Human Rights action update Dec. 22-28

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

CHINA

Falun Gong practitioner Li Shanshan (李珊珊) who is held in a re-education through labour (RTL) camp in northern China, is being threatened with an extended sentence for refusing to renounce her faith. She is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Please respond to this call for action. 

You will be asked to download the Urgent Action file. 

MAN FACES TRIAL FOLLOWING FORCED CONFESSION

Businessman Wu Wai Sing, a 54-year-old US national of Hong Kong residency, was reportedly tortured to make him confess. He has reportedly told his lawyers that he is "losing hope" and cannot stand up to the torture and other ill-treatment any longer. This is a case we have dealt with in the past, but obviously to no success.  Please act.  Again Google drives requires a download.

 
AVAAZ is calling for help in putting pressure on the Indian parliament to pass a strong child labor law.  Please join in.  In general, we recommend joining and supporting AVAAZ.

We wish you all a happy new year and much protection of human rights. Let us all be worthy of Miriam's legacy.

Avaaz - India: Schools, not sweatshops

Avaaz - India: Schools, not sweatshops

Human Rights Action update December 15-20

Miriam 1947-2012, Human Rights Defender

We start with a death penalty case in China.  Indeed, the condemned is apparently a recidivist drug dealer and we have scant patience or regard for such people.  Nevertheless, as people who oppose the death penalty in principle for all cases, we should protest and ask for clemency. You will need to click on the download button to get the text of the UA.  I have also provided a template letter.

In India we have a human rights defender in danger of torture.  Aparna Marandi, a long-time Dalit rights defender who has been repeatedly targeted by the state government for her activities, was arrested on 8 December.

MYANMAR
Days ago, 7 year-old Fatimah died of dehydration, cast out and neglected by her home country of Burma. And she’s not alone -- thousands of Rohingya Muslims are starving to death or even murdered because of their religion and ethnicity. But we can force Burma’s President to save the Rohingya.
Please act on the AVAAZ petition.

Now on to labor rights matters:
We start with a link that presents union busting activities in Turkey and Ecuador.  Please act, it just requires a few clicks..

In January 2012 a Make Fruit Fair appeal was launched in response to the sacking of Lester Freire Burgos, the newly elected General Secretary of the Los Alamos union, SITBA. Read more.

RUSSIA
An Uzbek man has disappeared in Russia under suspicious circumstances that indicate that he may have been abducted by Uzbek agents.  He is in danger of torture in Uzbekhistan.

The Miriam Shlesinger Human Rights Action blog

Miriam 1947-2012

On Tuesday we went to the cemetery to mark the 30th day since Miriam's death.  The magnitude of our loss is still sinking in.  For these who did not know her, we refer you to her biography/obituary.  She was famous as a translator/interpreter.  She also was a tireless fighter for human rights and justice for the oppressed and minorities. Along with her varied translation career, Shlesinger sought to use her professional skills to reduce social gaps and "promote a more just, egalitarian society," as she put it. Among other things, she launched a course that trained volunteer interpreters in various minority tongues. She was instrumental in advancing interpretation for people who needed signed languages.




We invite you to join the Amnesty International annual December  Write for Rights marathon.  The link contains a list of urgent cases of people in distress for whom you can choose to write.


It is not often that we find a human rights issue in the Netherlands.  Here we have a case of a union organizer denied access to home care workers.  Please act.

We call your attention to a labor union rights issue in Turkey as well.  Please click and act.

Happy Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa to all in full solidarity.

Action Update Dec. 1-8

Miriam

We start for once with a few  positive items. We have a release of prisoners of conscience in Mexico, which is always good news.

Indigenous rights activists and prisoners of conscience, José Ramon Aniceto Gómez and Pascual Agustín Cruz, are finally free!

We also have a reversal of a ludicrous conviction of a labor activist in Egypt, Kamal Abbas.

Now on to the heavy stuff and the bad news.
In the US, we have a rape case of an 11year old girl in which the defense attorney claims that she seduced the rapists.  We need to get something across to this man.
Eleven year old girls are not partners in consensual sex!

In Thailand there is a severe problem with security for teachers and students in schools in the southern part of the country.  Please call on the Thai government to protect teachers and students from the insurgents who have been attacking them. The details of the Thai embassy in Israel are as follows:
Thai Embassy

21 Shaul Hamelech Blvd. Tel Aviv 64367 Israel
Phone	local: 09-954-8413 international:  +972.9.954.8413
Fax	local: 09-954-8417 international:  +972.9.954.8417
Email	thaisr@netvision.net.il
Web site	http://www.thaiembassy.org/telaviv

I have posted a template letter on my google drive.

Human Right action update Nov.22-30

Miriam

We hope people are acting in these requests.  We note that the blog is being read in many places around the world, apparently through Facebook and Twitter.  We hope the locals are reading and acting as well, but the cluster map does not show this.

The most urgent item on the world human rights agenda is the new law pending in the parliament of Uganda that would criminalize all homosexual activity up to and including the death penalty.  This law includes heterosexuals who help gays.  Please act quickly since the proponents want to get it enacted before Christmas.

ABUSE OF ASYLUM SEEKERS BY AUSTRALIA
The treatment of asylum seekers interned on a remote island by the Australian government is abysmal.  Please act to  protest and to demand proper treatment for them.

In India, the government is about to resume executions in the wake of the execution of the Pakistani terrorist. This is a regression away from the drive for abolition.  Please protest to the Indian government.
You may find a template letter.

Updates Nov. 17-22

Miriam

We start with hunger strikers in Turkey.  They are being denied medical care.  A template letter is available.
The faxes work.

Turkey Embassy , Israel

Rehov Ben Yehuda 1
Tel Aviv
Israel
Phone:
 +972-3 517-1731 
 +972-3 517-6157 
Fax:
+972-3 517-6303

We have a case of a persecuted journalist in Cuba.  I have put up a template letter.  There is no Cuban embassy here, alas. Thanks to the Belgian section for their UA site. It would be nice to have one here, but someone decided long ago that it is not important.

We have an action on child slave labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekhistan.

It comes up with my details, just erase them and fill in your own.  The labor action people are super user-friendly.

Musicians in Cameroon were attacked by police during a peaceful march.  Please act.

Nov. 9-15

This week we lost a dear friend and a long time human rights activist, Prof. Miriam Shlesinger.  This blog will be named for her and dedicated to  her memory. May she rest in peace and may we be worthy of her legacy.

These apparently was some confusion with last week's blog, so please forgive if there are repeated postings.
We start with something local, a petition from AVAAZ to recognize Palestine and to hold the gunfire here.

We are back with Mao Hengfeng.  If the Chinese authorities obsess about her, so shall we.  Please act.

Finally we have a labor relations issue in the United States that is scandalous.  Please act.

Workers on picket line

Human Rights Action Updates Oct. 26-Nov. 1

MYANMAR
Following communal violence in June, largely directed against the ethnic Rohingya, there is a growing humanitarian and human rights crisis which is not receiving sufficient international attention, and it is highly likely that many lives are being lost as a result. The Rohingya are Muslims who have lived in Burma for generations, but are still considered but are still regarded by the government as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The latter claims that it cannot accept additional refugees from Burma. The situation remains exceedinglygrim for these people.
Burmese police, security forces and soldiers are raping, looting, torturing and arbitrarily killing Rohingya people.
There have been mass arrests with Rohingya people kept in detention camps without trial, without food or medical services.
Amnesty International has issued a press release but not a UA. Burma Campaign UK has called on British subjects to write to their Foreign Minister.  We can only suggest a letter to the local foreign minister tailored to the situation in each country.  Israel has leverage in Burma so a letter to Avigdor Lieberman (the noted human rights advocate...) might help.

VIETNAM
We start with a UA from Amnesty  On 24 September, a court in Viet Nam’s Ho Chi Minh City sentenced bloggers Nguyen Van Hai, known as Dieu Cay (“the peasant’s pipe”), Ta Phong Tan, and Phan Thanh Hai to 12, 10 and four years’ imprisonment respectively for “conducting propaganda” against the state. The trial lasted only a few hours and their friends and family were detained and assaulted to prevent them from attending. Please pick up on the action on behalf of these prisoners of conscience.

In addition two popular singers have been sentenced to prison for writing songs "critical of the state."
 

Vo Minh Tri and Tran Vu Anh Binh were sentenced to four and six years in prison, respectively, on charges of spreading propaganda against the state, said Tri's lawyer, Tran Vu Hai. They faced possible sentences of up to 20 years.
In a half-day trial, a court in Ho Chi Minh City accused the musicians of posting songs on a website operated by an overseas Vietnamese opposition group, Patriotic Youth, according to Hai. Communist Vietnam does not tolerate challenges to its one-party rule.
No action has been called for yet, but stay informed.

CHINA
When does a week go by without some new human rights violations in China? We have a call on behalf of Ni Yulan, a human rights activist.

Ni Yulan still uses a wheelchair as a result of previous police torture. © Private 

 

Obviously the SMS campaign of AIUK is not for us, but scroll down and you will find the usual UA format.
Here is a link to a template letter. 
Ni Yulan is a lawyer who is fighting the wave of forced evictions that is rolling across China. It takes much courage for a lawyer to take up these cases.  Please get behind Ni Yulan.

Human Rights action Oct. 19-25

To Wafiq and any Muslim readers



We start as usual with China. 

Six villagers from Zhengding County, Hebei Province in China have been detained after petitioning for the release of a local Falun Gong practitioner. Three have been sentenced to Re-education through Labour (RTL) and three have been criminally charged. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. I append a link to the Urgent Action call.

You will need to open the link and then click on the download button to obtain the rtf file.  If anyone has difficulty with this, please email me and I will send you the call.

I also append a template letter.

Eric Lee has labor rights cases that require no more than a click and a few details. They include urgent action appeals from the Philippines and Korea and an update on a worsening situation in Zimbabwe, Please act.

Finally a local case involving the abuse of a religious freedom activist in Israel. Anat Hoffman was arrested, shackled, strip searched and made to sleep on a cell floor all for the crime of wearing a talit, singing Shma Yisrael and holding a Torah scroll at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.  I append a link to a protest petition. Just click that you are not me and enter your own details to sign the petition.

Human Rights Action Update Oct.12-18

 


We start with a protest and support message for Mahalah Yousufzai who as you all know was shot by the Taliban for the crime of wanting an education.

I have just sent off a message in support of one of LabourStart's online campaigns to support workers' NGO's in China and Hongkong and I'd like to invite you to do so as well. You can show your support by clicking here to learn more and send off a message too:

On to China and Mao Hengfeng

URGENT ACTION

Rights defender Mao Hengfeng detained

Mao Hengfeng, a housing rights and reproductive rights defender, was taken away by men in plain clothes believed to be Shanghai police officers in Beijing on 30 September. She was subsequently taken from Beijing to Shanghai, and is now detained in the Yangpu district police detention centre. She is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

According to legal documents shown to Mao Hengfeng’s family, the decision by local authorities to detain her was made on 24 September and relates to her participation in a commemorative activity for deceased petitioner (someone who is seeking redress for perceived injustices from the Government) Teng Jingdi earlier this year. However, Amnesty International believes her detention is aimed at preventing her from carrying out campaigning work during the 18^th National Congress of the Communist Party scheduled to convene on 8 November.

On 30 September, Mao and several other human rights activists met in Beijing to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival.  According to her family, as the group were waiting for a bus at Shiliqiao bus station in Beijing, they were targeted by two men in plain clothes who were believed to be Shanghai police officers.  The group split up as the two men approached the activists. Mao got on to a bus but was tailed by a police car.  Shortly after this she was apprehended and taken away. On 2 October at around 1am, Mao was taken from Beijing to Shanghai, her home city. Later that day, at 2pm, the Shanghai police notified Mao’s family that Mao was detained in the Yangpu district police detention centre in Shanghai under suspicion of “gathering to disturb order at a public place” under article 291 of the Chinese Criminal Code.

Amnesty International considers Mao Hengfeng to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for her work as a human rights campaigner/ defender.

Please write immediately in Chinese or your own language:

n                    Expressing concern that Mao Hengfeng is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for her human rights campaigning, and calling on the authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally.

n                    Calling on the authorities to ensure Mao Hengfeng is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.

n                    Calling on the authorities to ensure that Mao Hengfeng has access to the necessary medical assistance and treatment she may require.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 15 NOVEMBER 2012 TO:

Chief of the Public Security Bureau, Yangpu Branch, Shanghai Municipal, 

Cai Tian Juzhang

No. 2049 Pingliang Road,

Yangpuqu, Shanghai

200090

People’s Republic of China

Telephone: +86 21 65431000 (Chinese only)

Fax: +86 22 170130

Email: Shyp@shyp.gov.cn  

Salutation: Dear Chief of Public Security Bureau

Chief of the Public Security Bureau, Shanghai Municipal,

Zhang Xuebing Juzhang        

No.128 Wuning South Road

Jing’an, Shanghai

200042

People’s Republic of China

Telephone: +86 21 62310110 (Chinese only)

Fax: +86 24 062676

Email: gaj02@shanghai.gov.cn　

Salutation: Dear Chief of Public Security Bureau

And copies to:

Secretary of Political and Legal Committee of Shanghai Municipal

Ding Xuexiang Shuji

No.200 Renmin Avenue

Huangpuqu, Shanghai

200003

People’s Republic of China

Telephone: +86 23 111111 (Chinese only)

Salutation: Dear Secretary

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

rights defender Mao Hengfeng detained

Additional Information

Mao Hengfeng has been repeatedly detained for her work defending women’s reproductive rights and victims of forced evictions in China. In March 2010, Mao was assigned 18 months of “Re-education Through Labour” (RTL) for her activism. While in RTL, she was tortured. She was released on 22 February 2011 on medical parole due to her high blood pressure and serious injuries caused by the torture she suffered while in detention. According to her own account, she partially lost feeling on the left half of her body and could not move properly. Shortly before her release on 22 February, Mao Hengfeng had been sent to two different hospitals for medical checks. A doctor did a CT scan on her head and found signs of bleeding in her brain.

On 24 February 2011, two days after her release on medical parole, she was taken back into custody for having violated the terms of medical parole and was detained in the Shanghai Prison Hospital.  On 27 July 2011, Mao Hengfeng fell ill again, kept slipping in and out of consciousness and was unable to eat or drink water. On 28 July, the prison hospital was worried about her health condition, so decided to end her RTL.  Upon her release, she remained under police surveillance.

The commemorative activity that Mao Hengfeng was attending was for petitioner Teng Jingdi, a victim of forced evictions. In China a petitioner is used to describe someone who is seeking redress for perceived injustices from the Government.

Name: Mao Hengfeng, Teng Jingdi

Gender m/f: Mao Hengfeng (f), Teng Jingdi (f)

We call your attention to the case of Chen Kegui who is in custody now.  Please act.
Chen Kegui, nephew of human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, was detained on 30 April in Yinan county, Shandong province, China. He has been held in incommunicado detention for more than five months. He is being denied access to his lawyers and family – who are also being harassed and intimidated. He is at risk of torture, an unfair trial and a possible death sentence.

Human Rights Update Oct. 6-10

We are coming out a day early because of the International Day of the Girl.
International Day of the Girl
October 11, 2012 Join us in this International Day of the Girl Child celebration by raising your hand for educating, empowering and protecting girls. Stop by the official Facebook page to be counted, get details about the day and follow the celebrations across the globe.

Raise your hand now


We refer you to the Because I am A Girl media site to do what you choose and can.


Meet Fabiola from Cameroon:

Fabiola is a high school student from rural Cameroon. She is a member of Plan Cameroon’s Youth Empowerment through Technology, Arts and Media (YETAM) project. Along with other youth, Fabiola produces youth media to raise awareness and create positive change in gender issues and girls’ access to their rights. She has produced media pieces on early marriage, early pregnancies, school dropout, and education of the girl child for other youth, parents and local leaders as well. In addition to media production, Fabiola is also a talented singer and songwriter. She has a powerful and passionate voice which she lends to songs of encouragement and empowerment for girls of her community.  Read more about Fabiola and other girls around the world who are doing things.  Just go to the Web site.

The city of Belgrade is prohibiting the Pride March for the second consecutive year.  Please act.

Migrants have been abducted by gangs in Mexico.  Please act.
Details of the Mexican Embassy in Israel: 25 Hamared St. Trade Tower 5th floor
68125
Tel Aviv Fax: 035163711

Death in childbirth is far too common in Sierra Leone.  Please let the president know that you are aware and that you expect something to be done about it.

Patients and relatives waiting outside hospital. Freetown, Sierra Leone, 21 September 2009. © Amnesty International

 

Good news, jailed union activists released in Morocco and Algeria thanks to protests from around the world.

Human Rights actions Sept. 30-)ct.4

We start with a misguided court decision in Germany that impacts the rights of women and girls.  Rape must not be glossed over on technicalities that are wrong.

Please act on the petition.

A labor leader has been abducted in Algeria.  Please act.

Algerian IUF representative and human rights activist Yacine Zaïd

 

The last is a continuation of the Falun Gong arrests from last week.  The html link did not work so the entire text of the UA follows:

URGENT ACTION

more falun gong at risk of torture in china

Four Falun Gong practitioners are being held in Jiamusi Detention Centre in China after being arbitrarily detained on 10 September. They are at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Shortly after 7.00 pm on 10 September – at the same time that nine other Falun Gong practitioners were being detained in another home in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang province, China – plain-clothed police officers broke into Ren Shuxian’s home and detained a group of Falun Gong practitioners meeting there. Ren Shuxian, Wang Yingxia, Zhang Limin and his wife Qiu Yujie, and Liu Hongli and her eight-year-old daughter were taken to the Jianshe Police Station. Qiu Yujie was taken out of the house on a stretcher.

At 1.00 am on 11 September, Liu Hongli’s daughter was released and collected by her father. While at the police station Liu Hongli developed symptoms of a serious heart condition and was sent to hospital. After a check-up she was returned to the police station. However, her condition worsened and she was sent back to the hospital. After being sent back and forth from the police station to the hospital twice more, Liu Hongli was finally sent home in the evening of 11 September.

On 11 September, the remaining four in custody were transferred to the Jiamusi Detention Centre. Two of them have reportedly begun hunger striking. Most of those detained previously spent time in prison or re-education through labour camps on account of their beliefs. Wang Yingxia previously spent three years in prison.

When family members enquired about the detainees on 10 September, the police refused to provide any information and told the family to inquire with the city’s Public Security Bureau. Neither detention nor arrest warrants were presented by the police. According to sources on the ground, officers from several public security offices were present during the detentions, including the local police and Public Security and National Security Bureau officials.

Please write immediately in Chinese or your own language:

n                    Calling on the Chinese authorities to release all those being held in custody (naming them), as they are detained solely on the basis of exercising their freedom of belief;

n                    Ensuring that all those detained are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated while they are in custody.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 30 OCTOBER 2012 TO:

Gonganju juzhang

Jiang Zhifang

Baoweilu 100 hao, Jiamusishi.

Heilongjiangsheng 

People’s Republic of China 154000

Tel: +86 454 8298114 (Chinese only)

Salutation: Dear Chief of the Public Security Bureau

Zhengfawei shuji

Liu Chen

Chang’anlu, Xiduan 2666 hao

Jiamusishi,  Heilongjiangsheng

People’s Republic of China 154000

Tel: +86 454 8224598 (Chinese only)

Salutation: Dear Party Secretary

And copies to:

Governor

Wang Xiangui

202 Zhongshanlu 202, Harbin

Heilongjiangsheng

People’s Republic of China

Tel: +86 451 82622351, +86 451 82625015 (Chinese only)

Email: webmaster@hlj.gov.cn

Salutation: Dear Governor

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation   

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

more falun gong at risk of torture in china

ADditional Information

Falun Gong is a spiritual movement, which gained a large number of supporters in China during the 1990s. After the movement staged a peaceful gathering in Tiananmen Square in July 1999, the government outlawed the group and launched a long-term campaign of persecution. Individuals are imprisoned for their spiritual beliefs and for exercising their rights to freedom of expression by distributing materials about the group. They are sentenced to long prison terms, held in psychiatric hospitals, re-education through labour facilities (a form of administrative detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review), and held in specialized detention centres, where the mission is to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners by forcing them via coercion into renouncing their spiritual beliefs, often through the use of torture and ill-treatment.

Torture and other ill-treatment is common in all forms of detention, despite China’s ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1988. Amnesty International has documented numerous deaths in custody believed to have been caused by torture and other ill-treatment, and torture and ill-treatment leading to permanent disability, including of of Falun Gong practitioners.

Name: Ren Shuxian (f), Wang Yingxia (f), Zhang Limin (m), Qiu Yujie (f), Liu Hongli (f)

Gender m/f: Both

UA: 269/12 Index: ASA 17/035/2012 Issue Date: 18 September 2012

Emergency call: Pussy Riot Appeal

The Pussy Riot singers are having their appeal on Monday October 1.
Please join the call to release them.

Human Rights Update Sep. 21-27

Yom Kippur is behind us and we wish you all a happy Succot.
I received an alert from Guy about an ill prisoner in China.  I quote Guy on how AI is functioning:

PLEASE MAKE A POINT of doing this one. The Urgent Action on which it is based (UA 271/12) was written on Sep. 20, but the folk at the Amnesty International USA office apologize for not being able to get it out to us till Sep. 25 - because of "diminished capacity". That probably refers to skilled people who have been laid off. Amnesty is in financial trouble. If sufferers of cruelty have to wait more days before we appeal for them - that is horrible. Amnesty, and the whole human-rights endeavor, need just a little bit more shove from good people.

He is absolutely right of course. 
An Uighur man, Abdukiram Abduveli, suffering from bone and joint cancer, is being
denied urgent medical treatment in prison in China.
 Here is the link

From India via I Save Lives Belgium Francophone AI
The police in Tamil Nadu state, India are cracking down on those engaged in year-long peaceful protests against a nuclear power plant project in Kudankulam. Since 9 September, more than 25 protestors have been arrested, and many others face imminent arrest. 
Please act.

Prisoner of Conscience in USA
On 20 September, US servicewoman Kimberly Rivera was arrested and detained by US military authorities after losing her deportation case in Canada and returning to the USA. She faces a court martial for desertion and a prison sentence. As she is being detained solely because of her conscientious objection to participating in the armed conflict in Iraq, she is a prisoner of conscience. 
Please act. 

Human Rights Update Sept. 14-20

Rosh Hashana has past and Yom Kippur is coming up and human rights violations go on.  Chatima tova to all and may freedom and justice triumph this year.

We have three cases this week, the first a disappearance in Angola and two labor relations actions.
For the Angola case I have placed a template letter at the link


 The action call itself is from AIUSA.

There is serious worker oppression going on in North Africa. 

Workers at the Maldives Hilton are not in an island paradise.

Human Rights Updates Sept. 8-14, 2012

This week we have three action cases for your attention.

SRI LANKA :JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED
Ragihar Manoharan was one of five Sri Lankan Tamil students killed by security forces in January 2006 in the city of Trincomalee. Authorities have failed to prosecute anyone for their murder. Read and act.

HORROR IN PAKISTAN:

The horror of it all is almost unimaginable.

 

Over 300 workers burned and suffocated to death in their workplaces, a garment factory and a shoe factory.   Call for justice and accountability!

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ROMA IN ITALY

 

Please join the call to Prime Minister Monti to end housing discrimination and forced evictions of Roma in Italy.

Emergency Death Penalty Post

I am coming at you at short notice because of two urgent matters involving the death penalty.  In Gambia the government appear determined to carry out its plan to empty death row by executing dozens of people who are imprisoned there.
“One can only imagine the terror the death row inmates and their families are facing knowing that at any moment they could be pulled from their cells and put in front of a firing squad,” said Paule Rigaud, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Africa. 

“Amnesty International remains concerned that many inmates have been convicted after unfair trials where they have not had access to lawyers or an appeals process. Some were sentenced after being tried on politically-motivated charges and have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment to force confessions.”
Please act to call upon the government of Gambia to end this action.

In the US State of Missouri Reggie Clemens is facing execution for a crime he well may not have committed.

In 2009 the Missouri Supreme Court assigned a ‘special master’ judge to investigate the reliability of his conviction. The review starts on 17 September. Please tell the Missouri Authorities to use this opportunity and stop the execution of Reggie Clemons.

Want to help get more signatures? Download a paper petition and get collecting (pdf)

To the Missouri authorities We, the undersigned, call on you to ensure that the death sentence of Reggie Clemons is commuted. We are concerned by numerous questions that have been raised in his case, including prosecutorial misconduct, allegations of police coercion, possible racial bias and inadequate legal representation. We note that Reginald Clemons has consistently maintained his innocence.

Human Rights update Sept1-6, 2012

We have three actions for this week. Let us hope to have many weeks with fewer calls to action.  All three of them are single click actions with no letter writing involved.
1. The first action is labor rights related.  Kraft has sacked 5 members of the board of the newly-created independent union at the former Cadbury chocolate factory in Alexandria following a protest over the non-payment of a government-decreed social allowance. 

2.  Help Protect Human Rights Defender Lydia Cacho-this involves death threats.

 3. A labor leader is imprisoned in Ivory Coast.  Please act.

Basile Mahan Gahé

Emergency Urgent Action Gambia

URGENT ACTION
AT LEAST 39 PRISONERS AT RISK OF EXECUTION
The Gambian government has confirmed the execution of nine death row prisoners by firing squad.
The individuals were taken from their cells the evening of 23 August and executed shortly after. The
Gambian government should immediately halt any further executions and impose an official
moratorium on executions.
There are growing fears that at least 38 people remaining on death row are at imminent risk of execution following the
Gambian government’s confirmation that nine death row prisoners were executed by firing squad and its public
commitment that executions will continue.
For details and instructions for appeals go to this site.

For a template letter go to this google site.

Human Rights Update 26-31/8/2012

Hi Friends,
We have four items for your attention this week.
1. The first item is a petition to the government of Vietnam to release a political prisoner, Ta Phong Tam. 

Ta Phong Tam

The petition site people get carried away with user friendliness and supply a form with my details inserted.  Please erase them, insert your own and sign.

2.The next case requires a letter.  Here is a link to my letter that you can use as template. 
Information on Israel Chinese Embassy;
Ambassador: Ms. GAO Yanping
Address: 222 Ben Yehuda Street, P.O.B.6067, Tel Aviv 61060, Israel
Tel:  +972-3-5442638  / 5440337
Fax: +972-3-5467251
Office Hours: 09:00-13:00, 13:30-15:30, Sunday-Thursday (except holidays)
Website: http://il.china-embassy.org/eng/
Here are the details of the case:
URGENT ACTION
FEARS FOR DISAPPEARED CHINESE VOLUNTEER

A volunteer with a Beijing-based NGO, Song Guangqiang (also known as Song Ze), has been subjected to enforced disappearance as a result of his human rights activities. He has not been allowed to see his lawyer or family since 31 May and the authorities have refused to inform his family of his whereabouts.  He is at risk of torture and ill-treatment.
On 4 May around 2 pm, Song Guangqiang, a 27 year-old volunteer with a Beijing-based non-governmental organization (NGO), was taken away by the police near Beijing South Railway Station. He was interrogated at the Fengtai district and Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) on 4 and 5 May. On 5 May he was informed that he was being charged according to Article 293 of the Chinese Criminal Code with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and transferred to the Fengtai district detention centre, Beijing.
Song Guangqiang’s lawyer met with him on 15 and 31 May. He told his lawyer that he had been interrogated and charged in relation to his involvement in a project helping petitioners (people seeking redress for perceived injustices). This includes his visits to “black jails” in Beijing (unofficial detention facilities where many petitioners are arbitrarily detained because of their petitioning activity) and his distribution of food and donated clothes to petitioners who are destitute. On 12 June his lawyer was told that Song Guangqiang had been taken away by staff from the Beijing PSB several days earlier and placed under “residential surveillance”. Shortly after, his lawyer was told by the Beijing PSB that only the “unit in charge” can respond to inquiries about a particular case, and refused to provide any information. At present, neither Song Guangqiang’s family nor his lawyer have been informed of either his whereabouts or well-being.
Please write immediately in Chinese or your own language:
n        Calling on the authorities to immediately inform Song Guangqiang’s family of his whereabouts and well-being;
n        Calling on the authorities to release Song Guangqiang immediately and unconditionally as he has been detained solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression;
n        Calling on the authorities to ensure that Song Guangqiang is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 5 OCTOBER 2012 TO:

Director, Beijing Public Security Bureau
FU Zhenghua JuZhang
Beijingshi Gong’anju
9 Dongdajie, Qianmen
Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100740
People’s Republic of China
Fax: +86 10 65242927
Telephone: +86 10 8522 5050 (Chinese only)
Salutation: Dear Director

Secretary, Political and Legal Committee of Beijing Municipality        
JI Lin Shuji        
3 Tai Ji Chang Da Jie
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100743
People’s Republic of China
Telephone: +86 10 8580 6131 (Chinese only)
Salutation: Dear Secretary

Minister of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
MENG Jianzhu Buzhang
Gong’anbu
14 Dongchang’anjie
Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100741
People's Republic of China
Telephone: + 86 10 6512 2831 (Chinese only)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation        
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
Additional Information
In China, civil society and in particular the weiquan (‘rights defence’) movement are growing. However, human rights defenders who attempt to report on human rights violations, challenge policies which the authorities find politically sensitive, or try to organize or rally others to their cause, face serious risk of abuse.
Some human rights defenders are held under illegal house arrest or in unofficial places of detention also known as “black jails”; others are subjected to  â€œresidential surveillance” (‘jianshi juzhu’ - known informally in Chinese as ‘ruanjin’ or ‘soft detention’). While the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law lists “residential surveillance” as one of a number of measures that may be used by the police against criminal suspects, in practice activists are rarely shown any official notice explaining the reasons for their detention, they are seldom detained at home as stipulated in the law, and periods often exceed the maximum limit of six months as prescribed by law.

Name: Song Guangqiang
Gender m/f: Male

3. AIUSA has an action going on in the hope of helping the Pussy Riot prisoners.  Please act.
This requires no more than filling a form and clicking.

4.Siemens claims to be a responsible corporation.  Maybe they are a good corporate citizen at home in Germany, but away from home, as in the USA, they are union busters.  Please tell them to shape up

END OF POST FOR THIS WEEK.