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/uaa26310.pdf
20 December 2010
UA 263/10 - Prisoner of Conscience, Torture
CHINA Ablikim Abdiriyim (m)
Ablikim Abdiriyim, a prisoner of conscience and son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, is being tortured in prison, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, according to his family. His health has deteriorated since he was placed in solitary confinement on 3 November, and his family are seriously concerned for his well-being.
Ablikim Abdiriyim's relatives visited him in prison on 13 December, and he told them that he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement since 3 November. He said that he was placed in solitary confinement after having witnessed an incident that the prison authorities wanted to keep quiet. He was asked to sign a document denying what he had witnessed but refused.
According to his relatives, Ablkim Abdiriyim appeared weak. They are concerned about his vision and report that he "had black specs in his eyes".
Ablikim Abdiriyim was sentenced in April 2007 to nine years in prison for "instigating and engaging in secessionist activities" for articles published on the internet. According to state media sources, his legal rights were protected during the trial, the information concerning the trial was publicised three days in advance, and he confessed to the charges against him. However, his family claims that he was not given the right to legal representation of his choice, they were given no advance notice of the trial, and that any "confession" was likely to have been made under torture.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ablikim Abdiriyim had no access to his family for 18 months after he was first detained in June 2006. During their first 15-minute visit to Baijiahu prison, just outside Urumqi, capital of the XUAR, on 6 December 2007, his relatives found him to be extremely pale and weak and claimed that he had difficulty in recognizing them. He told them he had fainted frequently and fallen into a coma on two occasions while in prison. When his family questioned the prison authorities about his health, officials apparently attributed this to a heart condition, suggesting that it could deteriorate further if he refused to "cooperate" or "admit his guilt."
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, even though China ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 1988. Amnesty International also receives regular reports of deaths in custody, many of them caused by torture, in a variety of state institutions, including prisons, Re-education Through Labor facilities and police detention centers.
The authorities have passed numerous regulations intended to strengthen the formal prohibition of torture contained in China's Criminal Law. However, the categories of prohibited behavior are limited, and do not comply fully with definitions of torture under international law. Articles 247 and 248 of the Criminal Law list several offences related to the prohibition of torture; however, these charges can only be brought against a limited range of officials in particular circumstances or places. The prosecuting authorities, who also investigate and prosecute torture offences, set criteria for taking up cases which further limit the application of these provisions.
The Chinese authorities often label any independent expression of Uighur ethnic identity as "separatism" or "religious extremism" and have since mid-1990s mounted an aggressive campaign against these so-called "three forces". Subsequently many Uighurs are arbitrarily detained and imprisoned as prisoners of conscience. The situation has worsened following the attacks in the USA on 11 September 2011 as the Chinese authorities have used the global "war on terror" to justify harsh repression against Uighurs.
Rebiya Kadeer's family has been targeted by the authorities since she was first detained as a prisoner of conscience in 1999. This intensified after she was released on medical parole on 17 March 2005, and left China for the USA. Rebiya Kadeer claims to have been warned that if she engaged with members of the Uighur ethnic community or spoke publicly about "sensitive issues", her "businesses and children would be finished". On 27 November 2006, the day after Rebiya Kadeer was elected president of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a court sentenced two of her sons, Alim Abdiriyim and Kahar Abdiriyim, to fines amounting to millions of US dollars, and Alim to seven years' imprisonment on charges of tax evasion. In addition, at the beginning of April, the Chinese authorities reportedly began a process to assess and liquidate the Kadeer family businesses.
On 5 July 2009, a police crackdown on an initially peaceful demonstration by Uighurs in Urumqi was followed by violent riots. Chinese authorities, within hours, blamed overseas Chinese groups, including the World Uyghur Congress and Rebiya Kadeer, for what they described as "premeditated violence". Rebiya Kadeer has denied the allegation.
The demonstration in Urumqi was in reaction to the perceived inaction by the authorities following killings of migrant Uighur factory workers in Guangdong province, southern China. The protests took place against a back-drop of Uighur resentment, built-up over years of official repression and discrimination. Chinese officials said that 197 people died in the violence on 5 July. Of those killed, 156 were described as "innocent people" who included 134 ethnic Han Chinese, 11 Hui, 10 Uighurs and one Manchurian. Amnesty International interviews with eyewitnesses following the unrest suggest that excessive force on the part of security forces resulted in possibly hundreds of additional Uighur deaths.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to release Ablikim Abdiryim immediately and unconditionally;
- Urging the authorities to guarantee that Ablikim Abdiriyim is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on the authorities to initiate a full, independent and impartial investigation into allegations that he has been tortured or ill-treated and ensure that anyone responsible for torture or ill-treatment is brought to justice in accordance with international standards;
- Ensure that he is allowed access to his family, lawyer and any medical treatment that he may require.
APPEALS TO:
Prison Governor
Jianyuzhang
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu di si jianyu
Kashidonglu
Wulumuqi 830013
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Salutation: Dear Prison Governor
Chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People's Government
Nur BEKRI Zhuxi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu Bangongting
2 Zhongshanlu, Urumqi 830041
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 991 2817567
or 011 86 991 2803621
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chairman
COPIES TO:
Premier of the People's Republic of China
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Fax: 011 86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Zhang Yesui
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 495-2138
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 January 2011.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
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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 learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa26010.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on December 17, 2010. Thanks!
20 December 2010
Further Information on UA 260/10 (17 December, 2010) - Imminent risk of execution
YEMEN
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla (m)
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum (m)
An alleged juvenile offender in Yemen has had his execution halted, and his case will now be re-examined by the courts. Another alleged juvenile offender, however, continues to be at imminent risk of execution.
Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla had his execution halted on 18 December, a day before his death sentence was due to be carried out and the case will now be re-examined by the courts. Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla was sentenced to death after being convicted of a murder he was alleged to have committed while still under 18 years of age.
Although the court considered that he was over 18 years old at the time of the alleged crime, it is unclear how it determined this. Amnesty International has been told that his birth certificate states he was born in 1988 and that his alleged crime took place in June 2004, meaning that he would have been 16 or 17 years old at the time and would be around 22 years old now. He is being held in Ta'izz prison, in the south-west of Yemen.
Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum was alleged to have committed a murder in May 2002. He maintains that he is aged around 24 years old, which would have made him around 15 years old at the time of the offense. He does not have a birth certificate. The President of Yemen has ratified his death sentence and he continues to be at imminent risk of execution. He is being held in Ibb prison, in the south-west of Yemen.
Amnesty International is aware of at least eight other people who are possible juvenile offenders on death row in Yemen. Yemen is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which expressly prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age. The application of the death penalty on juvenile offenders is also expressly prohibited in Article 31 of Yemen's Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Yemen has made significant progress in the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles, but courts continue to sentence alleged juvenile offenders to death. The legal progress to prohibit the use of the death penalty against juveniles followed the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the government in 1991. At that time the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against juveniles was limited to offenders below the age of 15 at the time of the crime. However, this categorical prohibition was extended in 1994 to include individuals below the age of 18 at the time of the commission of capital offenses. This is stipulated in Article 31 of the Penal Code, Law 12 of 1994, and marks a positive progress bringing Yemen's laws into line with Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which categorically prohibit the use of the death penalty against anyone under 18 years of age at the time of commission of any crime.
Yemen's legislative progress in this regard has not been consistently matched by the practice of the courts, which have sometimes imposed the death penalty on offenders who were below the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Amnesty International has long-standing concerns about the use of the death penalty in Yemen, particularly as death sentences are often passed after proceedings which fall short of international standards for fair trial.
In 2009, at least 53 people were sentenced to death and at least 30 people were executed. In 2010 so far, at least 14 people have been executed. Hundreds of people are believed to be on death row.
Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognizably criminal offenses, but is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and as a violation of the right to life.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Welcoming the halt to the execution of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and the forthcoming review of his case;
- Calling on the President of Yemen to halt the execution of Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences of Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla and Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum;
- Reminding the authorities that they should act in accordance with their obligations under international law, particularly Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and end the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 274 147
Salutation: Your Excellency
Attorney General
His Excellency 'Abdullah al-'Ulufi
Office of the Attorney General
Sana'a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 374 412
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Huda Ali Abdullatef Alban
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana'a, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 419 700 (please keep trying)
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
2319 Wyoming Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 337 2017
Email: ambassador@yemenembassy.org
counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 31 January 2011.
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Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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