed and threatened [Ar] by plain-clothes agents.

Blogger Roukana Hamour taken from her home and dragged into the street in her nightgown, after being threatened at gunpoint in front of her young children by members of the country’s Criminal Security forces. (Source: Roukana’s Blog)

On April 28, 2007, Syria released the cyber activist Ibrahim Zoro, arrested on April, 5th. Two other activists remain in jail for online activities deemed hostile by Syrian authorities: journalist Muhened Abdulrahman and writer Habib Saleh.

Recently, the new-formed “Ministry of Telecommunications and Technology” issued a new circular asking the owners of the Syrian websites “to exercise accuracy and objectivity (…) and to post the name of the writer of an article and the one who comments on it in a clear and detailed manner.” The Ministry added that “the failure to do so would result in warning the website owner and rendering his website temporarily inaccessible. In case the violation is repeated, the website will become permanently inaccessible.“