URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa16309.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have
received the original UA when issued on June 19, 2009. Thanks!
22 October 2010
Further information on UA 163/09 (19 June 2009) and follow up (9 October 2009 and 28 May 2010) - Fear of torture, ill-treatment/Prisoner of Conscience/ Medical Concern
CHINA Yan Dongfei (f), aged 60
Qiao Yongfang (m), aged 60, her husband
Qiao Yongfang, who is in prison in China relating to his peaceful practice of Falun Gong, is in need of medical attention. In September, he was transferred to a special prison unit, heightening Amnesty International's concern that he is at risk of torture and ill-treatment.
Qiao Yongfang is an elderly practitioner of Falun Gong, aged around 60. On 6 August, he was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment on charges of "using a heretical organization to subvert the law." He is imprisoned in the Hohhot ("Huhehaote" in Chinese) No 1 Men's Prison, but was transferred in September to a separate unit within the prison referred to as a ‘prison training team’. While it is not clear what the nature of this unit is, according to numerous accounts, Falun Gong practitioners are often held in separate facilities where they are compelled to relinquish their beliefs, including through torture and ill-treatment.
People who have visited him recently report that he is currently in poor health, including suffering from diabetes, for which he is not receiving adequate medical treatment. Qiao Yongfang’s lawyers have previously noted that he had been tortured while in detention, resulting in injuries to his head, for which he is not known to have received adequate medical treatment.
Qiao Yongfang's wife, Yan Donfei, also aged 60, was also sentenced on 6 August on the same charges to 14 months imprisonment. Because she had been held in detention for 14 months at the time the sentences were determined, she was released within a few days. Both had been tried at the Huimin District People's Court on 3 June 2010, having been held at No 1 Detention Center in Hohhot since 8 June 2009.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement which gained large numbers of supporters in China during the 1990s. After it staged a peaceful gathering in Tiananmen Square in July 1999, the government outlawed the group and launched a long-term campaign of intimidation and persecution, directed by a special organization called the 610 Office. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained since the spiritual movement was banned as a "threat to social and political stability". Practitioners have been held in psychiatric hospitals, in Re-education Through Labor (RTL) facilities, a form of administrative detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review, or sentenced to long prison terms.
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, despite China’s ratification of the UN Convention against Torture in 1988. Falun Gong sources report numerous deaths of practitioners in custody, many caused by torture, in a variety of state institutions, including prisons, RTL facilities and police detention centers.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Qiao Yongfang, as he is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely because of his beliefs;
- Calling on the authorities to protect Qiao Yongfang from torture and ill-treatment;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is given any medical attention and treatment he may require;
- Calling on the authorities to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
APPEALS TO:
Huimin District People's Court
Huiminqu Renmin Fayuan
Yun Zhangsheng
Jin Chuan Kaifa qu
Huhehaote Shi 0471-3606010
Nei Menggu Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Head of the Court
Huimin District People's Procuratorate
Huiminqu Renmin Jiancha Yuan
Yan Zhengwei
Gang tie lu 298 hao
Huhehaote Shi 010000
Nei Menggu Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Head of the Procuratorate
COPIES TO:
Political and Legal Committee
Zhengzhi Falu Weiyuanwei
Li He Shuji
Bei Mashenmiao Jie
Huhehaote Shi 010000
Nei Menggu Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Secretary
Ambassador Yesui Zhang
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20522
Phone: 202 495 2000
Fax: 1 202 465-2138
Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 3 December 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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa14410.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on July 1, 2010. Thanks!
22 October 2010
Further information on UA 144/10 (1 July 2010) and follow ups (3 August and 16 August 2010) - Prisoner of conscience/Legal concern/Health Concern
KYRGYZSTAN Ulugbek Abdusalamov (m)
Prisoner of conscience, Ulugbek Abdusalamov, has suffered a stroke while under arrest in hospital in Kyrgyzstan. Amnesty International is concerned that his current hospital has insufficient expertise to treat him and believes he should be moved to the capital, Bishkek, in order to receive adequate medical treatment.
Ulugbek Abdusalamov suffered a stroke on 17 September, following repeated statements from national and international organizations that he has not been receiving adequate medical care in detention. His trial, which was due to start on 22 September, was postponed. He had been transferred to hospital in the southern city of Jalal-Abad just days before he had the stroke.
According to sources close to Ulugbek Abdusalamov, he is unable to speak or move one side of his body. He remains in hospital under house arrest. He is not handcuffed or under police supervision. Amnesty International is concerned that the hospital is inadequately equipped and that staff have insufficient expertise to treat his current medical needs. Ulugbek Abdusalamov should be transferred to a hospital in Bishkek in order for him to receive adequate medical care.
Ulugbek Abdusalamov was due to stand trial with two co-defendants but the trial was postponed due to his ill-health. While the trial of his co-defendants was resumed, Ulugbek Abdusalamov"s trial is expected to only continue once his health has sufficiently recovered.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 10 August, following almost two months of investigations, Ulugbek Abdusalamov was charged according to four Articles of the Kyrgyzstani Criminal Code, including "organizing and participating in mass disorder", "inciting ethnic hatred" and "separatist activities aimed at destroying the territorial integrity of the state." Ulugbek Abdusalamov risks being sentenced to between three and 12 years imprisonment.
Amnesty International maintains that the charges against Ulugbek Abdusalamov are unfounded and constitute part of a broader pattern of obstruction and harassment by the Kyrgyzstani authorities, predominantly of active members of the ethnic Uzbek community, following the violence which broke out on 10 June in southern Kyrgyzstan.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Reiterate that Ulugbek Abdusalamov is a prisoner of conscience and that the charges against him should be dropped immediately and unconditionally;
- Call on the authorities to move Ulugbek Abdusalmov to a hospital in Bishkek so that he can receive adequate medical treatment;
- Call on the authorities not to return Ulugbek Abdusalamov to police detention under any circumstances.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Internal Affairs
Zarylbek Rysaliev
Frunze Street, 469
Bishkek 720040,
KYRGYZSTAN
Fax: 011 996 312 62 38 53
Email: pressa429@gmail.com
Salutation: Dear Minister
General Prosecutor
Kubatbek Baibolov
72, Orozbekova Street
Bishkek 720040,
KYRGYZSTAN
Fax: 011 996 312 66 54 11
Salutation: Dear General Prosecutor
COPIES TO:
President
Roza Otunbaeva
Dom Pravitelstva
Bishkek 720003,
KYRGYZSTAN
Fax: 011 996 312 62 50 12
Email: admin@kyrgyz-el.kg
Mr. Arslan Anarbaev
Charge d'affaires, Minister-Counselor
Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic
2360 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20008
Phone: 202 449 9822 OR 202 449 9823
Fax: 1 202 386 7550
Email: consul@kgembassy.org OR kgembassyusa@gmail.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 3 December 2010.
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** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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