Who is Malak al-Kashef?
Malak al-Kashef is a 19-year-old activist, human rights defender, and transgender woman located in Egypt. She supported a protest against the government.
She is currently being held in an all-male prison, at risk of torture, and facing potentially, the death penalty
She was kidnapped from her home by police.
She faces the potential (fake) charges of “aiding a terrorist organization” and “misusing social media to commit a crime punishable by law.” She has already been subjected to:
Solitary Confinement
Misgendering
Sexual assault under the guise of medical examination
And potentially many other things we are unaware of. She has already been tortured. If released into the general population, she could be murdered by prisoners.
This is now her 127th day in prison (as of July 11th, 2019), and we need to do something.
Here are some ways to help:
- Signal boost.
- Get her name into the media. You think it might sound ridiculous, but the Egyptian government has shown time and time again to respond to negative press attention. Tweeting, blogging, and getting creators to make videos about the subject are not wastes of time.
- Send a fax to the Public Prosecutor, Nabil Sadek. Amnesty International recommends that you use their letter or a version similar to it. Please do edit their letter, as it has now been more than 3 times that her detention has been extended.
- Sending faxes for free internationally is very difficult to find, but you can find low-cost services like GotFreeFax ($0.70). For more options, check out this list. You can also fax (for a cost) at places like OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, and your local library.
Where can you learn more?
Jimmy Snow
Amnesty International
Timeline - Frontline Defenders
Middle East Eye - They do graphically describe the assault/torture in this article.
PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO HELP HER.
Small update:
On July 18th, we’ll learn if she’ll be released or kept in prison. If you can PLEASE send faxes up to this date. Tweet her name, yell it out to the fucking skies. The government needs to know we haven’t forgotten about her since March. On July 18th I’ll update if her detention gets renewed (in which case, we’ll need to continue to work, or to kick up the ante), or if she is released (in which case, fucking thank you). She might also be moved to a women’s prison which WOULD NOT MEAN THAT THE FIGHT IS OVER!!! She would still be facing torture and the death penalty!
PLEASE do NOT STOP WORKING. Continue to send FAXES. Continue to FIGHT.
