Tuesday, April 21, 2009

April 21, 2009

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa10609.pdf

21 April 2009

UA 106/09 Fear of forcible return/Fear of torture or other ill-treatment / Fear of unfair trial

SPAIN Ali Aarrass (m),
Mohamed el Bay (m)


Ali Aarrass and Mohamed el Bay are at imminent risk of being extradited to Morocco, where they would be at risk of incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment as well as an unfair trial. The Spanish national criminal court (Audiencia Nacional) approved the extraditions in late 2008 and they must now receive final confirmation from the Council of Ministers. If the extraditions go ahead Spain will be violating its obligations under international human rights law, including the UN Convention against Torture.

Ali Aarrass and Mohammed el Bay were arrested in the Spanish city of Melilla on 1 April 2008 on the basis of international arrest warrants requested by Morocco on 28 March 2008. The Spanish national criminal court authorized the extradition of Ali Aarrass to Morocco on 21 November 2008. The decision was confirmed on appeal on 23 January 2009, on the assurance from the Moroccan government that Ali Aarrass would not be sentenced to the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. Ali Aarrass had claimed that his joint Belgian-Moroccan nationality should bar his extradition to Morocco, but the court rejected this argument.

According to Amnesty International’s knowledge, Ali Aarrass has appealed to the Constitutional Court, but this appeal does not have any suppressive effect on the extradition process. The extradition request is now awaiting final approval by the Council of Ministers, which may happen at any time.

The National Criminal Court authorized Mohamed el Bay’s extradition on 22 December 2008. This was confirmed on appeal on 12 March 2009, despite the fact Mohamed el Bay has lived in Spain since birth and has been a Spanish citizen since 1976. Under the 1997 extradition agreement between Spain and Morocco, the extradition of a state’s own national is prohibited. However, the court relied on a Moroccan ID card in Mohamed el Bay’s name, found at his home at the time of arrest, as evidence that he unlawfully held dual nationality and could therefore be legitimately returned to Morocco as a Moroccan citizen. According to Amnesty International’s knowledge, Mohamed el Bay has not been formally stripped of his Spanish nationality. The extradition request is now awaiting approval by the Council of Ministers.

Both Ali Aarrass and Mohamed el Bay are wanted in Morocco on terrorism-related charges and are accused of belonging to a terrorist network headed by dual Moroccan-Belgian citizen Abdelkader Belliraj. In February 2008, Moroccan authorities arrested some 35 individuals and announced the dismantlement of the terrorist network headed by Abdelkader Belliraj which was allegedly plotting “terrorist” attacks. Ali Aarrass had been under investigation since 2006 by the Spanish National Criminal Court on terrorism-related charges, but on 16 March 2009 the court provisionally closed its investigation against him on the basis of lack of evidence.

Spain is a state party to several international treaties
that expressly prohibit the return of anyone to a country where they would be at risk of torture, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
There was a sharp increase of allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of individuals suspected of terrorism following the bomb attacks in Casablanca on 16 May 2003. Judicial proceedings were brought against over 1,500 people suspected of involvement in the attacks or of planning or inciting other violent acts attributed to Islamist groups. Hundreds of those sentenced are alleged to have been tortured in custody, but the Moroccan authorities have failed to adequately investigate their complaints. Scores have received long prison sentences and over a dozen have been sentenced to death on the basis of “confessions” that they allege were extracted through torture and other ill-treatment.

While allegations of torture of individuals suspected of terrorism decreased in recent years after a peak following the Casablanca bombings in 2003, a number of individuals arrested in connection with the “Belliraj Cell” led by Abdelkader Belliraj (as is the case of Ali Aarrass and Mohamed el Bay) have reportedly been held incommunicado in secret detention centers and subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. Amnesty International received information that a number of individuals implicated in the “Belliraj Cell” case were arrested by the Directorate for the Surveillance of the Territory (Direction de la surveillance du territoire, DST). Reports indicated that a number of individuals arrested in connection with the “Belliraj Cell” case were taken to the Temara detention center operated by the DST, despite the fact that according to the Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure, DST agents are not authorized to arrest, detain or interrogate suspects as they are not members of the judicial police. It was reported that a number of detainees were held in garde a vue (pre-arraignment detention) for periods exceeding the 12-day maximum period allowed by Moroccan law. Furthermore, a number of detainees were reportedly held incommunicado for weeks without contact with the outside world in contravention of Moroccan legislation and international human rights law and standards. Amnesty International also received allegations that a number of the detainees faced torture and other ill-treatment during interrogation. In addition, a number of defense lawyers complained that the authorities failed to provide them with complete case files of their clients in breach of their right to an effective defense.

In the majority of cases where complaints about torture allegations have been made, investigations have either not been opened, have been dismissed or not adequately conducted, or have not resulted in perpetrators being prosecuted. To date, hundreds of Islamist detainees sentenced after the 2003 Casablanca bombings continue to demand a judicial review of their trials, which were tainted by unexamined claims of torture and other ill-treatment during questioning by the security forces.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- urging the authorities not to extradite Ali Aarrass or Mohamed el Bay to Morocco, as they would be at risk of incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment, and an unfair trial;
- pointing out that the forcible return of Ali Aarrass or Mohamed el Bay to Morocco would be a breach of the principle of non-refoulement and a violation of Spain’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

APPEALS TO:
Minister of Justice
Excmo. Sr. D. Francisco Caamano Dominguez
Ministerio de Justicia
C/ San Bernando 45
28015 Madrid, SPAIN

Email: ministro@mju.es
Fax: 011 34 91 390 22 44 OR 011 34 91 390 22 68
Salutation: Dear Minister / Estimado Senor


Vice President
Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega
Complejo de la Moncloa
28071 Madrid, SPAIN
Email: secretaria.vicepresidencia@vp.gob.es
Fax: 011 34 91 390 04 34
Salutation: Dear Vice President


Ambassador D. Jorge Dezcallar de Mazarredo
Embassy of Spain
2375 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20037

Fax: 1 202 833 5670
Email: embespus@mail.mae.es OR spain@spainemb.org OR emb.washington@maec.es


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 2 June 2009.

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Thursday, April 9, 2009

Urgent Action 4-9-09

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
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09 April 2009

UA 99/09 Fear of forced eviction/health concern

CAMBODIA Around 32 families living at Borei Keila, Phnom Penh


Around 32 families living with HIV and AIDS are facing forced eviction from Borei Keila, central Phnom Penh. The families have protested at their planned resettlement to a site 20 kilometers from the capital, where they would have no means of income; lose access to medical treatment; and go without basic services. Despite protests, the local authorities have said the eviction will take place in May 2009.

At least one person in each family requires access to anti-retroviral treatment and treatment for AIDS-related illnesses. There are no adequate health services at or near the proposed resettlement site, and transport costs to continue anti-retroviral treatment and access to medical services would be prohibitive. The families have been denied assessment for eligibility to new housing under construction at Borei Keila.

The proposed resettlement site, Tuol Sambo in Dangkor district, sits on a landfill, and forms a separate enclave of housing. The housing, made of green metal sheets, looks different from other housing in the area. The living space is not sufficient for an average family, and buildings are too close together for safety and ventilation. Both the land and the buildings are unstable. In addition, the proposed site has no clean water, sanitation, or electricity. Such conditions would pose serious dangers for opportunistic diseases. The families, most of who are living in severe poverty, strongly fear they will face further stigmatization and discrimination at Tuol Sambo because of their HIV status. Villagers in the vicinity already call it “Aids Village.”

Most of the 32 families make a living as scavengers or porters in a market near to Borei Keila or as day laborers, earning daily wages of between 6,000 and 10,000 riels (approx 2.25-4 USD). A one-way trip from Tuol Sambo to their current work places costs an estimated 15,000 riels, so the forced eviction would effectively deprive them of their livelihood.

The families currently live within a large urban poor community, Borei Keila, which is part of a land-sharing arrangement made in 2003 between a private developer, the Municipality of Phnom Penh and residents. The agreement gave the developer part of the land of Borei Keila for commercial development, while providing new housing for the original over 1,700 residents on another part of the land.

In 2007 the Municipality of Phnom Penh resettled the families in the so-called Green Houses, temporary shelters with appalling conditions, to pave way for the construction of a number of residential multi-storey houses. Many of them have lived long enough in Borei Keila to be eligible for flats in the new buildings still under construction. The families believe that because of their HIV status, the authorities are discriminating against them, by forcibly evicting them instead of assessing them to determine eligibility for flats in the new buildings.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The last decade has seen a steady rise in the number of reported land disputes and land confiscations and evictions, including forced evictions, in Cambodia. Victims are almost exclusively marginalized people living in poverty, who are unable to obtain effective remedies. This rise is a result of the lack of the rule of law; a seriously delayed process of legal and judicial reform; and endemic corruption.

In 2008, Amnesty International received reports about 27 forced evictions, affecting an estimated 23,000 people. Some 150,000 Cambodians are known to be living at risk of forced eviction in the wake of land disputes, land grabbing, agro-industrial and urban redevelopment projects. An estimated 70,000 of these live in Phnom Penh.

HIV prevalence is reported to be declining in Cambodia, down from 1.2 percent of the adult population between 15 and 49 years in 2003 to 0.9 percent in June 2007, according to UNAIDS. The number of adults living with HIV is estimated at 67,200 and 3,800 children.

As a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and other international human rights treaties which prohibit forced eviction and related human rights violations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Cambodia has an obligation to stop forced evictions and to protect the population from forced evictions.

Forced evictions are evictions that are carried out without adequate notice, consultation with those affected, without legal safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation. Whether they be owners, renters or illegal settlers, everyone should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. Cambodia also has an obligation to ensure adequate provision of health care to all its citizens, including access to treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS. The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and human rights also urge states to ensure universal access to HIV-related goods, services and information, and that they “not only be available, acceptable and of good quality, but within physical reach and affordable for all.”

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing concern that 32 families living with HIV and AIDS at Borei Keila, Phnom Penh, are at risk of forced eviction to an inadequate resettlement site, with no clean water, sanitation, electricity or health services;
- calling on the authorities to protect the 32 families from forced eviction, and ensure that they are immediately assessed to determine their eligibility for flats in the new buildings which are being constructed as part of the 2003 land-share agreement;
- calling on the authorities to guarantee adequate alternative housing with security of tenure for those determined to be ineligible, including access to health services for continuation of anti-retroviral treatment and treatment for HIV and AIDS related illnesses or opportunistic infections;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that the families are not discriminated against because of their health status, either in the assessment process for eligibility for housing at Borei Keila, or provision of alternative adequate housing;
- calling on the government to end all forced evictions as a matter or urgency.

APPEALS TO:

Governor
Kep Chuktema
Phnom Penh Municipality

#69 Blvd.
Preah Monivong
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: 011 855 23 426101
Email: phnompenh@phnompenh.gov.kh
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO:

President Cambodian Red Cross
Lok Chumteav Bun Rany Hun Sen
#17, Street Cambodian Red Cross (street 180)
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA

Email: info@redcross.org.kh
Salutation: Dear Lok Chumteav

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
Sar Kheng
Ministry of Interior
#75 Norodom Blvd
Khan Chamkarmon
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: 011 855 23 212708
Email: moi@interior.gov.kh
Salutation: Dear Minister

Hem Heng
Royal Embassy of Cambodia
4530 16th St NW
Washington DC 20011

Fax: 1 202 726 8381
Email: recdc@embassyofcambodia.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after 21 May 2009
.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

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Urgent Action Network
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http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

4-1-09, no it's not an April Fool's day result

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
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1 April 2009

Further Information on UA 60/09 (4 March 2009) - Fear of torture and other ill-treatment

IRAN

Sanaz Allahyari (f) ]
Nasim Roshana'i (f) ]
Maryam Sheikh (f) ] All students
Amir Hossein Mohammadi-Far (m) ]
New name: Mohammad Pour Abdollah (m) ]

Sanaz Allahyari and Amir Hossein Mohammadi-Far were released on 19 March 2009. It is not known whether they have been released under any conditions. In a statement on its website, the Students for Freedom and Equality (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), a students' rights body, stated that they had been ill-treated during their 18 days of detention. The students' rights body reported that at the time of their release the students had signs of bruising and breathing difficulties possibly caused by beating they received while in detention.

Maryam Sheikh and Nasim Roshana'i remain in detention in Evin Prison where they continue to be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

The four students were arrested on 1 March, possibly in connection with a demonstration held on 23 February, at Amir Kabir University to protest against the government burying the remains of soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988 on university campuses.

The details of the arrest of a fifth student, said to be linked to the Students for Freedom and Equality (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab) student body, have emerged. Mohammad Pour Abdollah, a Tehran University student was detained at his house on 12 February 2009. Reports suggest that he was held for one month in solitary confinement at Evin Prison in Tehran and then transferred on 18 March 2009 to Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran. He was detained there in a section of the prison reserved to individuals convicted of serious crimes. He was reportedly later moved to the quarantined section of the prison for inmates with infectious diseases. On 21 March, Iran's Norouz, or New Year, his mother and father sat in front of the prison for several hours in the hope they would be granted permission to see their son.

In the presence of the prosecutor working on his case, Mohammad Pour Abdollah's parents were allowed to have a meeting with him during the last week of March. His parents have written an open letter to the Head of the Judiciary, calling for their son, to be released.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since December there have been waves of arbitrary arrests and harassment, particularly directed against members of Iran's religious and ethnic minorities, students, trade unionists and women’s rights activists. These measures may in part be intended to stifle debate and to silence critics of the authorities in advance of the presidential election in June 2009.

More than 70 students were arrested on 23 February during a peaceful demonstration held by students at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University in protest at the government’s burial on campus of soldiers' remains

The burial of the unknown soldiers on the university campus has widely been seen as a move by the government to seek to control student groups opposed to its policies. Burial of soldiers, called martyrs on account of their sacrifice in fighting against Iraqi forces, appears to enable non-students to enter the campus without being required to show evidence that they are students, a normal requirement for access to university premises. Students groups fear that the presence of the graves would allow unrestricted access to the campuses by security forces, including the Basij mobilization forces who are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- calling on the authorities to ensure that Nasim Roshana'i, Maryam Sheikh and Mohammad Pour Abdollah are protected against torture or other ill-treatment and are allowed immediate access to their family, legal representation and any medical attention that they may require;
- seeking specific details of the reasons for their arrest and any charges they may be facing and urging that they be released immediately if they are not charged with a recognizably criminal offense and brought to trial promptly and fairly;
- noting that if any of the students are held solely on account of the peaceful expression of their views or the exercise of their right to freedom of assembly, then they are prisoners of conscience, and should be released immediately and unconditionally.

APPEALS TO:

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh
Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh/Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency


COPIES TO:

Head of Judiciary for Tehran province
Ali Reza Avaie
Tehran Judiciary
No. 152, corner of 17th Alley, before Shahid Motahhari Avenue
Sanaei Avenue
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Tehran
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

Email: avaei@dadgostary-tehran.ir, info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
Fax: 011 98 21 8832 6700 (unreliable, please try three times)


Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh/Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Javid Larijani)


Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:

Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007

Phone: 202 965 4990
Fax: 202 965 1073
Email: requests@daftar.org



PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 13 May.


----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003

Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566