CAIR ASKS AMERICANS TO SUPPORT FREEDOM IN EGYPT, MUSLIM WORLD

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on January 28 called on all people of conscience to contact their elected representatives to ask that they support freedom, democracy and the rule of law in Egypt and throughout the Muslim world. CAIR’s call comes as protesters seeking governmental reforms are clashing with security personnel throughout Egypt. Other protests are taking place in Tunisia, Yemen and other nations in the Middle East.

In a statement, CAIR said: “All governments should reflect the will of the people and operate in an open and transparent manner. People must have the right to peaceful protest without intimidation or fear of attack by government forces. They must also have the right to communicate without interruption by government agencies. Recent events have demonstrated clearly that governmental reforms are long overdue throughout the region. Our own government can best assist this process of reform by working with the people to support freedom, justice and respect for human rights.

“We agree with Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Jim McGovern (D-MA), who issued a statement that read in part: ‘We call on the Government of Egypt to stop using violence against its own people; allow the free flow of information over the Internet, phone networks and in the media; immediately release Mohamed ElBaradei and all others wrongly detained; and allow reforms toward a more democratic election process.

“We also support U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s demand that the Egyptian government end the use of violence against protesters and ‘engage immediately’ with the Egyptian people on reforms.”