Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016

7/25/2019 Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016

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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/


2/12

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

[email protected]

OR Area Coordinator

Marty Fromer

[email protected]

Indonesia

Max White

[email protected]

Prisoners Cases

Jane Kristof

[email protected]

Jama Chorush

[email protected] Tabling

Will Ware

[email protected]

Central Africa/

OR State Death

Penalty Abolition

Terrie Rodello

[email protected]

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]


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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


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.

TulayPalazStock.Xchng


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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


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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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.

PaulPasiecznyStock.Xchng


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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


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


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




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!


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


Minister of JusticeIvo Jorge Valente

Ministry o Justice

Avenue Jacinto Candido

Dili, imor-Leste


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

James Ryan Dulay Stock.Xchng


9/12


Rue Pestalozzi 7,

1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Fax: +41 22 788 3564


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


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




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!


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=Default


10/12


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


Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs

Wang Yi Buzhang

No. 2, Chaoyangmen Nandajie,

Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100701

People's Republic o China


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


11/12




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


Ambassador Chaiyong Satjipanon

Royal Embassy o Tailand

1024 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.Washington, D.C. 20007

Fax: 1 202 944 3611


Ambassador Cui iankai

Embassy o the People's Republic o China

3505 International Place NW

Washington,DC 20008

Fax: 1 202 495 2138



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.

Within the United States

$0.35 - Postcards

$0.49 - Letters and Cardsup to 1 oz.

To all international destinations

$1.20 - Postcards

$1.20 - Airmail Letters and Cardsup to 1 oz.

Postage Rates


12/12

Postage


AIUSAgroup 48 Newsletter February 2016

Group 48 Membership

Note: Group 48 is not a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

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check or money order payable to Amnesty International Group 48 and the orm below to our treasurer: ena Hoke, 5026 SE

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Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016

Documents

Transcript of Group 48 Newsletter - February 2016