Group 48 Newsletter - November 2009

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Amnesty International USA Group 48

Newsletter 11.09

In This Issue . . .1 CHINA Urgent Action

Fear o orture

3 USA Urgent ActionDeath Penalty

6 MEXICO Urgent Action

orture

7 Amnesty InternationalWelcomes Introduction o

“Efective Death Penalty Appeals Act”

AIUSA-Group 48http://aipdx.org503-227-1878Next Meeting:Friday November 13thFirst Unitarian Church1011 SW 12th Ave7:00pm in ormalgathering7:30pm meeting starts

NewsLetter DesignedBy Michelle Whitlock MichelleWhitlock.com

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Police told his amily he had beendetained because he had “given toomany media interviews.” His amily, and

riends within the Uighur community,believe he has been detained because ohis comments in interviews about thecause o unrest in the Xinjiang Uighur

Uighur journalist Hairat Niyaz wastaken rom his home on 1 October.On 4 October, police delivered a noticeto his amily which said he had beenarrested or “endangering state secu-rity.” He is at risk o torture or otherill-treatment.

CHINA Urgent Action - Fear of TortureHairat Niyaz (m), journalist

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AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 2

Autonomous Region (XUAR) that began on 5 July. He told journalists that 20 years o discriminatory ethnic policies,including the use o “anti-terrorism” legislation to target Ui-ghurs, and marginalizing Uighurs economically, were the rootcause o the unrest. He warned the local authorities on 4 July that unrest was possible. Tey ignored his warning, but laterused it to place him under investigation.

Hairat Niyaz has been held incommunicado since he wasdetained. He is now held at the ianshan detention center inthe XUAR capital, Urumqi.

Background InformationHairat Niyaz is a well-known journalist within China’s Uighurcommunity. He graduated rom Beijing National University in 1982, has since worked or several publications and is de-liberately using the Chinese language to report on the cultureand situation o Uighurs in the XUAR to better reach Chi-nese-speaking domestic and overseas audiences. He has beena senior journalist with the Xinjiang Economic Daily, Chie Editorial Director o Xinjiang Legal Daily, and Deputy Direc-tor o the legal magazine Fazhi Zongheng . A collection o interviews he gave on the 5 July unrest, can be ound in Chi-nese on the Uighur Online International Forum http://www.uighurbiz.net/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=227486&highlight=

Violence and widespread unrest broke out in Urumqi andother parts o the XUAR on 5 July, a er a police crackdownon demonstrations by Uighurs in Urumqi, which had begunpeace ully. Te demonstrators were protesting at the authori-ties’ ailure to take immediate action ollowing the death o two Uighur workers during a riot at a actory in the city o Shaoguan, in the southern province o Guangdong. A er a

violent crackdown, the authorities accused overseas Uighurs,in particular the World Uyghur Congress and its president,Rebiya Kadeer, o having masterminded the unrest.

Since the July unrest in the XUAR the authorities havedetained thousands o people, brought dozens to trial, threat-ened those involved in the unrest with harsh sentences andin October announced that 11 people had received the rstdeath sentences handed down or involvement in the unrest.Te authorities have interpreted all dissent as stemming rom“terrorist” or “separatist” activities, justi ying their harsh crack-

down while ignoring the underlying causes o the discontent.Eyewitness accounts received by Amnesty International con-tradict government accounts o the events o July, and suggestthe authorities used excessive orce against the protesters,resulting in the deaths o possibly hundreds o people.

In the XUAR, the authorities routinely associate Uighurcultural activities, religious practice and expressions o dissentwith the “three evils” o “terrorism, separatism and religiousextremism.” Many Uighurs are arbitrarily detained and jailedas political prisoners or prisoners o conscience.

Te editor o the popular Uighur website Uighurbiz.net,Ilham ohti, was taken rom his home on 8 July, shortly a erthe authorities said that articles posted on his website had

uelled the violence. Ilham ohti has denied this, saying thathe would never agree with using violence. He was releasedon 23 July but remains under surveillance. Tere are uncon-

rmed reports that some other sta or regular contributors toUighurbiz.net have gone missing.

Another journalist, Dilixiati Paerhati, has been detainedincommunicado since 7 August, a er being interrogated over

around eight days rom 24 July, in relation to the 5 July unrest.(For details see: UA 262/09, 30 September 2009.)

On 27 September the XUAR Regional People’s CongressStanding Committee issued new regulations that explicitly

orbade the use o the internet to “endanger state security” or“instigate ethnic separatism.”

Te Criminal Law already includes the crime o “endanger-ing state security,” which includes “subversion o state power,”

“separatism” and “leaking state secrets.” However, over recent

years the authorities have increasingly used these vaguely-worded provisions to silence and imprison peace ul activistsand to curtail reedom o expression.

Recommended ActionPlease send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

◌ urging the authorities to release Hairat Niyaz immediately and unconditionally, unless he is charged with an internation-ally recognizable criminal o ense;

◌ calling on them to guarantee Hairat Niyaz will not be tor-tured or otherwise ill-treated; »




◌ calling on them to ensure that he is given access to legalcounsel o his choice, his amily and any medical attention hemay require.

Appeals ToChairman, XUAR GovernmentNur BEKRI ZhuxiXinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zheng u2 ZhongshanluWulumuqishi, 830041Xinjiang Weiwuer ZizhiquPEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINAEmail: [email protected]: Dear Chairman

Director, XUAR Department o Public Security LIU Yaohua ingzhangXinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Gong’anting58 HuangheluWulumuqishi 830001Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu

People’s Republic o ChinaSalutation: Dear Director

Copies ToChairman, Ethnic Afairs CommissionYANG Jing ZhurenGuojia Minzu Shiwu Weiyuanhui252 aipingqiaodajie, XichengquBeijingshi 100800PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINASalutation: Your Excellency

Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou

Embassy o the People’s Republic o China2300 Connecticut Ave. NWWashington DC 20008Fax: 1 202 328-2582Email: chinaembassy_us@ mprc.gov.cn

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIA ELY.Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action o ce i sending ap-peals a er 8 December 2009.

USA Urgent Action - Death PenaltyJohn Allen Muhammad (m)

John Allen Muhammad is due to be executed in Virginia on10 November. He was convicted in 2003 o capital murderin relation to a series o shootings in 2002. His lawyers areseeking clemency on the grounds that he su ers rom severemental impairment.

Tere were a series o 16 shootings between 5 September and22 October 2002 in Maryland, Alabama, Louisiana, Washing-ton, DC and Virginia, leaving 10 people dead and another sixseriously wounded. John Allen Muhammad and Lee BoydMalvo were arrested by ederal agents in Maryland on 24October 2002, asleep in a car. Among the items ound in thecar was a Bushmaster rife which was linked to many o theshootings through ballistics testimony.

John Muhammad was tried in Virginia in 2003 or the murdero Dean Meyers, who had been shot while ueling his car at agas station in Manassas,Virginia, on 9 October 2002. Initially John Muhammad chose to represent himsel at trial despitebeing warned by the judge that he would be making a “tre-mendous mistake” given the complexity o the case. wo dayslater he red himsel and his stand-by counsel took over hisrepresentation. »

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Group Coordinator Joanne Lau971-221-5450

[email protected] Tabling Will [email protected]

Newsletter EditorDan [email protected]

Treasurer Janan Stoll503-282-8834

[email protected] [email protected]

Central Africa RANTerrie [email protected]

OR State DeathPenalty AbolitionCoordinator

Terrie [email protected]

Central America RANMarylou Noble503-245-6923marylou_noble@

yahoo.com

Dignity Campaign Janie Whitlock360-859-3050

[email protected]

Guantanamo cases& Darfur

Jane Kristof [email protected] [email protected]

Indonesia RANMax [email protected]

AIUSA Group 48 Contact In ormation

A psychiatric evaluation obtained by his lawyers determinedthat despite an “ability to sometimes show a super cialbrightness,” Muhammad did not have “a reasonable degreeo rational understanding.” Te psychiatrist concluded thathe “was not competent to stand trial,” that his “ability to makedecisions and understand the proceedings was impaired,” andthat his “judgment and ability to think logically were severely compromised.”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging revealed that John Muham-mad’s brain had serious abnormalities, including a shrunkencortex, indicating a loss o brain tissue likely to have been

caused by a severe injury to the head. Another abnormality ound in his brain is sometimes associated with schizophre-nia, and two experts retained concluded that Muhammadprobably su ered rom this serious mental illness. Tis opin-ion was consistent with indications that John Muhammadsu ered rom delusional and bizarre thinking. Other testingindicated that he had severe cognitive impairments.

Because John Muhammad re used to be interviewed by theprosecution’s psychiatrist, however, the trial judge ruled thatno expert testimony could be introduced, greatly reducing

the de ense lawyers’ ability to protect Muhammad rom thedeath penalty. Tey had built a mitigation case based aroundthe testimony o a mental health expert. Among other things,according to Muhammad’s appeal lawyers, his relatives andothers had provided the expert with “heart-wrenching storieso the abuse and neglect Muhammad su ered as a child -beatings with hoses and electrical cords, denial o ood, cloth-ing and basic necessities, and su ering on a scale di cult toimagine.” Mental health experts have linked this abuse withJohn Muhammad's brain dys unction.

Background InformationState and ederal o cials were divided over where to rstprosecute John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, and which

jurisdiction would be best placed to obtain and carry outthe death penalty became a disturbing part o the decision-making process. Despite the act that the two suspects werearrested in Maryland and most o the murders had happenedthere, the prosecutions were handed to Virginia which, unlikeMaryland and the ederal government, was and remains oneo the most “e cient” executing jurisdictions in the USA,

second only to exas in the number o executions carriedout since 1977 and with a reputation or moving cases swi ly through the appeals system. On 7 November 2002, US At-torney General John Ashcro , an ardent advocate o capitalpunishment, announced that Virginia should conduct theinitial prosecutions, emphasizing at a press con erence thatit was “imperative that the ultimate sanction be available orthose who have committed these crimes,” even in the case o the teenaged Malvo.

Te 2002 sniper shootings were undoubtedly traumatic orthe individuals and communities a ected by them. Amnesty

International does not seek to downplay the seriousness o these crimes or the su ering they have caused. It neverthelessopposes unconditionally the execution o John Allen Muham-mad, as it does every execution, regardless o the seriousness




o the crime or the culpability o the condemned. o end thedeath penalty is to abandon a destructive, diversionary anddivisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held

values. It not only runs the risk o irrevocable error, it is alsocostly, to the public purse as well as in social and psychologi-cal terms. It has not been proven to have a special deterrente ect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, ongrounds o race and class. It denies the possibility o reconcili-ation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses tocomplex human problems, rather than pursuing explanationsthat could in orm positive strategies. It prolongs the su ering

o murder victims’ amilies, and extends that su ering to theloved ones o the condemned prisoner. It diverts resourcesthat could be better used to work against violent crime andassist those a ected by it.

oday, some 139 countries are abolitionist in law or practiceInternational law is abolitionist in outlook, seeking to haveretentionist countries narrow the applicability o the deathpenalty with a view to ending its use altogether. Consistentwith this, even those tried by international tribunals or themost serious crimes o concern to the international com-munity - crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes

- cannot be subjected to the death penalty. In July 2002, a yearbe ore John Muhammad was sentenced to death, the RomeStatute o the International Criminal Court came into orce.Under Article 77 o the Statute, the maximum penalty whichthe Court can impose is li e imprisonment, subject to review a er 25 years.

Lee Malvo was also tried in Virginia, and was sentenced inDecember 2003 to li e imprisonment without the possibility

o parole, a sentence which violates international law in thecase o an o ender convicted or a crime committed whenhe or she was under 18 years old (see UA 288/03, 9 October2003, and update, 24 December 2003).

Tere have been 42 executions in the USA this year, bring-ing to 1,178 the total number o executions carried out theresince judicial killing resumed in 1977.Virginia accounts or103 o these executions. See also, USA: Te execution o men-tally ill o enders, January 2006, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/in o/AMR51/003/2006/en.

Recommended ActionPlease send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

◌ Recognizing the serious crimes in this case and the traumaand su ering caused;

◌ Opposing the execution o John Allen Muhammad;

◌ Noting expert evidence not heard by the jury that he su ersrom brain damage and severe mental illness;

◌ Calling on Governor Kaine to commute John Muhammad'sdeath sentence and to work against the death penalty.

Appeals ToGovernor Timothy M. KainePatrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor1111 East Broad StreetRichmond, VA 23219Fax: 1 804 371 6351Email: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTeGovernor/contactGovernor.c mSalutation: Dear Governor

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIA ELY.Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action o ce i sending ap-

peals a er 10 November 2009.

Within the United States$0.28 - Postcards$0.44 - Letters and Cards up to 1 oz.

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show warrants to arrest the men or search their homes. Otherhomes o OCEZ members in the area were searched, but noone else was arrested. According to a local human rights orga-nization, hundreds o police o cers and soldiers remained inthe area or at least two days.

Roselio de la Cruz and José Manuel de la orre are currently held in a state prison. Teir lawyer said that during interroga-tion, they were blind olded, bound and beaten. Roselio dela Cruz was also threatened with death, while o cials put a

plastic bag over the head o José Manuel de la orre until hewas almost su ocating, then he was orced to inhale watertill he ainted. Both men were orced to sign papers whichthey were not allowed to read. Another member o OCEZwho lives in the area, José Manuel Hernández Martínez, wasarrested on 30 September. Tough he should be held by theChiapas state authorities, on 16 October he was moved to a

ederal prison 2,000 km away. Tis is too ar or his amily and lawyer to visit him, and so he is e ectively held incom-municado.

PLEASE WRI E IMMEDIA ELY in Spanish or your ownlanguage, calling on the Mexican authorities:

◌ o guarantee that that Roselio de la Cruz and José Manuelde la orre will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated;

◌ o immediately carry out an impartial investigation intotheir torture, with those responsible brought to justice;

◌ o ensure that the two men are either released immediately,or else charged promptly with a recognizably criminal o ence

and tried airly according to international standards, with any evidence obtained through torture ruled inadmissible;

◌ o ensure that José Manuel Hernández Martínez has accessto his amily and lawyer;

◌ o end illegal house searches and intimidation o OCEZsupporters and other inhabitants o Venustiano Carranza, andto investigate into the conduct o the police operation.

MEXICO Urgent Action - TortureRoselio de la Cruz and José Manuel de la Torre

wo men, both members o a peasant armers’ organizationin Chiapas state, southern Mexico, have been tortured in cus-tody a er being arrested without a warrant. A third man whois a member o the same organization is being held 2,000kmaway, where he is unable to see his lawyer and amily. Allthree men are accused o illegally occupying land in 2005.

In the early hours o 24 October the homes in VenustianoCarranza municipality o several members o OrganizaciónCampesina Emiliano Zapata (“Emiliano Zapata” Peasant

Organisation, OCEZ) were searched by state police. Whenthe police entered the home o Roselio de la Cruz González,they hit and threatened one o his sons at gunpoint to revealthe whereabouts o his ather. Roselio de la Cruz immedi-ately gave himsel up. His amily saw him being hit in thestomach be ore being bundled in a police van. On the samenight, police entered the nearby home o José Manuel de laorre Hernández. Tey hit him and his three children who

were trying to stop him being taken away. Te police did not

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Appeals ToPLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE DECEMBER 8 2009Governor o ChiapasLic. Juan Sabines GuerreroGobernador del Estado de ChiapasPalacio de Gobierno

uxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, MEXICOFax: +52 961 6188050 ext. 21122Email: [email protected]: Dear Governor/Señor Gobernador

Chiapas Attorney General

Mtro. Raciel Lopez Salazar

Procuraduria General de JusticiaLibramiento Norte no.201

uxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, MexicoFax: + 52 961 6165724Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Señor Procurador

Attorney General o the RepublicLic. Arturo Chávez ChávezProcuraduría General de la RepublicaAv. Paseo de la Re orma no. 211.213, México D.F., C.P. 06500,MEXICOFax: + 52 55 53 460908

SalutationDear Attorney General/ Señor Procurador

Amnesty International Welcomes Introduction of “Effective Death PenaltyAppeals Act”Bill Would Provide Critical Options to Death Row Inmates with New Evidence of InnocenceNovember 4, 2009

Laura Moye, director o Amnesty International’s DeathPenalty Abolition Campaign, made the ollowing commentstoday ollowing introduction o HR 3986, the “E ectiveDeath Penalty Appeals Act.”:

“We are grate ul to Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga. or his leader-ship in addressing the serious issues that can prevent deathrow inmates rom establishing a strong claim o innocence.

When a person acing execution has strong evidence o his

innocence, he should have ample opportunity to bring thoseclaims back into a court o law. Te law as it stands today isfawed in this respect. Rep. Johnson’s bill would ensure that

death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence o innocence.

Given that 139 people have been wrong ully convicted andsent to death row in the last three decades in the UnitedStates, it is especially important that lawmakers take a closelook at the faws in a system that irreversibly takes human li e.Amnesty International believes the death penalty should beabolished; this would be the best way to ensure that innocentpeople are not executed. But we hope that lawmakers on vari-ous sides o the debate can nd common ground on the issue

o innocence.“

Georgia prisoner roy Davis, who aced execution three timesdespite having strong claims o innocence, aced a di cult le-gal battle in presenting his innocence claims due to the Anti-errorism and E ective Death Penalty Act o 1996, which

limited his ability to appeal his case in ederal courts. Tis billwould help prisoners with similar cases.

Davis, who has always maintained his innocence, has been ondeath row since 1991. Last year, he came within two hours o



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AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009

execution, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in August thathe should be allowed a new hearing to establish his inno-cence.

Davis was convicted in 1991 o killing police o cer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia, in 1989. No murderweapon was produced at trial, nor any physical e videncelinking Davis to the crime. Seven o nine witnesses againsthim later recanted or changed their initial testimonies insworn a davits.

HR 3986 can be viewed online at: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc111/h3986_ih.xml

A delegation from AI UK visited Troy Davis on death row thispast September.

Top from left : Richard Hughes - drummer of British bandKeane, Davis , Alistair Carmichael - a Member of the UKParliament, Kim Manning-Cooper - AI UK’s Death PenaltyAbolition Campaigner, and Laura Moye - AIUSA DeathPenalty Abolition Campaign Director.

Bottom from left : Davis’ mother Virginia Davis and his sister Martina Correia .

Group 48 Newsletter - November 2009

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