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/uaa24609.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on September 18, 2009. Thanks!
02 February 2010
Further information on UA 246/09 (18 September 2009) and follow-ups (1 October 2009; 22 October 2009; 19 January 2010) - Abduction/Risk of torture
YEMEN Muhammad al-Maqalih (m)
Amnesty International has learned from sources in Yemen that on 1 February journalist Muhammad al-Maqalih appeared before a prosecutor for the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), which deals with state security offenses. However, he remains in incommunicado detention and at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.Muhammad al-Maqalih was not allowed a lawyer during his appearance before the prosecutor in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and it is not known what charges he faces or when his trial is to begin. The prosecutor for the SCC is reported to have informed fellow journalists that Muhammad al-Maqalih was being questioned, and would be transferred for trial before the SCC. After appearing before the prosecutor, he is believed to have been returned to prison, where he remains incommunicado.
Muhammad al-Maqalih is a member of the Yemeni Socialist Party and the former editor of its website. He is thought to have been detained for his comments on the government’s conduct in its conflict with followers of the late Zaidi Shi’a cleric Hussein al-Huthi in the northern governorate of Sa’da. Human rights activists in Yemen suspect his detention is linked, in particular, to his criticism of the army’s killing of civilians in Sa’da, which was published on the Socialist Party’s website. Amnesty International believes that he is likely to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. If so, the organization demands that he be released immediately and unconditionally.
He was abducted on a street in Sana’a on 17 September 2009 by men believed to be from the security forces. Eyewitnesses said that he was taken by a group of plain-clothed men who arrived in a white minibus which had its license plates obscured. Since his detention, Muhammad al-Maqalih’s family has staged a number of sit-in protests outside government offices, which have been attended by journalists and the general public.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In Yemen, critics and opponents of the state in Yemen are often at risk of arrest and detention, particularly at times of political crisis.
The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) was established in 1999 to try the crime of hiraba (a Shari’a term referring to offenses such as occupation of public land, theft of means of transport and aggression against officials). In 2004 the government expanded its mandate, giving it jurisdiction to try people accused of vaguely worded state security offenses. The court follows the regular Code of Criminal Procedures, but its proceedings generally are reported to fall short of international fair trial standards. Defense lawyers contend, in particular, that the SCC’s judges are not impartial and do not allow them to mount an effective defense; they say that their right to prepare a defense is hindered by restrictions that are placed on their access to their clients’ case files and that when they challenge procedural irregularities by the court these are routinely ignored.
Yemen’s Sa’da governorate, whose inhabitants are predominantly members of the country’s Zaidi Shi’a minority, has experienced several periods of conflict in recent years. There have been recurrent armed clashes between government security forces and followers of Hussein al-Huthi, who was killed by government forces in 2004.The latest upsurge in violence began in mid-August 2009, when the area was placed under a virtual state of emergency and government forces mounted an escalating series of attacks. Government forces have mounted a series of attacks, including bombing raids against villages and towns, in an apparent attempt to crush Hussein al-Huthi’s supporters.
International humanitarian law expressly prohibits attacks which directly target civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. The Yemeni government and the armed followers of Zaidi Shi’a cleric Hussein al-Huthi are legally bound to respect international humanitarian law and must ensure that their forces refrain from carrying out such unlawful attacks.
Amnesty International has called on the Yemeni authorities to investigate, fully and promptly, all allegations of serious violations by their forces, including a reported bombing raid on 16 September 2009 at Adi village in the Harf Sufyan area of Amran province near Sa’da, which is said to have killed about 80 civilians.
For more information see Amnesty International’s media briefing Yemen: Security and human rights, 25 January 2010 (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE31/004/2010/en).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the Yemeni authorities to ensure that Muhammad al-Maqalih is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and allowed prompt and regular access to a lawyer of his choosing, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
- Noting that if Muhammad al-Maqalih is being held solely for his criticism of the government, he is a prisoner of conscience, and must be released immediately and unconditionally.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
His Excellency Mutaher Rashad al-Masri
Ministry of Interior
Sana’a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 332 511 OR 011 967 1 514 532 OR 011 967 1 331 899
Email: moi@yemen.net.ye
Salutation: Your Excellency
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
COPIES TO:
Minister of Human Rights
Her Excellency Dr Houda ‘Ali ‘Abdullatif al-Baan
Ministry for Human Rights
Sana’a
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Fax: 011 967 1 444 838 OR 011 967 1 419 555 OR 011 967 1 419 700
Email: mshr@y.net.ye
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 OR counselor@yemenembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 16 March 2010.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Urgent Action 1-29-10
To take action online click here:
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/uaa02710.pdf
29 January 2010
UA 27/10 Death Penalty
USA Martin Grossman (m)
Martin Grossman, a 45-year-old white man, is due to be executed in the US state of Florida at 6pm on 16 February for a crime committed when he was 19 years old. He was convicted of murder in 1985, and has been on death row for nearly a quarter of a century.
Margaret Park, a 26-year-old woman employed as a wildlife officer by the state Game and Fish Commission, was shot dead while on patrol in coastal mid-western Florida on 13 December 1984. About two weeks later, 19-year-old Martin Grossman and Thayne Taylor, aged 17, were arrested. The two were tried jointly. Grossman was convicted of first-degree murder. Taylor was convicted of third-degree murder, a non-capital offense.
At the sentencing for Martin Grossman, the defense presented four witnesses – the defendant’s mother, a childhood friend, and two correctional staff – in an attempt to portray his positive attributes to counter the facts of the crime on which the state was relying to obtain a death sentence. However, the jury voted for death, the judge accepted its recommendation, rejected Grossman’s young age as a mitigating factor, and determined that there were no mitigating factors. The aggravating factors were held to include that the murder was committed to avoid arrest and that it was especially “wicked, evil, atrocious or cruel”.
The appeal courts have rejected the claim that Grossman received inadequate representation at the sentencing phase. In an affidavit, Grossman’s lead trial lawyer said that he and his defense colleague had done a “very poor and ineffective job”. Upholding the death sentence in 2005, however, a federal judge ruled that this view was “premised on the benefit of hindsight”. The second defense lawyer, who had been hired only two weeks before the sentencing to prepare mitigation evidence, stated that they should have told the trial judge that they were not ready.
The defense presented no expert mental health testimony, after their court-appointed psychologist told them that his assessment of Grossman had uncovered no problems serious enough to aid their defense. However, a forensic psychologist hired by Martin Grossman’s lawyers several years after his conviction drew a different conclusion after a more thorough assessment. He concluded that there was much mental health evidence that called into question the notion that Martin Grossman had acted in premeditated fashion at the time of the crime or that should serve as mitigating evidence. Martin Grossman had “compromised intellectual functioning, probable brain dysfunction”, and a “developmental history characterized by profound and untreated complicated bereavement” – (including as a result of the death in 1981 of his father, during whose long and serious illness Martin had acted as primary care-giver) — “a high level of fear and depression, and parental neglect, abandonment and mistreatment.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
According to the trial record, Martin Grossman and Thayne Taylor had driven to a wooded area on the night of 13 December 1984 to shoot a handgun that Grossman had recently obtained. The two teenagers were confronted by Margaret Park who found the gun and began to radio the police. Martin Grossman, who was on probation at the time following a burglary conviction, pleaded with her not to turn him in as it would mean going back to prison. When she refused, he grabbed her torch and repeatedly struck her with it, with Taylor coming to his assistance. Margaret Park managed to draw her gun, and fire off a shot before Martin Grossman grabbed the weapon and fired a single shot which struck the officer in the head.
About two weeks later, Grossman and Taylor were arrested after an acquaintance, Brian Allan, told the police that they had admitted to the crime. The two had also apparently told another friend, Brian Hancock, of the shooting, and Martin Grossman also allegedly related the details of the shooting to a jail mate, Charles Brewer. The two defendants were tried jointly, over the objection of Martin Grossman’s lawyer. The prosecution introduced the testimony of Allan, Hancock and Brewer against Grossman. It introduced against Thayne Taylor the statement that Taylor had given to the police. The jury was instructed that it could only use it against Taylor, not Grossman. While the courts have ruled that it was a constitutional error against Grossman to admit Taylor’s statement in this way, they have ruled that the error was “harmless” given the other testimony pointing to Grossman’s dominant role in the crime.
In 1990, Charles Brewer signed an affidavit retracting his trial testimony against Grossman. He said that he assisted the authorities because he believed they would help him with his own case. He said that the authorities had told him to continue talking to Grossman and had fed him questions to ask. Among other things, Brewer had testified that Grossman had told him that he had shot Margaret Park because he did not want to be arrested by a woman. In his affidavit, he said that the prosecutors emphasized to him “the female officer thing” when they were preparing him to testify. During the trial, the prosecution had repeatedly emphasized the suggestion that gender had been part of the motive for the killing. In his affidavit, Charles Brewer said that “I cannot say Martin told me that” and “Martin never said he shot her”. On 14 January 2010, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of another inmate, Paul Johnson, after finding that the state had induced him “to make incriminating statements to a jailhouse informant”, and because the prosecutor had known the statements were “impermissibly elicited” and yet had introduced them at the 1988 trial. On 21 January 2010, a Florida judge rejected the argument that Grossman should receive the same relief as Johnson, on the grounds that there was no evidence that the state knew Brewer’s testimony was false at the time of Grossman’s trial. This and other issues are currently on appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty 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, to the public purse as well as in social and psychological terms. It has not been proven to have a special deterrent effect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, on grounds of race and economic and social status. 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 murder victims’ families, 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. The USA has carried out 1,193 executions since resuming judicial killing in 1977. Florida accounts for 68 of these executions. There have been five executions in the USA this year.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse the killing of Margaret Park;
- Noting Martin Grossman’s young age at the time of the crime, and that he has spent 24 years on death row;
- Expressing concern that the jury heard no expert mental health testimony, noting the post-conviction assessment;
- Calling for clemency for Martin Grossman and for commutation of his death sentence.
APPEALS TO:
Governor Charlie Crist
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St. Tallahassee
FL 32399-0001
Fax: 1 850 487 0801
Email: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
Salutation: Dear Governor Crist
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 16 February 2010.
----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Friday, January 22, 2010
Urgent Action 1-23-10
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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21 January 2010
Further information on UA 18/10 (19 January 2010) - Incommunicado detention/Risk of torture
TUNISIA Walid Romdhani (m)
Tunisian Walid Romdhani was released on 20 January. He had been arrested on 18 January and was believed to be held incommunicado at the Department of State Security of the Ministry of Interior.
Walid Romdhani was arrested at 11pm on 18 January at his home by eight Department of State Security officers and detained incommunicado until his release on 20 January. No further information is available.
His arrest was believed to be linked to his work to expose the torture and other ill-treatment of his imprisoned brother, Ramzi Romdhani (see UA 130/09 and follow-up), including his contacts with human rights lawyers and local and international human rights organizations.
No further action is requested by UA network members. Many thanks to all those who sent appeals.
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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
----------------------------------
21 January 2010
Further information on UA 18/10 (19 January 2010) - Incommunicado detention/Risk of torture
TUNISIA Walid Romdhani (m)
Tunisian Walid Romdhani was released on 20 January. He had been arrested on 18 January and was believed to be held incommunicado at the Department of State Security of the Ministry of Interior.
Walid Romdhani was arrested at 11pm on 18 January at his home by eight Department of State Security officers and detained incommunicado until his release on 20 January. No further information is available.
His arrest was believed to be linked to his work to expose the torture and other ill-treatment of his imprisoned brother, Ramzi Romdhani (see UA 130/09 and follow-up), including his contacts with human rights lawyers and local and international human rights organizations.
No further action is requested by UA network members. Many thanks to all those who sent appeals.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Urgent Action 1-19-09
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/uaa01810.pdf
19 January 2010
UA 18/10 - Incommunicado detention/Risk of torture
TUNISIA
Walid Romdhani (m)
Walid Romdhani is detained incommunicado and believed to be held by the Department of State Security (DSS) in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, where he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. His arrest is likely to be linked with his work on behalf of his brother, who has been detained, tortured and ill-treated by the Tunisian security forces.
Walid Romdhani was arrested at 11pm on 18 January at his home in the city of El Mourouj, close to Tunis, by eight DSS officers. His family, who were present, reported that no arrest warrant was shown. Six of the DSS officers then searched all the rooms of the house, confiscating documents, CDs and a computer.
Walid Romdhani has since been detained incommunicado, and his relatives have not been informed of his whereabouts. It is likely that he is held at the headquarters of the DSS in the Ministry of Interior in Tunis. Amnesty International has documented many cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in the custody of the DSS (see Additional Information).
Walid Romdhani's arrest is believed to be linked to his work to expose the torture and other ill-treatment of his imprisoned brother, Ramzi Romdhani (see UA 130/09, and follow-up). On the day he was arrested, Walid Romdhani had met with his brother's lawyer to discuss filing a legal complaint about the torture his brother allegedly suffered on 24 and 25 December 2009. Since his brother told him of his torture and ill-treatment in April 2009, Walid Romdhani has been in contact with human rights lawyers, and local and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. Walid Romdhani has reported that DSS officers previously threatened him with the loss of his job, and arrest and prosecution on false charges, in an attempt to dissuade him from reporting the torture and ill-treatment of his brother to human rights organizations and filing complaints.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In April 2009, Ramzi Romdhani told his brother that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated by officers at Mornaguia Prison, where he is serving a sentence of 29 years' imprisonment imposed under the 2003 anti-terrorism law. When Walid Romdhani visited him on 23 April, Ramzi Romdhani complained that prison officers had beaten him with sticks, kicked him while wearing military boots, inflicted cigarette burns on his body and plunged his head repeatedly into a bucket of water causing him to fear drowning and eventually to lose consciousness. After this, he said he was taken to the prison infirmary for treatment, where he needed to be put on a respirator for two days. His brother observed that he had bruises on his body and that he appeared to have had some of his teeth knocked out. In August 2009, he was beaten by prison guards and then taken to the DSS headquarters, where he is reported to have been tortured, including with electric shocks and a mock hanging. In December 2009, Ramzi Romdhani is reported to have been tortured by DDS officers at the Ministry of Interior in Tunis; he was beaten, had his nails and fingers burned and his head plunged repeatedly into hot water over the course of about 30 minutes. He was beaten on his eyes and sustained serious eye injuries.
Amnesty International has documented many cases of uncharged detainees held by the DSS in the Ministry of Interior in prolonged incommunicado detention, lasting weeks or months, during which the detention is not acknowledged or the fate or whereabouts of the detainee is concealed, leaving the detainee outside the protection of the law, a situation that amounts to enforced disappearance.
Amnesty International has received numerous reports of torture and other ill-treatment by the Tunisian security forces, in particular by the DSS. In virtually all cases, allegations of torture are not investigated and the perpetrators are not brought to justice. Individuals are most at risk of torture when held incommunicado. The most commonly reported methods of torture are beatings on the body, especially the soles of the feet; suspension by the ankles or in contorted positions; electric shocks; and burning with cigarettes. There are also reports of mock executions, sexual abuse, including rape with bottles and sticks, and threats of sexual abuse of female relatives.
As a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Tunisia is under an obligation to prevent torture and to “ensure that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction”.
Tunisian anti-terrorism law has been repeatedly criticized by UN human rights bodies and local and international human rights organizations as overly general and broad, and could be used as a repressive measure to curtail legitimate dissent. Similar concerns were reiterated by the UN Human Right Committee in March 2008 in its concluding observations regarding Tunisia.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern that Walid Romdhani is being held incommunicado;
- Urging the Tunisian authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and ensure that he has access to his family, a lawyer of his own choosing and any medical care he might require;
- Calling on them to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Urging them to release Walid Romdhani, unless he is promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offense and brought to trial in proceedings that meet international standards for fair trial;
- Calling on the Tunisian authorities to return confiscated items belonging to Walid Romdhani.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
Rafik Belhaj Kacem
Ministry of Interior
Avenue Habib Bourguiba
1000 Tunis
TUNISIA
Fax: 011 216 71 340 888
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
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Ridha Khemakhem
General Coordinator for Human Rights
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis - La Kasbah
TUNISIA
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 2 March 2010.
----------------------------------
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/uaa01810.pdf
19 January 2010
UA 18/10 - Incommunicado detention/Risk of torture
TUNISIA
Walid Romdhani (m)
Walid Romdhani is detained incommunicado and believed to be held by the Department of State Security (DSS) in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, where he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. His arrest is likely to be linked with his work on behalf of his brother, who has been detained, tortured and ill-treated by the Tunisian security forces.
Walid Romdhani was arrested at 11pm on 18 January at his home in the city of El Mourouj, close to Tunis, by eight DSS officers. His family, who were present, reported that no arrest warrant was shown. Six of the DSS officers then searched all the rooms of the house, confiscating documents, CDs and a computer.
Walid Romdhani has since been detained incommunicado, and his relatives have not been informed of his whereabouts. It is likely that he is held at the headquarters of the DSS in the Ministry of Interior in Tunis. Amnesty International has documented many cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in the custody of the DSS (see Additional Information).
Walid Romdhani's arrest is believed to be linked to his work to expose the torture and other ill-treatment of his imprisoned brother, Ramzi Romdhani (see UA 130/09, and follow-up). On the day he was arrested, Walid Romdhani had met with his brother's lawyer to discuss filing a legal complaint about the torture his brother allegedly suffered on 24 and 25 December 2009. Since his brother told him of his torture and ill-treatment in April 2009, Walid Romdhani has been in contact with human rights lawyers, and local and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. Walid Romdhani has reported that DSS officers previously threatened him with the loss of his job, and arrest and prosecution on false charges, in an attempt to dissuade him from reporting the torture and ill-treatment of his brother to human rights organizations and filing complaints.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In April 2009, Ramzi Romdhani told his brother that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated by officers at Mornaguia Prison, where he is serving a sentence of 29 years' imprisonment imposed under the 2003 anti-terrorism law. When Walid Romdhani visited him on 23 April, Ramzi Romdhani complained that prison officers had beaten him with sticks, kicked him while wearing military boots, inflicted cigarette burns on his body and plunged his head repeatedly into a bucket of water causing him to fear drowning and eventually to lose consciousness. After this, he said he was taken to the prison infirmary for treatment, where he needed to be put on a respirator for two days. His brother observed that he had bruises on his body and that he appeared to have had some of his teeth knocked out. In August 2009, he was beaten by prison guards and then taken to the DSS headquarters, where he is reported to have been tortured, including with electric shocks and a mock hanging. In December 2009, Ramzi Romdhani is reported to have been tortured by DDS officers at the Ministry of Interior in Tunis; he was beaten, had his nails and fingers burned and his head plunged repeatedly into hot water over the course of about 30 minutes. He was beaten on his eyes and sustained serious eye injuries.
Amnesty International has documented many cases of uncharged detainees held by the DSS in the Ministry of Interior in prolonged incommunicado detention, lasting weeks or months, during which the detention is not acknowledged or the fate or whereabouts of the detainee is concealed, leaving the detainee outside the protection of the law, a situation that amounts to enforced disappearance.
Amnesty International has received numerous reports of torture and other ill-treatment by the Tunisian security forces, in particular by the DSS. In virtually all cases, allegations of torture are not investigated and the perpetrators are not brought to justice. Individuals are most at risk of torture when held incommunicado. The most commonly reported methods of torture are beatings on the body, especially the soles of the feet; suspension by the ankles or in contorted positions; electric shocks; and burning with cigarettes. There are also reports of mock executions, sexual abuse, including rape with bottles and sticks, and threats of sexual abuse of female relatives.
As a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Tunisia is under an obligation to prevent torture and to “ensure that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction”.
Tunisian anti-terrorism law has been repeatedly criticized by UN human rights bodies and local and international human rights organizations as overly general and broad, and could be used as a repressive measure to curtail legitimate dissent. Similar concerns were reiterated by the UN Human Right Committee in March 2008 in its concluding observations regarding Tunisia.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern that Walid Romdhani is being held incommunicado;
- Urging the Tunisian authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and ensure that he has access to his family, a lawyer of his own choosing and any medical care he might require;
- Calling on them to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Urging them to release Walid Romdhani, unless he is promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offense and brought to trial in proceedings that meet international standards for fair trial;
- Calling on the Tunisian authorities to return confiscated items belonging to Walid Romdhani.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Interior
Rafik Belhaj Kacem
Ministry of Interior
Avenue Habib Bourguiba
1000 Tunis
TUNISIA
Fax: 011 216 71 340 888
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
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Ridha Khemakhem
General Coordinator for Human Rights
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis - La Kasbah
TUNISIA
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 2 March 2010.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Urgent Action 1-13-09
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/uaa01010.pdf
13 January 2010
UA 10/10 - Forcible return/Risk of torture
LAOS
4,500 Lao Hmong, including 158 recognized refugees
The Thai authorities forcibly returned around 4,500 Lao Hmong, including 158 recognized refugees, to Laos at the end of 2009. The Lao government is refusing to permit UN and other monitors access to them.
On 28 and 29 December, the Thai military forcibly returned to Laos around 4,500 Lao Hmong, in breach of international law, mostly from a camp in Phetchabun province. Some 158 recognized refugees arbitrarily detained in Nong Khai Immigration Detention Center, near the Lao border, were also forcibly returned, despite offers from four other countries to accept them for resettlement. The Thai and Lao governments had given assurances that the 158 would be resettled in third countries once they had transited through Laos. However on 10 January, a Lao government spokesperson told journalists that "all of the Hmong decided to live in their homeland forever," and no longer wanted to resettle abroad. At the same time the government is refusing all requests to give UN monitors unfettered access to the refugees, to assess their wellbeing and ensure that their wishes to resettle in third countries are considered.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR had verified that the 158 have a well-founded fear of persecution in Laos, and granted them refugee status. As the Thai government refused UNHCR access to the Phetchabun camp, it is not known how many people there had fled persecution and should therefore have been recognized as refugees.
Since 2005, forcible returns of Lao Hmong from Thailand have led to enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention. The Lao government has consistently denied this, but has not provided any comprehensive information to support their claims or allowed independent monitors to investigate these reports.
Around 20 of the 158 refugees have been seen at a designated resettlement village, Phalak, around 70km north of the capital, Vientiane. The whereabouts of the others is not known. However, hundreds of returnees have been seen in what has been described as an army camp north of Paksan town, around 20km east of Vientiane. The returnees, mostly women and children, were not free to come and go from the facility, which was fenced in with razor wire.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Around 5,000 Lao Hmong people, including an unknown number of asylum-seekers, had been living in a camp in Phetchabun, Thailand, since 2004. The vast majority did not have the opportunity to seek asylum. The Thai military returned them under an agreement between the Thai and Lao governments. Many of those who had been returned before this last group were sent to villages designated for people returned from abroad after going through "re-education". The Lao authorities have arranged several visits to Phalak resettlement site for diplomats and local journalists, but have refused to allow anyone to approach the returnees unaccompanied.
The group of 158 refugees forcibly returned to Laos, more than half of them children, had been arbitrarily detained at Nong Khai Immigration Detention Center for more than three years. The governments of Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the USA had offered to accept them for resettlement, but the Lao authorities intervened with the Thai authorities to prevent this happening.
Most Hmong refugees and asylum-seekers in Thailand claim to have some connection to groups living in isolated pockets in the Lao jungles since the Viet Nam war ended in 1975.
Laos ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 25 September 2009. This means they are obliged to guarantee all people in Laos the right to be free from torture, to liberty of movement and freedom to choose their residence, and the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. They must also provide safeguards for the treatment of detainees.
The Lao Hmong asylum-seekers were previously the subject of UA 324/06, 29 November 2006, and follow-ups.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to allow UN monitors unfettered access to the returnees from Thailand immediately, whether or not they have refugee status;
- Calling on the government to honor their agreement to allow any refugees to settle in third countries;
- Urging them to expedite and help with any preparations required for third country resettlement;
- Calling on them to allow those who choose to remain in Laos, rather than be resettled, to participate in decisions about their place of residence and livelihood;
- Calling on them to ensure that none of the around 4,500 returnees are arbitrarily detained, tortured or subjected to enforced disappearance.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thongloun Sisoulit
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
That Luang Road
Vientiane, LAOS
Fax: 011 856 21 414009
Email: cabinet@mofa.gov.la
Salutation: Dear Minister
Minister of Justice
Dr Chaleuan Yapaoher
Ministry of Justice
Lane Xang Avenue
Vientiane, LAOS
Fax: 011 856 21 414009 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Phiane Philakone
Embassy of the Laos People's Democratic Republic
2222 S St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 332 4923
Email: laoemb@verizon.net
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 February 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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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/uaa01010.pdf
13 January 2010
UA 10/10 - Forcible return/Risk of torture
LAOS
4,500 Lao Hmong, including 158 recognized refugees
The Thai authorities forcibly returned around 4,500 Lao Hmong, including 158 recognized refugees, to Laos at the end of 2009. The Lao government is refusing to permit UN and other monitors access to them.
On 28 and 29 December, the Thai military forcibly returned to Laos around 4,500 Lao Hmong, in breach of international law, mostly from a camp in Phetchabun province. Some 158 recognized refugees arbitrarily detained in Nong Khai Immigration Detention Center, near the Lao border, were also forcibly returned, despite offers from four other countries to accept them for resettlement. The Thai and Lao governments had given assurances that the 158 would be resettled in third countries once they had transited through Laos. However on 10 January, a Lao government spokesperson told journalists that "all of the Hmong decided to live in their homeland forever," and no longer wanted to resettle abroad. At the same time the government is refusing all requests to give UN monitors unfettered access to the refugees, to assess their wellbeing and ensure that their wishes to resettle in third countries are considered.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR had verified that the 158 have a well-founded fear of persecution in Laos, and granted them refugee status. As the Thai government refused UNHCR access to the Phetchabun camp, it is not known how many people there had fled persecution and should therefore have been recognized as refugees.
Since 2005, forcible returns of Lao Hmong from Thailand have led to enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention. The Lao government has consistently denied this, but has not provided any comprehensive information to support their claims or allowed independent monitors to investigate these reports.
Around 20 of the 158 refugees have been seen at a designated resettlement village, Phalak, around 70km north of the capital, Vientiane. The whereabouts of the others is not known. However, hundreds of returnees have been seen in what has been described as an army camp north of Paksan town, around 20km east of Vientiane. The returnees, mostly women and children, were not free to come and go from the facility, which was fenced in with razor wire.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Around 5,000 Lao Hmong people, including an unknown number of asylum-seekers, had been living in a camp in Phetchabun, Thailand, since 2004. The vast majority did not have the opportunity to seek asylum. The Thai military returned them under an agreement between the Thai and Lao governments. Many of those who had been returned before this last group were sent to villages designated for people returned from abroad after going through "re-education". The Lao authorities have arranged several visits to Phalak resettlement site for diplomats and local journalists, but have refused to allow anyone to approach the returnees unaccompanied.
The group of 158 refugees forcibly returned to Laos, more than half of them children, had been arbitrarily detained at Nong Khai Immigration Detention Center for more than three years. The governments of Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the USA had offered to accept them for resettlement, but the Lao authorities intervened with the Thai authorities to prevent this happening.
Most Hmong refugees and asylum-seekers in Thailand claim to have some connection to groups living in isolated pockets in the Lao jungles since the Viet Nam war ended in 1975.
Laos ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 25 September 2009. This means they are obliged to guarantee all people in Laos the right to be free from torture, to liberty of movement and freedom to choose their residence, and the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. They must also provide safeguards for the treatment of detainees.
The Lao Hmong asylum-seekers were previously the subject of UA 324/06, 29 November 2006, and follow-ups.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to allow UN monitors unfettered access to the returnees from Thailand immediately, whether or not they have refugee status;
- Calling on the government to honor their agreement to allow any refugees to settle in third countries;
- Urging them to expedite and help with any preparations required for third country resettlement;
- Calling on them to allow those who choose to remain in Laos, rather than be resettled, to participate in decisions about their place of residence and livelihood;
- Calling on them to ensure that none of the around 4,500 returnees are arbitrarily detained, tortured or subjected to enforced disappearance.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thongloun Sisoulit
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
That Luang Road
Vientiane, LAOS
Fax: 011 856 21 414009
Email: cabinet@mofa.gov.la
Salutation: Dear Minister
Minister of Justice
Dr Chaleuan Yapaoher
Ministry of Justice
Lane Xang Avenue
Vientiane, LAOS
Fax: 011 856 21 414009 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Phiane Philakone
Embassy of the Laos People's Democratic Republic
2222 S St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 332 4923
Email: laoemb@verizon.net
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 February 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:
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To Canada:
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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
----------------------------------
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Urgent Action 12-12-09
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/uaa33509.pdf
11 December 2009
UA 335/09 - Fear for safety
RUSSIAN FEDERATION Adnan Ibragimov (m)
The lives of Adnan Ibragimov, a 54-year-old man from Chechnya in the Russian Federation, and his family are in danger after he began pursuing a criminal investigation into the apparent enforced disappearance of his nephew, Said-Salekh Ibragimov.
On the morning of 21 October, 19-year old Said-Salekh Ibragimov left his home in the village of Goity in Urus-Martan district, to go to the nearby city of Grozny, the Chechen capital. At around 2pm, security forces personnel, believed to be soldiers and police officers, raided and searched his house. Said-Salekh Ibragimov’s wife and his 80- year old disabled grandmother were in the house at the time. Alerted by other family members, Adnan Ibragimov came to the house from his home in Grozny. Police arrested him and Said-Salekh Ibragimov's mother, accusing them of helping members of illegal armed groups. Police showed them the dead body of an alleged insurgent who, according to the police, had been hiding in their house. Adnan Ibragimov and Said-Salekh Ibragimov's mother claimed that they knew nothing about it. The two were taken to Urus-Martan district police station where they were questioned, before being released several hours later. The house where Said-Salekh Ibragimov lived with his family was burnt down. Villagers alleged that the house started burning when local police officers were nearby.
Later that day, police officers telephoned Adnan Ibragimov, demanding that he return to the police station. When he arrived there, he was taken to the headquarters of one of the police battalions in Grozny, where officers showed him Said-Salekh Ibragimov. According to Adnan Ibragimo's testimony, his nephew had been badly beaten. The police told Adnan Ibragimov that his nephew had been welcoming terrorists into the family home and that his family should disown him. The officers said that Said-Salekh Ibragimov should be killed to avenge the death of security forces personnel who were allegedly killed in the raid on the family home. The police then took Said-Salekh Ibragimov away. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Adnan Ibragimov asked the local Public Prosecutor's office to investigate the apparent enforced disappearance. According to Adnan Ibragimov, the official investigating the case warned him that he was putting himself and his family at risk by pursuing the investigation. The official initially refused to include information about circumstances of his nephew's enforced disappearance in his report. Sources in Grozny believe that the investigation is unlikely to be thorough and impartial.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 16 April 2009 the Russian authorities declared an end to the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya. However, serious human rights violations continue to be committed in a climate of impunity in Chechnya and other parts of the North Caucasus. The civilian population continues to live in an atmosphere of lawlessness that engenders fear and insecurity. Armed opposition groups in the region continue to mount attacks. Law enforcement officials conduct counter-terrorism measures which, in many instances, entail serious human rights violations. A legitimate aim - that of tackling violence by armed groups and bringing stability to the North Caucasus - is still being pursued by means which violate international human rights law.
Relatives of those suspected of being members of armed groups are pressured to persuade their family members to lay down their arms, and in some cases to go and search for them ("in the mountains" or "in the forests") to bring them back. Reportedly, the pressure has included intimidation, arbitrary detention, forced evictions and destruction of houses. In August 2008, President Kadyrov announced on television that "those families whose relatives are in the forest are accomplices in crime. They are terrorists, extremists…" There have been reports of the family homes of those who have joined armed groups being burned down.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to take immediate action to protect Adnan Ibragimov and his family, including enrolling them on a witness protection scheme;
- Calling for an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the arrest, ill-treatment and possible enforced disappearance of Said-Salekh Ibragimov, with all those responsible brought to justice;
- Urging the authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the alleged burning down by police officers of Said-Salekh Ibragimov’s house.
APPEALS TO:
Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Ya. Chaika
Ul.Bolshaia Dmitrovka, 15a
Moscow GSP-3
125993 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 4956 9217 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General
Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation
Rashid.G.Nurgaliev
Ul. Zhitnaia, 16
Moscow
119049 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 605 52 43
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
President of the Russian Federation
Dmitry A.Medvedev
ul. Ilyinka, 23
Moscow
103132 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 9102134
Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2641 Tunlaw Road NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: russianembassy@mindspring.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22 January 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/uaa33509.pdf
11 December 2009
UA 335/09 - Fear for safety
RUSSIAN FEDERATION Adnan Ibragimov (m)
The lives of Adnan Ibragimov, a 54-year-old man from Chechnya in the Russian Federation, and his family are in danger after he began pursuing a criminal investigation into the apparent enforced disappearance of his nephew, Said-Salekh Ibragimov.
On the morning of 21 October, 19-year old Said-Salekh Ibragimov left his home in the village of Goity in Urus-Martan district, to go to the nearby city of Grozny, the Chechen capital. At around 2pm, security forces personnel, believed to be soldiers and police officers, raided and searched his house. Said-Salekh Ibragimov’s wife and his 80- year old disabled grandmother were in the house at the time. Alerted by other family members, Adnan Ibragimov came to the house from his home in Grozny. Police arrested him and Said-Salekh Ibragimov's mother, accusing them of helping members of illegal armed groups. Police showed them the dead body of an alleged insurgent who, according to the police, had been hiding in their house. Adnan Ibragimov and Said-Salekh Ibragimov's mother claimed that they knew nothing about it. The two were taken to Urus-Martan district police station where they were questioned, before being released several hours later. The house where Said-Salekh Ibragimov lived with his family was burnt down. Villagers alleged that the house started burning when local police officers were nearby.
Later that day, police officers telephoned Adnan Ibragimov, demanding that he return to the police station. When he arrived there, he was taken to the headquarters of one of the police battalions in Grozny, where officers showed him Said-Salekh Ibragimov. According to Adnan Ibragimo's testimony, his nephew had been badly beaten. The police told Adnan Ibragimov that his nephew had been welcoming terrorists into the family home and that his family should disown him. The officers said that Said-Salekh Ibragimov should be killed to avenge the death of security forces personnel who were allegedly killed in the raid on the family home. The police then took Said-Salekh Ibragimov away. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Adnan Ibragimov asked the local Public Prosecutor's office to investigate the apparent enforced disappearance. According to Adnan Ibragimov, the official investigating the case warned him that he was putting himself and his family at risk by pursuing the investigation. The official initially refused to include information about circumstances of his nephew's enforced disappearance in his report. Sources in Grozny believe that the investigation is unlikely to be thorough and impartial.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 16 April 2009 the Russian authorities declared an end to the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya. However, serious human rights violations continue to be committed in a climate of impunity in Chechnya and other parts of the North Caucasus. The civilian population continues to live in an atmosphere of lawlessness that engenders fear and insecurity. Armed opposition groups in the region continue to mount attacks. Law enforcement officials conduct counter-terrorism measures which, in many instances, entail serious human rights violations. A legitimate aim - that of tackling violence by armed groups and bringing stability to the North Caucasus - is still being pursued by means which violate international human rights law.
Relatives of those suspected of being members of armed groups are pressured to persuade their family members to lay down their arms, and in some cases to go and search for them ("in the mountains" or "in the forests") to bring them back. Reportedly, the pressure has included intimidation, arbitrary detention, forced evictions and destruction of houses. In August 2008, President Kadyrov announced on television that "those families whose relatives are in the forest are accomplices in crime. They are terrorists, extremists…" There have been reports of the family homes of those who have joined armed groups being burned down.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to take immediate action to protect Adnan Ibragimov and his family, including enrolling them on a witness protection scheme;
- Calling for an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the arrest, ill-treatment and possible enforced disappearance of Said-Salekh Ibragimov, with all those responsible brought to justice;
- Urging the authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the alleged burning down by police officers of Said-Salekh Ibragimov’s house.
APPEALS TO:
Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Ya. Chaika
Ul.Bolshaia Dmitrovka, 15a
Moscow GSP-3
125993 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 4956 9217 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General
Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation
Rashid.G.Nurgaliev
Ul. Zhitnaia, 16
Moscow
119049 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 605 52 43
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
President of the Russian Federation
Dmitry A.Medvedev
ul. Ilyinka, 23
Moscow
103132 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 9102134
Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2641 Tunlaw Road NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: russianembassy@mindspring.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22 January 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
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To Canada:
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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
----------------------------------
Friday, December 4, 2009
Urgent Action 12-4-09
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/uaa29609.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on November 3, 2009. Thanks!
4 December 2009
Further Information on UA 296/09 (3 November 2009) - Death penalty
SINGAPORE Yong Vui Kong (m)
Yong Vui Kong received a stay of execution on 3 December, but is now scheduled for execution on 11 December. His appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeals on 8 December.Yong Vui Kong's lawyer has appealed on the grounds that the mandatory death sentence for drug-trafficking, which is set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act, is unconstitutional, and therefore his case should be referred back to the trial judge for "reconsideration."
The appeal was due to be heard by a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals on 2 December, but only one judge was present, so the court had to grant a stay of execution. The court, which rejected an earlier appeal against Yong Vui Kong’s death sentence, is now due to hear his latest appeal on 8 December.
The President of Singapore rejected Yong Vui Kong's petition for clemency on 1 December.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The authorities in Singapore do not release any information about the use of the death penalty in the country. At least one person is known to have been hanged so far in 2009, and at least three sentenced to death; in 2008, at least one person was hanged and five sentenced to death. The true figures are likely to be higher. The government has always maintained that the death penalty is not a human rights issue, and consistently lobbied other nations against the abolition of the death penalty.
All capital cases are tried by the High Court; convicted prisoners can appeal, and if they are unsuccessful they can apply to the president for clemency. President Nathan, who has been in power since 1999, is not known to have granted clemency to any condemned prisoner.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the president to reconsider Yong Vui Kong's clemency petition and commute his death sentence;
- Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking offenses, the court that sentenced Yong Vui Kong to death had no discretion to sentence him to an alternative punishment;
- Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
SINGAPORE 0922
Fax: 011 65 6735 3135
Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Newspaper
Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
SINGAPORE 318994
Fax: 011 65 6319 8282
Email: stonline@sph.com.sg
Ambassador CHAN Heng Chee
Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
3501 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 537 0876
Email: singemb_was@sgmfa.gov.sg
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 11 December 2009.
----------------------------------
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/uaa29609.pdf
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on November 3, 2009. Thanks!
4 December 2009
Further Information on UA 296/09 (3 November 2009) - Death penalty
SINGAPORE Yong Vui Kong (m)
Yong Vui Kong received a stay of execution on 3 December, but is now scheduled for execution on 11 December. His appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeals on 8 December.Yong Vui Kong's lawyer has appealed on the grounds that the mandatory death sentence for drug-trafficking, which is set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act, is unconstitutional, and therefore his case should be referred back to the trial judge for "reconsideration."
The appeal was due to be heard by a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals on 2 December, but only one judge was present, so the court had to grant a stay of execution. The court, which rejected an earlier appeal against Yong Vui Kong’s death sentence, is now due to hear his latest appeal on 8 December.
The President of Singapore rejected Yong Vui Kong's petition for clemency on 1 December.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The authorities in Singapore do not release any information about the use of the death penalty in the country. At least one person is known to have been hanged so far in 2009, and at least three sentenced to death; in 2008, at least one person was hanged and five sentenced to death. The true figures are likely to be higher. The government has always maintained that the death penalty is not a human rights issue, and consistently lobbied other nations against the abolition of the death penalty.
All capital cases are tried by the High Court; convicted prisoners can appeal, and if they are unsuccessful they can apply to the president for clemency. President Nathan, who has been in power since 1999, is not known to have granted clemency to any condemned prisoner.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the president to reconsider Yong Vui Kong's clemency petition and commute his death sentence;
- Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking offenses, the court that sentenced Yong Vui Kong to death had no discretion to sentence him to an alternative punishment;
- Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
SINGAPORE 0922
Fax: 011 65 6735 3135
Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Newspaper
Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
SINGAPORE 318994
Fax: 011 65 6319 8282
Email: stonline@sph.com.sg
Ambassador CHAN Heng Chee
Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
3501 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 537 0876
Email: singemb_was@sgmfa.gov.sg
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 11 December 2009.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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