URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa04110.pdf
22 February 2010
UA 41/10 Fear for safety
GUATEMALA Members of FRENA
The members of a network of activists in Guatemala are in grave danger. Three members of the network have been killed since October 2009. Most recently, FRENA member Octavio Roblero was killed on 17 February. The motive for the attacks is not clear, and nobody has been brought to justice for any of the killings. Other leading members of FRENA have received death threats.
Three members of FRENA, the Resistance Front for the Defense of Natural Resources and People’s Rights, (Frente de Resistencia en Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y Derechos de los Pueblos) have been shot dead. Octavio Roblero, a male leader of FRENA, was shot outside his office in the municipality of Malacatan, close to the border with Mexico. Seventeen spent shells were found after the incident. Octavio Roblero had received death threats by telephone prior to this attack, which he believed to be connected to his activities with FRENA. He had also been pressing for progress in the official investigation into the death of Victor Galvez, his brother-in-law and another leading FRENA member, who was killed in October 2009. Victor Galvez was shot 10 times as he left the FRENA office. He had just spoken at a public meeting about FRENA’s campaigning to highlight the alleged poor quality and high charges by the regional electricity company. Victor Galvez had also received death threats, and had been verbally threatened and physically attacked in relation to his work.
The third FRENA leader to be killed was a woman, Evelinda Ramirez, who lived in the municipality of Ocos, near Malacatan. She was killed on 13 January, as she returned to her home from the capital, Guatemala City, where she had met with government officials in relation to her work for FRENA. She was traveling in a car with three other FRENA activists when shots were fired at them from a white pick-up truck which had been following them. Evelinda Ramirez was shot several times in the chest.
Other leading members of FRENA have received death threats. FRENA has identified 289 activists who may be at risk due to their work coordinating the organization’s activities. None of these people has been given protection by the authorities.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
FRENA is a civil society group working in 17 municipalities in the department of San Marcos near Guatemala’s Mexican border. Activities are coordinated by elected committees for each department.
Since 2008, the members of FRENA have been defending consumers’ rights against alleged misconduct by an electricity company, including charging for services not provided, overcharging for services and frequent power cuts in the region. FRENA believe the electricity company is acting in bad faith. FRENA has been involved in high level discussions with the company and the government’s regulatory body and is calling for a public investigation and sanctions against the electricity company. FRENA is also campaigning to end the contract with the existing electricity company and for a new local company to be created which is more accessible for communities and gives communities more control.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities take immediate steps to provide all necessary protection to the leading members of FRENA in accordance with their wishes;
- Calling for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the assassinations of Octavio Roblero, Evelinda Ramirez Reyes and Victor Galvez with the results made public and those responsible brought to justice.
APPEALS TO:
Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office
Lic. Jose Amilcar Velasquez Zarate
Fiscal General de la Republica y Jefe del Ministerio Publico
8ª Avenida 10-67, Zona 1,
Antiguo Edificio del Banco de los Trabajadores,
Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA
Fax: 011 502 2411 9124 OR 011 502 2411 9326
Salutation: Dear Attorney General / Estimado Sr. Fiscal General
Minister of the Interior/ Ministro de Gobernacion
Lic. Raul Antonio Velasquez Ramos
Ministro de Gobernacion
6ª Avenida 13-71, Zona 1,
Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA
Fax: 011 502 2413 8658
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Estimado Sr. Ministro
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Francisco Zillagran
Embassy of Guatemala
2220 R St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 745 1908
Email: info@guatemala-embassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 5 April 2010.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
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Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Urgent Action 2-20-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03110.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on February 4, 2010. Thanks!
19 February 2010
Further information on UA 31/10 (4 February 2010) – Death penalty
USA Henry Skinner (m)
Henry Skinner’s execution has been postponed by a month and rescheduled for 24 March. He was convicted of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two sons in the house all four shared. He maintains his innocence and is seeking DNA testing of evidence that could support his claim.
Henry Skinner was scheduled to be put to death on 24 February. On 16 February, the presiding judge of the court where Henry Skinner was convicted in 1995 withdrew the death warrant because of a technical legal error with the way it had been issued. In the same order, the judge set a new execution date:
“It is the Order of the Court that the Defendant, Henry Watkins Skinner, who has been adjudged to be guilty of capital murder, and whose punishment has been assessed at death, at any time after the hour of 6:00pm on the 24th day of March, 2010, shall be executed by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death and until the said Henry Watkins Skinner is dead…”
Henry Skinner’s lawyers, who were informed of the judge’s order on 17 February, expressed their dismay at the decision to set this new date despite the ongoing legal efforts to have the prosecution release items from the crime scene for DNA testing. In a statement, the lawyers said that “this unseemly haste to execute Mr. Skinner ignores the growing public concern and outcry over the unanswered questions about Mr. Skinner’s guilt.” They said that delaying the execution by only a month would mean that the lawsuit seeking DNA testing, pending before the US Supreme Court, “must now be resolved under needless and entirely
artificial time pressures”.
Henry Skinner was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Twila Busby and her sons, 22-year-old Elwin Caler and 20-year-old Randy Busby. Henry Skinner pleaded not guilty at his trial, with his lawyers presenting the theory that he had been physically unable to commit the crimes and that the police had ignored a plausible alternative suspect. The defense presented a toxicologist who said that it was improbable that Henry Skinner could have committed the murders because of his level of intoxication with alcohol and codeine that night. The state presented no expert evidence to rebut this testimony, merely suggesting instead that his history of drug and alcohol abuse made him tolerant to such substances. The defense also presented expert testimony that a previous hand injury had left Henry Skinner without the strength required to have inflicted Twila Busby’s injuries. Nevertheless, the jury voted to convict Henry Skinner and sentence him to death. The case against him remains circumstantial, showing only that he was present at the scene of the murders, which he does not dispute. Further evidence has since emerged pointing to the possible alternative suspect, and a key prosecution witness has recanted parts of her trial testimony.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse the killing of Twila Busby and her two sons;
- Noting the serious doubts that remain about Henry Skinner’s guilt;
- Calling for clemency for Henry Skinner and for commutation of his death sentence;
- Calling on the state to grant Henry Skinner’s request for DNA testing of crime scene evidence.
APPEALS TO:
Note: include Inmate No: #999143
Rissie L. Owens
Presiding Officer
Board of Pardons and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, TX 78757
Fax: 1 512 467 0945
Salutation: Dear Ms Owens
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 March 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.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03110.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on February 4, 2010. Thanks!
19 February 2010
Further information on UA 31/10 (4 February 2010) – Death penalty
USA Henry Skinner (m)
Henry Skinner’s execution has been postponed by a month and rescheduled for 24 March. He was convicted of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two sons in the house all four shared. He maintains his innocence and is seeking DNA testing of evidence that could support his claim.
Henry Skinner was scheduled to be put to death on 24 February. On 16 February, the presiding judge of the court where Henry Skinner was convicted in 1995 withdrew the death warrant because of a technical legal error with the way it had been issued. In the same order, the judge set a new execution date:
“It is the Order of the Court that the Defendant, Henry Watkins Skinner, who has been adjudged to be guilty of capital murder, and whose punishment has been assessed at death, at any time after the hour of 6:00pm on the 24th day of March, 2010, shall be executed by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death and until the said Henry Watkins Skinner is dead…”
Henry Skinner’s lawyers, who were informed of the judge’s order on 17 February, expressed their dismay at the decision to set this new date despite the ongoing legal efforts to have the prosecution release items from the crime scene for DNA testing. In a statement, the lawyers said that “this unseemly haste to execute Mr. Skinner ignores the growing public concern and outcry over the unanswered questions about Mr. Skinner’s guilt.” They said that delaying the execution by only a month would mean that the lawsuit seeking DNA testing, pending before the US Supreme Court, “must now be resolved under needless and entirely
artificial time pressures”.
Henry Skinner was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Twila Busby and her sons, 22-year-old Elwin Caler and 20-year-old Randy Busby. Henry Skinner pleaded not guilty at his trial, with his lawyers presenting the theory that he had been physically unable to commit the crimes and that the police had ignored a plausible alternative suspect. The defense presented a toxicologist who said that it was improbable that Henry Skinner could have committed the murders because of his level of intoxication with alcohol and codeine that night. The state presented no expert evidence to rebut this testimony, merely suggesting instead that his history of drug and alcohol abuse made him tolerant to such substances. The defense also presented expert testimony that a previous hand injury had left Henry Skinner without the strength required to have inflicted Twila Busby’s injuries. Nevertheless, the jury voted to convict Henry Skinner and sentence him to death. The case against him remains circumstantial, showing only that he was present at the scene of the murders, which he does not dispute. Further evidence has since emerged pointing to the possible alternative suspect, and a key prosecution witness has recanted parts of her trial testimony.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse the killing of Twila Busby and her two sons;
- Noting the serious doubts that remain about Henry Skinner’s guilt;
- Calling for clemency for Henry Skinner and for commutation of his death sentence;
- Calling on the state to grant Henry Skinner’s request for DNA testing of crime scene evidence.
APPEALS TO:
Note: include Inmate No: #999143
Rissie L. Owens
Presiding Officer
Board of Pardons and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, TX 78757
Fax: 1 512 467 0945
Salutation: Dear Ms Owens
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 March 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 **
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To Mexico:
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To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Urgent Action 2-20-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa34709.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on December 22, 2009. Thanks!
19 February 2010
Further information on UA 347/09 (22 December 2009) and follow up (5 February 2010) – Risk of torture
IRAN
Shiva Nazar Ahari ]
Kouhyar Goudarzi ] human rights activists
Saeed Haeri
Ahmad Qabel (m), religious scholar
Mohammad Nourizad (m), filmmaker and journalist
Other members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters
A female member of Iranian human rights organization the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) has been released without charge. Three detained CHRR members have told relatives that they are facing pressure during interrogation to accept allegations against them. All those detained remain at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Parisa Kakaei was released on 17 February. She had been arrested by Ministry of Intelligence officials on 1 January. According to the CHRR, she was recently transferred to the women’s part of Evin Prison prior to her release.
Detained male CHRR members Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi have both told relatives that they are under pressure to accept accusations made by intelligence personnel during interrogation. They have both been accused of moharebeh (being at enmity with God), and have earlier faced pressure to “confess” to links with a banned opposition group. If charged on the basis of such links, they could face the death penalty.
On 11 February, female CHRR member Shiva Nazar Ahari told her family by phone that she had been transferred to a “cage-like” solitary confinement cell where she cannot move her arms or legs. Since her arrest on 20 December 2009 she has been held without charge or access to her lawyer. She added that she remains under pressure to accept “accusations” made against her, although the nature of these accusations is not clear.
There is no further information about three male CHRR activists in Evin Prison, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Jalalifer, and Saeed Haeri. None of them has had contact with a lawyer.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The CHRR was founded in 2006 and campaigns against all kinds of human rights violations, including against women, children, prisoners, workers and others. On or around 21 January, Abbas Ja’fari Dowlatabadi, the Tehran Prosecutor, told Shiva Nazar Ahari’s family in a meeting: “Experts of the case have reported that the website for the Committee is linked to ‘hypocrites’ (the Iranian authorities’ name for the banned opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, which has a base in Iraq), and any collaboration with the Committee is considered a crime.”
Saeed Kalanaki and Saeed Jalalifar were both arrested on 30 November 2009 and are being held in a public section of Evin Prison. Saeed Kalanaki was arrested in his office by plain-clothes security officials. He was taken to his home, which was searched, and some of his personal belongings were seized, including his computer and a collection of photographs. Both men were forced to telephone two other CHRR members urging them to close the CHRR website. During the exchange, interrogators took the telephone away from them and threatened the other CHRR activists, telling them that if they did not stop posting information, they would be dealt with “either within prison or outside”. Saeed Jalalifar was allowed a family visit on 31 December.
Saeed Haeri, Kouhyar Goudarzi and Shiva Nazar Ahari were arrested on 20 December by police officers and officials from the Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran. They were taken from a bus which was about to drive to the northern city of Qom, where the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri took place on 21 December. They are held in Section 209 of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. Shiva Nazar Ahari, who also spent three months in detention after the presidential election of June 2009, is in solitary confinement (see also http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/132/2009/en). Another two people were arrested on the same bus on their way to the funeral in December: Ahmad Qabel and Mohammad Nourizad. Ahmad Qabel was reported to be on hunger strike in January and has had no contact with his family since his arrest. Amnesty International has no information about where or how Mohammad Nourizad is.
Following the telephone threats the Ministry of Intelligence summoned four members of the CHRR to their offices in central Tehran on 1 January. Parisa Kakaei and Mehrdad Rahimi presented themselves and were immediately arrested. On 2 January, Parisa Kakaei was permitted to call her family from Section 209 and confirmed her detention. Mehrdad Rahimi is a student activist and deputy head of the Committee for Defense of the Rights of Citizens in the central office of Mehdi Karoubi.
Moharebeh (being at enmity with God) is often applied to those who wage armed struggle against the state or who are members of banned opposition groups. It can be punishable by one of four methods: execution, cross-amputation, crucifixion or banishment (usually imprisonment in internal exile).
Since the presidential election, the outcome of which was disputed, dozens of people have been killed by security forces using excessive force. Thousands have been arrested, mostly arbitrarily, and many have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Scores have faced unfair trials, including some in mass “show trials”, with over 80 sentenced to prison terms, and at least 12 sentenced to death, although at least one has had his sentence commuted to a prison term. Two of these were executed on 28 January. According to Iranian media reports, Deputy Judiciary Head Ebrahim Raisi said on 1 February that, after the execution of two men in late January, the nine others will be executed “soon”, although on 3 February the Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Ja’fari Dowlatabadi clarified that their sentences were still subject to appeal. Those sentenced have not been given a fair trial; they were denied access to a lawyer in the initial stages of their detention, and some or all appear to have been coerced into giving confessions (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/shocking-execution-iran-protesters-condemned-20100128 and http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/nine-risk-execution-over-iran-protests-20100202).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kouhyar Goudarzi, Mehrdad Rahimi, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Jalalifar, Saeed Haeri, Shiva Nazar Ahari and all other detained CHRR members, if, as it appears, they are prisoners of conscience held solely for their peaceful human rights activities;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that they are protected from torture and other ill-treatment and are granted immediate and regular access to a lawyer, their families and any medical treatment they might require;
- Reminding the authorities that confessions extracted under duress are prohibited under Article 38 of the Constitution of Iran and by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.
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: info_leader@leader.ir via website:
http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary in Tehran
Mr Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Ally 17, No 152
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
COPIES TO:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
Bureau of International Affairs
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran
1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com
Fax: 011 98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep trying)
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
Fax: 1 202 965 1073
Email: requests@daftar.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 2 April 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
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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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa34709.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on December 22, 2009. Thanks!
19 February 2010
Further information on UA 347/09 (22 December 2009) and follow up (5 February 2010) – Risk of torture
IRAN
Shiva Nazar Ahari ]
Kouhyar Goudarzi ] human rights activists
Saeed Haeri
Ahmad Qabel (m), religious scholar
Mohammad Nourizad (m), filmmaker and journalist
Other members of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters
A female member of Iranian human rights organization the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) has been released without charge. Three detained CHRR members have told relatives that they are facing pressure during interrogation to accept allegations against them. All those detained remain at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Parisa Kakaei was released on 17 February. She had been arrested by Ministry of Intelligence officials on 1 January. According to the CHRR, she was recently transferred to the women’s part of Evin Prison prior to her release.
Detained male CHRR members Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi have both told relatives that they are under pressure to accept accusations made by intelligence personnel during interrogation. They have both been accused of moharebeh (being at enmity with God), and have earlier faced pressure to “confess” to links with a banned opposition group. If charged on the basis of such links, they could face the death penalty.
On 11 February, female CHRR member Shiva Nazar Ahari told her family by phone that she had been transferred to a “cage-like” solitary confinement cell where she cannot move her arms or legs. Since her arrest on 20 December 2009 she has been held without charge or access to her lawyer. She added that she remains under pressure to accept “accusations” made against her, although the nature of these accusations is not clear.
There is no further information about three male CHRR activists in Evin Prison, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Jalalifer, and Saeed Haeri. None of them has had contact with a lawyer.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The CHRR was founded in 2006 and campaigns against all kinds of human rights violations, including against women, children, prisoners, workers and others. On or around 21 January, Abbas Ja’fari Dowlatabadi, the Tehran Prosecutor, told Shiva Nazar Ahari’s family in a meeting: “Experts of the case have reported that the website for the Committee is linked to ‘hypocrites’ (the Iranian authorities’ name for the banned opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI, which has a base in Iraq), and any collaboration with the Committee is considered a crime.”
Saeed Kalanaki and Saeed Jalalifar were both arrested on 30 November 2009 and are being held in a public section of Evin Prison. Saeed Kalanaki was arrested in his office by plain-clothes security officials. He was taken to his home, which was searched, and some of his personal belongings were seized, including his computer and a collection of photographs. Both men were forced to telephone two other CHRR members urging them to close the CHRR website. During the exchange, interrogators took the telephone away from them and threatened the other CHRR activists, telling them that if they did not stop posting information, they would be dealt with “either within prison or outside”. Saeed Jalalifar was allowed a family visit on 31 December.
Saeed Haeri, Kouhyar Goudarzi and Shiva Nazar Ahari were arrested on 20 December by police officers and officials from the Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran. They were taken from a bus which was about to drive to the northern city of Qom, where the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri took place on 21 December. They are held in Section 209 of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. Shiva Nazar Ahari, who also spent three months in detention after the presidential election of June 2009, is in solitary confinement (see also http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/132/2009/en). Another two people were arrested on the same bus on their way to the funeral in December: Ahmad Qabel and Mohammad Nourizad. Ahmad Qabel was reported to be on hunger strike in January and has had no contact with his family since his arrest. Amnesty International has no information about where or how Mohammad Nourizad is.
Following the telephone threats the Ministry of Intelligence summoned four members of the CHRR to their offices in central Tehran on 1 January. Parisa Kakaei and Mehrdad Rahimi presented themselves and were immediately arrested. On 2 January, Parisa Kakaei was permitted to call her family from Section 209 and confirmed her detention. Mehrdad Rahimi is a student activist and deputy head of the Committee for Defense of the Rights of Citizens in the central office of Mehdi Karoubi.
Moharebeh (being at enmity with God) is often applied to those who wage armed struggle against the state or who are members of banned opposition groups. It can be punishable by one of four methods: execution, cross-amputation, crucifixion or banishment (usually imprisonment in internal exile).
Since the presidential election, the outcome of which was disputed, dozens of people have been killed by security forces using excessive force. Thousands have been arrested, mostly arbitrarily, and many have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Scores have faced unfair trials, including some in mass “show trials”, with over 80 sentenced to prison terms, and at least 12 sentenced to death, although at least one has had his sentence commuted to a prison term. Two of these were executed on 28 January. According to Iranian media reports, Deputy Judiciary Head Ebrahim Raisi said on 1 February that, after the execution of two men in late January, the nine others will be executed “soon”, although on 3 February the Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Ja’fari Dowlatabadi clarified that their sentences were still subject to appeal. Those sentenced have not been given a fair trial; they were denied access to a lawyer in the initial stages of their detention, and some or all appear to have been coerced into giving confessions (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/shocking-execution-iran-protesters-condemned-20100128 and http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/nine-risk-execution-over-iran-protests-20100202).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kouhyar Goudarzi, Mehrdad Rahimi, Saeed Kalanaki, Saeed Jalalifar, Saeed Haeri, Shiva Nazar Ahari and all other detained CHRR members, if, as it appears, they are prisoners of conscience held solely for their peaceful human rights activities;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that they are protected from torture and other ill-treatment and are granted immediate and regular access to a lawyer, their families and any medical treatment they might require;
- Reminding the authorities that confessions extracted under duress are prohibited under Article 38 of the Constitution of Iran and by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.
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: info_leader@leader.ir via website:
http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary in Tehran
Mr Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Ally 17, No 152
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
COPIES TO:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
Bureau of International Affairs
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran
1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com
Fax: 011 98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep trying)
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
Fax: 1 202 965 1073
Email: requests@daftar.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 2 April 2010.
----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Friday, February 19, 2010
Urgent Action 2-19-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa04010.pdf
18 February 2010
UA 40/10 Enforced disappearance
SRI LANKA Pattani Razeek (m)
Human rights defender Pattani Razeek has been missing since he was apparently abducted on 11 February in the town of Polonnaruwa, in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province. He may be the victim of an enforced disappearance, and could be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. It is not clear what the authorities are doing to investigate his case.
Pattani Razeek, aged 55, is the head of the Community Trust Fund (CTF), a Sri Lankan NGO based in the town of Puttalam in North Western Province. He was returning from a visit with colleagues when their vehicle was intercepted by a white van. Pattani Razeek approached the men in the other vehicle, and exchanged greetings in Arabic. He returned to his CTF colleagues and said he would join the group in the white van, which according to him was headed for Valaichchenai, a town in Eastern Province. He assured his colleagues that he would meet up with them later. However, they did not see him again, and he never returned home.
On 16 February, Pattani Razeek’s family obtained records of calls made to and from his mobile phone. The records revealed that a number of short calls were made from Pattani Razeek’s phone on the evening of 11 February, the day he went missing. On 15 February, a call from the phone was made to a CTF driver, who did not answer. When the call was eventually returned, there was no answer. A text message sent on 15 February to a member of Pattani Razeek’s family said that he was in Polonnaruwa and that he would be home soon. Since then, there has been no further communication.
His family lodged a complaint with the local police in Puttalam, and also reported his disappearance to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. However, colleagues say the Human Rights Commission failed to give his relatives a reference number which they could use to follow up on the case. Nobody from the Commission has subsequently contacted them. Although Pattani Razeek’s disappearance was reported to the police, colleagues say that police have not been following up leads in the case.
The CTF works to protect human rights and promote equality. It also provides emergency assistance to civilians affected by Sri Lanka’s internal conflict.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 2006 there have been numerous reports of people being subjected to enforced disappearance after being abducted by the security forces or armed groups. White vans have been used frequently in such abductions. Some victims have been held for ransom; others have been detained “for questioning” by the authorities and held incommunicado. Anyone held this way is in clear danger of torture and other ill treatment. Many people reported missing in Sri Lanka have never been located and are presumed dead. The vast majority of cases have not been adequately investigated or prosecuted.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to order an immediate and impartial investigation to establish the whereabouts of Pattani Razeek, who went missing on 11 February;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that human rights defenders are able to continue their legitimate work without fear of harassment or intimidation.
APPEALS TO:
Chandra Ellawala
Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
118, Barnes Place
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Fax: 011 94 2694924
Email: sechrc@slnet.lk
Salutation: Dear Mrs. Ellawala
Mahinda Balasuriya
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: 011 94 11 2 440440
Email: igp@police.lk
Salutation: Dear Inspector General
COPIES TO:
Ambassador JALIYA WICKRAMASURIYA
Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
2148 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 7181
Email: slembassy@slembassyusa.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 1 April 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.
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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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
---------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa04010.pdf
18 February 2010
UA 40/10 Enforced disappearance
SRI LANKA Pattani Razeek (m)
Human rights defender Pattani Razeek has been missing since he was apparently abducted on 11 February in the town of Polonnaruwa, in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province. He may be the victim of an enforced disappearance, and could be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. It is not clear what the authorities are doing to investigate his case.
Pattani Razeek, aged 55, is the head of the Community Trust Fund (CTF), a Sri Lankan NGO based in the town of Puttalam in North Western Province. He was returning from a visit with colleagues when their vehicle was intercepted by a white van. Pattani Razeek approached the men in the other vehicle, and exchanged greetings in Arabic. He returned to his CTF colleagues and said he would join the group in the white van, which according to him was headed for Valaichchenai, a town in Eastern Province. He assured his colleagues that he would meet up with them later. However, they did not see him again, and he never returned home.
On 16 February, Pattani Razeek’s family obtained records of calls made to and from his mobile phone. The records revealed that a number of short calls were made from Pattani Razeek’s phone on the evening of 11 February, the day he went missing. On 15 February, a call from the phone was made to a CTF driver, who did not answer. When the call was eventually returned, there was no answer. A text message sent on 15 February to a member of Pattani Razeek’s family said that he was in Polonnaruwa and that he would be home soon. Since then, there has been no further communication.
His family lodged a complaint with the local police in Puttalam, and also reported his disappearance to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. However, colleagues say the Human Rights Commission failed to give his relatives a reference number which they could use to follow up on the case. Nobody from the Commission has subsequently contacted them. Although Pattani Razeek’s disappearance was reported to the police, colleagues say that police have not been following up leads in the case.
The CTF works to protect human rights and promote equality. It also provides emergency assistance to civilians affected by Sri Lanka’s internal conflict.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 2006 there have been numerous reports of people being subjected to enforced disappearance after being abducted by the security forces or armed groups. White vans have been used frequently in such abductions. Some victims have been held for ransom; others have been detained “for questioning” by the authorities and held incommunicado. Anyone held this way is in clear danger of torture and other ill treatment. Many people reported missing in Sri Lanka have never been located and are presumed dead. The vast majority of cases have not been adequately investigated or prosecuted.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to order an immediate and impartial investigation to establish the whereabouts of Pattani Razeek, who went missing on 11 February;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that human rights defenders are able to continue their legitimate work without fear of harassment or intimidation.
APPEALS TO:
Chandra Ellawala
Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
118, Barnes Place
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Fax: 011 94 2694924
Email: sechrc@slnet.lk
Salutation: Dear Mrs. Ellawala
Mahinda Balasuriya
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: 011 94 11 2 440440
Email: igp@police.lk
Salutation: Dear Inspector General
COPIES TO:
Ambassador JALIYA WICKRAMASURIYA
Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
2148 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 7181
Email: slembassy@slembassyusa.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 1 April 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.
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$0.79 - Postcards
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To all other destination countries:
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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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
---------------------------------
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Urgent Action 2-17-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
17 February 2010
Further information on UA 27/10 (29 January 2010) - Death Penalty
USA Martin Grossman (m)
Martin Grossman, aged 45, was executed in the US state of Florida shortly after 6pm on 16 February for a crime committed when he was 19 years old. He was convicted of murder in 1985, and had been on death row for nearly a quarter of a century.
Martin Grossman was sentenced to death for the murder of Margaret Park, a 26-year-old woman employed as a wildlife officer by the Florida Game and Fish Commission. She was shot dead while on patrol on 13 December 1984.
In his final statement before being put to death by lethal injection, Martin Grossman expressed his remorse to members of Margaret Park's family, who were there to witness the execution: "I would like to extend my heartfelt remorse to the victim's family. I fully regret everything that happened that night, everything that was done, whether I remember everything or not. I accept responsibility". He then recited a Jewish prayer.
Jewish leaders, as well as the Vatican, were among those who appealed for clemency. Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, is reported to have received about 49,000 letters, telephone calls and emails on the case. An online clemency petition to the governor was signed by more than 34,000 people.
Martin Grossman is the seventh person to be put to death in the USA this year, and the 1,195th since executions resumed there in 1977. Sixty-nine of these executions were in Florida.
No further action is requested. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.
----------------------------------
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
17 February 2010
Further information on UA 27/10 (29 January 2010) - Death Penalty
USA Martin Grossman (m)
Martin Grossman, aged 45, was executed in the US state of Florida shortly after 6pm on 16 February for a crime committed when he was 19 years old. He was convicted of murder in 1985, and had been on death row for nearly a quarter of a century.
Martin Grossman was sentenced to death for the murder of Margaret Park, a 26-year-old woman employed as a wildlife officer by the Florida Game and Fish Commission. She was shot dead while on patrol on 13 December 1984.
In his final statement before being put to death by lethal injection, Martin Grossman expressed his remorse to members of Margaret Park's family, who were there to witness the execution: "I would like to extend my heartfelt remorse to the victim's family. I fully regret everything that happened that night, everything that was done, whether I remember everything or not. I accept responsibility". He then recited a Jewish prayer.
Jewish leaders, as well as the Vatican, were among those who appealed for clemency. Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, is reported to have received about 49,000 letters, telephone calls and emails on the case. An online clemency petition to the governor was signed by more than 34,000 people.
Martin Grossman is the seventh person to be put to death in the USA this year, and the 1,195th since executions resumed there in 1977. Sixty-nine of these executions were in Florida.
No further action is requested. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.
----------------------------------
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Urgent Action 2-11-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03310.pdf
11 February 2010
UA 33/10 - Prisoner of conscience
MEXICO
Alberta Alcantara Juan (f)
Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio (f)
Two Indigenous women from Mexico, detained for three years for a crime they did not commit, will learn within the next few weeks whether their sentences will be confirmed or overturned. They are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately.
Alberta Alcantara Juan and Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio, Otomi Indigenous women from the community of Santiago Mexquititlan, Queretaro state, have been detained since 3 August 2006. They were arrested with a third Indigenous woman, Jacinta Francisco Marcial, and charged with kidnapping six Federal Investigation Agency (AFI) agents.
On 26 March 2006, the six AFI agents entered the main market in Santiago Mexquititlan. They claimed to be trying to locate drugs and illegal DVDs, but failed to provide a warrant or identify themselves, and damaged stallholders' merchandise. The agents tried to confiscate goods, and as tensions rose, vendors punctured some of the agents' car tires. According to members of the community, the incident ended peacefully later that day. However, that evening, the agents filed a complaint with the Federal Attorney General's Office, alleging that they had been kidnapped for several hours by the protestors. Local lawyers believe there are no grounds to allege a kidnapping took place.
More than four months later, the three women were arrested and charged with the kidnapping. They were each sentenced to 21 years in prison. The only evidence against them was a photograph published in a local newspaper in which the three women are seen standing next to the AFI agents. Amnesty International believes that the imprisonment of the three women was in retaliation for the way the local market stallholders reacted on 26 March 2006. The organization considers that the charges against the three were fabricated and that they were framed as convenient targets simply because of their marginal status in society as poor Indigenous women. All three women won an appeal against their conviction in April 2009, prompting a retrial, at which no new evidence was presented. Jacinta Francisco Marcial was released in September 2009, when the Federal Attorney General's Office decided to drop the case during the retrial due to a lack of evidence. However, the Federal Attorney General's Office decided to continue to press charges against Teresa and Alberta and seek their reconviction, even though their case relied on the same evidence. The final hearing of the women's retrial was held on 3 February. The judge was given 30 working days from 3 February to issue a verdict.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Alberta Alcantara Juan and Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio stating the belief that they are prisoners of conscience
APPEALS TO:
President
Lic. Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa
Presidente de la Republica Mexicana
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos
Casa Miguel Aleman,
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico DF.
11850, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 50934900
Email: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Salutation: Estimado Presidente / Dear President
Minister of the Interior
Lic. Fernando Francisco Gomez-Mont Urueta
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez,
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F.,
06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister
Governor of Queretaro
Lic. Jose E. Calzada Rovirosa
Gobernador del Estado de Queretaro
Palacio de la Corregidora
Pasteur esq. 5 de Mayo, Centro Historico.
Queretaro, Qro.
76000 MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 442 238 5008
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
Email: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 15 March 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:
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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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03310.pdf
11 February 2010
UA 33/10 - Prisoner of conscience
MEXICO
Alberta Alcantara Juan (f)
Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio (f)
Two Indigenous women from Mexico, detained for three years for a crime they did not commit, will learn within the next few weeks whether their sentences will be confirmed or overturned. They are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately.
Alberta Alcantara Juan and Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio, Otomi Indigenous women from the community of Santiago Mexquititlan, Queretaro state, have been detained since 3 August 2006. They were arrested with a third Indigenous woman, Jacinta Francisco Marcial, and charged with kidnapping six Federal Investigation Agency (AFI) agents.
On 26 March 2006, the six AFI agents entered the main market in Santiago Mexquititlan. They claimed to be trying to locate drugs and illegal DVDs, but failed to provide a warrant or identify themselves, and damaged stallholders' merchandise. The agents tried to confiscate goods, and as tensions rose, vendors punctured some of the agents' car tires. According to members of the community, the incident ended peacefully later that day. However, that evening, the agents filed a complaint with the Federal Attorney General's Office, alleging that they had been kidnapped for several hours by the protestors. Local lawyers believe there are no grounds to allege a kidnapping took place.
More than four months later, the three women were arrested and charged with the kidnapping. They were each sentenced to 21 years in prison. The only evidence against them was a photograph published in a local newspaper in which the three women are seen standing next to the AFI agents. Amnesty International believes that the imprisonment of the three women was in retaliation for the way the local market stallholders reacted on 26 March 2006. The organization considers that the charges against the three were fabricated and that they were framed as convenient targets simply because of their marginal status in society as poor Indigenous women. All three women won an appeal against their conviction in April 2009, prompting a retrial, at which no new evidence was presented. Jacinta Francisco Marcial was released in September 2009, when the Federal Attorney General's Office decided to drop the case during the retrial due to a lack of evidence. However, the Federal Attorney General's Office decided to continue to press charges against Teresa and Alberta and seek their reconviction, even though their case relied on the same evidence. The final hearing of the women's retrial was held on 3 February. The judge was given 30 working days from 3 February to issue a verdict.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Alberta Alcantara Juan and Teresa Gonzalez Cornelio stating the belief that they are prisoners of conscience
APPEALS TO:
President
Lic. Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa
Presidente de la Republica Mexicana
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos
Casa Miguel Aleman,
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico DF.
11850, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 50934900
Email: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Salutation: Estimado Presidente / Dear President
Minister of the Interior
Lic. Fernando Francisco Gomez-Mont Urueta
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez,
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F.,
06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister
Governor of Queretaro
Lic. Jose E. Calzada Rovirosa
Gobernador del Estado de Queretaro
Palacio de la Corregidora
Pasteur esq. 5 de Mayo, Centro Historico.
Queretaro, Qro.
76000 MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 442 238 5008
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
Email: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 15 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Urgent Action 2-10-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09109.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on April 2, 2009. Thanks!
10 February 2010
Further information on UA 91/09 (2 April 2009) – Fear of Torture and Other Ill-Treatment
CHINA Tan Zuoren (m), aged 55
Chinese environmental activist and writer Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on 9 February, for “inciting subversion of state power”. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Tan Zuoren, from Sichuan province in southwestern China, was convicted for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party and the government authorities' military crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing. The verdict stated Tan Zuoren was “(u)nsatisfied with how the Chinese government handled the June 4th issue and over the years slandered the Chinese government through actions such as blood donations on June 4th commemorating the anniversary and writing articles such as “The last beauty –A witness’s diary on Tiananmen Square” in 2007 posted on overseas website “The Fire of Liberty”.” The verdict also accused him of “contacting an overseas enemy” by sending to Wang Dan, an exiled Chinese student leader from 1989 an email titled “Suggestions for 20th anniversary activities”.
Tan Zuoren's trial was held on 12 August 2008 at the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court, but his sentence was only announced on 9 February 2010 after more than five months' delay, in contravention of Chinese Criminal Procedure Law. In addition to his prison sentence, Tan Zuoren was also sentenced to three years' deprivation of political rights after he is released. This means that for these three years, he will not be able to vote, stand for election, or hold a position in any state body or state-owned company and shall submit to supervision.
Tan Zuoren’s trial disregarded China’s criminal procedures. His lawyers reported they were unable to call their witnesses to testify in court, show the video footage they prepared, or present their defense. Journalist were harassed and prevented from reporting both on the trial and the sentencing.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Tan Zuoren is a prominent environmentalist. He previously issued a report warning against possible health, safety and environmental hazards of the government’s chemical projects in Sichuan province. Following the earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008, he joined a team of volunteers who distributed food and clothing to survivors. He also worked with several academics to investigate the cause of the deaths in the earthquake and improve building standards to prevent a reoccurrence.
He was detained by the police in Chengdu city, Sichuan province, on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” on 28 March 2009. He was detained for five months before his trial took place. He is held at Wenjiang Detention Centre and has appealed.
When his trial took place on 12 August 2009, internationally acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei was due to give evidence for the defense. However individuals claiming to be police came to Ai Weiwei's hotel room on the day of the trial severely beat him and illegally detained him for hours until after the trial had ended. Two Hong Kong journalists were prevented from covering the trial when local police detained them in their hotel room under the guise of searching for drugs. Police barred supporters of Tan Zuoren from the courtroom, allowing only his wife and one of his daughters, to attend the trial. Court officials filled the rest of the seats.
At his trial in August 2009, the indictment focussed both on his criticism of the Chinese government’s handling of the 1989 crackdown and his investigation into the deaths of children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake due to corruption and the collapse of poor-quality school buildings. His defence lawyers’ arguments at trial mainly focussed on his right as a citizen to investigate these deaths and speak out on human right abuses. However, the verdict said that lawyer’s defence statements in August were “irrelevant”.
On 9 February 2010, the day his sentence was announced, journalists were again harassed as they tried to cover the story at the court. His wife, Wang Qinghua, and his two daughters were not allowed to go into the court room. They were told that the room was full.
According to a local source, his indictment said that he was originally detained because he had intended to publish sensitive information about the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. On the first anniversary of the earthquake, he had reportedly planned to publish a list of children who died in the earthquake, along with an independently investigated report on the collapse of many school buildings due to corruption. However in his verdict announced in court the charges connected to the earthquake were removed.
Prior to his detention in March 2009, Tan Zuoren had been repeatedly questioned by the police. He was also previously harassed by unidentified individuals who stole his computer twice and stabbed and injured his dog.
Human rights activists in China who attempt to report on human rights violations, challenge policies which the authorities find politically sensitive, or try to rally others to their cause, face serious risk of abuse. Many are jailed as prisoners of conscience after politically motivated trials, while growing numbers are being held under house arrest with the police conducting intrusive surveillance and standing guard outside.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Tan Zuoren immediately and unconditionally;
- Urging authorities to ensure he has access to a lawyer, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Calling on them to guarantee Tan Zuoren will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on them to take effective measures to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out their peaceful activities without fear of arbitrary detention, imprisonment, hindrance or intimidation, in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
APPEALS TO:
Director of the Sichuan Provincial Higher People’s Court
Liu Yushun Yuanzhang
Sichuansheng Gaoji Renmin Fayuan
108 Zhengfujie
Qinyangqu
Chengdushi 610017
Sichuansheng
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Email: yuanzhangmailbox@sina.com
Salutation: Dear Director
Director of the Chengdu City Department of Public Security
LI Kunxue Juzhang
Chengdushi Gonganju
144 Wenwulu, Qingyang Qu
Chengdushi 610016
Sichuansheng
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC IF CHINA
Email: cdsgaj@cheng.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Director
COPIES TO:
Prime Minister
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 Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328-2582
Email: Chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 May 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
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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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09109.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on April 2, 2009. Thanks!
10 February 2010
Further information on UA 91/09 (2 April 2009) – Fear of Torture and Other Ill-Treatment
CHINA Tan Zuoren (m), aged 55
Chinese environmental activist and writer Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on 9 February, for “inciting subversion of state power”. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Tan Zuoren, from Sichuan province in southwestern China, was convicted for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party and the government authorities' military crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing. The verdict stated Tan Zuoren was “(u)nsatisfied with how the Chinese government handled the June 4th issue and over the years slandered the Chinese government through actions such as blood donations on June 4th commemorating the anniversary and writing articles such as “The last beauty –A witness’s diary on Tiananmen Square” in 2007 posted on overseas website “The Fire of Liberty”.” The verdict also accused him of “contacting an overseas enemy” by sending to Wang Dan, an exiled Chinese student leader from 1989 an email titled “Suggestions for 20th anniversary activities”.
Tan Zuoren's trial was held on 12 August 2008 at the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court, but his sentence was only announced on 9 February 2010 after more than five months' delay, in contravention of Chinese Criminal Procedure Law. In addition to his prison sentence, Tan Zuoren was also sentenced to three years' deprivation of political rights after he is released. This means that for these three years, he will not be able to vote, stand for election, or hold a position in any state body or state-owned company and shall submit to supervision.
Tan Zuoren’s trial disregarded China’s criminal procedures. His lawyers reported they were unable to call their witnesses to testify in court, show the video footage they prepared, or present their defense. Journalist were harassed and prevented from reporting both on the trial and the sentencing.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Tan Zuoren is a prominent environmentalist. He previously issued a report warning against possible health, safety and environmental hazards of the government’s chemical projects in Sichuan province. Following the earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008, he joined a team of volunteers who distributed food and clothing to survivors. He also worked with several academics to investigate the cause of the deaths in the earthquake and improve building standards to prevent a reoccurrence.
He was detained by the police in Chengdu city, Sichuan province, on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” on 28 March 2009. He was detained for five months before his trial took place. He is held at Wenjiang Detention Centre and has appealed.
When his trial took place on 12 August 2009, internationally acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei was due to give evidence for the defense. However individuals claiming to be police came to Ai Weiwei's hotel room on the day of the trial severely beat him and illegally detained him for hours until after the trial had ended. Two Hong Kong journalists were prevented from covering the trial when local police detained them in their hotel room under the guise of searching for drugs. Police barred supporters of Tan Zuoren from the courtroom, allowing only his wife and one of his daughters, to attend the trial. Court officials filled the rest of the seats.
At his trial in August 2009, the indictment focussed both on his criticism of the Chinese government’s handling of the 1989 crackdown and his investigation into the deaths of children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake due to corruption and the collapse of poor-quality school buildings. His defence lawyers’ arguments at trial mainly focussed on his right as a citizen to investigate these deaths and speak out on human right abuses. However, the verdict said that lawyer’s defence statements in August were “irrelevant”.
On 9 February 2010, the day his sentence was announced, journalists were again harassed as they tried to cover the story at the court. His wife, Wang Qinghua, and his two daughters were not allowed to go into the court room. They were told that the room was full.
According to a local source, his indictment said that he was originally detained because he had intended to publish sensitive information about the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. On the first anniversary of the earthquake, he had reportedly planned to publish a list of children who died in the earthquake, along with an independently investigated report on the collapse of many school buildings due to corruption. However in his verdict announced in court the charges connected to the earthquake were removed.
Prior to his detention in March 2009, Tan Zuoren had been repeatedly questioned by the police. He was also previously harassed by unidentified individuals who stole his computer twice and stabbed and injured his dog.
Human rights activists in China who attempt to report on human rights violations, challenge policies which the authorities find politically sensitive, or try to rally others to their cause, face serious risk of abuse. Many are jailed as prisoners of conscience after politically motivated trials, while growing numbers are being held under house arrest with the police conducting intrusive surveillance and standing guard outside.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Tan Zuoren immediately and unconditionally;
- Urging authorities to ensure he has access to a lawyer, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Calling on them to guarantee Tan Zuoren will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on them to take effective measures to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out their peaceful activities without fear of arbitrary detention, imprisonment, hindrance or intimidation, in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
APPEALS TO:
Director of the Sichuan Provincial Higher People’s Court
Liu Yushun Yuanzhang
Sichuansheng Gaoji Renmin Fayuan
108 Zhengfujie
Qinyangqu
Chengdushi 610017
Sichuansheng
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Email: yuanzhangmailbox@sina.com
Salutation: Dear Director
Director of the Chengdu City Department of Public Security
LI Kunxue Juzhang
Chengdushi Gonganju
144 Wenwulu, Qingyang Qu
Chengdushi 610016
Sichuansheng
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC IF CHINA
Email: cdsgaj@cheng.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Director
COPIES TO:
Prime Minister
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 Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328-2582
Email: Chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 May 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Friday, February 5, 2010
Urgent Acrtion 2-5-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03210.pdf
5 February 2010
UA 32/10 - Prisoner of conscience
IRAN
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi (m)
Human rights defender and journalist Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi was arrested in the west of Iran on 3 February by plainclothes officials believed to be Revolutionary Guards. He is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for his peaceful human rights activities. His family has not been informed of his whereabouts and he is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, aged 25, was arrested by seven plainclothes officials at his home in the city of Kermanshah, in western Iran. His home was searched and his personal belongings, including his computer and documents related to his work, were confiscated. The arresting officials presented him with a warrant that did not specify which authority had issued it but accused him of "propaganda against the state". His family has not been informed of his whereabouts.
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi is a leading member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK, sometimes known as RMMK from its Kurdish name), and a member of the women's rights group, the Campaign for Equality, also known as the One Million Signatures Campaign. He is also a journalist for Iranian news website Rooz Online, and writes for the HROK and Campaign for Equality websites. He is an active campaigner against the death penalty. He reported on the protests against the execution on 11 November 2009 of Ehsan Fattahian, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority (see UA 271/09). He was the only journalist who reported on the authorities' transfer of Ehsan Fattahian's body for burial in a cemetery in Kermanshah, which took place without the knowledge of Ehsan Fattahian's family.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The HROK was founded in 2005 and has between 100 and 200 members, though few are now thought to be active. Despite HROK's longstanding request for official registration as a non-governmental body, the Iranian authorities have never granted it registration. Its founder and Chair, Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, was arrested on 1 July 2007, and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment, comprising 10 years' imprisonment for "acting against state security by establishing the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK)" and one year's imprisonment for "propaganda against the system". Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
The objectives of the HROK include the protection of fundamental rights, notably those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions; the teaching, dissemination and encouragement of respect towards human rights in Kurdistan; and the development of friendly relations between the peoples of Iran based on the principle of equality before law.
The Campaign for Equality, also known as the One Million Signatures Campaign, is a grassroots women's rights initiative, aimed at ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. It was launched in August 2006 with the aim of collecting a million signatures of Iranians calling for the reform of legislation that discriminates against women. Over 50 members of the Campaign for Equality have been detained for their campaigning activities. For example, Alieh Eghdam-Doust is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for her peaceful participation in a 2006 demonstration demanding equal rights for women. Change for Equality, the website of the campaign, has been filtered by the Iranian authorities at least 21 times.
Since the disputed presidential election in June 2009, dozens of people have been killed by security forces using excessive force, thousands have been arrested, mostly arbitrarily and many have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Well over 180 journalists, human rights activists and members of political parties linked to unsuccessful presidential election candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Khatami are reported by opposition Persian news website Jaras to have been detained. They include Emaddedin Baghi, recipient of the 2009 Martin Ennals Award, a human rights prize. See UA 05/10. Scores have faced unfair trial, including some in mass show trials, with over 80 sentenced to prison terms, and at least 12 sentenced to death, although at least one had his sentence commuted to a prison term. Two of these were executed on 28 January. According to Iranian media reports, Deputy Judiciary Head Ebrahim Raisi said on 1 February that, after the execution of two men last week, the nine others will be executed "soon", although on 3 February Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Ja'fari Dowlatabadi clarified that their sentences were still subject to appeal. Those sentenced have not been given a fair trial, they were denied access to a lawyer in the initial stages of their detention, and some or all appear to have been coerced into giving confessions (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/shocking-execution-iran-protesters-condemned-20100128 and http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/nine-risk-execution-over-iran-protests-20100202)
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for his human rights activities and the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association;
- Urging them to disclose his whereabouts immediately, and to ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and has access to a lawyer of his own choosing, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Reminding the authorities that, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obliged to uphold the right to freedom of expression and association.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street Ð End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran, 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspx
First starred box: your given name; second starred box: your family name; third: your email address
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr 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 19 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa03210.pdf
5 February 2010
UA 32/10 - Prisoner of conscience
IRAN
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi (m)
Human rights defender and journalist Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi was arrested in the west of Iran on 3 February by plainclothes officials believed to be Revolutionary Guards. He is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for his peaceful human rights activities. His family has not been informed of his whereabouts and he is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, aged 25, was arrested by seven plainclothes officials at his home in the city of Kermanshah, in western Iran. His home was searched and his personal belongings, including his computer and documents related to his work, were confiscated. The arresting officials presented him with a warrant that did not specify which authority had issued it but accused him of "propaganda against the state". His family has not been informed of his whereabouts.
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi is a leading member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK, sometimes known as RMMK from its Kurdish name), and a member of the women's rights group, the Campaign for Equality, also known as the One Million Signatures Campaign. He is also a journalist for Iranian news website Rooz Online, and writes for the HROK and Campaign for Equality websites. He is an active campaigner against the death penalty. He reported on the protests against the execution on 11 November 2009 of Ehsan Fattahian, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority (see UA 271/09). He was the only journalist who reported on the authorities' transfer of Ehsan Fattahian's body for burial in a cemetery in Kermanshah, which took place without the knowledge of Ehsan Fattahian's family.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The HROK was founded in 2005 and has between 100 and 200 members, though few are now thought to be active. Despite HROK's longstanding request for official registration as a non-governmental body, the Iranian authorities have never granted it registration. Its founder and Chair, Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, was arrested on 1 July 2007, and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment, comprising 10 years' imprisonment for "acting against state security by establishing the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK)" and one year's imprisonment for "propaganda against the system". Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
The objectives of the HROK include the protection of fundamental rights, notably those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions; the teaching, dissemination and encouragement of respect towards human rights in Kurdistan; and the development of friendly relations between the peoples of Iran based on the principle of equality before law.
The Campaign for Equality, also known as the One Million Signatures Campaign, is a grassroots women's rights initiative, aimed at ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. It was launched in August 2006 with the aim of collecting a million signatures of Iranians calling for the reform of legislation that discriminates against women. Over 50 members of the Campaign for Equality have been detained for their campaigning activities. For example, Alieh Eghdam-Doust is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for her peaceful participation in a 2006 demonstration demanding equal rights for women. Change for Equality, the website of the campaign, has been filtered by the Iranian authorities at least 21 times.
Since the disputed presidential election in June 2009, dozens of people have been killed by security forces using excessive force, thousands have been arrested, mostly arbitrarily and many have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Well over 180 journalists, human rights activists and members of political parties linked to unsuccessful presidential election candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Khatami are reported by opposition Persian news website Jaras to have been detained. They include Emaddedin Baghi, recipient of the 2009 Martin Ennals Award, a human rights prize. See UA 05/10. Scores have faced unfair trial, including some in mass show trials, with over 80 sentenced to prison terms, and at least 12 sentenced to death, although at least one had his sentence commuted to a prison term. Two of these were executed on 28 January. According to Iranian media reports, Deputy Judiciary Head Ebrahim Raisi said on 1 February that, after the execution of two men last week, the nine others will be executed "soon", although on 3 February Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Ja'fari Dowlatabadi clarified that their sentences were still subject to appeal. Those sentenced have not been given a fair trial, they were denied access to a lawyer in the initial stages of their detention, and some or all appear to have been coerced into giving confessions (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/shocking-execution-iran-protesters-condemned-20100128 and http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/nine-risk-execution-over-iran-protests-20100202)
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for his human rights activities and the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association;
- Urging them to disclose his whereabouts immediately, and to ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and has access to a lawyer of his own choosing, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Reminding the authorities that, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obliged to uphold the right to freedom of expression and association.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street Ð End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran, 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspx
First starred box: your given name; second starred box: your family name; third: your email address
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr 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 19 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Urgent Action 2-4-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa31109.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on November 17, 2009. Thanks!
4 February 2010
Further information on UA 311/09 (17 November 2009) – Prisoner of conscience/Risk of torture
CHINA Zhao Lianhai (m)
Zhao Lianhai, a man seeking justice for families affected by a tainted milk powder scandal in 2008, was detained on 13 November and is now in custody awaiting trial in Beijing. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Zhao Lianhai had been in custody for nearly three months before he was able to meet with his lawyer for the first time, on 2 February. According to his lawyer, Zhao Lianhai has been interrogated intensively by six different officers, sometimes in the middle of the night.
On 2 February his lawyer obtained the document the police submitted to the procurator. This accused Zhao Lianhai of “provoking an incident” (Criminal Law article 293), claiming he “used the incident of the tainted milk issue to mobilize people to protest at the Intermediate court of Shijiazhuang city, Hebei province and courts in Daxing and Fengtai District, Beijing City too, causing disturbance of social order.” The document also accused him of “using the incident of petitioner Li Ruirui being raped by a security guard while under house arrest, to motivate people to gather at the public security bureau of Beijing city in the name of reporting a rape crime to cause trouble.”
His lawyer said his case was now under consideration by the procurator. If the procurator accepts the case, Zhao Lianhai, will go on trial. He is detained at the Daxing police detention center. He has had no access to his family since he was detained.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On the evening of 13 November, a dozen police officers went into Zhao Lianhai’s home and took him to the Daxing District Police Station. At the time, the police showed him a summons which did not give any reason for him to be detained. The police also searched his home and confiscated two computers, USB sticks, some DVDs, campaign T-shirts, a camera, a video recorder and an address book.
The following afternoon, the police gave Zhao Lianhai’s wife a detention notice, telling her that her husband had been detained on suspicion of the crime of “provoking an incident.”
Parents whose children fell ill or in some cases died after drinking milk products, tainted with melamine, in 2008, have been waging a campaign for justice ever since. Zhao Lianhai’s son was one of those who became ill after drinking the tainted milk and he has been prominent among the parents seeking compensation. He organized a parents self-help group, a campaign calling for regular health checks for those affected, and launched a website called “The family of babies with Kidney stones” (http://www.jieshibaobao.com). He also helped parents to file a lawsuit against the companies that produced the tainted milk and collected and organized information on individual cases.
Human rights activists in China who attempt to report on human rights violations, challenge policies which the authorities find politically sensitive, or try to rally others to their cause, face serious risk of abuse. Many are jailed as prisoners of conscience after politically motivated trials, while growing numbers are being held under house arrest with the police conducting intrusive surveillance and standing guard outside.
Such patterns of police control, surveillance and arbitrary detention are increasingly being employed against activists in China and members of their families, particularly during significant public events. Before the visit of the US President Barack Obama to China, from 15 to 18 November 2009, many activists and petitioners have had police posted outside their homes in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere in the country, or been escorted out of Beijing. Some are held in unofficial places of detention often known as “black jails.”
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Zhao Lianhai immediately and unconditionally, as he has been detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly;
- Calling on them to ensure Zhao Lianhai has access to his family and lawyers, and to any medical attention he may require;
- Calling on them to guarantee Zhao Lianhai will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on them to end use of vaguely-defined charges to crack down on human rights defenders.
APPEALS TO:
Premier
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
Director, Beijing Public Security Bureau
MA Zhenchuan Juzhang
Beijingshi Gong’anju
9 Dongdajie, Qianmen
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100740
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 65242927
Salutation: Dear Director
COPIES TO:
Director of Daxing District Public Security Sub-Bureau
Chen Debao Juzhang
35 Xi Dajie, Huangcun
Daxing Qu, Beijingshi 102600
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 8610 69204640 (c/o Daxing District Government)
Salutation: Dear Director
Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328-2582
Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 17 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa31109.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on November 17, 2009. Thanks!
4 February 2010
Further information on UA 311/09 (17 November 2009) – Prisoner of conscience/Risk of torture
CHINA Zhao Lianhai (m)
Zhao Lianhai, a man seeking justice for families affected by a tainted milk powder scandal in 2008, was detained on 13 November and is now in custody awaiting trial in Beijing. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Zhao Lianhai had been in custody for nearly three months before he was able to meet with his lawyer for the first time, on 2 February. According to his lawyer, Zhao Lianhai has been interrogated intensively by six different officers, sometimes in the middle of the night.
On 2 February his lawyer obtained the document the police submitted to the procurator. This accused Zhao Lianhai of “provoking an incident” (Criminal Law article 293), claiming he “used the incident of the tainted milk issue to mobilize people to protest at the Intermediate court of Shijiazhuang city, Hebei province and courts in Daxing and Fengtai District, Beijing City too, causing disturbance of social order.” The document also accused him of “using the incident of petitioner Li Ruirui being raped by a security guard while under house arrest, to motivate people to gather at the public security bureau of Beijing city in the name of reporting a rape crime to cause trouble.”
His lawyer said his case was now under consideration by the procurator. If the procurator accepts the case, Zhao Lianhai, will go on trial. He is detained at the Daxing police detention center. He has had no access to his family since he was detained.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On the evening of 13 November, a dozen police officers went into Zhao Lianhai’s home and took him to the Daxing District Police Station. At the time, the police showed him a summons which did not give any reason for him to be detained. The police also searched his home and confiscated two computers, USB sticks, some DVDs, campaign T-shirts, a camera, a video recorder and an address book.
The following afternoon, the police gave Zhao Lianhai’s wife a detention notice, telling her that her husband had been detained on suspicion of the crime of “provoking an incident.”
Parents whose children fell ill or in some cases died after drinking milk products, tainted with melamine, in 2008, have been waging a campaign for justice ever since. Zhao Lianhai’s son was one of those who became ill after drinking the tainted milk and he has been prominent among the parents seeking compensation. He organized a parents self-help group, a campaign calling for regular health checks for those affected, and launched a website called “The family of babies with Kidney stones” (http://www.jieshibaobao.com). He also helped parents to file a lawsuit against the companies that produced the tainted milk and collected and organized information on individual cases.
Human rights activists in China who attempt to report on human rights violations, challenge policies which the authorities find politically sensitive, or try to rally others to their cause, face serious risk of abuse. Many are jailed as prisoners of conscience after politically motivated trials, while growing numbers are being held under house arrest with the police conducting intrusive surveillance and standing guard outside.
Such patterns of police control, surveillance and arbitrary detention are increasingly being employed against activists in China and members of their families, particularly during significant public events. Before the visit of the US President Barack Obama to China, from 15 to 18 November 2009, many activists and petitioners have had police posted outside their homes in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere in the country, or been escorted out of Beijing. Some are held in unofficial places of detention often known as “black jails.”
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Zhao Lianhai immediately and unconditionally, as he has been detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly;
- Calling on them to ensure Zhao Lianhai has access to his family and lawyers, and to any medical attention he may require;
- Calling on them to guarantee Zhao Lianhai will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on them to end use of vaguely-defined charges to crack down on human rights defenders.
APPEALS TO:
Premier
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
Director, Beijing Public Security Bureau
MA Zhenchuan Juzhang
Beijingshi Gong’anju
9 Dongdajie, Qianmen
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100740
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 65242927
Salutation: Dear Director
COPIES TO:
Director of Daxing District Public Security Sub-Bureau
Chen Debao Juzhang
35 Xi Dajie, Huangcun
Daxing Qu, Beijingshi 102600
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 8610 69204640 (c/o Daxing District Government)
Salutation: Dear Director
Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328-2582
Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 17 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Urgent Acrtion 2-2-10
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa24609.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on September 18, 2009. Thanks!
02 February 2010
Further information on UA 246/09 (18 September 2009) and follow-ups (1 October 2009; 22 October 2009; 19 January 2010) - Abduction/Risk of torture
YEMEN Muhammad al-Maqalih (m)
Amnesty International has learned from sources in Yemen that on 1 February journalist Muhammad al-Maqalih appeared before a prosecutor for the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), which deals with state security offenses. However, he remains in incommunicado detention and at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.Muhammad al-Maqalih was not allowed a lawyer during his appearance before the prosecutor in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and it is not known what charges he faces or when his trial is to begin. The prosecutor for the SCC is reported to have informed fellow journalists that Muhammad al-Maqalih was being questioned, and would be transferred for trial before the SCC. After appearing before the prosecutor, he is believed to have been returned to prison, where he remains incommunicado.
Muhammad al-Maqalih is a member of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the former editor of its website. He is thought to have been detained for his comments on the government’s conduct in its conflict with followers of the late Zaidi Shi’a cleric Hussein al-Huthi in the northern governorate of Sa’da. Human rights activists in Yemen suspect his detention is linked, in particular, to his criticism of the army’s killing of civilians in Sa’da, which was published on the Socialist Party’s website. Amnesty International believes that he is likely to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. If so, the organization demands that he be released immediately and unconditionally.
He was abducted on a street in Sana’a on 17 September 2009 by men believed to be from the security forces. Eyewitnesses said that he was taken by a group of plain-clothed men who arrived in a white minibus which had its license plates obscured. Since his detention, Muhammad al-Maqalih’s family has staged a number of sit-in protests outside government offices, which have been attended by journalists and the general public.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In Yemen, critics and opponents of the state in Yemen are often at risk of arrest and detention, particularly at times of political crisis.
The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) was established in 1999 to try the crime of hiraba (a Shari’a term referring to offenses such as occupation of public land, theft of means of transport and aggression against officials). In 2004 the government expanded its mandate, giving it jurisdiction to try people accused of vaguely worded state security offenses. The court follows the regular Code of Criminal Procedures, but its proceedings generally are reported to fall short of international fair trial standards. Defense lawyers contend, in particular, that the SCC’s judges are not impartial and do not allow them to mount an effective defense; they say that their right to prepare a defense is hindered by restrictions that are placed on their access to their clients’ case files and that when they challenge procedural irregularities by the court these are routinely ignored.
Yemen’s Sa’da governorate, whose inhabitants are predominantly members of the country’s Zaidi Shi’a minority, has experienced several periods of conflict in recent years. There have been recurrent armed clashes between government security forces and followers of Hussein al-Huthi, who was killed by government forces in 2004.The latest upsurge in violence began in mid-August 2009, when the area was placed under a virtual state of emergency and government forces mounted an escalating series of attacks. Government forces have mounted a series of attacks, including bombing raids against villages and towns, in an apparent attempt to crush Hussein al-Huthi’s supporters.
International humanitarian law expressly prohibits attacks which directly target civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. The Yemeni government and the armed followers of Zaidi Shi’a cleric Hussein al-Huthi are legally bound to respect international humanitarian law and must ensure that their forces refrain from carrying out such unlawful attacks.
Amnesty International has called on the Yemeni authorities to investigate, fully and promptly, all allegations of serious violations by their forces, including a reported bombing raid on 16 September 2009 at Adi village in the Harf Sufyan area of Amran province near Sa’da, which is said to have killed about 80 civilians.
For more information see Amnesty International’s media briefing Yemen: Security and human rights, 25 January 2010 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE31/004/2010/en).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the Yemeni authorities to ensure that Muhammad al-Maqalih is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and allowed prompt and regular access to a lawyer of his choosing, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Noting that if Muhammad al-Maqalih is being held solely for his criticism of the government, he is a prisoner of conscience, and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
His Excellency Mutaher Rashad al-Masri
Ministry of Interior
Sana’a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 332 511 OR 011 967 1 514 532 OR 011 967 1 331 899
Email: moi@yemen.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
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
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Houda ‘Ali ‘Abdullatif al-Baan
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana’a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 444 838 OR 011 967 1 419 555 OR 011 967 1 419 700
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
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 OR counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 16 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa24609.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on September 18, 2009. Thanks!
02 February 2010
Further information on UA 246/09 (18 September 2009) and follow-ups (1 October 2009; 22 October 2009; 19 January 2010) - Abduction/Risk of torture
YEMEN Muhammad al-Maqalih (m)
Amnesty International has learned from sources in Yemen that on 1 February journalist Muhammad al-Maqalih appeared before a prosecutor for the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), which deals with state security offenses. However, he remains in incommunicado detention and at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.Muhammad al-Maqalih was not allowed a lawyer during his appearance before the prosecutor in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and it is not known what charges he faces or when his trial is to begin. The prosecutor for the SCC is reported to have informed fellow journalists that Muhammad al-Maqalih was being questioned, and would be transferred for trial before the SCC. After appearing before the prosecutor, he is believed to have been returned to prison, where he remains incommunicado.
Muhammad al-Maqalih is a member of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the former editor of its website. He is thought to have been detained for his comments on the government’s conduct in its conflict with followers of the late Zaidi Shi’a cleric Hussein al-Huthi in the northern governorate of Sa’da. Human rights activists in Yemen suspect his detention is linked, in particular, to his criticism of the army’s killing of civilians in Sa’da, which was published on the Socialist Party’s website. Amnesty International believes that he is likely to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. If so, the organization demands that he be released immediately and unconditionally.
He was abducted on a street in Sana’a on 17 September 2009 by men believed to be from the security forces. Eyewitnesses said that he was taken by a group of plain-clothed men who arrived in a white minibus which had its license plates obscured. Since his detention, Muhammad al-Maqalih’s family has staged a number of sit-in protests outside government offices, which have been attended by journalists and the general public.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In Yemen, critics and opponents of the state in Yemen are often at risk of arrest and detention, particularly at times of political crisis.
The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) was established in 1999 to try the crime of hiraba (a Shari’a term referring to offenses such as occupation of public land, theft of means of transport and aggression against officials). In 2004 the government expanded its mandate, giving it jurisdiction to try people accused of vaguely worded state security offenses. The court follows the regular Code of Criminal Procedures, but its proceedings generally are reported to fall short of international fair trial standards. Defense lawyers contend, in particular, that the SCC’s judges are not impartial and do not allow them to mount an effective defense; they say that their right to prepare a defense is hindered by restrictions that are placed on their access to their clients’ case files and that when they challenge procedural irregularities by the court these are routinely ignored.
Yemen’s Sa’da governorate, whose inhabitants are predominantly members of the country’s Zaidi Shi’a minority, has experienced several periods of conflict in recent years. There have been recurrent armed clashes between government security forces and followers of Hussein al-Huthi, who was killed by government forces in 2004.The latest upsurge in violence began in mid-August 2009, when the area was placed under a virtual state of emergency and government forces mounted an escalating series of attacks. Government forces have mounted a series of attacks, including bombing raids against villages and towns, in an apparent attempt to crush Hussein al-Huthi’s supporters.
International humanitarian law expressly prohibits attacks which directly target civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. The Yemeni government and the armed followers of Zaidi Shi’a cleric Hussein al-Huthi are legally bound to respect international humanitarian law and must ensure that their forces refrain from carrying out such unlawful attacks.
Amnesty International has called on the Yemeni authorities to investigate, fully and promptly, all allegations of serious violations by their forces, including a reported bombing raid on 16 September 2009 at Adi village in the Harf Sufyan area of Amran province near Sa’da, which is said to have killed about 80 civilians.
For more information see Amnesty International’s media briefing Yemen: Security and human rights, 25 January 2010 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE31/004/2010/en).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the Yemeni authorities to ensure that Muhammad al-Maqalih is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and allowed prompt and regular access to a lawyer of his choosing, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Noting that if Muhammad al-Maqalih is being held solely for his criticism of the government, he is a prisoner of conscience, and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
His Excellency Mutaher Rashad al-Masri
Ministry of Interior
Sana’a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 332 511 OR 011 967 1 514 532 OR 011 967 1 331 899
Email: moi@yemen.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
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
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Houda ‘Ali ‘Abdullatif al-Baan
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana’a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 444 838 OR 011 967 1 419 555 OR 011 967 1 419 700
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
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 OR counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 16 March 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: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
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