Journeys and Star Gazing

I don’t normally send a message asking you to respond by email for any organisation. However, I’m doing so now because it sickens me that a dictator who has been receiving billions of dollars of aid from the USA has used it to line his own pockets rather than help his own people. Yes, I’m talking about Mubarak.

Please sign the following petition below and we may find that he has all his funds frozen. With any luck he may even be charged with corruption.

==============================================================

Dear friends,

Mubarak may have stolen $70 billion from Egyptians — one third of their national income! The new Egyptian government is calling on the world to get it back. Sign the emergency petition for world leaders to immediately freeze his assets before the funds disappear, and then forward this message!

Egypt’s people have forced Mubarak out, but he may take unimaginable wealth out with him. Estimates of his stolen fortune range as high as $70 billion, more than a third of the annual Egyptian national income!

The new government is calling on the world to immediately freeze his assets in foreign banks, and a new UN Convention requires that stolen funds be returned to the country. Switzerland has already frozen his finances, and some EU leaders have offered to help — but only a massive outcry will get all governments to stop the Mubarak billions from vanishing into a maze of obscure bank accounts.

The G20 finance ministers meet this weekend — that gives us 4 days to call on leaders to freeze the accounts and ensure that Egypt’s money is returned to the people. If we reach 500,000 signatures by Friday, the petition will be delivered in Paris — sign now and spread the word!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/freeze_mubaraks_stolen_fortune/?vl

Millions of Egyptians live on less than $2US per day — yet experts say that corruption costs Egypt more than $6 billion in public money per year. The Mubaraks themselves have benefited massively from a web of business deals, crony-capitalist privatization schemes, and state-guaranteed investments throughout Mubarak’s 30 years as president. Estimates of their wealth run from a “mere” $2-3 billion to the staggering $70 billion figure, which would make Hosni Mubarak the world’s richest man. And 25 senior government officials are already under investigation for amassing fortunes while serving under him.

But the days may finally be over when corrupt rulers can escape with their fortunes intact. The new United Nations Convention Against Corruption explicitly calls for the return of corruptly-gained assets to the countries of origin, and Egypt’s military government has already asked European Union governments to freeze Mubarak’s fortune. The key question now is whether action will come fast enough: all the laws in the world won’t help if the Mubarak billions are shuffled out of sight before authorities can seize them.

Our voices as citizens can help the people of Egypt make good on the promise of their revolution. Join the call for Egyptian wealth to go back to the people of Egypt:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/freeze_mubaraks_stolen_fortune/?vl

As millions of Egyptians risked — and even gave — their lives for democracy, there was little that we around the world could do beyond send our hopes and solidarity. But now, in the aftermath of Mubarak’s ouster, we have a special responsibility: to ensure that our banks do not profit from the corruption of Mubarak’s government, and to do our utmost to restore the national property stolen by a dictatorship that our own governments tolerated for far too long. The people of Egypt are ready now to build a new nation. Let’s play our part to see to it that they regain the resources that were once taken from them, as they create the future that few dared to dream possible.

With hope,

Ben, Alex, Ricken, Mia, Rewan, David, and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES

Washington Post: “Egyptians focus their attention on recovering the nation’s money”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/12/AR2011021203767.html

Egypt’s Mubarak Likely to Retain Vast Wealth; Mubarak Family May Have as Much as $70 Billion Stashed Away, Experts Estimate
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/egypt-mubarak-family-accumulated-wealth-days-military/story?id=12821073

Seize Money Stolen by Mubarak and Return it to Egypt
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20Editorials/2011/February/15%20o/Seize%20Money%20Stolen%20by%20Mubarak%20and%20Return%20it%20to%20Egypt%20By%20Paul%20Dunk.htm

EU looking to freeze assets of Egyptian regime
http://euobserver.com/?aid=31805

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/convention-highlights.html#Asset_recovery

Support the Avaaz community! We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way — donate here.