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7/25/2019 Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016
1/12
5
Amnesty International USA Group 48
Newsletter2.16
1 15 Years and Counting:
Close Guantnamo Now
4 EGYP: Urgent Action-Jail
Sentence Against Five
Activists Confirmed
6 Urgent Action-Poet
Resentenced o Prison And
Flogging
8 INDONESIA: Urgent Action
- Activist Harassed For
Organizing Peaceful Rally
10CHINA: Urgent Action-
Chinese Journalist Missing
In Tailand
15 Years and Counting: Close Guantnamo Now
On January 11, 2016, the detentioncamp at Guantnamo Bay will enter its
fifeenth year o existence. Te orever
prison is perhaps the most inamous
icon o the human rights abuses re-
sulting rom the global war on terror.
Instead o justice or the September
11 attacks, Guantnamo has given the
world torture, indefinite detention and
unair trials.
President Obama has promised to close
it: first as a senator and presidential
candidate in November 2007, then
again as the newly-sworn-in president
in January 2009, again in speeches and
interviews every year throughout his
presidency, and yet again in a press
conerence just weeks ago. But these
promises arent enough. I the Obama
administration truly intends to shutter
the detention camp, time is running out
Tere is only one year lef in his presi-
dency, and i Guantnamo is not closed,
it will be handed off to a third U.S.
president, and perhaps more afer that.
President Obama knows what is at stake
In May 2013, he said: But history will
cast a harsh judgment on this aspect o
our fight against terrorism and those
o us who ailed to end it. Imagine a
uture 10 years rom now or 20 years
rom now when the United States
o America is still holding people who
have been charged with no crime on
a piece o land that is not part o our
country.
Here are five men waiting or President
Obama to ulfill his promises.
MuratCokalStock.Xchng
AIUSA-Group 48
http://aipdx.org
503-227-1878
Next Meeting:
Friday February 12th
First Unitarian Church
1011 SW 12th Ave
7:00pm informal gathering
7:30pm meeting starts
NewsLetter Designed
By Michelle Whitlock
MichelleWhitlock.com
http://michellewhitlock.com/http://michellewhitlock.com/7/25/2019 Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016
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AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016Pg 2
Tofq al-Bihani: In Guantnamo 13 Years
offiq al-Bihani is a 43-year-old Yemeni national who has
been held at Guantnamo Bay since early 2003 without beingcharged with a crime. He was captured outside o any active
conflict zone in late 2001 or early 2002 and turned over to U.S.
personnel in Aghanistan in March 2002.
His rst interrogation in Afghanistan, in his own words:
I was handcuffed behind and they put a hood on my head
so that I could not see anything. When I entered the inter-
rogation room, the American guards pushed me down to
the ground in a very savage manner. Tey started to cut my
clothing with scissors. Tey undressed me completely and I
was nude. Tey made me sit on a chair and it was very cold. I
was also araid and terrorized because the guards were aiming
their weapons towards me. Te interrogator put his personal
gun on my orehead threatening to kill me.
For several weeks, he was held at the CIA Detention Site
COBAL, where, according to the executive summary o the
Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA torture
program published in December 2014, he was subjected to
torture. He was then briefly held in U.S. military custody in
Bagram beore being transerred to Guantnamo in early2003.
In January 2010, a joint task orce consisting o representa-
tives o the Departments o Justice, Deense, State, and Home-
land Security, as well as the Office o the Director o National
Intelligence and the Joint Chies o Staff cleared him or trans-
er, finding his transer would be consistent with U.S. national
security. He is still waiting in Guantnamo, six years later.
Tariq Ba Odah: In Guantnamo almost 14 Years
ariq Ba Odah was transerred rom Pakistan to US custody
in Aghanistan in late December 2001 and rom there taken
to Guantnamo in February 2002. In those nearly 14 years
he has never been charged. It is nearly six years since the-
Guantnamo Review ask Force said that he would remain in
conditional detention until an improvement in the security
situation in Yemen or a third country resettlement option
becomes available.
Te health o this Yemeni national is in a perilous state. He
has been on hunger strike since 2007 in protest at his in-
definite detention without charge or trial. His body weight
is currently at around 56 per cent o its ideal and has been
or several months. In a brie filed in ederal court in June
2015, his lawyers assert that he is visibly suffering rom the
devastating effects o severe malnutrition and is at serious risk
o permanent and neurological impairment and death. Te
brie seeks a judicial order requiring the government to take
every necessary and appropriate step to acilitate his immedi-
ate release rom Guantnamo.
Tis gave the Obama administration an opportunity to do the
right thingto not oppose the habeas corpus petition and
to expedite ariq Ba Odahs release rom the base on urgentmedical grounds. It declined to do so. On August 14, 2015,
the US Department o Justice filed its opposition to the peti-
tion. Its contents are not public as the administration filed its
response under seal. Suffice it so say, the Department looks
set to fight having the judge order release o this man.
Te Obama administration says it is committed to resolving
the Guantnamo detentions as soon as possible and to closing
the acility. Its decision to oppose ariq Ba Odahs habeas
corpus petition says otherwise.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi: In Guantnamo 13 Years
On November 20, 2001, Mohamedou Ould Slahi was asked by
security officials in his home city o Nouakchott, Mauritania,
to come to the Intelligence Bureau, which he did. He has been
in detention without charge or trial ever since.
In his own words: November 20, 2001 is the last time I saw
my mother and my amily. I stayed in jail in Mauritania or
approximately one week. During that time, Mauritanian
[redacted] did not question or interrogate me. Eventually, [re-
dacted] told me I was going to be turned over to Jordan. I wasshocked and I asked him, Why? [Redacted] said it was not
his decision and that the Americans had told the Mauritanian
government to send me there. I asked him why the Mauri-
tanian government was not protecting me. He said that the
Americans would hurt my country i the Mauritanian govern-
ment did not ollow strictly their instructions. I argued that i
the Americans have anything on me they should take me to
America, [redacted]. At that time (November 2001), there was
no Guantnamo Bay.
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Tus, on November 20, 2001, I was sent to Jordan. I was im-
prisoned and interrogated there or eight months During
the eight months I spent in Jordan, I was always in isolation.
Te prison was horrible I was never allowed to see the rep-
resentatives o the International Committee o the Red Cross
(ICRC), who were visiting the prison every two weeks
On July 19, 2002, Mohamedou Slahi was transerred to
Bagram, where he has said he was subjected to ill- treatment
and threats o torture. On August 5, 2002, he was transerred
to Guantnamo where he was held as an enemy combatant
and subjected to ill-treatment. Last year, Mr. Slahi published a
book about his experiences. Mr. Slahi is still in Guantnamotoday, waiting in limbo afer more than 13 years o detention.
Majid Khan: In Guantnamo 9 Years
Majid Khan is a Pakistani national who suffered enorced
disappearance at the hands o Pakistani and U.S. authorities
in March 2003 during a raid on his amilys home. He was
subjected to secret detention or more than three years, dur-
ing which time his relatives were denied any news about his
whereabouts or health. Khan was transerred to Guantnamo
Bay in September 2006 along with 13 other supposed high
value detainees afer President Bushs ormal acknowledge-ment o the CIAs torture program.
Khan suffered a wide array o torture methods. He was
subjected to sleep deprivation, likely long periods o solitary
confinement, and orced rectal eedings and rehydration. On
multiple occasions, Khan attempted suicide by trying to cut
his wrists or other sensitive areas.
Although the CIA believes Majid Khan abricated a lot o his
early [CIA] interrogation reporting to stop what he called
torture and provided everything they wanted to hear to getout o the situation, the U.S. government in February 2012
charged Majid Khan under the Military Commissions Act o
2009. Majid Khan agreed to cooperate with the U.S. govern-
ment, and took a plea bargain in 2012. Under the terms o
that pre-trial agreement, Majid Khan has been convicted as
charged, and is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2016.
Te nineteen-year sentence will start rom the date o his
guilty plea. But even afer Majid Khan serves this time, the
government reserves the right to return him to indefinite law
o war detention.
Te military commissions do not comport with internationalair trial standards, and there has been no accountability or
the torture that Majid Khan suffered.
Mahmud al-Mujahid: In Guantnamo 14 Years
Yemeni national Mahmud al-Mujahid arrived on the first day
the prison camp opened January 11, 2002 and is still there
today. He has been in Guantnamo or ourteen years, every
day that the detention camp has existed. For ourteen years,
he has been held without charge or trial.
Mahmud al-Mujahid was approved or transer, as the na-tional security agencies determined that his continued law o
war detention was no longer necessary. But when he might
leave the base is anyones guess. He joins dozens o other de-
tainees approved or transer who still remain behind bars.
Tese are just five stories. Currently, there are 104 men in
Guantnamo. en are in the military commission process, 47
have been cleared or transer, and 49 are awaiting clear-
ance. Each individual should be released i they are not to be
charged and airly tried. Tere must be accountability or the
torture that many have suffered. President Obama has oneyear lef in his presidency to accomplish these goals, and time
is running out.
Group Coordinator
Megan Harrington
megan.harrington
@gmail.com
Treasurer
Tena [email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Dan Webb
OR Area Coordinator
Marty Fromer
Indonesia
Max White
Prisoners Cases
Jane Kristof
Jama Chorush
[email protected] Tabling
Will Ware
Central Africa/
OR State Death
Penalty Abolition
Terrie Rodello
AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]7/25/2019 Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016
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AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016Pg 4
EGYPT: Urgent Action - Jail Sentence Against Five Activists Conrmed
Ahmed Mohamed Said, a vascular surgeon and well-knownpoet, explained he had been tortured during interrogation
by National Security officers on 19 November, the day he
was arrested. He was beaten and given electric shocks. Te
our male activists are detained in Cairos ora Prison com-
plex. Gamila Seryel-Dain is held in Qanater Womens Prison,
north-west o Cairo.
Action
Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own
language:
Calling on the authorities to release the activists (namingthem) immediately, because their convictions and sentences
were or offenses that criminalize the peaceul exercise o hu-
man rights or are based on trumped-up charges;
Calling on them to ensure that Mostaa Ibrahim Mohamed
Ahmed is given the medical attention he requires;
Urging them to order a prompt, independent and impartial
investigation into allegations o torture and other ill-treat-
ment, and ensure those responsible are brought to justice in a
air trial without resort to the death penalty.
Appeals To
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE MARCH 18H 2016 O
National Council for Human Rights
President
Mohamed Fayek
69 Giza St, - next to the Saudi Embassy
Cairo, Egypt
Fax: +202 3762 4852/4229
Email: [email protected]
witter handle: @nchregypt
Salutation: Dear Mr Fayek
President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Office o the President
Al Ittihadia Palace
Cairo, Arab Republic o Egypt
Fax: +202 2 391 1441
Email: [email protected]
witter: @AlsisiOfficial
Ahmed Mohamed Said (m), Mostaa Ibrahim MohamedAhmed (m), Karim Khaled Fathy (m), Mohamed Abdel-Ha-
mid (m), Gamila Seryel-Dain ().
A Cairo appeal court confirmed on January 27th the two-year
jail sentence imposed on five activists. Te activists had been
sentenced on December 13th on trumped-up charges.
Abdeen Misdemeanour Appeal Court in the capital, Cairo,
confirmed on January 27th the two-year jail sentence handed
down to activists Mostaa Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, Karim
Khaled Fathy, Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, Gamila Seryel-Dain
and Ahmed Mohamed Said.
Te activists had been convicted on December 13th o pro-
testing, while blocking the road and disrupting traffic, violat-
ing Egypts 2013 Protest Law. Tis law arbitrarily restricts
the rights to reedom o expression and peaceul assembly
guaranteed under international human rights law and Egypts
Constitution. According to the deense lawyers, there is no
physical evidence proving the charges against the five. Te
only evidence is an investigation report by a single National
Security officer, according to which the five had taken part in
a protest on November 19th at the intersection o Cairos Mo-
hamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Farid streets. According to
the deense lawyers, a report by the raffic Ministry confirms
there were no complaints o a protest in that street on that day.
Mostaa Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed has been denied urgent
medical care in prison. He has suffered rom severe short-
ness o breath and chest pains. Te prison doctor has said
he has problems with a coronary artery and heart valve and
reerred him to the prison hospital or urther tests and an
X-ray but, according to his amily, this has not been done yet.
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Salutation: Your Excellency
Copies ToDeputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human
Rights
Mahy Hassan Abdel Lati
Ministry o Foreign Affairs
Corniche al-Nil, Cairo, Egypt
Email: [email protected]
witter: @MaEgypt
Ambassador Yasser Reda, Embassy of Egypt
3521 International Ct NW, Washington,DC 20008
Fax: 202 244 4319 -OR- 202 244 5131Email:[email protected]
Please let us know i you took action so that we can track our
impact! EIHER send a short email to [email protected] with
UA 294/15 in the subject line, and include in the body o
the email the number o letters and/or emails you sent, OR
fill out this HYPERLINK "https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/
V3PZGBJ" short online orm to let us know how you took ac-
tion. Tank you or taking action!
Further inormation on UA: 294/15 Index: MDE12/3356/2016 Issue Date: 5 February 2016
Additional Information
Ahmed Mohamed Said was in Cairo on a visit rom Germany
where he was working as a doctor. He and 30 other activists
took part in a peaceul protest on November 19th, on Cairos
Sixth October Bridge. Tey were commemorating those
who had died our years earlier, in the Mohamed Mahmoud
street clashes between protesters and police. Over a six-day
period, starting November 19th, 2011, 51 people had been
killed. Ahmed Mohamed Said had volunteered at the time as
a doctor, treating injured protesters. He is also known or his
poetry, which he has recited on Egyptian television.
Te protest vigil on the bridge started at 2pm and lasted about
five to seven minutes. Aferwards, Ahmed Mohamed Said
went to a ca in the Abdeen area o Cairo with his riend
Mostaa Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, who is a political activist
with the socialist Bread and Freedom Party. As they were
leaving the ca, police officers approached them and asked
them or their identification cards. Tey were then taken to
the nearby Abdeen Police Station or questioning. Ahmed
Saids mobile phone went dead at about 4pm, his amily have
said. It was not until 4am the next day that the amilies and
lawyers ound out where he and the other activists were.
Karim Khaled Fathy and Mohamed Abdel-Hamid were also
arrested arbitrarily, as they were walking in the street. Gamila
Seryel-Dain was arrested two days later, November 22nd,
while taking ood to the detainees.
Nine other activists were arrested on November 19th near
the Sixth October Bridge. Tey were taken to the Qasr el-Nil
police station, and are being tried separately. On November,20th when Ahmed Mohamed Said told the Public Prosecu-
tion he had been tortured, his amily say the prosecutor re-
used to record it. wo days later, a judge ordered the release
o deendants in both the Abdeen and Qasr al-Nil cases, but
the Public Prosecution appealed this decision and they were
returned to pre-trial detention. Gamila Seryel-Dain had been
arrested by the Qasr el-Nil prosecution. Four days later, the
judge released her on bail o 3,000 Egyptian pounds (US$380)
which she paid. Afer her release, the Abdeen Prosecution
ordered her detention based on charges that included incit-
ing protests. She was made a deendant in both cases.
Te day afer the five activists were convicted in the Abdeen
case, on December 14th, the our male activists were trans-
erred to Cairos 15 May Prison, where they were held in a
disciplinary room. Teir amilies say they saw no sunlight
during their two weeks they were detained there, and went on
a hunger strike in protest.
Te detainees were transerred once again to Scorpion Prison,
a maximum security acility in Cairos ora Prison complex.
Te amilies say this happened afer they submitted a ormal
complaint about the case to the South Cairo district attorney
on December 29th. Te head o 15 May Prison had told the
our male activists that they would be taken back to Abdeen
Police Station, where conditions are better, but in order or
the transer to happen Ahmed Mohamed Said had to sign
a paper saying that he had not been mistreated and was no
longer on hunger strike. He did so, but the activists were then
taken to a maximum security acility, where they say they are
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AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016Pg 6
being kept in overcrowded, separate cells with jihadists and
orced to sleep on thin mattresses on cold floors, during the
coldest time o the year in Egypt. Gamila Seryel-Dain was
taken to Qanater Womens Prison. She is a mother o three
children.
Te rights to reedom and expression and peaceul assembly
are guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a state party, as well as
Articles 65 and 73 o Egypts Constitution.
Urgent Action - Poet Resentenced To Prison And FloggingAshraf Fayadh (m)
Ashra Fayadh was sentenced by the General Court in Abha
on April 30th 2014 to our years in prison and 800 lashes or
the charges relating to images o women on his phone. Te
General Court ound the poets repentance in relation to
the charge o apostasy to be satisactory. Te Court o Ap-peal, however, recommended that he should nevertheless be
sentenced or apostasy and sent the case back to the General
Court, which in turn sentenced him to death or apostasy on
November 17th 2015. Ashra Fayadh was denied access to a
lawyer throughout his detention and first instance trial, in
clear violation o both international and national law.
Action
Please write immediately in English, Arabic or your own
language:
Calling on the authorities to release Ashra Fayadh imme-diately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner o conscience,
held solely or peaceully exercising his human right to ree-
dom o expression;
Urging them to ensure that Ashra Fayadhs conviction is
quashed;
Urging them to immediately establish an official mora-
torium on all executions as a first step towards total aboli-
tion, and abolish flogging and all other cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishments.
Appeals To
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE MARCH 15th 2016 O:
King and Prime Minister
His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Te Custodian o the two Holy Mosques
Office o His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh
Kingdom o Saudi Arabia
Fax: (via Ministry o the Interior)
Palestinian poet and artist Ashra Fayadh has had his deathsentence overturned by a court in Saudi Arabia. He has been
resentenced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes. He is a
prisoner o conscience.
Ashra Fayadhs death sentence was commuted by the GeneralCourt in Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia, on February 2nd.
He has been re-sentenced to eight years in prison and 800
lashes. According to his lawyer, the Court has also ordered
Ashra Fayadh to publicly announce his repentance in official
Saudi Arabian media. Te same court initially sentenced him
to our years in prison and 800 lashes on the same charges,
beore sentencing him to death upon the recommendation o
an appeal court. His lawyer has stated that he will appeal the
latest sentence.
Te 35 year-old Palestinian poet and artist, born and resid-ing in Saudi Arabia, was first arrested on August 6th 2013
ollowing a complaint by a Saudi Arabian citizen alleging that
the poet was promoting atheism and spreading blasphemous
ideas among young people. He was released the next day, but
rearrested on January 1st 2014 and charged with apostasy due
to his supposed questioning o religion and spreading atheist
thought via his poetry. He was also charged with violating
Article 6 o the countrys Anti-Cyber Crime Law by taking
and storing photos o women on his phone.
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+966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying)
witter: @KingSalman
Salutation: Your Majesty
Minister of Justice
His Excellency Dr Walid bin Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sa-
maani
Ministry o Justice
University Street,
PO Box 7775, Riyadh 11137
Kingdom o Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 11 401 1741 / 402 031
Salutation: Your ExcellencyCopies To
President, Human Rights Commission
Bandar Mohammed Abdullah al-Aiban
Human Rights Commission
PO Box 58889, Riyadh 11515
King Fahd Road
Building No. 3, Riyadh
Kingdom o Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 11 418 5101
Ambassador Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington,DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 5983
Email: [email protected]
Please let us know i you took action so that we can track our
impact! EIHER send a short email to [email protected] with
UA 24/16 in the subject line, and include in the body o the
email the number o letters and/or emails you sent, OR fill
out this HYPERLINK "https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DS78PFN"short online orm to let us know how you took ac-
tion. Tank you or taking action!
Additional Information
Since 2012, the Saudi Arabian authorities have been perse-
cuting human rights deenders, civil society activists and
critics with complete impunity, using both the courts and
administrative means such as the imposition o travel bans.
Members o the independent Saudi Civil and Political Rights
Association (ACPRA) bore the brunt o this persecution.
Eight o the organizations ounding members are currently in
prison either serving their sentence or awaiting the outcome
o their retrial beore the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC,
the counter-terrorism court). Only two members remain at
liberty, pending the outcome o their ongoing trials in ront
o the same Court. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, Dr Mohammad
al-Qahtani, Dr Suliaman al-Rashudi, Dr Abdulkareem al-
Khoder, Dr Abdulrahman al-Hamid, and Fowzan al-Harbi,
are currently serving prison sentences or up to 15 years, to
be ollowed by a travel ban o equal duration, or their peace-
ul activism. Abdulaziz al-Shubaili and Issa al-Hamid are still
ree pending the outcome o their trials. Saleh al-Ashwan has
been detained since April 2012 without any charge or trial. InMarch 2013 the court also ordered the disbanding o ACPRA
confiscation o its property and the closure o its social media
accounts.
Other peaceul activists persecuted by the authorities include
human rights deenders Waleed Abu al-Khair and Fadhel
al-Manasi.
Activist Abdulaziz al-Sunaidi was sentenced on 13 October to
eight years in prison ollowed by an eight-year travel ban, and
a fine o 50,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (about US$13,300) bythe SCC in the capital Riyadh, or among other things violat-
ing Article 6 o the Anti-Cyber Crime Law through his tweets
and writings. Troughout his detention, interrogation and
trial Abdulaziz al-Sunaidi was denied access to a lawyer.
Dr Zuhair Kutbi, a prominent writer, commentator and critic
was ound guilty o violating the Counter-error Law and
Article 6 o the Anti-Cyber Crime Law and sentenced on
December 21st, 2015 to our years in prison ollowed by a
five-year ban on overseas travel, a fine o 100,000 Saudi Ara-
bian riyals (about US$26,600) and a 15-year ban on writing
and giving interviews to the media, afer he was ound guilty
o violating the Counter-error Law and Article 6 o the Anti-
Cyber Crime Law by inciting public opinion, sowing dis-
cord and reducing peoples respect o the rule o law. Te
Court also ordered him to erase his social media accounts. It
suspended two years o his our-year sentence because o his
health, but indicated it would reimpose them i he offended
again. It is believed that Dr Zuhair Kutbi was arrested on
July 15th because o comments he made on June 25th on the
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V show Fi al-Samim (o the Point), on the Rotana Khalijia
satellite channel, in which he criticized political repression
in Saudi Arabia and argued or reorms such as transorming
the countrys political system into a constitutional monarchy.
Amnesty International considers all o the above activists
and critics to be prisoners o conscious, detained solely or
peaceully exercising their right to reedom o expression andassembly, and calls or their immediate and unconditional
release.
INDONESIA: Urgent Action - Activist Harassed For Organizing Peaceful RallyYayasan HAK members, Manuel Monteiro Fernandes (m), Adelio da Costa Fernandes (m)
by Max White Country Specialist, Indonesia and Timor-Lest
demonstration was organized to urge the imorese and
Indonesian governments to address crimes against humanity
committed during the Indonesian occupation between 1975
and 1999. Tey also called or the immediate implementation
o recommendations set out by the Commission or ruth
and Friendship (CF), a bilateral agreement between the gov-
ernment o Indonesia and the government o imor-Leste to
investigate crimes committed during the 1999 independence
reerendum, including the establishment o a Commission or
Missing People.
Action
Please write immediately in English, Portuguese or your own
language:
Calling on the imor-Leste authorities to take immediate
action to prevent urther intimidation and harassment against
staff at Yayasan HAK and to respect the rights to reedom o
expression and peaceul assembly and association;
o remind them o their responsibility to protect human
rights deenders and ensure they can carry out their legiti-
mate activities without ear o reprisals, as set out in the UN
Declaration on Human Rights Deenders.
Appeals To
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE MARCH 9th 2016 O:
Minister of JusticeIvo Jorge Valente
Ministry o Justice
Avenue Jacinto Candido
Dili, imor-Leste
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Minister
Permanent Representative of imor-Leste to the UN in
Geneva
Marciano Octavio Garcia Da Silva
wo members o imor-Lestes security orces visited theoffice o the human rights NGO Yayasan HAK on January
26th and the police has been harassing its Executive Director
by telephone or organizing and participating in a peaceul
demonstration.
Manuel Monteiro Fernandes, Executive Director o the hu-
man rights NGO Yayasan HAK based in Dili, imor Leste,
has inormed Amnesty International that the police has been
calling him repeatedly regarding the NGOs involvement in
organizing a peaceul demonstration to coincide with the
President o Indonesias visit to imor-Leste on January 26th.
His saety is at risk.
On the day o the demonstration, two members o the imor-
Leste Deense Force (Falintil-Foras de Deesa de imor-
Leste, F-FDL) visited the Yayasan HAK office and requested
to use the space as a security base due to its proximity to theIndonesian Embassy in Dili. Manuel Monteiro Fernandes
reused to allow them to use their office. One o the soldiers
then approached another member o the staff, Adelio da
Costa Fernandes and requested that he immediately remove
his t-shirt because it carried the slogan Free West Papua,
which reers to a political issue that is considered as highly
sensitive by the Indonesian government.
Yayasan HAK announced in a joint public statement on Janu-
ary 25th, together with other local NGOs, that the peaceul
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Rue Pestalozzi 7,
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 788 3564
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
Copies To
Chairperson of the Office of the Provedor for Human
Rights and Justice
Silverio Pinto Baptista
Estrada de Caicoli,
Dili, imor-Leste
Fax: +670 723 0177
Email: [email protected]
Ambassador H.E. Domingos Sarmento Alves,
Embassy o the Democratic Republic o imor-Leste
4201 Connecticut Avenue, NW #504,
Washington,DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 966 3205
Phone: 1 202 966 3202
Email: [email protected]
Please let us know i you took action so that we can track our
impact! EIHER send a short email to [email protected] with
UA 25/16 in the subject line, and include in the body o the
email the number o letters and/or emails you sent, OR fill
out this short online orm to let us know how you took action.
Tank you or taking action!
Additional Information
Yayasan HAK is a non-governmental organization based in
Dili, imor-Leste ocusing on promoting and protecting hu-
man rights in civil society and state institutions. Yayasan HAK
was established in August 1996 by imorese and Indonesian
activists to monitor human rights, provide human rights edu-
cation, legal support and advocacy across thirteen districts in
imor-Leste.
Under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Deenders, it
is the duty o the State to create the conditions necessary to
deend human rights within their jurisdictions and specifi-
cally to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection
o everyone against any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse
discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a
consequence o his or her legitimate exercise o the rights
reerred to in the Declaration. Rights and protections ac-
corded to human rights deenders include the right to meet or
assemble peaceully.
Te right to reedom o peaceul assembly and o association
is guaranteed under Section 42 o the Constitution o imor-
Leste (Freedom to Assemble and Demonstrate) which stipu-
lates that: Everyone is guaranteed the reedom to assemble
peaceully and unarmed, without a need or prior authoriza-
tion; and everyone is recognized the right to demonstrate in
accordance with the law.
Impunity persisted or gross human rights violations com-
mitted during the Indonesian occupation (1975-1999). Little
progress was made in addressing crimes against humanity
and other human rights violations committed by Indonesian
security orces and their auxiliaries rom 1975 to 1999. Many
Group 48 has a new online petition on change.org.
Click here for the link
Please sign it!
The subject of this petition, Omid Kokabee, is a
brilliant young Iranian physicist who is serving a ten
year prison sentence for his refusal to engage in
military or nuclear research. After completing his un-
dergraduate degree at Sharif University of Technol-
ogy in Tehran, he earned his Masters in Barcelona,
Spain, and had been pursuing doctoral studies at
the University of Texas, Austin, when he went home
to visit his family and was arrested.
Omid Kokabee has been awarded the Andrei
Sakharov Prize from the American Physical Society
for his courage in refusing to use his physics knowl-
edge to work on projects that he deemed harmful
to humanity, in the face of extreme physical and
psychological pressure, as well as the Scientifc
Freedom and Responsibility Award from the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of Science.
Sign the Petition for Omid Kokabee
https://www.change.org/p/iran-s-supreme-leader-ayatollah-seyyed-ali-khameneh-ei-free-the-brilliant-young-iranian-physicist?recruiter=2264542&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-md-no_src-reason_msg&fb_ref=Defaulthttps://www.change.org/p/iran-s-supreme-leader-ayatollah-seyyed-ali-khameneh-ei-free-the-brilliant-young-iranian-physicist?recruiter=2264542&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-md-no_src-reason_msg&fb_ref=Default7/25/2019 Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016
10/12
AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016Pg 10
suspected perpetrators remained at large in Indonesia. No
progress by the authorities was reported in implementing
recommendations addressing impunity rom the Commis-sion or Reception, ruth and Reconciliation (CAVR) and the
bilateral Indonesia-imor-Leste Commission o ruth and
Friendship (CF).
Amnesty International has documented ongoing impunity
in imor-Leste in its reports We Cry or Justice: Impunity
Persists 10-years on in imor-Leste (ASA 57/001/2009) and
imor-Leste: Justice in the Shadow (ASA/57/001/2010).
CHINA: Urgent Action - Chinese Journalist Missing In ThailandLi Xin (m)
China. His partner, who remains in China, is taking care o
their two-year-old son and is pregnant.
Tere is particular concern or Li Xin as a number o coun-
tries in South East Asia have recently orcibly returned dis-sidents and members o ethnic minorities fleeing China.
Action
Please write immediately in Chinese, Tai, English or your
own language:
Urge the Chinese and Tai authorities to take all possible
steps to establish the whereabouts and legal status o Li Xin,
and to immediately disclose this inormation to his amily,
lawyers, and the public;
Demand that i he is detained, the authorities release
him immediately and unconditionally unless he is ormally
charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense
Call on them to ensure without delay that i he is detained
he has regular, unrestricted access to his amilies and lawyers.
Appeals To
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE MARCH 10th 2016 O:
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs
Wang Yi Buzhang
No. 2, Chaoyangmen Nandajie,
Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100701
People's Republic o China
Salutation: Dear Minister
Tai Minister for Foreign Affairs
Don Pramudwinai
Ministry o Foreign Affairs
Sri Ayudhya Road
Bangkok 10400, Tailand
Fax: +66 2643 5320 / +66 2643 5314
AChinese journalist has not been seen or heard rom sinceJanuary 11th, when he was traveling by train rom Tailand to
Laos. He was planning to apply or reugee status in Tai-
land, but there are ears he may have been orcibly returned
to China where he would be at risk o detention, torture and
other ill-treatment.
Journalist Li Xin, a ormer opinion editor o the website o
the Southern Metropolis Daily, a popular Chinese newspaper,
sent an SMS message to his partner on January 11th saying
that he was traveling to the border between Tailand and
Laos. He has not been heard rom since. According to her, he
was planning to apply or reugee status in Tailand and seek
settlement in another country, which required him to leaveTailand and re-enter with a new visa.
Li Xin fled rom China in October 2015, firstly to India,
where he was reused asylum, and then to Tailand. While in
India, he revealed in media interviews that in June 2013, Chi-
nese state security officials had put him under intense pres-
sure to act as an inormant against his colleagues and riends,
and threatened to imprison him i he did not do so. Afer
initially cooperating, Li Xin reused to continue, which he
believed put him and his amily at risk, so he decided to leave
CBStock.Xchng
7/25/2019 Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016
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AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016Pg 11
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Minister
Copies To
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Tailand
Embassy o Te People's Republic o China in Tailand
57 Ratchadaphisek Road,
Bangkok 10400, Tailand
Fax: +66-2-2468247
Email: [email protected]
Ambassador Chaiyong Satjipanon
Royal Embassy o Tailand
1024 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.Washington, D.C. 20007
Fax: 1 202 944 3611
Email: [email protected]
Ambassador Cui iankai
Embassy o the People's Republic o China
3505 International Place NW
Washington,DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 495 2138
Email: [email protected]
Additional Information
South East Asian countries are increasingly violating the non-
reoulement principle ollowing pressure rom the Chinese
government. Tis principle prohibits the transer o people to
any country or jurisdiction where they would be at real risk
o serious human rights violations or abuses. It is enshrined
in numerous international instruments, and has achieved the
status o customary international law, binding on all states
regardless o whether they have ratified the relevant treaties,
such as the UN Reugee Convention, the International Cov-enant on Civil and Political Rights, or the Convention against
orture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading reatment
or Punishment.
A number o countries have orcibly returned dissidents and
members o ethnic minorities who had fled China, in viola-
tion o their obligations o non-reoulement. In November
2015, Jiang Yeei and Dong Guangping, two Chinese activists
recognized as reugees by the Office o the United Nations
High Commissioner or Reugees (UNHCR), were deported
rom Tailand to China, and are at grave risk o torture and
other ill-treatment, as well as unair trials (see UA 259/16:https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/2880/2015/
en/).
In July 2015, the Tai authorities orcibly returned to China
some 100 individuals, mainly ethnic Uighurs o Chinese
citizenship who were at risk o torture and other cruel, inhu-
man and degrading treatment or punishment upon return.
In December 2012, Malaysia orcibly returned six Uighurs,
whose claims or asylum were pending with the UNHCR. In
December 2009, the Cambodian authorities orcibly returned
20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers. O these 20, five are report-ed to have been sentenced to lie imprisonment, while eight
others are reported to have been sentenced to prison terms
ranging rom 16 to 20 year, afer closed trials.
In addition, other persons known to be critical o the Chi-
nese leadership, or who are linked to them, have vanished
rom South East Asian countries in recent months in unclear
circumstances. For instance, Gui Minhai, a Swedish national
o Chinese origin, went missing in Tailand in October 2015
and activists have voiced ears he was removed to China. On
January 17th 2016, Gui Minhai appeared on Chinese statetelevision CCV making a conession, which may have
been made under duress. Te same month, 16-year-old Bao
Zhuoxuan, the son o Chinese lawyer Wang Yu, and Chinese
activists ang Zhishun and Xing Qingxian, were taken away
by uniormed officials and plain-clothed individuals rom a
town in Myanmar close to the Chinese border. Afer several
days during which there was no inormation about their
whereabouts, Bao Zhuoxuan was returned to his grandpar-
ents home in Ulanhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,
in northern China. It is believed that the two men travelling
with him are being held by Chinese authorities.
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AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016Pg 12
AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016
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