URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
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13 January 2011
UA 9/11 Death Penalty
USA Urge Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to sign abolition bill
The Illinois legislature has passed a bill to abolish the death penalty in the state. This historic bill now goes to the state governor who can sign it into law or veto it. Governor Pat Quinn has said he will look at the bill “very carefully”. He has a maximum of 60 days to act on it. Appeals to the Governor at this stage could help convince him to sign the bill into law.
The Illinois Senate approved the abolitionist bill – Senate Bill 3539 – on 11 January by 32 votes to 25. The Senate’s vote follows passage of the bill through the state House of Representatives on 6 January, by 60 votes to 54. The bill would abolish the death penalty, and would also reallocate funds earmarked for capital punishment cases to be used for services for families of murder victims and for the training of law enforcement personnel.
Illinois has executed 12 people since judicial killing resumed in the USA in 1977. During the same period, 20 people have been released from the state’s death row, the second highest number of such exonerations among the USA’s death penalty states. Illinois has not carried out an execution since 1999, and in 2000 then-Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions after concluding that the capital justice system was fundamentally flawed. In 2003, he pardoned four death row inmates whom he concluded were innocent, and commuted the death sentences of 167 other prisoners. Although capital prosecutions have continued – there are currently 15 men on death row in Illinois – Governor Ryan’s successors, Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn, have supported the continuation of the moratorium on executions.
If Governor Quinn signs the bill, Illinois would become the 16th abolitionist state in the USA, and the third state to enact legislation to abolish the death penalty since 2007, following New Jersey in 2007 and New Mexico in 2009.
At a press conference on 12 January, Governor Quinn said that he will look at the bill “very carefully”, that it is a “very important matter” that “deserves lots of study”. He said that he will consider opinions expressed to him in the coming period by people in Illinois, and “listen, reflect and follow my conscience”. He referred to the state’s history of wrongful convictions in capital cases, which would have “resulted in terrible tragedies” if any of the prisoners concerned had been executed. He noted that he has a maximum of 60 days from when the bill arrives before him to take action on it. He can sign the bill into law or he can veto it. If he does not act on the bill during the 60-day period, it would pass into law.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, unconditionally. To end the death penalty is to abandon a destructive, diversionary and divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held values. It not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly, in social and psychological terms as well as to the public purse (a fact which is drawing increasing public concern in the USA in the current economic climate). It has not been proved to have a unique deterrent effect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, on grounds of race and class. It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to complex human problems, rather than pursuing explanations that could inform positive strategies. It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim’s family, and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It diverts resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it.
Today, 139 countries are abolitionist in law or practice, a clear majority. Such countries have concluded either that the death penalty is unnecessary, or that it is incompatible with modern standards of justice, or both. While international law recognizes that some countries retain the death penalty, this acknowledgment of present reality should not be invoked “to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment”, in the words of Article 6.6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In 2007, 2008 and 2010, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolutions calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions, pending abolition.
There have been more than 1200 executions in the USA since judicial killing resumed there in 1977, and more than 3200 men and women are on death row today. However, the number of death sentences passed each year in the USA continues to fall well below the peak in the mid-1990s. The number of people sentenced to death in the USA in each of the past five years, for example, was only about a third of what it was in each of the five years from 1992 to 1996. This pattern is reflected in Illinois too. In the 10 years between 2000 and 2009, on average, 3.3 death sentences were passed each year in Illinois. In the preceding decade, the average was more than three times greater, at 11.3 death sentences per year.
Arbitrariness, discrimination and error mark the death penalty in the USA, along with its inescapable cruelty. More than 130 people have been released from death rows on grounds of innocence since 1976. Public and political support for the death penalty has weakened in recent years, possibly a result of an erosion of belief in its deterrence value, an increased awareness of the frequency of wrongful convictions in capital cases, and a greater confidence that public safety can be guaranteed by life prison terms rather than death sentences. In 2008, Senior Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens revealed that he had decided, after more than three decades on the country’s highest court, that the death penalty was a cruel waste of time. “I have relied on my own experience”, he wrote, “in reaching the conclusion that the imposition of the death penalty represents the pointless and needless extinction of life with only marginal contributions to any discernible social or public purposes”. Since retiring from the Supreme Court in June 2010, he has said that there was one vote during his nearly 35 years on the Court that he regretted – his vote with the majority in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976 that allowed executions to resume in the USA.
Among other things, the Gregg v. Georgia ruling cited Section 210.6 of the Model Penal Code issued by the American Law Institute in the 1960s. This had sought to provide legislators in states which decided to retain the death penalty with rules aimed at maximizing fairness and reliability in capital sentencing. In 2009, the American Law Institute voted to withdraw §210.6 “in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment”. In assessing whether to withdraw §210.6, the Institute had considered, among other things, the inadequacies of the US Supreme Court’s constitutional regulation of the death penalty and of federal habeas corpus review generally, the politicization of the death penalty, racial discrimination, systemic juror confusion in capital cases, the under-funding of defense counsel services, and death sentences against the innocent. See also USA: A learning curve, towards a 'more perfect world', October 2010,http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/095/2010/en
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Welcoming the vote by the legislature to pass the bill to abolish the death penalty;
- Urging Governor Quinn to sign the bill into law;
- If you know anyone in Illinois, ask them to call the Governor’s Office and urge that he sign the bill.
APPEALS TO:
Governor
Pat Quinn
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706, USA
Fax: 1 217 524 4049 OR
1 312 814 5512
Email via: http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/Pages/ContacttheGovernor.aspx
Salutation: Dear Governor
COPIES TO:
If possible, please call Governor Quinn with the simple message that you are excited and ask him to please sign the death penalty abolition bill.
Phone number: 312-814-2121
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 February 2011
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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/uaa26410.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on 21 December 2010. Thanks!
12 January 2011
Further information on UA 264/10 (21 December 2010) and follow-up (23 December 2010) – Torture/Arbitrary arrest/ Legal concern
BELARUS
Andrei Sannikau (m)
Iryna Khalip (f)
Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu (m)
Natalya Radzina (f)
and others
Amnesty International is calling for the release of 15 Belarusian activists and journalists who have been charged with ‘organizing mass disorder’ following a demonstration on 19 December to protest against the results of the Presidential election.
Over 700 people were detained for their participation in the demonstration. Most have since been released after serving short administrative sentences, but key political figures, activists and journalists are still detained in what appears to be a clampdown on opposition activity.
To date, there are 30 opposition activists and journalists, including five Presidential candidates, who have been detained and charged. Their trials are expected to be held in two to three months and they risk being sentenced to up to 15 years’ imprisonment. They are reportedly being denied adequate access to lawyers and doctors despite some sustaining injuries during the demonstration after being beaten by riot police.
Amnesty International is gathering information on all 30 detainees. Currently, the organization has sufficient information to confirm that 15 of them did not resort to or incite violence before or during the demonstration. The organization believes that these 15 detainees are facing charges solely because of the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression and is calling for their immediate and unconditional release and for the charges against them to be dropped. Additionally, a further 14 people are in detention awaiting charge, having also been detained following the demonstration. As further information is collated, it is likely that more prisoners of conscience will be identified.
One Presidential candidate, Vital Rymasheusky, and two opposition activists, Anatol Paulau and Aleg Korban
have been charged with ‘organizing mass disorder’ but they have been released from detention. Amnesty
International is calling for the charges brought against them to be dropped.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
To date, the 15 prisoners of conscience are:
Presidential candidates: Alyaksei Mihalevich, Mykalau Statkevich, Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu and Andrei Sannikau
Journalists: Natallya Radzina, Editor of Charter 97 website, Iryna Khalip correspondent for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and Syargei Vaznyak, Editor of the newspaper “Comrade”
Political commentator: Alyaksandr Fyaduta
Opposition activists: Pavel Sevyarynets an opposition activist and member of Vital Rymasheusky’s campaign team, Anatol Lyabedka a member of the United Civic Party, Uladzimir Kobets, a member of Alyaksandr Sannikov’s campaign team, Zmitser Bandarenka, the coordinator of the opposition European Belarus campaign, Alyaksandr Arastovych, and Syargei Martseleu, members of Mykalau Statkevich’s campaign team, and Anastasiya Palazhanka, the deputy leader of the Young Front movement.
Prior to the election, opposition groups called on their supporters to gather in central Minsk after voting finished on 19 December. Up to 30,000 demonstrators gathered and marched to the parliament building unhindered by law enforcement officers, who stopped traffic to allow the demonstrators to pass. At around 9pm, they gathered outside the parliament building and opposition leaders gave speeches. At around 10pm, a group of about 20 masked young men who stood by the doors of parliament armed with batons called on the crowd to storm the building and started to break windows. Eyewitnesses report that presidential candidate, Mykalau Statkevich, who was speaking at the time, called on the crowd to be peaceful. Shortly after this, riot police moved in and cleared the demonstrators from the Square. Many opposition activists were detained at the demonstration and during the following night.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all 15 prisoners of conscience, listing their names as given in the background information;
- Calling on the Belarusian authorities to drop the charges against all 15 prisoners of conscience, listing their names, as well as the charges against Vital Rymasheusky, Anatol Paulau and Aleg Korban;
- Reminding Belarus that as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it has an obligation to guarantee freedom of expression and assembly to all on its territory, and that anybody prosecuted for the legitimate and peaceful expression of their political views will be considered a prisoner of conscience.
APPEALS TO:
President
Alyaksandr Lukashenka
Administratsia Prezidenta Respubliki Belarus
ul.Karla Marksa, 38
220016 Minsk
BELARUS
Fax: 011 375 17 226 06 10 OR
011 375 17 222 38 72
Email: contact@president.gov.by
Salutation: Dear President Lukashenka
Prosecutor General
Grigory Alekseevich Vasilevich
Internatsionalnaya str. 22
220050 Minsk
BELARUS
Fax: 011 375 17 226 42 52
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Oleg Kravchenko
Embassy of the Republic of Belarus
1619 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington DC 20009
Fax: 1 202 986 1805
Email: usa@belarusembassy.org OR
politics@belarusembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 23 February 2011.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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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: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
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/uaa00711.pdf
12 January 2011
UA 7/11 Risk of torture or other ill-treatment
INDONESIA Buchtar Tabuni (m)
Indonesian prisoner of conscience Buchtar Tabuni is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. He has been moved to an isolation cell, prompting fears for his safety.
Buchtar Tabuni, a peaceful political activist and chair of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), a pro-independence organization, was moved to an isolation cell at the Jayapura police station in Papua province on 7 January. Buchtar was not informed by the police of the reasons for the transfer. He has fears about his safety and that he might be forced by the police to give a confession. He is also suffering from gastric problems.
In recent years, Amnesty International has reported on a number of peaceful political activists in Indonesia who have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated by police during arrest, detention and interrogation. Furthermore, the Criminal Procedure Code does not explicitly prohibit the use of statements obtained as a result of torture or other ill-treatment in court proceedings.
Buchtar Tabuni and another prisoner Filep Karma were transferred to the Jayapura police station after a riot erupted at the Abepura prison, also in Papua province, on 3 December. The Head of the Jayapura police station said on 4 December that the men were arrested for “allegedly provoking other prisoners which caused damage in the correctional facility”. However, according to reliable sources, they were not involved in the violence and had attempted to mediate between the prisoners and prison guards. Both were denied access to lawyers and family during the first few days of their detention at the police station and there was a delay in providing adequate food to them, which exacerbated Bucthar Tabuni’s gastric problems. On 15 December, an investigation letter from the police identified Filep Karma and Buchtar Tabuni as witnesses to the riot. No charges have been brought against the men with regard to the riots.
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Indonesian government has an obligation to ensure anyone who is arrested is immediately told the reason for arrest and promptly informed of the charges; they must be brought promptly before a court and have the opportunity to challenge the detention. An isolation regime intentionally imposed in order to apply psychological pressure on prisoners can become coercive and should be absolutely prohibited.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Buchtar Tabuni and Filep Karma have been in prison in the Indonesian province of Papua for their peaceful pro-independence activities for two and six years, respectively. Amnesty International considers both of them prisoners of conscience.
Buchtar Tabuni was arrested in October 2008 for having organized a demonstration in support of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP), a coalition of parliamentarians supporting the right to self-determination for Papua. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for inciting hatred against the Indonesian government.
Filep Karma was arrested for organizing a flag-raising event in the town of Jayapura in December 2004. He was convicted of “rebellion” and sentenced in May 2005 to 15 years’ imprisonment. Filep Karma had suffered from health problems before his arrest, but the conditions at the Abepura prison where he has been held and the refusal of the authorities to provide him adequate medical care between August 2009 and July 2010 exacerbated his medical condition. In July 2010 he was allowed to travel to Jakarta for medical treatment.
Amnesty International takes no position whatsoever on the political status of any province of Indonesia, including calls for independence. However the organization believes that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate referendums, independence or other political solutions.
West Papua and Papua provinces occupy the western half of the island of New Guinea. Papua province borders the independent state of Papua New Guinea. The arrest and detention of people in Papua are part of a larger crackdown on political activists in areas where there has been a history of separatist movements, including Papua and Maluku. The Indonesian authorities have reacted strongly towards individuals who have called for independence. Amnesty International has documented dozens of arrests in past years of such peaceful political activists. Some were sentenced to terms of imprisonment for raising the prohibited pro-independence “Morning Star” flag in Papua.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- To immediately remove Buchtar Tabuni from solitary confinement and guarantee that he will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated while he remains in custody;
- To ensure that Buchtar Tabuni and Filep Karma receive ongoing access to legal counsel, their families and adequate medical care;
- To charge Buchtar Tabuni and Filep Karma with an internationally recognizable criminal offense or immediately and unconditionally release them, as they had been originally imprisoned solely for peacefully expressing their views;
To ensure that all detention and judicial procedures comply with Indonesia’s obligations under the ICCPR.
APPEALS TO:
Inspektur Jenderal Bekto Suprapto
Papua Police Chief
Regional Head of Police (Kapolda)
Jl. Samratulangi No. 8 Jayapura,
Papua, INDONESIA
Fax: 011 62 967 533763
Salutation: Dear Kapolda
Mr. Patrialis Akbar
Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav No. 4-5
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan 12950 INDONESIA
Fax: 011 62 21 525 3095
Salutation : Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
2020 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 775 5365
Email: http://www.embassyofindonesia.org/contactform/contact-form.php
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 23 February 2011.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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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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