EC's Amnesty Int'l Urgent Action Letter Toolkit: May 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

Urgent Action 5-28-10

The Tunisian government has proposed changes to the Penal Code that are designed to silence critics of the country’s human rights record, in Tunisia and abroad.

The Tunisian authorities are proposing to amend Article 61bis of the Penal Code, which deals with violations of the “external security” of Tunisia. Article 61bis currently criminalizes contacting “agents of a foreign power to undermine the military or diplomatic situation in Tunisia”. Tunisians convicted of this crime currently face up to 20 years in prison, with a minimum sentence of five years. Under the new legislation, the article would also sanction those who contact foreign bodies in order to harm Tunisia’s vital interests, including “economic security”.

The changes to the Penal Code seem clearly intended to target human rights activists who lobby foreign bodies such as the European Union (EU), to put pressure on the Tunisian government over its human rights record. Human rights activists will face prosecution for their advocacy work if the government succeeds in changing the law.

This bill appears to be a direct response of the Tunisian authorities to meetings held earlier this month by Tunisian human rights activists with EU parliamentarians and officials, in Madrid and Brussels. During the meetings, the Tunisian activists urged them to pressure the Tunisian government to uphold its human rights obligations, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and several other human rights instruments. Tunisia is now negotiating over its status with the EU, which it wants to improve to “Advanced Status”.

The government is understood to have agreed the new legislation at a cabinet meeting on 19 May 2010. It will now be put before at least one parliamentary commission, before it is brought before the parliament for debate, after which it will be adopted into law. The authorities are expected to rush the legislation through the parliament, as both houses of parliament are dominated by the ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (Rassemblement Constitutionel Démocratique, RCD) and no real debate within parliament is expected.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Tunisian authorities have made tremendous efforts to foster an international image of respect for human rights. In October 2009, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali declared that his government had “been keen on continuously developing human rights legislation, institutions and bodies, and enhancing civil society acting in this field.” Later that month, however, referring to human rights activists and journalists who sought to expose human rights abuses and corruption by the Tunisian government, he criticized the “tiny minority of Tunisians who cast doubts upon its [Tunisia’s] achievements and gains. This tiny minority of Tunisians have relinquished the honor of belonging to Tunisia; this honor which requires them to show a sense of propriety and discretion vis-à-vis anything that can cause harm to their country. They have not respected the sacro-sanctity and inviolability of the country.”

In practice, anyone who challenges this image risks becoming a target for the security forces. Human rights activists in Tunisia operate in the face of harassment and intimidation. Many have reported being under constant surveillance by the security forces, and have also reported being prevented from traveling abroad or within the country, in breach of right to freedom of movement. Some have also reported being beaten up, reportedly by men in civilian clothes who appeared to be agents of the security forces. The authorities have consistently refused to accept human rights organizations’ applications for legal registration, without which they are technically not allowed to operate. They have interfered in the activities of the few that are officially registered, in some cases staging internal takeovers by government supporters. Tunisian activists who have spoken out against the authorities’ human rights record while abroad have been harassed and interrogated upon their return to Tunisia. Several have been denied permission to travel abroad again.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has responsibility for maintaining Tunisia's international standing. Amnesty International believes that international appeals made directly to the minister may convince him that the authorities should abandon the proposed change to the legislation, as it would harm Tunisia’s official public image. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has responsibility for overseeing the drafting of proposed legislation. The minister is well placed to take action on Amnesty International's concerns, and would be expected to raise them with the other members of the Tunisian government.

The Tunisian authorities have recently hired the services of a USA-based public relations firm to improve the image of Tunisia abroad.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
-Calling on the Tunisia authorities to withdraw the proposed additions to Article 61bis of the Penal Code;
- Urging them to stop harassing and intimidating human rights activists and government critics, and to uphold the right to freedom of expression and the right of human rights defenders to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in line with Tunisia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Tunisia is a state party and the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (known as the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders).

APPEALS TO:

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Kamel Morjane
Avenue de la Ligue des Etats Arabes
Nord Hilton
1030 Tunis
TUNISIA
Fax: 011 216 71 784 553
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Lazhar Bououni
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis - La Kasbah
TUNISIA
Fax: 011 216 71 568 106
Email: mju@ministeres.tn
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Gregory L. Vistica
President
Washington Media Group
525 9th Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington DC 20004
USA
Fax: 1 202 628 1218
Email: info@WashingtonMedia.com

Ambassador Hebib Manssour
Embassy of Tunisia
1515 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20005
Fax: 1 202 862 1858

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 09 July 2010.

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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
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Saturday, May 22, 2010

Urgent Action 5-21-10

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Urgent Action 5-15-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa11510.pdf

14 May 2010

UA 115/10 - Fear for safety

BRAZIL Josilmar Macario dos Santos (m)

Josilmar Macario dos Santos has been shot at and fears for his life after receiving a series of death threats because of his campaign to achieve justice for his brother, Josenildo dos Santos, who was reportedly killed by police officers in April 2009.

On 7 May 2010, Josilmar Macario dos Santos was shot at by an unknown person as he drove his taxi along a viaduct in the neighborhood of Catumbi, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Josilmar did not sustain any injury but the single shot shattered the front windscreen of his taxi. This attack took place against the backdrop of the ongoing hearings in the case against four police offices, accused of killing six young men, including Josenildo dos Santos. Witnesses to the killings have stated that Josenildo was unarmed when he was fatally shot in the back of the head by police officers. When no adequate investigation into the case was initiated, Josilmar, supported by a local NGO, began his own investigation.

As a result of evidence compiled by Josilmar, the police officers were finally charged and the hearings began in March 2010. The police officers continue to actively serve at the local police barracks (batalhao). The incident on 7 May is the latest attempt to intimidate Josilmar and his family. Josilmar's requests for effective protection after the shooting have not been met, he now fears for his life.

On 8 February 2010, police forced entry into the house of Josilmar's sister and cousin, in Rio de Janeiro's Coroa favela, during a violent police operation in which two young men were killed. During the raid, police officers stated that if they had they not been in the safety of their home they would have been killed. On 30 April and 1 May 2010, police launched further operations into the community. They tore down posters in the street that advertised the date of a hearing in the police officers case. When cutting the posters down with knives the police officers were overheard saying that they should be using the knives to cut off the heads of the people who had put the posters up.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
After his taxi was shot at, Josilmar Macario dos Santos reported the incident to the police, prosecutors and the state commission of human rights. Although the federal secretary of human rights recommended that he be included in the National Defenders' Program, which provides protection for human rights defenders at risk, Josilmar Macario dos Santos has instead been offered a place on the PROVITA witness protection scheme. As this would require him to leave his home and assume a new identity, this would fundamentally undermine the both Josilmar Macario dos Santos's fight for justice on behalf of his brother, and his work the local NGO A Rede de Comunidades e Movimentos contra a Violencia (The Network of Communities and Movements against Violence) highlighting impunity in cases of police violence.

Since the threats began three of Josilmar's brothers and sisters have left the community.

Violent policing has been a feature of Brazil's urban landscape for decades. In cities like Rio de Janeiro poor communities remain trapped between the criminal gangs which dominated the areas in which they live and the violent and discriminatory methods used by police. As a result, many living in such communities experienced entrenched social and economic deprivation. In Rio de Janeiro police killings have been running at the rate of over 1,000 a year. A study by the Instituto de Segurança Publica (Public Security Institute) attached to Rio de Janeiro's state Secretariat of Public Security, found that between January 1998 and September 2009, 10,216 people were killed in the state in incidents registered as “acts of resistance”. Only a tiny proportion of these cases have been investigated and handful of police prosecuted. Relatives of victims who try to fight for justice are frequently threatened and intimidated.

Local NGO A Rede de Comunidades e Movimentos contra a Violencia brings together relatives of victims of police violence, and has long been campaigning against impunity for human rights violations committed by the police. In a meeting with the Rede in December 2009, Amnesty International took testimony from several family members of victims of police violence. During the meeting Josilmar Macario dos Santos described the negligence of the authorities in relation to his brother's killing and how he and his family had singlehandedly gathered evidence in order to bring the case to the courts. His success in pursuing this case is emblematic of the courage and persistence of victims in the face of violence and intimidation.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urge the authorities to immediately provide Josilmar Macario dos Santos and his family with full protection in accordance with their needs and wishes;
- Urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate threats against Josilmar Macario dos Santos and his family, bringing perpetrators to justice;
- Immediately suspend the police officers charged with the death of Josenildo dos Santos, pending the conclusion of their trial; if implicated in threats against Josilmar, calling for the officers to be placed in preventative detention.

APPEALS TO:

Federal Human Rights Secretary
Exmo. Secretario Especial
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi
Esplanada dos Ministerios - Bloco "T" – 4o andar,
70064-900 - Brasilia/DF BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 61 2025 3464
Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Secretario

Governor RJ
Exmo. Governor Rio de Janeiro
Sr. Sergio de Oliveira Cabral Santos Filho
Palacio Guanabara
Rua Pinheiro Machado, s/n Laranjeiras
22.238-900 - Rio de Janeiro/RJ -BRASIL
Fax: 011 55 21 2334 3559

COPIES TO:

A Rede de Comunidades e Movimentos contra a Violencia
Rua Senador Dantas, 20, sala 1407 – Centro – Rio de Janeiro
CEP 20031-203
Tel: 011 55 21 2210 2906
Email: redecontraviolencia@uol.com.br

Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota
Brazilian Embassy
3006 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 238 2827
Email: ambassador@brasilemb.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 25 June 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, May 13, 2010

Urgent Action 5-13-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa11310.pdf

Or take action online at:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=14271

12 May 2010

UA 113/10 Death penalty

USA (Utah) Ronnie Lee Gardner (m), aged 49

Ronnie Lee Gardner, a 49-year-old man, is due to be executed by firing squad in the US state of Utah on 18 June. Condemned to death for killing a lawyer during an escape attempt in 1985, he has been on death row for almost a quarter of a century. The last execution in Utah was in 1999.

On 2 April 1985, 24-year-old Ronnie Gardner was being led into a court building in Salt Lake City for a hearing on a second degree murder charge when a female accomplice handed him a gun. An exchange of gunfire with guards ensued, during which Ronnie Gardner was shot in the chest. Wounded, he entered the archives room, inside which was a court clerk, a prison officer, and three lawyers. He fatally shot one of the lawyers, Michael Burdell, before fleeing the room and the building. He was surrounded by police in the car park, and surrendered. He was tried in October 1985 and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Michael Burdell.

After holding an evidentiary hearing in November 1990, a state court judge ruled in 1991 that Ronnie Gardner had been denied adequate legal representation at the sentencing stage of his trial, including as a result of the defense counsel’s failure to investigate and present mitigating evidence to the jury. He ordered a new sentencing hearing. However, the Utah Supreme Court overturned the decision, ruling that errors by the lawyers had not been shown to have prejudiced Ronnie Gardner’s trial. The state had denied Gardner funding to retain expert witnesses, but he received this funding once the case went into the federal courts.

Mitigating evidence not fully provided to the jury was presented to the federal courts, relating to Ronnie Gardner’s deprived and abusive background, together with expert neurological and psychiatric evidence of organic brain damage resulting in cognitive and intellectual deficits and impulse control problems. In 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit noted that “it is undisputed that Mr. Gardner’s childhood was troubled in many respects,” and added that “reasonable minds may differ on the likely impact on the jury of more thoroughly researched mental health testimony.” However, noting that the question before it when applying the deference due to state court decisions by federal courts under US law was “not whether the Utah Supreme Court was correct but whether its judgment was unreasonable.” The 10th Circuit panel concluded that it was not unreasonable.

On 4 May 2010, lawyers filed a clemency petition to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole requesting that the death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. They have submitted declarations from those close to Michael Burdell, including his fiancee and his 86-year-old father, who maintain that he would not have wanted Ronnie Gardner to be put to death. The Board has not yet said whether it will hold a clemency hearing.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally, in all cases and in all countries, regardless of the method used to kill the prisoner, or the nature of the crime for which he or she was sentenced to death. The USA has carried out 1,203 executions since resuming judicial killing in 1977. Utah accounts for six of these executions, including the first carried out in the USA after the 1976 Supreme Court decision that allowed executions to resume: Gary Gilmore was shot by a Utah firing squad on 17 January 1977 after refusing to appeal against his death sentence. Three of the five men executed in Utah since then have also been so-called “volunteers” who waived appeals and “consented” to execution. The execution of Ronnie Gardner would be the first in Utah since 1999 and the first “non-consensual” execution there since 1992. Ronnie Gardner has chosen to be put to death by firing squad rather than lethal injection.

According to the evidence presented during Ronnie Gardner’s federal appeals, his childhood was one of abuse and deprivation: His mother suffered from mental illness, the family’s economic circumstances were dire, the children were neglected. The family household was marked by criminality, violence and abuse. Ronnie Gardner suffered meningitis as a child, resulting in possible brain damage. He developed a severe tic, possibly Tourette syndrome. He was sexually abused by an older brother, and later by the man who became his foster carer. He began engaging in substance abuse, such as sniffing paint thinner, from the age of five or six and carried on until he was 18, and was introduced to LSD, marijuana, and alcohol before the age of 10. His stepfather involved him in criminal acts, taking him to Wyoming to steal liquid mercury from oil industry facilities. Ronnie Gardner sustained a number of serious head injuries during his childhood. In a brief filed in May 2010 in state court, his lawyers stated: “The jury convicted Mr. Gardner of an intentional killing and sentenced him to death without hearing all these facts. They never heard about the terrible conditions and the moral depravity in the environment of his upbringing. The jury never heard about the physical and sexual abuse and criminality in the household. None of the jurors knew anything about the meningitis, head injuries, inhalant, alcohol and drug abuse, the tic, organic brain syndrome, cognitive and intellectual deficits, impulse disorder, hard signs and radiological evidence of the brain damage.”

Those supporting clemency include Michael Burdell’s father and his fiancee, as well as a close friend who was at the courthouse with Michael Burdell on the day he was shot. His 86-year-old father signed a sworn statement on 19 April 2010 that: “I do not believe Gardner should be executed. I do not believe my son, Michael Burdell, would want Gardner to be executed. I do not believe Gardner should be executed because I do not believe the murder was premeditated. Gardner himself had been shot and his shooting my son was a spur of the moment reaction. Furthermore, I do not believe Gardner is the same person today that he was in 1985. My son was a caring and generous person who tried to help others. It would not have been in his nature to condone Gardner’s execution. He would not have approved of it at all”. The fiancee states: “Michael Burdell would not have wanted Ronnie Lee Gardner put to death. There is absolutely no question about this in my mind.” The friend who was with Michael Burdell in the courthouse when he was shot, has emphasized that Michael Burdell was a pacifist “who lived his convictions, and I am certain that he would not want Ronnie Lee Gardner to be put to death.”

Ronnie Gardner has been on death row for nearly 25 years, more than half of his life. In 1999, a US Supreme Court Justice wrote that “the longer the delay” between conviction and execution, “the weaker the justification for imposing the death penalty in terms of punishment’s basic retributive and deterrent purposes.” In 2002, the same Justice noted that the uncertainty and lengthy delays between sentencing and execution “can inflict horrible feelings and an immense mental anxiety amounting to a great increase of the offender’s punishment.”

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse the killing of Michael Burdell;
- Expressing concern that the trial jury did not hear full
evidence of Ronnie Lee Gardner’s deprived and abusive childhood, and noting further evidence raised since the trial of brain damage and its possible effects on his conduct;
- Noting that Ronnie Gardner has spent 25 years on death row, in itself effectively a life sentence, and a fact that further undermines any assertion by the state that retribution or deterrence will be served by this execution;
- Welcoming the support for clemency from friends and family of Michael Burdell;
- Calling on the Board to hold a clemency hearing, and for Ronnie Gardner’s death sentence to be commuted.

APPEALS TO:

Utah Board of Pardon and Parole
448 East Winchester Street, Suite 300, Murray, Utah, 84107,
USA
Fax: 801 261 6481
E-Mail: bopinfo@utah.gov
Salutation: Dear Board members

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 18 June 2010.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Urgent Action 5-8-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa10910.pdf

7 May 2010

UA 109/10 Forced eviction

EGYPT 200 Families

Two hundred families in Zerzara informal settlement in the city of Port Said, Egypt, are at risk of forced eviction to make way for a road. On 4 May, 15 families had their homes demolished and were left homeless.

On 4 May, with no prior notification, Port Said’s local authorities demolished 15 one-storey homes, leaving the families who lived there without alternative housing. There was a heavy police presence during the forced eviction and demolition, and according to the Egyptian Center for Housing Rights, police beat some of those evicted. A security official reportedly offered them compensation of 500 Egyptian Pounds (US$89) on the day they were evicted, and also told them that they could rebuild their homes in another area of the settlement, away from the planned road.

It appears that the eviction orders were issued by the Governor of Port Said under a law which allows him to remove buildings which “infringe” on state-owned land. As the residents of Zerzara were not notified of the eviction orders, they could not appeal against them before a court, in breach of Egyptian law. The Egyptian Center for Housing Rights has filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor to stop further demolitions taking place. However, the authorities have not yet responded, and the demolitions of the homes of those also living in the path of the planned road could happen at any time.

Zerzara informal settlement has been designated as an “unsafe area” in Port Said by the authorities. Most people living in Zerzara were previously evicted from their homes in other areas of Port Said, after they were deemed unsafe. The buildings were in imminent danger of collapsing, just like thousands of deteriorating houses in Egypt. The evictees were not offered alternative housing, and moved to Zerzara, where they built their own homes. They do not have access to clean water and sanitation. The eviction is apparently aimed at improving access to modern housing in the middle of which the Zerzara informal settlement stretches. The housing units belong to Port Said Governorate, and many remain empty but are unaffordable for those living in Zerzara.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The acute shortage of affordable housing in Egypt means that millions of people have to live in informal settlements. According to the Ministry of State for Local Development, in 2007, 12.2 million people lived in 870 informal settlements in Egypt as a whole.

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights defines a forced eviction as “the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.” International human rights standards requires that evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives have been explored and only after appropriate procedural and legal safeguards are in place. These include genuine consultation with the affected people, prior adequate and reasonable notice, adequate alternative housing and compensation for all losses, safeguards on how evictions are carried out, and access to legal remedies and procedures, including access to legal aid where necessary. No one should be rendered homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations as a consequence of an eviction. Egypt is obliged under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to refrain from and prevent forced evictions.

In 2000 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concerns about forced evictions in Egypt and urged Egypt “to combat the acute housing shortage by adopting a strategy and a plan of action and by building or
providing, low-cost rental housing units, especially for the vulnerable and low income groups.”

In Port Said, the residents of Zerzara complaint of their poor housing conditions which does not protect them from rain in the winter and extreme heat in the summer. The accumulation of rubbish and sewerage water in Zerzara has reportedly led to the spread of water-borne and respiratory diseases. Residents complain that rats attack their children at night, and that they are also at risk of assault by drug-dealers and thieves.

In March 2009, residents protested in front of Port Said Governorate after rains and sewerage water flooded their homes and others were destroyed by fire as a result of informally connected electricity wires. At the time, officials from the Port Said Governorate said it was in the process of constructing 9,000 flats for Port Said’s informal settlements, 3,000 of which will be allocated to the families living in Zerzara. This was again announced in May 2009 after Dream TV channel broadcasted an episode of ‘One of the People’. The program filmed in Zerzara and showed the residents speaking their conditions of life there, as it has been doing with many other informal settlements in Egypt.

In October 2008, a presidential decree established an Informal Settlements Development Facility (ISDF) to develop plans to deal with informal settlements in Egypt and coordinate governmental efforts in this respect. It is also mandated with identifying informal settlements which are ‘unsafe’. The ISDF reportedly identified Zerzara as an area with unsuitable housing conditions, but the development plans for Zerzara are unknown. The ISDF plans to deal with all ‘unsafe areas’ by 2017.

Amnesty International fears that these plans are being developed without genuine consultations with the residents or communities concerned, which can lead to forced evictions. According to the ISDF, plans for “unsafe areas” are developed only in consultation with the Governorates and its local municipal councils. In March 2010, The ISDF announced that 30 pilot projects would start from April 2010, in 16 northern and southern Governorates in Egypt, including Port Said. However, it is unclear if the evictions of 4 May 2010 are the result of such plans.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the Governor of Port Said to stop the planned
forced eviction of 200 families in Zerzara informal
settlement;
- calling on the Governor to hold genuine consultations with the residents of the settlement to identify solutions to address the conditions in which they are living;
- Calling on the authorities to offer immediately the 15 families already forcibly evicted immediate adequate alternative housing and compensation for the loss of their property;
- Calling for, as a matter of priority, a process of effective consultation with residents of all designated “unsafe areas” in Port Said, and the implementation of measures necessary to safeguard residents’ lives and safety, respecting guarantees against forced eviction.

APPEALS TO:

Governor of Port Said
Major-General Mustafa Abdel Latif
Mohamed Ali street
Port Said, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20663245115
Email: portsaidinfo@gmail.com
Salutation: Dear Governor

Informal Settlement Development Facility Executive Director
Ali El-Faramawy
2 Latin America Street, Garden City
Cairo, EGYPT
Fax: 011 20222634000
Salutation: Dear Dr. Ali El-Farawamy

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Sameh Shoukry
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct NW
Washington DC 20008-2023
Fax: 1 202 244 4319 OR 1 202 244 5131
Email: Embassy@egyptembassy.net

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 18 June 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, May 5, 2010

Two Urgent Actions 5-5-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa10610.pdf

5 May 2010

UA 106/10 Fear for safety

LITHUANIA LGBT rights activists

Following a court decision to suspend the 2010 Baltic Pride, hundreds of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists, including over 50 Amnesty International members from over 20 countries, risk being prevented from marching in Lithuania’s first ever Pride march, scheduled to take place on Saturday 8 May.

The Vilnius City Administrative Court today temporarily suspended the 2010 Baltic Pride march, following an application by the Lithuanian Attorney General to withdraw its authorization on account of the risk of clashes with counter-demonstrators. The Vilnius City Police insists that it has made the necessary security arrangements to guarantee the marchers’ security.

International human rights law places a positive obligation on states to ensure that individuals and groups are able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly free from the threat of violence or disruption. Security threats emanating from counter-protesters should be policed effectively, rather than used as a pretext to ban public events.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Lithuanian President to ensure that the Baltic Pride March goes ahead as authorized and ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and assembly of LGBT rights activists are respected.

APPEALS TO:

President of Lithuania
Dalia GRYBAUSKAITE
President of the Republic of Lithuania
Office of the President
Simono Daukanto a. 3,
LT 01122 Vilnius
Vilnius,
REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
Fax: 011 370 5 266 4145
Email: info@president.lt
Salutation: Dear President

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Audrius Bruzga
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania
2622 16th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
Fax: 202 328 0466
Phone: 202 234 5860
Email: info@ltembassyus.org
audrius.bruzga@ltembassyus.org
egle.janeliunaite@ltembassyus.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 8 MAY 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
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa10710.pdf

5 May 2010

UA 107/10 Prisoners of Conscience/Arbitrary detention

IRAN Mohammad Ali Shirzadi (m)
Ja’far Panahi (m)

Two Iranian filmmakers – Mohammad Ali Shirzadi and Ja’far Panahi – are detained without charge or trial in Evin Prison, Tehran after their arrest in January and March 2010 respectively. Amnesty International is calling for their immediate and unconditional release as they are held solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and are considered to be prisoners of conscience.

Mohammad Ali Shirzadi, aged 39, was arrested by five unidentified men on 4 January 2010 outside his home in Tehran. He was forced to re-enter his house which was then searched without a warrant and his computer, personal notebook and other items were confiscated. His family had no news about his whereabouts for 40 days, after which he telephoned them to say he was all right, but did not reveal his location. They later learned that he was being held in Evin Prison. He has so far been allowed two family visits, at which a security official was present, and he was unable to tell them the reasons for his arrest. However, his family believes his arrest may be linked to an interview he filmed around two years ago, between prominent human rights defender Emadeddin Baghi and Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. The film was shown after Grand Ayatollah Montazeri died in December 2009 and shortly afterwards, Emadeddin Baghi was arrested and has been in detention since (see UA: 05/10).

Award-winning filmmaker Ja’far Panahi, aged 49, was arrested on 1 March 2010 at his home in Tehran with several other people, including his wife and daughter. All have since been released except for Ja’far Panahi. His wife, Tahereh Saeedi, was allowed to meet him for the first time on 30 March. On 14 April 2010, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance said that Ja’far Panahi had been arrested because he was making an anti-government film about the disputed presidential election of 2009.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ja’far Panahi is a well-known film director who has made internationally-acclaimed films such as “The White Balloon” and “The Circle”. He is also a peace activist who is a member of the National Peace Council in Iran, a group set up in July 2008 on the initiative of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders, an NGO established by Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi and other prominent lawyers. The National Peace Council has 85 representatives from different social and,ethnic groups and professions. Its aims are “creating and strengthening the basis for peace; preventing a military attack; abolishing the imposed sanctions and preventing any additional sanctions; ending the situation of Neither war, Nor Peace”.

Ja’far Panahi was briefly arrested in July 2009 during a gathering at a cemetery in Tehran of people mourning the death of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman apparently killed by a member of the Basij militia during a protest at the outcome of the 2009 presidential election. He was later released, but subsequently banned from traveling abroad, including to the 2009 Berlin Film Festival in which he was due to participate. He has been invited to participate on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival between 12 and 23 May
2010.

Mohammad Ali Shirzadi is a member of the now-banned Association in Defense of Prisoners’ Rights, founded by Emadeddin Baghi.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammad Ali Shirzadi and Ja’far Panahi as they are held solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and are prisoners of conscience;
- Expressing concern that Mohammad Ali Shirzadi was held incommunicado for 40 days and urging that family members of all detainees are informed promptly of their relatives’ whereabouts and allowed to visit them regularly;
- Reminding the Iranian authorities that freedom of expression is guaranteed under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a state party and that the right to freedom of expression includes freedom to seek, receive and impart information, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media

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, IRAN
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellence

Head of Tehran Judiciary
Mr. Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Alley 17, No 152
Tehran, IRAN
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei

COPIES TO:

Secretary General
High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737, IRAN
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)

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 16 June 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
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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EC's Amnesty Int'l Urgent Action Letter Toolkit