URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
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Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on November 12, 2010. Thanks!
23 December 2010
Further information on UA 236/10 (12 November 2010) and follow up (24 November 2010) -Risk of Forced Eviction/Fear for safety
ISRAEL 250 Residents, including 1/3 children
The Bedouin village of al-’Araqib in the Negev in southern Israel has been demolished for the eight time, affecting around 50 people, over half of them children. The residents, citizens of Israel, are determined to rebuild their homes as the weather deteriorates.
This morning officials of the Israel Land Administration and the Green Patrol (under the authority of the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority) arrived at the village, equipped with at least two bulldozers, and accompanied by dozens of police officers traveling in at least 20 police vans. The authorities quickly destroyed around 30 makeshift tents which the inhabitants had resurrected after the last demolition on 22 November. The villagers and their supporters from the Negev Coexistence Forum (NCF) managed to rescue some of the plastic used to cover their tents as well as some of the metal frames. The authorities also destroyed the home of a family who had moved into an orchard some 2km from the main village. In addition, a water tank, along with a lorry used to carry the tank to collect water from local supplies, was confiscated.
The persistent recent demolitions in al-’Araqib have also included animal pens, which the villagers used for their goats, sheep and hens. Livestock now inhabit either the nearby cemetery or roam around the village without shelter. Some villagers who lost their homes in previous demolitions now camp in tents in the cemetery outside the village.
This is the eighth time that al-’Araqib village, one of the more than 40 “unrecognized” villages in Israel whose residents lack security of tenure and government services, has been destroyed since July. The inhabitants of al-’Araqib remain determined to stay in their village and rebuild their homes. Around 50 people were directly affected by today’s demolition, and are now rebuilding with the assistance of their supporters in the NCF and other groups.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The village of al-’Araqib is one of more than 40 Palestinian villages in Israel not recognized by the Israeli authorities, despite the residents’ Israeli citizenship and long-established claims to their lands. Residents of these “unrecognized” villages, many of which are located in Israel’s Negev desert, lack security of tenure and services including water and electricity.
Al-’Araqib village was first demolished by the authorities on 27 July 2010, when residents were evicted by a force consisting of over 1,000 riot police officers, and at least 46 homes and other structures, including animal pens and water tanks, were destroyed. Thousands of olive and other trees were uprooted, destroying the villagers’ livelihood, and the villagers’ possessions including electricity generators, refrigerators and vehicles were confiscated by the police. On 4 and 10 August, makeshift shelters that the villagers had built were demolished and buried by bulldozers, supported by a large police force in riot gear equipped with a water cannon. Building materials and water tanks were seized; seven residents were arrested but later released, four on condition that they not enter al-’Araqib again. Then on 17 August, the authorities recommenced demolitions at dawn; this was during Ramadan, while the villagers were fasting. On 12 September at dawn, dozens of police arrived again at al-’Araqib with bulldozers and destroyed newly erected tents and other structures. The sixth demolition was on 13 October, when the entire village was again razed to the ground, and the director of the NCF was arrested by police and banned from entering al-’Araqib for 10 days. The seventh demolition was on 22 November, when approximately 30 structures were demolished in the village and some 1,600 olive trees located 2km away from the village and belonging to relatives of al-’Araqib residents were uprooted by the Israeli authorities.
In its concluding observations in July 2010, the UN Human Rights Committee stated its concern about “allegations of forced evictions of the Bedouin population based on the Public Land Law (Expulsion of Invaders) of 1981 as amended in 2005” and about what it described as the Israeli authorities’ “inadequate consideration” of the agricultural and other traditional needs of the Bedouin population of the Negev and the difficulties that the Bedouin face in accessing “health structures, education, water and electricity” due to Israeli policies. The Committee called for the Israeli authorities to “respect the Bedouin population’s right to their ancestral land and their traditional livelihood based on agriculture” and to “guarantee the Bedouin population’s access to health structures, education, water and electricity, irrespective of their whereabouts” in Israel. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has also expressed concern about Israel’s relocation of Bedouin residents of “unrecognized” villages to towns and called for their villages to be officially recognized, and for Israel to “enhance its efforts to consult” the villagers and seek their agreement or consent in advance of any process of relocation.
Despite an apparent governmental plan to regularize the status of some of the “unrecognized” villages, it was reported in the Israeli media in early 2010 that the Interior Ministry, the Israel Land Administration and the police had decided to triple the demolition rate of Bedouin construction in the Negev, and the marked increase in the number of demolitions and demolition orders this year accords with such reports.
In addition to the demolitions in al-’Araqib and other Palestinian communities inside Israel, the Israeli authorities have recently intensified demolitions of Palestinian homes located in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 21 December, for example, a home belonging to a family of six, including three children, was destroyed in Sur Baher in East Jerusalem. The same day, a Palestinian home belonging to a family of five, including three children, was destroyed in Nu’man village in East Jerusalem. On 19 December, four tents serving as family homes and four animal pens were demolished in in al-Haswa, near Bethlehem, affecting 24 people, including 16 children.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Condemning the persistent destruction of al-’Araqib village and urging the Israeli authorities to stop the policy of home demolitions inside Israel, as well as in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem;
- Urging the Israeli authorities to respect the Bedouin population’s right to their ancestral land by allowing them to rebuild their homes, and to take steps to officially recognize al-’Araqib and other “unrecognized” villages so as to allow residents security of tenure and the possibility of developing their villages without threat to their homes and livelihoods;
- Urging the Israeli authorities to implement the UN Human Rights Committee’s recommendations of July 2010 to guarantee access to health structures, education, water and electricity for residents of these villages.
APPEALS TO:
Director-General of the Israel Lands Administration (ILA)
Yaron Bibi
Israel Lands Administration
6 Shamai Street
P.O. Box 2600
Jerusalem 94631,
ISRAEL
Fax: 011 972 2 620 8427
Email: natalil@mmi.gov.il
Salutation: Dear Director-General
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior
Eliyahu Yishai
2 Kaplan Street
PO Box 6158
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem 91061,
ISRAEL
Fax: 011 972 2 666 2909
Email: sar@moin.gov.il
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Hakirya
PO Box 187, Jerusalem,
ISRAEL
Fax: 011 972 2 566 4838
Email: pm_eng@pmo.gov.i
Ambassador Michael Oren
Embassy of Israel
3514 International Dr. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 364 5607
Email: info@israelemb.org OR info@washington.mfa.gov.il
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 2 February 2011.
----------------------------------
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Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
TWO Urgent Action Appeals 12-22-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26310.pdf
20 December 2010
UA 263/10 - Prisoner of Conscience, Torture
CHINA Ablikim Abdiriyim (m)
Ablikim Abdiriyim, a prisoner of conscience and son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, is being tortured in prison, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, according to his family. His health has deteriorated since he was placed in solitary confinement on 3 November, and his family are seriously concerned for his well-being.
Ablikim Abdiriyim's relatives visited him in prison on 13 December, and he told them that he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement since 3 November. He said that he was placed in solitary confinement after having witnessed an incident that the prison authorities wanted to keep quiet. He was asked to sign a document denying what he had witnessed but refused.
According to his relatives, Ablkim Abdiriyim appeared weak. They are concerned about his vision and report that he "had black specs in his eyes".
Ablikim Abdiriyim was sentenced in April 2007 to nine years in prison for "instigating and engaging in secessionist activities" for articles published on the internet. According to state media sources, his legal rights were protected during the trial, the information concerning the trial was publicised three days in advance, and he confessed to the charges against him. However, his family claims that he was not given the right to legal representation of his choice, they were given no advance notice of the trial, and that any "confession" was likely to have been made under torture.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ablikim Abdiriyim had no access to his family for 18 months after he was first detained in June 2006. During their first 15-minute visit to Baijiahu prison, just outside Urumqi, capital of the XUAR, on 6 December 2007, his relatives found him to be extremely pale and weak and claimed that he had difficulty in recognizing them. He told them he had fainted frequently and fallen into a coma on two occasions while in prison. When his family questioned the prison authorities about his health, officials apparently attributed this to a heart condition, suggesting that it could deteriorate further if he refused to "cooperate" or "admit his guilt."
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, even though China ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 1988. Amnesty International also receives regular reports of deaths in custody, many of them caused by torture, in a variety of state institutions, including prisons, Re-education Through Labor facilities and police detention centers.
The authorities have passed numerous regulations intended to strengthen the formal prohibition of torture contained in China's Criminal Law. However, the categories of prohibited behavior are limited, and do not comply fully with definitions of torture under international law. Articles 247 and 248 of the Criminal Law list several offences related to the prohibition of torture; however, these charges can only be brought against a limited range of officials in particular circumstances or places. The prosecuting authorities, who also investigate and prosecute torture offences, set criteria for taking up cases which further limit the application of these provisions.
The Chinese authorities often label any independent expression of Uighur ethnic identity as "separatism" or "religious extremism" and have since mid-1990s mounted an aggressive campaign against these so-called "three forces". Subsequently many Uighurs are arbitrarily detained and imprisoned as prisoners of conscience. The situation has worsened following the attacks in the USA on 11 September 2011 as the Chinese authorities have used the global "war on terror" to justify harsh repression against Uighurs.
Rebiya Kadeer's family has been targeted by the authorities since she was first detained as a prisoner of conscience in 1999. This intensified after she was released on medical parole on 17 March 2005, and left China for the USA. Rebiya Kadeer claims to have been warned that if she engaged with members of the Uighur ethnic community or spoke publicly about "sensitive issues", her "businesses and children would be finished". On 27 November 2006, the day after Rebiya Kadeer was elected president of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a court sentenced two of her sons, Alim Abdiriyim and Kahar Abdiriyim, to fines amounting to millions of US dollars, and Alim to seven years' imprisonment on charges of tax evasion. In addition, at the beginning of April, the Chinese authorities reportedly began a process to assess and liquidate the Kadeer family businesses.
On 5 July 2009, a police crackdown on an initially peaceful demonstration by Uighurs in Urumqi was followed by violent riots. Chinese authorities, within hours, blamed overseas Chinese groups, including the World Uyghur Congress and Rebiya Kadeer, for what they described as "premeditated violence". Rebiya Kadeer has denied the allegation.
The demonstration in Urumqi was in reaction to the perceived inaction by the authorities following killings of migrant Uighur factory workers in Guangdong province, southern China. The protests took place against a back-drop of Uighur resentment, built-up over years of official repression and discrimination. Chinese officials said that 197 people died in the violence on 5 July. Of those killed, 156 were described as "innocent people" who included 134 ethnic Han Chinese, 11 Hui, 10 Uighurs and one Manchurian. Amnesty International interviews with eyewitnesses following the unrest suggest that excessive force on the part of security forces resulted in possibly hundreds of additional Uighur deaths.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Ablikim Abdiryim immediately and unconditionally;
- Urging the authorities to guarantee that Ablikim Abdiriyim is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on the authorities to initiate a full, independent and impartial investigation into allegations that he has been tortured or ill-treated and ensure that anyone responsible for torture or ill-treatment is brought to justice in accordance with international standards;
- Ensure that he is allowed access to his family, lawyer and any medical treatment that he may require.
APPEALS TO:
Prison Governor
Jianyuzhang
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu di si jianyu
Kashidonglu
Wulumuqi 830013
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Prison Governor
Chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People's Government
Nur BEKRI Zhuxi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu Bangongting
2 Zhongshanlu, Urumqi 830041
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 991 2817567
or 011 86 991 2803621
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chairman
COPIES TO:
Premier of the People's Republic of China
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Zhang Yesui
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 495-2138
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 January 2011.
----------------------------------
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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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26010.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on December 17, 2010. Thanks!
20 December 2010
Further Information on UA 260/10 (17 December, 2010) - Imminent risk of execution
YEMEN
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla (m)
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum (m)
An alleged juvenile offender in Yemen has had his execution halted, and his case will now be re-examined by the courts. Another alleged juvenile offender, however, continues to be at imminent risk of execution.
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla had his execution halted on 18 December, a day before his death sentence was due to be carried out and the case will now be re-examined by the courts. Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla was sentenced to death after being convicted of a murder he was alleged to have committed while still under 18 years of age.
Although the court considered that he was over 18 years old at the time of the alleged crime, it is unclear how it determined this. Amnesty International has been told that his birth certificate states he was born in 1988 and that his alleged crime took place in June 2004, meaning that he would have been 16 or 17 years old at the time and would be around 22 years old now. He is being held in Ta'izz prison, in the south-west of Yemen.
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum was alleged to have committed a murder in May 2002. He maintains that he is aged around 24 years old, which would have made him around 15 years old at the time of the offense. He does not have a birth certificate. The President of Yemen has ratified his death sentence and he continues to be at imminent risk of execution. He is being held in Ibb prison, in the south-west of Yemen.
Amnesty International is aware of at least eight other people who are possible juvenile offenders on death row in Yemen. Yemen is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which expressly prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age. The application of the death penalty on juvenile offenders is also expressly prohibited in Article 31 of Yemen's Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Yemen has made significant progress in the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles, but courts continue to sentence alleged juvenile offenders to death. The legal progress to prohibit the use of the death penalty against juveniles followed the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the government in 1991. At that time the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles was limited to offenders below the age of 15 at the time of the crime. However, this categorical prohibition was extended in 1994 to include individuals below the age of 18 at the time of the commission of capital offenses. This is stipulated in Article 31 of the Penal Code, Law 12 of 1994, and marks a positive progress bringing Yemen's laws into line with Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which categorically prohibit the use of the death penalty against anyone under 18 years of age at the time of commission of any crime.
Yemen's legislative progress in this regard has not been consistently matched by the practice of the courts, which have sometimes imposed the death penalty on offenders who were below the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Amnesty International has long-standing concerns about the use of the death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings which fall short of international standards for fair trial.
In 2009, at least 53 people were sentenced to death and at least 30 people were executed. In 2010 so far, at least 14 people have been executed. Hundreds of people are believed to be on death row.
Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognizably criminal offenses, but is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and as a violation of the right to life.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Welcoming the halt to the execution of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and the forthcoming review of his case;
- Calling on the President of Yemen to halt the execution of Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with their obligations under international law, particularly Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and end the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 274 147
Salutation: Your Excellency
Attorney General
His Excellency 'Abdullah al-'Ulufi
Office of the Attorney General
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 374 412
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Huda Ali Abdullatef Alban
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana'a, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 419 700 (please keep trying)
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2319 Wyoming Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 337 2017
Email: ambassador@yemenembassy.org
counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 January 2011.
----------------------------------
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
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Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26310.pdf
20 December 2010
UA 263/10 - Prisoner of Conscience, Torture
CHINA Ablikim Abdiriyim (m)
Ablikim Abdiriyim, a prisoner of conscience and son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, is being tortured in prison, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, according to his family. His health has deteriorated since he was placed in solitary confinement on 3 November, and his family are seriously concerned for his well-being.
Ablikim Abdiriyim's relatives visited him in prison on 13 December, and he told them that he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement since 3 November. He said that he was placed in solitary confinement after having witnessed an incident that the prison authorities wanted to keep quiet. He was asked to sign a document denying what he had witnessed but refused.
According to his relatives, Ablkim Abdiriyim appeared weak. They are concerned about his vision and report that he "had black specs in his eyes".
Ablikim Abdiriyim was sentenced in April 2007 to nine years in prison for "instigating and engaging in secessionist activities" for articles published on the internet. According to state media sources, his legal rights were protected during the trial, the information concerning the trial was publicised three days in advance, and he confessed to the charges against him. However, his family claims that he was not given the right to legal representation of his choice, they were given no advance notice of the trial, and that any "confession" was likely to have been made under torture.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ablikim Abdiriyim had no access to his family for 18 months after he was first detained in June 2006. During their first 15-minute visit to Baijiahu prison, just outside Urumqi, capital of the XUAR, on 6 December 2007, his relatives found him to be extremely pale and weak and claimed that he had difficulty in recognizing them. He told them he had fainted frequently and fallen into a coma on two occasions while in prison. When his family questioned the prison authorities about his health, officials apparently attributed this to a heart condition, suggesting that it could deteriorate further if he refused to "cooperate" or "admit his guilt."
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, even though China ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 1988. Amnesty International also receives regular reports of deaths in custody, many of them caused by torture, in a variety of state institutions, including prisons, Re-education Through Labor facilities and police detention centers.
The authorities have passed numerous regulations intended to strengthen the formal prohibition of torture contained in China's Criminal Law. However, the categories of prohibited behavior are limited, and do not comply fully with definitions of torture under international law. Articles 247 and 248 of the Criminal Law list several offences related to the prohibition of torture; however, these charges can only be brought against a limited range of officials in particular circumstances or places. The prosecuting authorities, who also investigate and prosecute torture offences, set criteria for taking up cases which further limit the application of these provisions.
The Chinese authorities often label any independent expression of Uighur ethnic identity as "separatism" or "religious extremism" and have since mid-1990s mounted an aggressive campaign against these so-called "three forces". Subsequently many Uighurs are arbitrarily detained and imprisoned as prisoners of conscience. The situation has worsened following the attacks in the USA on 11 September 2011 as the Chinese authorities have used the global "war on terror" to justify harsh repression against Uighurs.
Rebiya Kadeer's family has been targeted by the authorities since she was first detained as a prisoner of conscience in 1999. This intensified after she was released on medical parole on 17 March 2005, and left China for the USA. Rebiya Kadeer claims to have been warned that if she engaged with members of the Uighur ethnic community or spoke publicly about "sensitive issues", her "businesses and children would be finished". On 27 November 2006, the day after Rebiya Kadeer was elected president of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a court sentenced two of her sons, Alim Abdiriyim and Kahar Abdiriyim, to fines amounting to millions of US dollars, and Alim to seven years' imprisonment on charges of tax evasion. In addition, at the beginning of April, the Chinese authorities reportedly began a process to assess and liquidate the Kadeer family businesses.
On 5 July 2009, a police crackdown on an initially peaceful demonstration by Uighurs in Urumqi was followed by violent riots. Chinese authorities, within hours, blamed overseas Chinese groups, including the World Uyghur Congress and Rebiya Kadeer, for what they described as "premeditated violence". Rebiya Kadeer has denied the allegation.
The demonstration in Urumqi was in reaction to the perceived inaction by the authorities following killings of migrant Uighur factory workers in Guangdong province, southern China. The protests took place against a back-drop of Uighur resentment, built-up over years of official repression and discrimination. Chinese officials said that 197 people died in the violence on 5 July. Of those killed, 156 were described as "innocent people" who included 134 ethnic Han Chinese, 11 Hui, 10 Uighurs and one Manchurian. Amnesty International interviews with eyewitnesses following the unrest suggest that excessive force on the part of security forces resulted in possibly hundreds of additional Uighur deaths.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Ablikim Abdiryim immediately and unconditionally;
- Urging the authorities to guarantee that Ablikim Abdiriyim is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on the authorities to initiate a full, independent and impartial investigation into allegations that he has been tortured or ill-treated and ensure that anyone responsible for torture or ill-treatment is brought to justice in accordance with international standards;
- Ensure that he is allowed access to his family, lawyer and any medical treatment that he may require.
APPEALS TO:
Prison Governor
Jianyuzhang
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu di si jianyu
Kashidonglu
Wulumuqi 830013
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Prison Governor
Chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People's Government
Nur BEKRI Zhuxi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu Bangongting
2 Zhongshanlu, Urumqi 830041
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 991 2817567
or 011 86 991 2803621
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chairman
COPIES TO:
Premier of the People's Republic of China
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Zhang Yesui
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 495-2138
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
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To Canada:
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$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26010.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on December 17, 2010. Thanks!
20 December 2010
Further Information on UA 260/10 (17 December, 2010) - Imminent risk of execution
YEMEN
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla (m)
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum (m)
An alleged juvenile offender in Yemen has had his execution halted, and his case will now be re-examined by the courts. Another alleged juvenile offender, however, continues to be at imminent risk of execution.
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla had his execution halted on 18 December, a day before his death sentence was due to be carried out and the case will now be re-examined by the courts. Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla was sentenced to death after being convicted of a murder he was alleged to have committed while still under 18 years of age.
Although the court considered that he was over 18 years old at the time of the alleged crime, it is unclear how it determined this. Amnesty International has been told that his birth certificate states he was born in 1988 and that his alleged crime took place in June 2004, meaning that he would have been 16 or 17 years old at the time and would be around 22 years old now. He is being held in Ta'izz prison, in the south-west of Yemen.
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum was alleged to have committed a murder in May 2002. He maintains that he is aged around 24 years old, which would have made him around 15 years old at the time of the offense. He does not have a birth certificate. The President of Yemen has ratified his death sentence and he continues to be at imminent risk of execution. He is being held in Ibb prison, in the south-west of Yemen.
Amnesty International is aware of at least eight other people who are possible juvenile offenders on death row in Yemen. Yemen is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which expressly prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age. The application of the death penalty on juvenile offenders is also expressly prohibited in Article 31 of Yemen's Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Yemen has made significant progress in the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles, but courts continue to sentence alleged juvenile offenders to death. The legal progress to prohibit the use of the death penalty against juveniles followed the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the government in 1991. At that time the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles was limited to offenders below the age of 15 at the time of the crime. However, this categorical prohibition was extended in 1994 to include individuals below the age of 18 at the time of the commission of capital offenses. This is stipulated in Article 31 of the Penal Code, Law 12 of 1994, and marks a positive progress bringing Yemen's laws into line with Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which categorically prohibit the use of the death penalty against anyone under 18 years of age at the time of commission of any crime.
Yemen's legislative progress in this regard has not been consistently matched by the practice of the courts, which have sometimes imposed the death penalty on offenders who were below the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Amnesty International has long-standing concerns about the use of the death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings which fall short of international standards for fair trial.
In 2009, at least 53 people were sentenced to death and at least 30 people were executed. In 2010 so far, at least 14 people have been executed. Hundreds of people are believed to be on death row.
Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognizably criminal offenses, but is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and as a violation of the right to life.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Welcoming the halt to the execution of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and the forthcoming review of his case;
- Calling on the President of Yemen to halt the execution of Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with their obligations under international law, particularly Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and end the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 274 147
Salutation: Your Excellency
Attorney General
His Excellency 'Abdullah al-'Ulufi
Office of the Attorney General
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 374 412
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Huda Ali Abdullatef Alban
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana'a, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 419 700 (please keep trying)
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2319 Wyoming Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 337 2017
Email: ambassador@yemenembassy.org
counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
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To Canada:
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To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Friday, December 17, 2010
Urgent Action 12-17-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26010.pdf
17 December 2010
UA 260/10 Imminent risk of execution
YEMEN Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla (m)
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum (m)
Amnesty International has received information that the President of Yemen has signed the death sentences of two alleged juvenile offenders. One of them has been scheduled for execution on 19 December. They are both at imminent risk of execution.
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla has been scheduled for execution on 19 December. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of a murder he was alleged to have committed while still under 18.
Although the court considered that he was over 18 years old at the time of the alleged crime, it is unclear how it determined this. Amnesty International has received information that his birth certificate states he was born in 1988 and that his alleged crime took place in June 2004, meaning that he would have been 16 or 17 years old at the time and around 22 years old now. He is being held in Ta'izz prison.
In another case, Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum was alleged to have committed a murder in May 2002. He maintains that he is aged around 24 years old, which would have made him around 15 years old at the time of the offense. He does not have a birth certificate. It is unclear as to how the court determined his age.
In both cases, the President of Yemen has ratified their death sentences. Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla has since been scheduled for execution and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum is also at imminent risk of execution.
Amnesty International is aware of at least eight other people who are possible juvenile offenders on death row. Yemen is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which expressly prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18. The application of the death penalty on juvenile offenders is also expressly prohibited in Article 31 of Yemen's Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Yemen has made significant progress in the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles, but courts continue to sentence alleged juvenile offenders to death. The legal progress to prohibit the use of the death penalty against juveniles followed the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the government in 1991. At that time the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles was limited to offenders below the age of 15 at the time of the crime. However, this categorical prohibition was extended in 1994 to include individuals below the age of 18 at the time of the commission of capital offenses. This is stipulated in Article 31 of the Penal Code, Law 12 of 1994, and marks a positive progress bringing Yemen’s laws into line with Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which categorically prohibit the use of the death penalty against anyone under 18 years of age at the time of commission of any crime.
Yemen's legislative progress in this regard has not been consistently matched by the practice of the courts, which have sometimes imposed the death penalty on offenders who were below the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Amnesty International has long-standing concerns about the use of the death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings which fall short of international standards for fair trial.
In 2009, at least 53 people were sentenced to death and at least 30 people were executed. In 2010 so far, at least 12 people have been executed. Hundreds of people are believed to be on death row.
Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognizably criminal offenses, but is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and as a violation of the right to life.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the President of Yemen to halt the execution of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with their obligations under international law, particularly Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and end the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 274 147
Salutation: Your Excellency
Attorney General
His Excellency 'Abdullah al-'Ulufi
Office of the Attorney General
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 374 412
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Huda Ali Abdullatef Alban
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana'a, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 419 700
(please keep trying)
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2319 Wyoming Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 337 2017
Email: ambassador@yemenembassy.org
counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 28 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26010.pdf
17 December 2010
UA 260/10 Imminent risk of execution
YEMEN Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla (m)
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum (m)
Amnesty International has received information that the President of Yemen has signed the death sentences of two alleged juvenile offenders. One of them has been scheduled for execution on 19 December. They are both at imminent risk of execution.
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla has been scheduled for execution on 19 December. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of a murder he was alleged to have committed while still under 18.
Although the court considered that he was over 18 years old at the time of the alleged crime, it is unclear how it determined this. Amnesty International has received information that his birth certificate states he was born in 1988 and that his alleged crime took place in June 2004, meaning that he would have been 16 or 17 years old at the time and around 22 years old now. He is being held in Ta'izz prison.
In another case, Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum was alleged to have committed a murder in May 2002. He maintains that he is aged around 24 years old, which would have made him around 15 years old at the time of the offense. He does not have a birth certificate. It is unclear as to how the court determined his age.
In both cases, the President of Yemen has ratified their death sentences. Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla has since been scheduled for execution and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum is also at imminent risk of execution.
Amnesty International is aware of at least eight other people who are possible juvenile offenders on death row. Yemen is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which expressly prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18. The application of the death penalty on juvenile offenders is also expressly prohibited in Article 31 of Yemen's Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Yemen has made significant progress in the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles, but courts continue to sentence alleged juvenile offenders to death. The legal progress to prohibit the use of the death penalty against juveniles followed the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the government in 1991. At that time the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles was limited to offenders below the age of 15 at the time of the crime. However, this categorical prohibition was extended in 1994 to include individuals below the age of 18 at the time of the commission of capital offenses. This is stipulated in Article 31 of the Penal Code, Law 12 of 1994, and marks a positive progress bringing Yemen’s laws into line with Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which categorically prohibit the use of the death penalty against anyone under 18 years of age at the time of commission of any crime.
Yemen's legislative progress in this regard has not been consistently matched by the practice of the courts, which have sometimes imposed the death penalty on offenders who were below the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Amnesty International has long-standing concerns about the use of the death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings which fall short of international standards for fair trial.
In 2009, at least 53 people were sentenced to death and at least 30 people were executed. In 2010 so far, at least 12 people have been executed. Hundreds of people are believed to be on death row.
Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognizably criminal offenses, but is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and as a violation of the right to life.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the President of Yemen to halt the execution of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with their obligations under international law, particularly Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and end the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 274 147
Salutation: Your Excellency
Attorney General
His Excellency 'Abdullah al-'Ulufi
Office of the Attorney General
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 374 412
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Huda Ali Abdullatef Alban
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana'a, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 419 700
(please keep trying)
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2319 Wyoming Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 337 2017
Email: ambassador@yemenembassy.org
counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 28 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Urgent Action 12-16-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25610.pdf
16 December 2010
UA 256/10 Risk of forced eviction
ROMANIA Roma communities in Cluj
The authorities in Cluj, a city in north-western Romania, are preparing to carry out the forced eviction of Roma communities living in Coastei and Cantonului streets by the end of December. Amnesty International is concerned that reportedly houses will be demolished, and some families will be moved to new housing units that do not meet the criteria of adequate housing while others may face homelessness.
On 15 December, families in Coastei street received oral notifications indicating that they have to remove their belongings by 17 December, when the municipality will move them to alternative housing. According to the municipality, there are an estimated 345 people living in Coastei street, including an estimated 140 people who do not have residency in Cluj, and who are at risk of being sent back to their place of residence, raising concerns over their right to freedom of movement.
The authorities have not consulted the affected community on the eviction plans in a full and participatory way. The Mayor announced that 40 families will be housed in new housing units constructed on the outskirt of the city in the Pata Rat area and that those who refuse to be moved will not be provided with alternative housing. This area, according to information received by Amnesty International, is in the proximity of a garbage dump and separated from the rest of the city and the residents will face difficulties in accessing work opportunities and public services, including education and health.
An estimated 429 people (around 100 families) residing in houses, improvised shacks and containers in Cantonului street are also likely to be evicted. The number of alternative housing units which is being proposed by the city authorities is limited and is expected to accommodate only 40 families, which raises serious concerns that a number of people may be made homeless if they are evicted.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International visited Cluj and the Roma communities living in Coastei and Cantonului streets in December 2010. The Roma communities were anxious about the threat of possible eviction. They told Amnesty International that – in the past several months - the city authorities had announced that they were to be evicted. The community in Coastei is situated about a five-minute walk from the city center. The households receive mail to their address and at least some of them are connected to the electricity supply.
The city authorities confirmed - during a meeting with Amnesty International on 8 December 2010 - that they plan to move the families from Coastei Street to new housing units in Pata Rat area. According to the Deputy Mayor, construction of five units accommodating 20 families should be finished by 15 December. He stated that the future tenants would receive short-term rental contracts which may be extended. The municipality quoted multiple complaints from the staff of the nearby public library and an office of a multinational company in the proximity of the Coastei Street as the reasons for the eviction.
Under international law, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all feasible alternatives have been explored in genuine consultation with the affected communities. The authorities then have a duty to provide them with adequate notice; legal remedies, adequate alternative housing and compensation. They must ensure that persons are not rendered homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights as a consequence of eviction. According to international standards, evictions should not be carried out in particularly bad weather or at night and the authorities have a duty to provide those affected with adequate notice.
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Romania is also under an obligation to ensure to everyone lawfully residing within its territory the right to move freely and to choose his or her place of residence. Amnesty International is therefore concerned at the allegations that persons who are not originally from Cluj will be sent back to the places of their original residence, as this would violate their right to freedom of movement and to choose their place of residence.
Romania is a party to a range of international and regional human rights treaties which strictly require it to prohibit, refrain from and prevent forced evictions. These treaties include the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Revised European Social Charter. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has emphasized in its General Comment 7 that evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives to eviction have been explored. Even when an eviction is considered to be justified, it can only be carried out when appropriate procedural protections are in place and if compensation for all losses and adequate alternative housing is provided.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the city authorities to ensure that any evictions of the communities currently living in Coastei and Cantonului streets are carried out only as a last resort and in full compliance with international human rights standards;
- Urging them to ensure that the eviction is put on hold until genuine consultation with the Roma community of Coastei and Cantonului Streets to identify all feasible alternatives to evictions and on resettlement options has been conducted;
- Urging the city authorities to provide adequate alternative housing, compliant with requirements under human rights law and that people are not forcibly moved to their original places of residence and prevented from returning.
APPEALS TO:
Mayor of Cluj-Napoca
Sorin Apostu
Str. Motilor 5
Cluj-Napoca 400001,
ROMANIA
Fax: 011 40 264 599 329
Email: sorinapostu@primariaclujnapoca.ro
COPIES TO:
Prime Minister
Emil Boc
Guvernul Romaniei
Piata Victoriei nr. 1,
Sector 1, Bucuresti
ROMANIA
Fax: 011 40 21 313 98 46
Email: drp@gov.ro
President
Traian Basescu
Palatul Cotroceni,
Bulevardul Geniului nr. 1-3
Cod postal 060116
Sector 6 - Bucuresti
ROMANIA
Fax : 011 40 21 410 38 58
Email: procetatean@presidency.ro
Ambassador Adrian Cosmin Vierita
Embassy of Romania
1607 23rd St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 4748
Email: ambassador@roembus.org OR dcm@roembus.org OR political@roembus.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 December 2010.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25610.pdf
16 December 2010
UA 256/10 Risk of forced eviction
ROMANIA Roma communities in Cluj
The authorities in Cluj, a city in north-western Romania, are preparing to carry out the forced eviction of Roma communities living in Coastei and Cantonului streets by the end of December. Amnesty International is concerned that reportedly houses will be demolished, and some families will be moved to new housing units that do not meet the criteria of adequate housing while others may face homelessness.
On 15 December, families in Coastei street received oral notifications indicating that they have to remove their belongings by 17 December, when the municipality will move them to alternative housing. According to the municipality, there are an estimated 345 people living in Coastei street, including an estimated 140 people who do not have residency in Cluj, and who are at risk of being sent back to their place of residence, raising concerns over their right to freedom of movement.
The authorities have not consulted the affected community on the eviction plans in a full and participatory way. The Mayor announced that 40 families will be housed in new housing units constructed on the outskirt of the city in the Pata Rat area and that those who refuse to be moved will not be provided with alternative housing. This area, according to information received by Amnesty International, is in the proximity of a garbage dump and separated from the rest of the city and the residents will face difficulties in accessing work opportunities and public services, including education and health.
An estimated 429 people (around 100 families) residing in houses, improvised shacks and containers in Cantonului street are also likely to be evicted. The number of alternative housing units which is being proposed by the city authorities is limited and is expected to accommodate only 40 families, which raises serious concerns that a number of people may be made homeless if they are evicted.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International visited Cluj and the Roma communities living in Coastei and Cantonului streets in December 2010. The Roma communities were anxious about the threat of possible eviction. They told Amnesty International that – in the past several months - the city authorities had announced that they were to be evicted. The community in Coastei is situated about a five-minute walk from the city center. The households receive mail to their address and at least some of them are connected to the electricity supply.
The city authorities confirmed - during a meeting with Amnesty International on 8 December 2010 - that they plan to move the families from Coastei Street to new housing units in Pata Rat area. According to the Deputy Mayor, construction of five units accommodating 20 families should be finished by 15 December. He stated that the future tenants would receive short-term rental contracts which may be extended. The municipality quoted multiple complaints from the staff of the nearby public library and an office of a multinational company in the proximity of the Coastei Street as the reasons for the eviction.
Under international law, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all feasible alternatives have been explored in genuine consultation with the affected communities. The authorities then have a duty to provide them with adequate notice; legal remedies, adequate alternative housing and compensation. They must ensure that persons are not rendered homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights as a consequence of eviction. According to international standards, evictions should not be carried out in particularly bad weather or at night and the authorities have a duty to provide those affected with adequate notice.
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Romania is also under an obligation to ensure to everyone lawfully residing within its territory the right to move freely and to choose his or her place of residence. Amnesty International is therefore concerned at the allegations that persons who are not originally from Cluj will be sent back to the places of their original residence, as this would violate their right to freedom of movement and to choose their place of residence.
Romania is a party to a range of international and regional human rights treaties which strictly require it to prohibit, refrain from and prevent forced evictions. These treaties include the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Revised European Social Charter. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has emphasized in its General Comment 7 that evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives to eviction have been explored. Even when an eviction is considered to be justified, it can only be carried out when appropriate procedural protections are in place and if compensation for all losses and adequate alternative housing is provided.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the city authorities to ensure that any evictions of the communities currently living in Coastei and Cantonului streets are carried out only as a last resort and in full compliance with international human rights standards;
- Urging them to ensure that the eviction is put on hold until genuine consultation with the Roma community of Coastei and Cantonului Streets to identify all feasible alternatives to evictions and on resettlement options has been conducted;
- Urging the city authorities to provide adequate alternative housing, compliant with requirements under human rights law and that people are not forcibly moved to their original places of residence and prevented from returning.
APPEALS TO:
Mayor of Cluj-Napoca
Sorin Apostu
Str. Motilor 5
Cluj-Napoca 400001,
ROMANIA
Fax: 011 40 264 599 329
Email: sorinapostu@primariaclujnapoca.ro
COPIES TO:
Prime Minister
Emil Boc
Guvernul Romaniei
Piata Victoriei nr. 1,
Sector 1, Bucuresti
ROMANIA
Fax: 011 40 21 313 98 46
Email: drp@gov.ro
President
Traian Basescu
Palatul Cotroceni,
Bulevardul Geniului nr. 1-3
Cod postal 060116
Sector 6 - Bucuresti
ROMANIA
Fax : 011 40 21 410 38 58
Email: procetatean@presidency.ro
Ambassador Adrian Cosmin Vierita
Embassy of Romania
1607 23rd St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 4748
Email: ambassador@roembus.org OR dcm@roembus.org OR political@roembus.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 December 2010.
----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
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Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Urgent Action 12-15-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25710.pdf
15 December 2010
UA 257/10 - Prisoner of Conscience/ Risk of Torture
CHINA Guo Xiaojun (m)
Falun Gong practitioner, Guo Xiaojun, a former lecturer at Jiaotong University in Shanghai, is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in prison. He was convicted solely on charges which relate to his practice of Falun Gong and based on a confession he says was extracted through torture.
Guo Xiaojun was taken from his home in Shanghai by eight plainclothes police and security officers on 7 January, 2010. They forced their way into his home, without a warrant, and pushed him to the ground in front of his wife and four year old child, cutting his head. The police then ransacked his home, finding only a few books relating to Falun Gong. Police then took him to the Baoshan District detention center. He was later charged with 'using a heretical organization to subvert the law' based on allegations that he had distributed Falun Gong materials. This charge was made following a confession which Guo Xiaojun told lawyers' was extracted through torture. Since his detention, Guo's family have not been able to visit him.
During the course of the case Guo's family hired five lawyers, each of whom dropped the case after being threatened with negative consequences by local authorities. He has therefore not been able to have legal counsel throughout his detention and trial. After his first trial on 7 July, Guo was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, upheld at an appeal hearing in October. The lawyer the family had hired at the time was not informed of the date of the appeal hearing, and Guo therefore had no legal representation. During a meeting with one of the lawyers hired by the family at the end of July, Guo recounted the torture and sleep deprivation he had endured, including being kept in solitary confinement for long periods.
Guo's wife is seeking to appeal his sentence before the Shanghai Higher Court, on the grounds that the evidence used against her husband was obtained through torture. Guo Xianjun was previously imprisoned in 2001 for five years for his Falun Gong beliefs.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement which gained large numbers of supporters in China during the 1990s. After it staged a peaceful gathering in Tiananmen Square in July 1999, the government outlawed the group and launched a long-term campaign of intimidation and persecution, directed by a special organization called the 610 Office. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained since the spiritual movement was banned as a "threat to social and political stability". Practitioners have been held in psychiatric hospitals, Re-education through Labour (RTL) facilities - a form of administrative detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review -- or sentenced to long prison terms.
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, despite China's ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1988. Falun Gong sources have documented numerous deaths in custody of Falun Gong practitioners, believed to have been caused by torture and other ill-treatment.
New regulations effective from 1 July 2010 and jointly issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Justice, aim to strengthen prohibitions against the use of illegal evidence in criminal cases, including coerced confessions and other evidence obtained through torture and other ill-treatment.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Guo Xiaojun, as he is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely because of his beliefs;
- Calling on the authorities to guarantee that Guo Xiaojun is not subjected to torture or ill-treatment;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is given any medical attention and treatment he may require;
- Calling for a full and impartial investigation into allegations that Guo Xiaojun was tortured in detention and bring those responsible to justice;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is given any medical attention and treatment he may require.
APPEALS TO:
Tilanqiao Prison Warden
Liu Jinbao
147 Changyang Road,
Shanghaishi
200082
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Warden
Chief Procurator of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate
WU Guangyu Jianchazhang
Shanghaishi Renmin Jianchayuan
648 Jianguo Xilu
Xuhuiqu
Shanghaishi 200030
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Procurator
COPIES TO:
Law Clerk of Shanghai Political and Legal Committee
Wu Zhiming
225 Wuxing Road
Shanghaishi
200030
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Ambassador Zhang Yesui
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 495-2138
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 26 January 2011.
----------------------------------
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25710.pdf
15 December 2010
UA 257/10 - Prisoner of Conscience/ Risk of Torture
CHINA Guo Xiaojun (m)
Falun Gong practitioner, Guo Xiaojun, a former lecturer at Jiaotong University in Shanghai, is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in prison. He was convicted solely on charges which relate to his practice of Falun Gong and based on a confession he says was extracted through torture.
Guo Xiaojun was taken from his home in Shanghai by eight plainclothes police and security officers on 7 January, 2010. They forced their way into his home, without a warrant, and pushed him to the ground in front of his wife and four year old child, cutting his head. The police then ransacked his home, finding only a few books relating to Falun Gong. Police then took him to the Baoshan District detention center. He was later charged with 'using a heretical organization to subvert the law' based on allegations that he had distributed Falun Gong materials. This charge was made following a confession which Guo Xiaojun told lawyers' was extracted through torture. Since his detention, Guo's family have not been able to visit him.
During the course of the case Guo's family hired five lawyers, each of whom dropped the case after being threatened with negative consequences by local authorities. He has therefore not been able to have legal counsel throughout his detention and trial. After his first trial on 7 July, Guo was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, upheld at an appeal hearing in October. The lawyer the family had hired at the time was not informed of the date of the appeal hearing, and Guo therefore had no legal representation. During a meeting with one of the lawyers hired by the family at the end of July, Guo recounted the torture and sleep deprivation he had endured, including being kept in solitary confinement for long periods.
Guo's wife is seeking to appeal his sentence before the Shanghai Higher Court, on the grounds that the evidence used against her husband was obtained through torture. Guo Xianjun was previously imprisoned in 2001 for five years for his Falun Gong beliefs.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement which gained large numbers of supporters in China during the 1990s. After it staged a peaceful gathering in Tiananmen Square in July 1999, the government outlawed the group and launched a long-term campaign of intimidation and persecution, directed by a special organization called the 610 Office. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained since the spiritual movement was banned as a "threat to social and political stability". Practitioners have been held in psychiatric hospitals, Re-education through Labour (RTL) facilities - a form of administrative detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review -- or sentenced to long prison terms.
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, despite China's ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1988. Falun Gong sources have documented numerous deaths in custody of Falun Gong practitioners, believed to have been caused by torture and other ill-treatment.
New regulations effective from 1 July 2010 and jointly issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Justice, aim to strengthen prohibitions against the use of illegal evidence in criminal cases, including coerced confessions and other evidence obtained through torture and other ill-treatment.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Guo Xiaojun, as he is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely because of his beliefs;
- Calling on the authorities to guarantee that Guo Xiaojun is not subjected to torture or ill-treatment;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is given any medical attention and treatment he may require;
- Calling for a full and impartial investigation into allegations that Guo Xiaojun was tortured in detention and bring those responsible to justice;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is given any medical attention and treatment he may require.
APPEALS TO:
Tilanqiao Prison Warden
Liu Jinbao
147 Changyang Road,
Shanghaishi
200082
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Warden
Chief Procurator of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate
WU Guangyu Jianchazhang
Shanghaishi Renmin Jianchayuan
648 Jianguo Xilu
Xuhuiqu
Shanghaishi 200030
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Procurator
COPIES TO:
Law Clerk of Shanghai Political and Legal Committee
Wu Zhiming
225 Wuxing Road
Shanghaishi
200030
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Ambassador Zhang Yesui
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 495-2138
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 26 January 2011.
----------------------------------
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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$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Urgent Action 12-14-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25510.pdf
14 December 2010
UA 255/10 Incommunicado Detention
IRAN
Tayebeh Hosseini (f)
Narges Ghaffarzadeh (f)
Forough Hematyar (f)
Maryam Azimi (f)
Roya Eraqi (f)
Mohammad Reza Sadeghi (m)
Mohammad Mehmannavaz (m)
Seven followers of dissident cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, detained since 2006, have been arrested, six of them on 8 November 2010 and the seventh on 6 December. Their whereabouts are unknown. They are believed to be prisoners of conscience, held only because of their religious beliefs.
Five women, Tayebeh Hosseini, Narges Ghaffarzadeh, Forough Hematyar, Maryam Azimi, Roya Eraqi and one man, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi, all followers of Ayatollah Boroujerdi, were arrested at their homes, believed to be in Tehran, on 8 November after members of the security forces raided their houses, searching them and confiscating personal belongings and documents, including computers and laptops. Since then, their families have not been informed of their whereabouts.
The seventh person, a man, Mohammad Mehmannavaz was arrested on 6 December, reportedly responding to a summons to appear before the Special Court for the Clergy, a court for members of the Shi'a Muslim clergy. His whereabouts are unknown.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Married mother of one, Tayebeh Hosseini, aged 39, is a teacher and has a degree (BA) in English. Narges Ghaffarzadeh, aged 54, has a Bachelor of Business Administration. Forough Hematyar, aged 30, is a married English language student. Married mother of two, Maryam Azimi, aged 52, holds a BA in Persian Literature. Doctor Roya Eraqhi, aged 42, is a university professor and holds a doctorate (PhD) in Physical Chemistry. Former government employee, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi, aged 38, holds a master’s degree (MSc) in Computer Science. Mohammad Mehmannavaz, aged 39, graduated from Tehran technical college, and holds a BA in Construction Engineering; the Human Rights Activists in an Iran NGO have reported that he was previously arrested on 27 November 2007 and detained in Section 209 of Evin Prison where he was tortured. He was released later on bail. Amnesty International has no further information about this incident.
Cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi advocates the removal of religion from the political basis of the Iranian state. He was arrested at his home in Tehran on 8 October 2006 along with more than 300 of his followers. The prosecution initially sought the death penalty for him and 17 of his followers on vaguely-worded charges including "enmity against God", but this was later dropped. He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison, banned from practicing his clerical duties and his house and all his belongings were confiscated.
On 27 September 2010, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote an open letter to the UN Human Rights Council calling on the United Nations "to investigate the abuses taking place in Iran and the Middle East as a consequence of intervention of religion into politics thus paving the way for the passage of a resolution supporting the separation of state from religion." Please see: http://www.bamazadi.org/2010/09/boroujerdis-open-letter-to-un-human.html#more.
Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi has been repeatedly denied medical care. In mid-October 2010 he was subjected to beatings for protesting about his prison conditions, including a lack medical attention and the denial of family visits. Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is a prisoner of conscience, held solely because of his peaceful religious beliefs. He is being denied the medical care he needs for a number of health problems, including Parkinson's disease.
The Special Court for the Clergy operates outside the framework of the judiciary and was established in 1987 by Ayatollah Khomeini to try members of the Shi’a religious establishment in Iran. Its procedures fall far short of international standards for fair trial; among other things, defendants can only be represented by clergymen nominated by the court, who are not required to be legally qualified. In some cases defendants have been unable to find any nominated cleric willing to undertake their defense and have then been tried without any legal representation. The court can hand down sentences including flogging and the death penalty.
Amnesty International has been campaigning for the release of Ayatollah Boroujerdi and his followers since 2006.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Tayebeh Hosseini, Narges Ghaffarzadeh,Forough Hematyar, Maryam Azimi, Roya Eraqhi, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi and Mohammad Mehmannavaz, unless they are promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offense;
- Expressing concern that they have in effect been subjected to enforced disappearance and urging the authorities to disclose their whereabouts immediately;
- Calling for them to be protected from torture or other ill-treatment while in detention and to be granted immediate and regular access to their families, lawyers of their choice and to adequate medical treatment.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran, 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email via website:http://www.bia-judiciary.ir/tabid/62/Default.aspx;
2nd box (starred)=first name,
3rd box(starred)=family name,
5th box (starred)=email address, last box=substance of message
To send press grey box on left bottom side
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
High Council for Human Rights
[Care of] Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
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 25 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25510.pdf
14 December 2010
UA 255/10 Incommunicado Detention
IRAN
Tayebeh Hosseini (f)
Narges Ghaffarzadeh (f)
Forough Hematyar (f)
Maryam Azimi (f)
Roya Eraqi (f)
Mohammad Reza Sadeghi (m)
Mohammad Mehmannavaz (m)
Seven followers of dissident cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, detained since 2006, have been arrested, six of them on 8 November 2010 and the seventh on 6 December. Their whereabouts are unknown. They are believed to be prisoners of conscience, held only because of their religious beliefs.
Five women, Tayebeh Hosseini, Narges Ghaffarzadeh, Forough Hematyar, Maryam Azimi, Roya Eraqi and one man, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi, all followers of Ayatollah Boroujerdi, were arrested at their homes, believed to be in Tehran, on 8 November after members of the security forces raided their houses, searching them and confiscating personal belongings and documents, including computers and laptops. Since then, their families have not been informed of their whereabouts.
The seventh person, a man, Mohammad Mehmannavaz was arrested on 6 December, reportedly responding to a summons to appear before the Special Court for the Clergy, a court for members of the Shi'a Muslim clergy. His whereabouts are unknown.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Married mother of one, Tayebeh Hosseini, aged 39, is a teacher and has a degree (BA) in English. Narges Ghaffarzadeh, aged 54, has a Bachelor of Business Administration. Forough Hematyar, aged 30, is a married English language student. Married mother of two, Maryam Azimi, aged 52, holds a BA in Persian Literature. Doctor Roya Eraqhi, aged 42, is a university professor and holds a doctorate (PhD) in Physical Chemistry. Former government employee, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi, aged 38, holds a master’s degree (MSc) in Computer Science. Mohammad Mehmannavaz, aged 39, graduated from Tehran technical college, and holds a BA in Construction Engineering; the Human Rights Activists in an Iran NGO have reported that he was previously arrested on 27 November 2007 and detained in Section 209 of Evin Prison where he was tortured. He was released later on bail. Amnesty International has no further information about this incident.
Cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi advocates the removal of religion from the political basis of the Iranian state. He was arrested at his home in Tehran on 8 October 2006 along with more than 300 of his followers. The prosecution initially sought the death penalty for him and 17 of his followers on vaguely-worded charges including "enmity against God", but this was later dropped. He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison, banned from practicing his clerical duties and his house and all his belongings were confiscated.
On 27 September 2010, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote an open letter to the UN Human Rights Council calling on the United Nations "to investigate the abuses taking place in Iran and the Middle East as a consequence of intervention of religion into politics thus paving the way for the passage of a resolution supporting the separation of state from religion." Please see: http://www.bamazadi.org/2010/09/boroujerdis-open-letter-to-un-human.html#more.
Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi has been repeatedly denied medical care. In mid-October 2010 he was subjected to beatings for protesting about his prison conditions, including a lack medical attention and the denial of family visits. Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is a prisoner of conscience, held solely because of his peaceful religious beliefs. He is being denied the medical care he needs for a number of health problems, including Parkinson's disease.
The Special Court for the Clergy operates outside the framework of the judiciary and was established in 1987 by Ayatollah Khomeini to try members of the Shi’a religious establishment in Iran. Its procedures fall far short of international standards for fair trial; among other things, defendants can only be represented by clergymen nominated by the court, who are not required to be legally qualified. In some cases defendants have been unable to find any nominated cleric willing to undertake their defense and have then been tried without any legal representation. The court can hand down sentences including flogging and the death penalty.
Amnesty International has been campaigning for the release of Ayatollah Boroujerdi and his followers since 2006.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Tayebeh Hosseini, Narges Ghaffarzadeh,Forough Hematyar, Maryam Azimi, Roya Eraqhi, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi and Mohammad Mehmannavaz, unless they are promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offense;
- Expressing concern that they have in effect been subjected to enforced disappearance and urging the authorities to disclose their whereabouts immediately;
- Calling for them to be protected from torture or other ill-treatment while in detention and to be granted immediate and regular access to their families, lawyers of their choice and to adequate medical treatment.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran, 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email via website:http://www.bia-judiciary.ir/tabid/62/Default.aspx;
2nd box (starred)=first name,
3rd box(starred)=family name,
5th box (starred)=email address, last box=substance of message
To send press grey box on left bottom side
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
High Council for Human Rights
[Care of] Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
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 25 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
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$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Friday, December 10, 2010
2 Urgent Action Appeals 12-10-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa13010.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on June 14, 2010. Thanks!
10 December 2010
Further information on UA 130/10 (14 June 2010) - Risk of torture/Prisoner of conscience
IRAN
Reza Shahabi
Gholamreza Gholamhosseini
Morteza Komsari
Ali Akbar Nazari
Mansour Ossanlu
Ebrahim Maddadi
Reza Shahabi, a leading member of an independent but unrecognized trade union in Iran, remains detained in Evin Prison, Tehran, where he has begun a hunger strike. Although Saeed Torabian, another leading member, was released on 20 July, other union members have since been arrested, bringing the total in prison to six.
Reza Shahabi, the Treasurer of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was arrested on 12 June, three days after the arrest of Saeed Torabian, the union’s spokesperson. Held incommunicado detention for some weeks, he later contacted his family and told them he was being held in Evin Prison, Tehran. He began a hunger strike on 4 December in protest at his continued detention.
Union members Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, Morteza Komsari and Ali Akbar Nazari have all been arrested since the beginning of November. Amnesty International believes that all four men are probably prisoners of conscience, held solely on account of their peaceful trade union activities, in which case they should be released immediately and unconditionally. Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Maddadi, respectively head and deputy head of the union, are currently serving prison sentences; both are prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International is calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests," and to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 8 of which guarantees the "right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice"
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Union (or Syndicate) of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) was banned after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Workers resumed the union's activities in 2004, although it is not legally recognized. On 22 December 2005, police arrested 12 of the union’s leaders at their homes but quickly released four of them. Other members were arrested on 25 December 2005 after they went on strike to call for the release of their colleagues. Saeed Torabian was among those arrested, and spent one month in custody. Hundreds more were arrested during a further strike in January 2006 (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/002/2006/en and http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/008/2006/en)
Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Madadi, the Head and Deputy Head of the union respectively, are currently serving prison sentences for their peaceful trade union activities. Mansour Ossanlu is serving a five-year prison sentence and is currently held in poor conditions in Reja’i Shahr Prison, in Karaj near Tehran. He was tried on fresh charges in August 2010 and received another year’s prison sentence, to be added to the five years he is already serving. Ebrahim Madadi has been held in Evin Prison, Tehran, since December 2008, serving a three and a half year prison term imposed in 2007. Both are prisoners of conscience.
Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi were suspended from work, without pay, for approximately four years following the strikes in 2005. They were eventually reinstated after the Court of Administrative Justice investigated their case. This Court is empowered to investigate complaints against government employees.
Other trade unionists have been arrested or harassed recently, including members of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union, also not recognized by the government. The union’s Leader, Reza Rakhshan, was recently sentenced to six month’s imprisonment by an appeals court for "spreading lies", after he had been acquitted of this charge by a lower court, apparently in connection with an article he wrote entitle "We are One Family", condemning arrests and harassment of his fellow workers.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the Iranian authorities to release Reza Shahabi and other recently detained members of the same union (naming them) if, as appears, they are held solely for their peaceful trade union activities, or else to bring them to trial promptly and fairly on recognizable criminal charges;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that those held are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, and are granted immediate access to their families, to lawyers of their choice, and to adequate medical care.
- Urging authorities to release Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Maddadi immediately and unconditionally;
- Calling on the authorities to uphold their obligations to allow the right to form and join independent trade unions.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
[care of] Public relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street
Vali Asr Ave., above Pasteur Street intersection
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: Via website:http://www.bia-judiciary.ir/tabid/62/Default.aspx ; 2nd box (starred)=first name, 3rd box(starred)=family name, 5th box (starred)=email address, last box=substance of message
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Provincial Judiciary in Tehran
Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Alley 17, No. 152
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
COPIES TO:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir : (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
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 17 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax:202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25210.pdf
9 December 2010
UA 252/10 Death Penalty
IRAQ 39 untried detainees
According to recent public statements by the Iraqi Minister of Interior, 39 untried detainees may face the death sentence in Iraq by the end of 2010, possibly without trial or fair trials.
The 39 detainees are alleged members of armed groups in Iraq. They have not yet been charged and tried. The group were paraded on 2 December before journalists, while handcuffed and clad in orange jumpsuits, at a press conference convened by the Ministry of Interior. At the press conference, the Iraqi Interior Minister, Jawad al-Bolani, ignored the presumption of innocence of the 39 suspects and declared: "Today, we will send these criminals and the investigation results to the courts that will sentence them to death. Our demand is not to delay the carrying out of the executions against these criminals [in order] to deter terrorist and criminal elements." He added that the 39 had confessed to committing criminal offences but gave no details of how those confessions were obtained.
According to media reports Jawad al-Bolani said most of the 39 suspects had rejoined al-Qa’ida linked groups after being released from Iraqi prisons administered by the USA. Three of the suspects were named as: Hazim al-Zawi, reportedly the third-highest leader in the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Iraq’s al-Qa’ida branch; Ahmed Hussein ‘Ali, known as the "Mufti of Anbar"; and ‘AbdulRazzaq, the organization's alleged media chief.
Amnesty International fears that the confessions the 39 suspects are said to have made under interrogation may have been obtained under torture and, despite this, may be used as evidence against them at trial. Amnesty International has urged the Iraqi government to ensure that these and other detainees receive fair trials that conform to recognized international standards, and that "confessions" obtained under torture are not used in their trials.
The security situation in Iraq remains precarious and Amnesty International recognizes that the government has a duty to protect the population, including members of religious and ethnic minorities and others who have been targeted for attack by al-Qa’ida and other armed groups; however, this must be done in full conformity with human rights and the rule of law. Amnesty International has on numerous occasions strongly condemned human rights abuses committed by armed groups in Iraq. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and continues to call on the Iraq government to end executions as a step toward complete abolition of the death penalty.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iraqi government to ensure that Hazim al-Zawi, Ahmed Hussein Ali, Abdul Razzaq and the other 36 detainees receive a fair trial without recourse to the death penalty;
- Calling on the Iraqi authorities to ensure that no statements obtained under torture or duress are submitted as evidence against the 39 or those who may be accused in other trials;
- Calling on the Iraqi authorities to introduce immediately a moratorium on executions, in accordance with the recent UN General Assembly resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
Jawad al-Bolani
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Salutation: His Excellency
Prime Minister
His Excellency Nuri Kamil al-Maliki Prime Minister
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Salutation: His Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Justice
Judge Dara Noureddin
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Minister of Human Rights
Wajdan Mikhail Salam
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 20 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa13010.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on June 14, 2010. Thanks!
10 December 2010
Further information on UA 130/10 (14 June 2010) - Risk of torture/Prisoner of conscience
IRAN
Reza Shahabi
Gholamreza Gholamhosseini
Morteza Komsari
Ali Akbar Nazari
Mansour Ossanlu
Ebrahim Maddadi
Reza Shahabi, a leading member of an independent but unrecognized trade union in Iran, remains detained in Evin Prison, Tehran, where he has begun a hunger strike. Although Saeed Torabian, another leading member, was released on 20 July, other union members have since been arrested, bringing the total in prison to six.
Reza Shahabi, the Treasurer of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was arrested on 12 June, three days after the arrest of Saeed Torabian, the union’s spokesperson. Held incommunicado detention for some weeks, he later contacted his family and told them he was being held in Evin Prison, Tehran. He began a hunger strike on 4 December in protest at his continued detention.
Union members Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, Morteza Komsari and Ali Akbar Nazari have all been arrested since the beginning of November. Amnesty International believes that all four men are probably prisoners of conscience, held solely on account of their peaceful trade union activities, in which case they should be released immediately and unconditionally. Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Maddadi, respectively head and deputy head of the union, are currently serving prison sentences; both are prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International is calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests," and to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 8 of which guarantees the "right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice"
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Union (or Syndicate) of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) was banned after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Workers resumed the union's activities in 2004, although it is not legally recognized. On 22 December 2005, police arrested 12 of the union’s leaders at their homes but quickly released four of them. Other members were arrested on 25 December 2005 after they went on strike to call for the release of their colleagues. Saeed Torabian was among those arrested, and spent one month in custody. Hundreds more were arrested during a further strike in January 2006 (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/002/2006/en and http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/008/2006/en)
Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Madadi, the Head and Deputy Head of the union respectively, are currently serving prison sentences for their peaceful trade union activities. Mansour Ossanlu is serving a five-year prison sentence and is currently held in poor conditions in Reja’i Shahr Prison, in Karaj near Tehran. He was tried on fresh charges in August 2010 and received another year’s prison sentence, to be added to the five years he is already serving. Ebrahim Madadi has been held in Evin Prison, Tehran, since December 2008, serving a three and a half year prison term imposed in 2007. Both are prisoners of conscience.
Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi were suspended from work, without pay, for approximately four years following the strikes in 2005. They were eventually reinstated after the Court of Administrative Justice investigated their case. This Court is empowered to investigate complaints against government employees.
Other trade unionists have been arrested or harassed recently, including members of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union, also not recognized by the government. The union’s Leader, Reza Rakhshan, was recently sentenced to six month’s imprisonment by an appeals court for "spreading lies", after he had been acquitted of this charge by a lower court, apparently in connection with an article he wrote entitle "We are One Family", condemning arrests and harassment of his fellow workers.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the Iranian authorities to release Reza Shahabi and other recently detained members of the same union (naming them) if, as appears, they are held solely for their peaceful trade union activities, or else to bring them to trial promptly and fairly on recognizable criminal charges;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that those held are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, and are granted immediate access to their families, to lawyers of their choice, and to adequate medical care.
- Urging authorities to release Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Maddadi immediately and unconditionally;
- Calling on the authorities to uphold their obligations to allow the right to form and join independent trade unions.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
[care of] Public relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street
Vali Asr Ave., above Pasteur Street intersection
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: Via website:http://www.bia-judiciary.ir/tabid/62/Default.aspx ; 2nd box (starred)=first name, 3rd box(starred)=family name, 5th box (starred)=email address, last box=substance of message
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Provincial Judiciary in Tehran
Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Alley 17, No. 152
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
COPIES TO:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir : (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
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 17 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax:202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25210.pdf
9 December 2010
UA 252/10 Death Penalty
IRAQ 39 untried detainees
According to recent public statements by the Iraqi Minister of Interior, 39 untried detainees may face the death sentence in Iraq by the end of 2010, possibly without trial or fair trials.
The 39 detainees are alleged members of armed groups in Iraq. They have not yet been charged and tried. The group were paraded on 2 December before journalists, while handcuffed and clad in orange jumpsuits, at a press conference convened by the Ministry of Interior. At the press conference, the Iraqi Interior Minister, Jawad al-Bolani, ignored the presumption of innocence of the 39 suspects and declared: "Today, we will send these criminals and the investigation results to the courts that will sentence them to death. Our demand is not to delay the carrying out of the executions against these criminals [in order] to deter terrorist and criminal elements." He added that the 39 had confessed to committing criminal offences but gave no details of how those confessions were obtained.
According to media reports Jawad al-Bolani said most of the 39 suspects had rejoined al-Qa’ida linked groups after being released from Iraqi prisons administered by the USA. Three of the suspects were named as: Hazim al-Zawi, reportedly the third-highest leader in the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Iraq’s al-Qa’ida branch; Ahmed Hussein ‘Ali, known as the "Mufti of Anbar"; and ‘AbdulRazzaq, the organization's alleged media chief.
Amnesty International fears that the confessions the 39 suspects are said to have made under interrogation may have been obtained under torture and, despite this, may be used as evidence against them at trial. Amnesty International has urged the Iraqi government to ensure that these and other detainees receive fair trials that conform to recognized international standards, and that "confessions" obtained under torture are not used in their trials.
The security situation in Iraq remains precarious and Amnesty International recognizes that the government has a duty to protect the population, including members of religious and ethnic minorities and others who have been targeted for attack by al-Qa’ida and other armed groups; however, this must be done in full conformity with human rights and the rule of law. Amnesty International has on numerous occasions strongly condemned human rights abuses committed by armed groups in Iraq. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and continues to call on the Iraq government to end executions as a step toward complete abolition of the death penalty.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iraqi government to ensure that Hazim al-Zawi, Ahmed Hussein Ali, Abdul Razzaq and the other 36 detainees receive a fair trial without recourse to the death penalty;
- Calling on the Iraqi authorities to ensure that no statements obtained under torture or duress are submitted as evidence against the 39 or those who may be accused in other trials;
- Calling on the Iraqi authorities to introduce immediately a moratorium on executions, in accordance with the recent UN General Assembly resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
Jawad al-Bolani
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Salutation: His Excellency
Prime Minister
His Excellency Nuri Kamil al-Maliki Prime Minister
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Salutation: His Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Justice
Judge Dara Noureddin
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Minister of Human Rights
Wajdan Mikhail Salam
In care of: Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
3421 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 742 1600 EXT 136
Fax: 1 202 333 1129
Email: amboffice@iraqiembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 20 January 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
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