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/uaa06810.pdf
19 March 2010
UA 68/10 Fear for safety
AZERBAIJAN Emin Fatullayev (m)
His family
Emin Fatullayev, the father of imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, has been threatened with death if he does not stop speaking out about his son. The lives of Emin Fatullayev and his family are in danger.
At approximately 1pm on 17 March Emin Fatullayev received an anonymous phone call at his home in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, ordering him to “shut up” about his son’s case or his “entire family would be destroyed.” He immediately reported the incident to the authorities.
This is the third time he has received threats by phone relating to his efforts to bring the case of his son, Eynulla Fatullayev, to the attention of international organizations, including Amnesty International. Amnesty International believes that the charges against Eynulla Fatullayev, imprisoned since 2007, are fabricated and that he is a prisoner of conscience. Each of the three times Emin Fatullayev has received these anonymous phone calls, he was told to stop publicizing Eynulla Fatullayev’s case. The first time was in 2007, shortly after Eynulla Fatullayev’s imprisonment, the second time was on 1 January 2010, a few days after Eynulla Fatullayev was charged with possessing illegal drugs in prison. The caller told Emin Fatullayev that it was good his son had been charged, and that worse would happen. Amnesty International believes that the drugs charges were fabricated to discredit Eynulla Fatullayev at a time when his case is under review by the European Court of Human Rights. The Court is still considering the case.
The authorities have taken a statement about the latest threat from Emin Fatullayev, but have not taken any action to identify the callers and to protect him and his family. Elmar Huseynov, a journalist, who, like Eynulla Fatullayev was an outspoken critic of the government in Azerbaijan, was shot and killed in Baku in 2005. No one has been brought to justice for his murder. Amnesty International has documented many incidents in which journalists have been assaulted owing to their criticism of the authorities.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 30 December 2009, a new set of charges were brought against Eynulla Fatullayev, initially imprisoned for libel in April 2007. Later in 2007 he was convicted on charges of terrorism, incitement of ethnic hatred and tax evasion. Amnesty International believes that all the charges against him have been fabricated and considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
According to a spokesperson for Azerbaijan's penitentiary service, on 29 December 2009, guards found 0.22 grams of heroin in Eynulla Fatullayev’s jacket sleeve and shoes after entering his cell and searching him. Eynulla Fatullayev told his father that immediately after entering the cell, the guards searched only his jacket and shoes and did not continue their search of his cell after finding heroin in those two places. The guards claim to have acted on an anonymous tip-off. Eynulla Fatullayev, who has no history of drug use, strongly denies the charges and said that the drugs were planted on him. A blood sample was taken for drugs testing on 30 December.
On 30 December, he was charged with possession of illegal drugs. The same day, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a press release condemning the continued persecution of Eynulla Fatullayev, in which the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, stated that he “visited Eynulla Fatullayev twice in his high security-prison and find[s] allegations of heroin smuggling or possession highly improbable.”
After a hearing on 31 December, a judge of Garadag District Court ordered that Eynulla Fatullayev be placed in an isolation unit for two months while he awaits trial. According to his father he was moved to a secure unit in the village of Kyurdakhany, about 10 miles from Baku.
On 2 February, the conclusions of Eynulla Fatullayev’s blood test were made available by the authorities, but not the detailed analysis. According to the authorities, small traces of metabolites indicating heroin use were found in his blood, but not enough to show that Eynulla Fatullayev requires rehabilitation.
Eynulla Fatullayev rejects the test results and believes they were manipulated as the testing was carried out at a medical facility controlled by the state. Petitions by his defense lawyer to conduct an independent test have been rejected by the court. Alternative medical testing facilities, approached by Amnesty International to conduct an independent blood test for Eynulla Fatullayev, declined because the case was too politically sensitive.
The new charges against Eynulla Fatullayev could result in adding a further three years to his sentence, currently due to end in 2016.
Amnesty International believes that Eynulla Fatullayev's imprisonment is an attempt to silence his reporting, which was critical of the government, and considers him to be a prisoner of conscience. Amnesty International is therefore concerned that the new charges are an attempt by the Azerbaijani authorities to discredit Eynulla Fatullayev at a time when his case is under consideration by the European Court of Human Rights.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to take immediate action to protect Emin Fatullayev and his family, with protection measures to be determined in accordance with the family's wishes;
- Calling for an immediate and impartial investigation into the death threats, with the results made public and those responsible brought to justice;
- Noting that Amnesty International considers Eynulla Fatullayev to be a prisoner of conscience, who should be released immediately and unconditionally.
APPEALS TO:
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev
Office of the President
19 Istiqlaiyyat St.
AZ1066 Baku, AZERBAIJAN
Fax:011 99412 492 35 43 OR 011 99412 492 06 25
Email: president@president.az
Salutation:Dear President
Minister of Internal Affairs
Col.- Gen. Ramil Usubov
Ministry of Internal AffairsHusu Hajiyev Street 7Baku 370005 AZERBAIJAN
Fax:011 99412 492 7990
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Prof. Elmira Suleymanova
Ombudsperson
Office of the Ombudsman
40 Uz. Hajibeyov Street
Baku AZ1000, AZERBAIJAN
Fax: 011 994 12 498 8574
Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.az
Ambassador H.E. Yashar Aliyev
Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan
2741 34th Street NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 202 337 5911
Email: azerbaijan@azembassy.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 8 April 2010.
----------------------------------
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----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
Friday, March 19, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Urgent Action 3-12-10
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/uaa05910.pdf
12 March 2010
UA 59/10 Risk of torture/ medical concern
TOGO Augustin Glokpon (m)
Jacob Benissan (m)
Gerard Adja (m)
Emmanuel Atayi (m)
More than a dozen political activists
More than a dozen political activists arrested around the time of the Togolese presidential election, which saw Faure Gnassingbe reelected, are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in prison. Two of them are in urgent need of medical attention, which they are not receiving.
Augustin Glokpon and Jacob Benissan were arrested on 3 March, the day before the election, as they were bringing election campaign materials to the town of Vogan, 45 km east of the capital, Lome. Both are members of the main opposition party, the Union of Forces for Change (Union des Forces de Changement, UFC). They were held for a week at the gendarmerie in Lome, and then charged with “an attempt on the security of the state” (atteinte a la surete de l’Etat). The investigating judge remanded them to the civilian prison in Lome, but the security forces took them to the prison in the town of Kara (420 km north of Lome). This makes it much more difficult for their families and lawyers to visit them. Augustin Glokpon suffers from blood pressure problems and Jacob Benissan is diabetic: they are running out of the medicines they had on them when they were arrested, which they need to take every day, and they have been given no medical treatment in prison.
Another dozen opposition activists were taken to the Kara prison the same day, charged with the same offense. Two are members of the opposition party Organization to Build Togo in Solidarity (Organization pour batir dans l’Union un Togo solidaire, OBUTS): Gerard Adja and Emmanuel Atayi were arrested a few days after the election with leaflets disputing the reelection of Faure Gnassingbe. The others are members of a political movement, Citizens’ Movement for an Alternative (Mouvement Citoyen pour l’Alternance, MCA), including Fulbert Attisso and Guillaume Coco, were also arrested in Lome.
Amnesty International receives regular reports of detainees, especially members of the opposition, being tortured and otherwise ill-treated in the prison in Kara. The town is the stronghold of President Gnassingbe’s ruling party, the Togolese People’s Rally (Rassemblement du peuple togolais, RPT).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The incumbent, Faure Gnassingbe, won Togo’s presidential election on 4 March 2010. He had been appointed to the government in 2003 by his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled the country for more than 40 years, until his death in 2005.
The 4 March election took place amid allegations of widespread fraud, condemned by opposition party leaders speaking to demonstrations, which were banned or dispersed with teargas.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Augustin Glokpon, Jacob Benissan, Gerard Adja and Emmanuel Atayi immediately and unconditionally, as they appear to be prisoners of conscience;
- Calling on them to ensure that Augustin Glokpon and Jacob Benissan receive the medical attention they need
immediately;
- Calling on them to ensure that all the detainees are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and have regular access to their families, lawyers, and any medical attention they may require.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Security and Civil Protection
Colonel Atcha TITIKPINA
Ministre de la Securite et de la Protection Civile
Ministere de la Securite et de la Protection Civile
BP 12175, Lome, TOGO
Fax: 011 228 222 61 50 OR 011 228 222 21 84
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Monsieur le Ministre
Minister of Justice
Kokou Biossey TOZOUN
Ministre de la Justice
Ministere de la Justice
BP 121, Lome, TOGO
Fax: 011 228 222 29 06 OR 011 228 221 54 91
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Monsieur le Ministre
COPIES TO:
Embassy of Togo in France
Tchao SOTOU BERE
Ambassador of Togo in France
8 rue Alfred Roll
75017 Paris, FRANCE
Fax: 011 331 43 80 06 05
Salutation: Dear Ambassador/ Monsieur l’Ambassadeur
Ambassador Akoussoulelou Bodjona
Embassy of the Republic of Togo
2208 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 3190
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 23 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
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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/uaa05910.pdf
12 March 2010
UA 59/10 Risk of torture/ medical concern
TOGO Augustin Glokpon (m)
Jacob Benissan (m)
Gerard Adja (m)
Emmanuel Atayi (m)
More than a dozen political activists
More than a dozen political activists arrested around the time of the Togolese presidential election, which saw Faure Gnassingbe reelected, are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in prison. Two of them are in urgent need of medical attention, which they are not receiving.
Augustin Glokpon and Jacob Benissan were arrested on 3 March, the day before the election, as they were bringing election campaign materials to the town of Vogan, 45 km east of the capital, Lome. Both are members of the main opposition party, the Union of Forces for Change (Union des Forces de Changement, UFC). They were held for a week at the gendarmerie in Lome, and then charged with “an attempt on the security of the state” (atteinte a la surete de l’Etat). The investigating judge remanded them to the civilian prison in Lome, but the security forces took them to the prison in the town of Kara (420 km north of Lome). This makes it much more difficult for their families and lawyers to visit them. Augustin Glokpon suffers from blood pressure problems and Jacob Benissan is diabetic: they are running out of the medicines they had on them when they were arrested, which they need to take every day, and they have been given no medical treatment in prison.
Another dozen opposition activists were taken to the Kara prison the same day, charged with the same offense. Two are members of the opposition party Organization to Build Togo in Solidarity (Organization pour batir dans l’Union un Togo solidaire, OBUTS): Gerard Adja and Emmanuel Atayi were arrested a few days after the election with leaflets disputing the reelection of Faure Gnassingbe. The others are members of a political movement, Citizens’ Movement for an Alternative (Mouvement Citoyen pour l’Alternance, MCA), including Fulbert Attisso and Guillaume Coco, were also arrested in Lome.
Amnesty International receives regular reports of detainees, especially members of the opposition, being tortured and otherwise ill-treated in the prison in Kara. The town is the stronghold of President Gnassingbe’s ruling party, the Togolese People’s Rally (Rassemblement du peuple togolais, RPT).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The incumbent, Faure Gnassingbe, won Togo’s presidential election on 4 March 2010. He had been appointed to the government in 2003 by his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled the country for more than 40 years, until his death in 2005.
The 4 March election took place amid allegations of widespread fraud, condemned by opposition party leaders speaking to demonstrations, which were banned or dispersed with teargas.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Augustin Glokpon, Jacob Benissan, Gerard Adja and Emmanuel Atayi immediately and unconditionally, as they appear to be prisoners of conscience;
- Calling on them to ensure that Augustin Glokpon and Jacob Benissan receive the medical attention they need
immediately;
- Calling on them to ensure that all the detainees are protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and have regular access to their families, lawyers, and any medical attention they may require.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Security and Civil Protection
Colonel Atcha TITIKPINA
Ministre de la Securite et de la Protection Civile
Ministere de la Securite et de la Protection Civile
BP 12175, Lome, TOGO
Fax: 011 228 222 61 50 OR 011 228 222 21 84
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Monsieur le Ministre
Minister of Justice
Kokou Biossey TOZOUN
Ministre de la Justice
Ministere de la Justice
BP 121, Lome, TOGO
Fax: 011 228 222 29 06 OR 011 228 221 54 91
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Monsieur le Ministre
COPIES TO:
Embassy of Togo in France
Tchao SOTOU BERE
Ambassador of Togo in France
8 rue Alfred Roll
75017 Paris, FRANCE
Fax: 011 331 43 80 06 05
Salutation: Dear Ambassador/ Monsieur l’Ambassadeur
Ambassador Akoussoulelou Bodjona
Embassy of the Republic of Togo
2208 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 3190
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 23 April 2010.
----------------------------------
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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 Mexico:
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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
----------------------------------
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Urgent Action 3-11-10
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/uaa05710.pdf
11 March 2010
UA 57/10 - Imminent execution
EGYPT
Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum (m), aged 34
An 34–year-old Egyptian man, Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum, is at imminent risk of execution. He was sentenced to death for murder in July 2005, along with a woman, Jihan Mohammed Ali. Jihan Mohammed Ali was executed on 10 March 2010, and Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum could therefore be put to death at any time. Egypt's President has the power to halt the execution.
Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum and Jihan Mohammed Ali were sentenced to death for the murder in January 2004 of Jihan Mohammed Ali's husband, Ahmed Hussein Mourad, to whom she got married when she was still in school. Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum, from the city of Fayoum, south of Cairo, presented himself to police as soon as he received a summons to do so. He was then held at a police station in the city of Giza for investigation. While he was there, he said that he was tortured, including by having cigarettes stubbed on his body.
Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum did not have access to a lawyer during the interrogation and the investigation period. He was only assisted by a lawyer when his trial began on 20 June 2004. On 17 July 2005, the Giza Criminal Court sentenced him to death along with Jihan Mohammed Ali. Following their appeal, the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial on 4 December 2005 and referred the case to another criminal court. They were again sentenced to death and their sentence later upheld by the Court of Cassation on 2 February 2009.
On 9 February 2009, Jihan Mohammed Ali made a new statement to her lawyer, claiming that she killed her husband on her own and that Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum only helped her move the victim's body. She also claimed that she acted in self defense as her husband was drunk and beating her. Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum's lawyer submitted a request to the Public Prosecutor on 27 May 2009, calling for a retrial on the basis of this new evidence. Jihan Mohammed Ali also submitted a request to the Public Prosecutor for retrial. However, no retrial took place, and Jihan Mohammed Ali was executed on 10 March 2010 without her family being informed, in breach of Egyptian law.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, irrespective of the crimes that were committed, on the grounds that it violates the right to life and constitutes the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Egyptian courts have increased their use of the death penalty over the last year. In 2009, at least 269 death sentences were imposed by the Egyptian courts, and at least five prisoners were executed.
In Egypt, the death penalty is applied for criminal offenses such as drug-related offenses, murder and terrorism-related offenses. Death sentences handed down by criminal courts have to be submitted to the Mufti, Egypt highest religious authority, for approval as a routine measure, but the opinion of the Mufti is not legally binding. They are then passed to the President of the Republic or his nominee for ratification.
Appeals against verdicts by criminal courts can be submitted to the Court of Cassation, but only on the grounds of procedural irregularities in the trial. In the event that the Court of Cassation turns down an appeal, the verdict is final and may not be appealed against before another court. If an appeal by review is upheld, the Court of Cassation may either order a retrial or nullify the verdict which implies an acquittal of the convicted party. If an appeal by cassation is upheld, the Court of Cassation can only order a retrial. In the event that the Court of Cassation decides to order a retrial the case is referred to a different circuit of the criminal court. If the retrial results in a conviction and is appealed against, the Court of Cassation rules on the case and pronounces a final verdict.
Final death sentences are submitted for ratification to the President or his nominee; they may decide on whether or not to grant clemency by ordering a pardon or a reduction of the sentence. If no clemency or reduction of the sentence is granted, the death sentence may be carried out after 14 days.
Torture and other ill-treatment remain widespread and systematic in police stations, and other detention centers of the State Security Investigations services.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Egyptian authorities to halt the execution of Atef Rohyum Abdel Al Rohyum;
- Urging them to commute his death sentence, and to order a retrial based on the new evidence available;
- Calling for an investigation into allegations that Atef Rohyum Abdel Al Rohyum was tortured, with those found responsible being brought to justice in proceedings that meet fair trial standards;
- Urging the authorities not the use as evidence any statement made under torture in line with Article 15 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which Egypt is a state party.
APPEALS TO:
President
H.E. Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
'Abedine Palace
Cairo
EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 22 390 1998
Email: webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
Salutation: Excellency
Prosecutor General
Abd El-Megeed Mahmoud
Dar al-Qadha al-'Ali
Ramses Street, Cairo
EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 22 577 4716
Salutation: Dear Counsellor
COPIES TO:
Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights
Wael Abu al-Magd
Human Rights and International Humanitarian and Social Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Corniche al-Nil, Cairo
EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 22 574 971
Ambassador Sameh Shoukry
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct NW
Washington DC 20008-2023
Fax: 1 202 244 4319
1 202 244 5131
Email: Embassy@egyptembassy.net
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22 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
$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/uaa05710.pdf
11 March 2010
UA 57/10 - Imminent execution
EGYPT
Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum (m), aged 34
An 34–year-old Egyptian man, Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum, is at imminent risk of execution. He was sentenced to death for murder in July 2005, along with a woman, Jihan Mohammed Ali. Jihan Mohammed Ali was executed on 10 March 2010, and Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum could therefore be put to death at any time. Egypt's President has the power to halt the execution.
Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum and Jihan Mohammed Ali were sentenced to death for the murder in January 2004 of Jihan Mohammed Ali's husband, Ahmed Hussein Mourad, to whom she got married when she was still in school. Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum, from the city of Fayoum, south of Cairo, presented himself to police as soon as he received a summons to do so. He was then held at a police station in the city of Giza for investigation. While he was there, he said that he was tortured, including by having cigarettes stubbed on his body.
Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum did not have access to a lawyer during the interrogation and the investigation period. He was only assisted by a lawyer when his trial began on 20 June 2004. On 17 July 2005, the Giza Criminal Court sentenced him to death along with Jihan Mohammed Ali. Following their appeal, the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial on 4 December 2005 and referred the case to another criminal court. They were again sentenced to death and their sentence later upheld by the Court of Cassation on 2 February 2009.
On 9 February 2009, Jihan Mohammed Ali made a new statement to her lawyer, claiming that she killed her husband on her own and that Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum only helped her move the victim's body. She also claimed that she acted in self defense as her husband was drunk and beating her. Atef Rohyum Abd El Al Rohyum's lawyer submitted a request to the Public Prosecutor on 27 May 2009, calling for a retrial on the basis of this new evidence. Jihan Mohammed Ali also submitted a request to the Public Prosecutor for retrial. However, no retrial took place, and Jihan Mohammed Ali was executed on 10 March 2010 without her family being informed, in breach of Egyptian law.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, irrespective of the crimes that were committed, on the grounds that it violates the right to life and constitutes the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Egyptian courts have increased their use of the death penalty over the last year. In 2009, at least 269 death sentences were imposed by the Egyptian courts, and at least five prisoners were executed.
In Egypt, the death penalty is applied for criminal offenses such as drug-related offenses, murder and terrorism-related offenses. Death sentences handed down by criminal courts have to be submitted to the Mufti, Egypt highest religious authority, for approval as a routine measure, but the opinion of the Mufti is not legally binding. They are then passed to the President of the Republic or his nominee for ratification.
Appeals against verdicts by criminal courts can be submitted to the Court of Cassation, but only on the grounds of procedural irregularities in the trial. In the event that the Court of Cassation turns down an appeal, the verdict is final and may not be appealed against before another court. If an appeal by review is upheld, the Court of Cassation may either order a retrial or nullify the verdict which implies an acquittal of the convicted party. If an appeal by cassation is upheld, the Court of Cassation can only order a retrial. In the event that the Court of Cassation decides to order a retrial the case is referred to a different circuit of the criminal court. If the retrial results in a conviction and is appealed against, the Court of Cassation rules on the case and pronounces a final verdict.
Final death sentences are submitted for ratification to the President or his nominee; they may decide on whether or not to grant clemency by ordering a pardon or a reduction of the sentence. If no clemency or reduction of the sentence is granted, the death sentence may be carried out after 14 days.
Torture and other ill-treatment remain widespread and systematic in police stations, and other detention centers of the State Security Investigations services.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Egyptian authorities to halt the execution of Atef Rohyum Abdel Al Rohyum;
- Urging them to commute his death sentence, and to order a retrial based on the new evidence available;
- Calling for an investigation into allegations that Atef Rohyum Abdel Al Rohyum was tortured, with those found responsible being brought to justice in proceedings that meet fair trial standards;
- Urging the authorities not the use as evidence any statement made under torture in line with Article 15 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which Egypt is a state party.
APPEALS TO:
President
H.E. Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
'Abedine Palace
Cairo
EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 22 390 1998
Email: webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
Salutation: Excellency
Prosecutor General
Abd El-Megeed Mahmoud
Dar al-Qadha al-'Ali
Ramses Street, Cairo
EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 22 577 4716
Salutation: Dear Counsellor
COPIES TO:
Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights
Wael Abu al-Magd
Human Rights and International Humanitarian and Social Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Corniche al-Nil, Cairo
EGYPT
Fax: 011 20 22 574 971
Ambassador Sameh Shoukry
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct NW
Washington DC 20008-2023
Fax: 1 202 244 4319
1 202 244 5131
Email: Embassy@egyptembassy.net
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22 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 **
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To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
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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
----------------------------------
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Urgent Action 3-9-10
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/uaa05110.pdf
9 March 2010
UA 51/10 - Prisoner of conscience
IRAN Abdollah Sadoughi (m), journalist
Soccer journalist Abdollah Sadoughi was arrested in the city of Tabriz, north-west Iran, on 18 January, after publishing a poster supporting the city's Traktor Sazi soccer team. He is held without charge at Tabriz prison, and is on hunger strike in protest at what he considers to be his baseless detention. He is a prisoner of conscience, held for peacefully expressing his views.
Abdollah Sadoughi, aged 33, a member of Iran's Azerbaijani minority, writes for the Iranian publications Goal, Corner and Khosh Khabar (Good News). He supports Tabriz's Traktor Sazi soccer team. The authorities have accused him of acts "against national security" including supporting "Pan-Turkism" for publishing posters, one of which says, in the Azerbaijani Turkic language, "All of Azerbaijan feels pride with you", alongside an image of the soccer team. Abdollah Sadoughi maintains he had permission from the relevant authorities to the print posters. Azerbaijani Turkic is not recognized as an official language in Iran. Those who seek to promote Azerbaijani cultural identity and linguistic rights are viewed with suspicion by the Iranian authorities.
In late February, Abdollah Sadoughi began a hunger strike. According to media reports, soon after starting his hunger strike he was transferred to solitary confinement and held in filthy conditions, and then moved to a cell with criminal convicts. On 2 March 2010, having lost considerable weight and suffering from various medical problems, he was transferred to the clinic within Tabriz prison. Abdollah Sadoughi has been able to meet his lawyer and his family, most recently on 6 March, when he said he would continue his hunger strike until he is released or brought before a court.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iranian Azerbaijanis, who are mainly Shi'a Muslims, are recognized as the largest minority in Iran and are generally believed to constitute 25 to 30 per cent of the population of Iran. They are located mainly in the north and north-west of Iran. Although generally well integrated into society, in recent years they have increasingly called for greater cultural and linguistic rights, such as the right to be educated in the Azerbaijani Turkic language, which they believe is provided for under Iran's Constitution, and to celebrate Azerbaijani culture and history at cultural events.
Soccer games involving the Traktor Sazi soccer team in Tabriz have reportedly become the focus for the expression of Azerbaijani Turkic culture. During games, calls – in Azerbaijani Turkic – are reported to be made by supporters, for linguistic and cultural rights for Iranian Azerbaijanis.
Both before, and particularly since, the disputed presidential election in June 2009, the Iranian authorities have severely restricted freedom of expression in Iran, arresting journalists (of whom scores are believed to remain in detention), imposing restrictions on the use of the internet, including social networking sites, and shutting down newspapers. Demands by ethnic minority rights activists for greater rights have, for many years, been suppressed. This pattern continues in the context of a wide and generalized suppression of most forms of dissent over government policy.
In February 2010, Iran accepted several recommendations to guarantee freedom of expression and press activities made by other states as part of a review of its human rights record before the UN Human Rights Council in the framework of the Universal periodic review (see paragraph 90, recommendations 52-58 at http://www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/A_HRC_WG-6_7_L-11_Iran.pdf) but rejected other recommendations calling for an end to measures such as harassment and arbitrary arrest of writers, journalists and bloggers. It appears that, despite such public commitments, in practice, the Iranian authorities are continuing to disregard their human rights obligations relating to freedom of expression. Iran also rejected recommendations to take all appropriate measures to end all forms of discrimination and harassment against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic and other minorities (see paragraph 92).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Abdollah Sadoughi, as he is a prisoner of conscience held solely for his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that he receives adequate medical treatment, as well as regular visits from his lawyers and family, and is protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
- 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 that linguistic minorities have the right to use their own language.
APPEALS TO:
Head of East Azarbaijan Province Judiciary
Hojjatoleslam Sharifi,
Judiciary of East Azarbaijan,
Central Complex,
Beginning of Vali-Asr Hill,
Tabriz, East Azarbaijan 5157733135,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax: 011 98411 3320 1109
Salutation: Dear Sir
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:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
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 20 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
$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/uaa05110.pdf
9 March 2010
UA 51/10 - Prisoner of conscience
IRAN Abdollah Sadoughi (m), journalist
Soccer journalist Abdollah Sadoughi was arrested in the city of Tabriz, north-west Iran, on 18 January, after publishing a poster supporting the city's Traktor Sazi soccer team. He is held without charge at Tabriz prison, and is on hunger strike in protest at what he considers to be his baseless detention. He is a prisoner of conscience, held for peacefully expressing his views.
Abdollah Sadoughi, aged 33, a member of Iran's Azerbaijani minority, writes for the Iranian publications Goal, Corner and Khosh Khabar (Good News). He supports Tabriz's Traktor Sazi soccer team. The authorities have accused him of acts "against national security" including supporting "Pan-Turkism" for publishing posters, one of which says, in the Azerbaijani Turkic language, "All of Azerbaijan feels pride with you", alongside an image of the soccer team. Abdollah Sadoughi maintains he had permission from the relevant authorities to the print posters. Azerbaijani Turkic is not recognized as an official language in Iran. Those who seek to promote Azerbaijani cultural identity and linguistic rights are viewed with suspicion by the Iranian authorities.
In late February, Abdollah Sadoughi began a hunger strike. According to media reports, soon after starting his hunger strike he was transferred to solitary confinement and held in filthy conditions, and then moved to a cell with criminal convicts. On 2 March 2010, having lost considerable weight and suffering from various medical problems, he was transferred to the clinic within Tabriz prison. Abdollah Sadoughi has been able to meet his lawyer and his family, most recently on 6 March, when he said he would continue his hunger strike until he is released or brought before a court.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iranian Azerbaijanis, who are mainly Shi'a Muslims, are recognized as the largest minority in Iran and are generally believed to constitute 25 to 30 per cent of the population of Iran. They are located mainly in the north and north-west of Iran. Although generally well integrated into society, in recent years they have increasingly called for greater cultural and linguistic rights, such as the right to be educated in the Azerbaijani Turkic language, which they believe is provided for under Iran's Constitution, and to celebrate Azerbaijani culture and history at cultural events.
Soccer games involving the Traktor Sazi soccer team in Tabriz have reportedly become the focus for the expression of Azerbaijani Turkic culture. During games, calls – in Azerbaijani Turkic – are reported to be made by supporters, for linguistic and cultural rights for Iranian Azerbaijanis.
Both before, and particularly since, the disputed presidential election in June 2009, the Iranian authorities have severely restricted freedom of expression in Iran, arresting journalists (of whom scores are believed to remain in detention), imposing restrictions on the use of the internet, including social networking sites, and shutting down newspapers. Demands by ethnic minority rights activists for greater rights have, for many years, been suppressed. This pattern continues in the context of a wide and generalized suppression of most forms of dissent over government policy.
In February 2010, Iran accepted several recommendations to guarantee freedom of expression and press activities made by other states as part of a review of its human rights record before the UN Human Rights Council in the framework of the Universal periodic review (see paragraph 90, recommendations 52-58 at http://www.upr-info.org/IMG/pdf/A_HRC_WG-6_7_L-11_Iran.pdf) but rejected other recommendations calling for an end to measures such as harassment and arbitrary arrest of writers, journalists and bloggers. It appears that, despite such public commitments, in practice, the Iranian authorities are continuing to disregard their human rights obligations relating to freedom of expression. Iran also rejected recommendations to take all appropriate measures to end all forms of discrimination and harassment against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic and other minorities (see paragraph 92).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Abdollah Sadoughi, as he is a prisoner of conscience held solely for his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that he receives adequate medical treatment, as well as regular visits from his lawyers and family, and is protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
- 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 that linguistic minorities have the right to use their own language.
APPEALS TO:
Head of East Azarbaijan Province Judiciary
Hojjatoleslam Sharifi,
Judiciary of East Azarbaijan,
Central Complex,
Beginning of Vali-Asr Hill,
Tabriz, East Azarbaijan 5157733135,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax: 011 98411 3320 1109
Salutation: Dear Sir
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:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
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 20 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
$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, March 4, 2010
Urgent Action 3-4-10
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/uaa04810.pdf
4 March 2010
UA 48/10 Fear for safety
MEXICO Estela Angeles Mondragon (f)
Her daughter (f)
Lawyer Ernesto Rabago Martinez was shot and killed in his office in Chihuahua City, northern Mexico. He and his female partner, Estela Angeles Mondragon, had previously been threatened and attacked because of their legal work for an Indigenous community involved in a land dispute. Estela Angeles Mondragon and her daughter are in grave danger.
Ernesto Rabago was shot and killed on 2 March in the office he shares with his partner, Estela Mondragon. The two lawyers had been representing a group of Raramuri Indigenous People from the village of Bakeachi, in Carichi municipality, Chihuahua state. Part of the land the group live on is occupied illegally by ranchers. On 5 February, an Agrarian Tribunal, a court which rules on land disputes, ordered that the ranchers should leave the land and return it to the Indigenous community. Both Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon have supported “Bowerasa”, a charity set up to deliver health, education and legal services to the Indigenous community of Bakeachi.
On 18 February, the daughter of Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon was shot in the arm while she was sitting in her car parked in the garage of her home. According to Estela Mondragon, the authorities did not investigate the possibility that the attack may be linked to the work of the girl’s parents. Before then, Estela Mondragon had reported to the authorities that she had been threatened on several occasions in relation to her work and that on 28 March 2009, two homemade explosive devices were thrown at Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon’s office, setting it on fire. However, no protection measures had been put in place.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Human rights defenders in Mexico face threats, attacks, politically motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests or promoting respect for human rights. The government has agreed to provide protection measures to defenders at risk, but has yet to develop a mechanism for delivering effective and credible protection in many cases. In particular, the investigations into those behind threats and attacks rarely result in the prosecution of perpetrators; impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility of further attacks. For more information, please read Amnesty International’s latest report: “Standing up for justice and dignity. Human rights defenders in Mexico”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/032/2009/en
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for Estela Mondragon and her daughter to receive effective protection, in consultation with them and in accordance with their wishes;
- Calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the killing of Ernesto Rabago in Chihuahua on 2 March including all possible links to his professional activity;
- Reminding the authorities of their commitment to uphold the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without obstacles or fear of reprisals.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of the Interior
Lic. Fernando Francisco Gomez-Mont
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez,
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F.,
06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Email: secretario@segob.gob.mx
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/Dear Minister
Governor of Chihuahua State
Lic. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas
Gobernador del Estado de Chihuahua,
Palacio de Gobierno,
1er piso, C. Aldama #901, Col. Centro,
Chihuahua, Estado de Chihuahua, C.P. 31000, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 614 429 3300 (then dial extension 11066 when prompted)
Email: gobernador@chihuahua.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Governor/Senor Gobernador
Attorney General of Chihuahua state
Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez
Procuradora del Estado de Chihuahua
Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado
Vicente Guerrero 616, Col. Centro
Chihuahua 31000, MEXICO
Email: pagonzalez@buzon.chihuahua.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Senora Procuradora General
COPIES TO:
Human rights organization
Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres,
Av. Juarez 4107/B,
Chihuahua, MEXICO
Email: accion@cedehm.org.mx
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 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
$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/uaa04810.pdf
4 March 2010
UA 48/10 Fear for safety
MEXICO Estela Angeles Mondragon (f)
Her daughter (f)
Lawyer Ernesto Rabago Martinez was shot and killed in his office in Chihuahua City, northern Mexico. He and his female partner, Estela Angeles Mondragon, had previously been threatened and attacked because of their legal work for an Indigenous community involved in a land dispute. Estela Angeles Mondragon and her daughter are in grave danger.
Ernesto Rabago was shot and killed on 2 March in the office he shares with his partner, Estela Mondragon. The two lawyers had been representing a group of Raramuri Indigenous People from the village of Bakeachi, in Carichi municipality, Chihuahua state. Part of the land the group live on is occupied illegally by ranchers. On 5 February, an Agrarian Tribunal, a court which rules on land disputes, ordered that the ranchers should leave the land and return it to the Indigenous community. Both Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon have supported “Bowerasa”, a charity set up to deliver health, education and legal services to the Indigenous community of Bakeachi.
On 18 February, the daughter of Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon was shot in the arm while she was sitting in her car parked in the garage of her home. According to Estela Mondragon, the authorities did not investigate the possibility that the attack may be linked to the work of the girl’s parents. Before then, Estela Mondragon had reported to the authorities that she had been threatened on several occasions in relation to her work and that on 28 March 2009, two homemade explosive devices were thrown at Ernesto Rabago and Estela Mondragon’s office, setting it on fire. However, no protection measures had been put in place.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Human rights defenders in Mexico face threats, attacks, politically motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests or promoting respect for human rights. The government has agreed to provide protection measures to defenders at risk, but has yet to develop a mechanism for delivering effective and credible protection in many cases. In particular, the investigations into those behind threats and attacks rarely result in the prosecution of perpetrators; impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility of further attacks. For more information, please read Amnesty International’s latest report: “Standing up for justice and dignity. Human rights defenders in Mexico”, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/032/2009/en
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for Estela Mondragon and her daughter to receive effective protection, in consultation with them and in accordance with their wishes;
- Calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the killing of Ernesto Rabago in Chihuahua on 2 March including all possible links to his professional activity;
- Reminding the authorities of their commitment to uphold the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without obstacles or fear of reprisals.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of the Interior
Lic. Fernando Francisco Gomez-Mont
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez,
Delegacion Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F.,
06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Email: secretario@segob.gob.mx
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/Dear Minister
Governor of Chihuahua State
Lic. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas
Gobernador del Estado de Chihuahua,
Palacio de Gobierno,
1er piso, C. Aldama #901, Col. Centro,
Chihuahua, Estado de Chihuahua, C.P. 31000, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 614 429 3300 (then dial extension 11066 when prompted)
Email: gobernador@chihuahua.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Governor/Senor Gobernador
Attorney General of Chihuahua state
Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez
Procuradora del Estado de Chihuahua
Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado
Vicente Guerrero 616, Col. Centro
Chihuahua 31000, MEXICO
Email: pagonzalez@buzon.chihuahua.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Senora Procuradora General
COPIES TO:
Human rights organization
Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres,
Av. Juarez 4107/B,
Chihuahua, MEXICO
Email: accion@cedehm.org.mx
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 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
$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, March 3, 2010
Urgent Action 3-3-10
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/uaa04610.pdf
3 March 2010
UA 46/10 - Fear for safety
MEXICO
Blanca Mesina Navarez (f)
Silvia Vazquez Camacho (f), lawyer
Blanca Mesina, the daughter of a Mexican torture victim in Tijuana, has received a death threat. The victim's lawyer, Silvia Vazquez Camacho, has also received a death threat and her family's van has been petrol bombed.
Miguel Angel Mesina Lopez was one of 25 police officers detained and tortured by the military in Tijuana, Baja California state, in March 2009. On 28 February 2010, his daughter, Blanca Mesina Navarez, received a telephone threat. Blanca Mesina has worked with human rights lawyer, Silvia Vazquez Camacho and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, CMDPDH) to press for justice in her father's case, including appearing before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in October 2009.
On 2 February 2010, Silvia Vazquez Camacho's parents received a threatening phone call at home. On 17 February, her parents heard sounds from outside their house and went to investigate. They saw the family's van on fire and two men fleeing. After extinguishing the fire, they saw that the window had been smashed and they found the remains of a Molotov cocktail inside, which had been used to set the fire.
As well as Miguel Angel Mesina Lopez's case, Silvia Vazquez Camacho and CMDPDH have been documenting human rights violations of other criminal suspects held in the military base in Tijuana, including torture or other ill-treatment.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In Blanca Mesina Navarez's telephone threat, she was told to "drop the police case now bitch or it is going to go badly for you" (hija de tu chingada madre, ya deja el asunto de los policias o te va a ir mal).
In the threatening phone call that Silvia Vazquez Camacho's parents received, the caller said: "I know who you are and I now know where you live...you are going around denouncing many things...the Zetas (a notorious criminal gang) are looking for you to kill you" ("ya se quien eres, te tengo ubicada...tu andas denunciando muchas cosas... los zetas te estan buscando para matarte"). The caller then identified himself as belonging to the Baja California State Attorney General's Office and said "they are going to kill her if she carries on denouncing, they are already after her" ("se van a chingar a esta vieja si sigue denunciando,ya la estan buscando").
Human rights defenders in Mexico face threats, attacks, politically motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests or promoting respect for human rights. The government has agreed to provide protection measures to defenders at risk, but has yet to develop a mechanism for delivering effective and credible protection in many cases. In particular, the investigations into those behind threats and attacks rarely result in the prosecution of perpetrators; impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility of further attacks.
In November 2009 Amnesty International issued a report, Mexico: New reports of human rights violations by the military, which documented several cases of arbitrary detention and torture at the military base in Tijuana, Baja California state and the efforts of victims, relatives and human rights defenders to file complaints. These cases are routinely investigated and tried by the military justice system, which does not guarantee an impartial and independent investigation, resulting in impunity for the vast majority of perpetrators.
The CMDPDH has submitted a request to the Inter American Commission of Human Rights to issue medidas cautelares (protection measures) requiring the Mexican authorities to guarantee Silvia Vazquez Camacho's safety.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for Blanca Mesina Navarez, Silvia Vazquez Camacho and her family to receive effective protection, in line with their wishes;
- Calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation of the telephone threats against both women and the attack on the vehicle of Silvia Vazquez' family;
- Urging that possible links between public officials and those behind the threats are fully investigated;
- Reminding the authorities of their commitment to uphold the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which recognizes the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders and their right to carry out their activities without obstacles or fear of reprisals.
APPEALS TO:
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 Baja California State
Lic. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan
Gobernador del Estado de Baja California
Edificio del Poder Ejecutivo 3er Piso,
Calzada Independencia No. 994,
Mexicali B.C. CP 21000
Fax: (686) 558-1178
Email: gobernador@baja.gob.mx
Salutation: Sr Gobernador/Dear Governor
Attorney General of the Republic
Arturo Chavez Chavez
Procurador General de la Republica
Procuraduria General de la Republica
Av. Paseo de la Reforma no. 211-213,
Col. Cuauhtemoc, Del. Cuauhtemoc
Mexico D.F., C.P. 06500, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5346 0908
Email: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Senor Procurador General
Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights
(Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos ),
Tehuantepec 142, Col. Roma Sur
06760 Mexico, DF
MEXICO
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 14 April 2010.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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