group 48 newsletter - june 2015
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June 2015 newsletter of Local Group 48 of Amnesty International USA in Portland, ORTRANSCRIPT
Amnesty International USA Group 48
Newsletter6.15
1 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Release Fred Bauma and Yves Makwabala
2 CENTRAL AFRICA: Gabriel Rufyiri
3 CHINA: Urgent Action - Health Fears for Detainee
4 Majid Tavakoli Released from Rajai Shahr Prison
5 Nebraska: 19th State to Repeal Death Penalty
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Release Fred Bauma and Yves Makwabalaby Terrie Rodello, AIUSA Central Africa Activist Network Coordinator
The Democratic Republic of Congo Team at Amnesty International has requested that we take additional ac-tions on behalf of Fred Bauma and Yves Makwabala.
Since the arrest of over 30 persons in Kinshasa during a press conference on March 15th, most of the people arrested have been released. However two of the activists, Fred Bauma and Yves Makwa-bala are still detained by the authori-ties. After 50 days for Fred and 40 days for Yves of secret detention at the ANR (national intelligence service), they were transferred to Makala prison. They are being charged with treason, attempted coup and attempt to take the life of the Head of State. Amnesty Interna-tional has been in close contact with
their lawyers who have told Amnesty International that their files held by the prosecutor are empty and that the decision to keep them in detention is highly political. Amnesty International has asked us to step up our activism on behalf of Fred and Yves by taking the following two actions:
Action 1 Please take action on the urgent action that was distributed to the CAFRAN list on May 25, 2015 and write to the au-thorities; https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/1702/2015/en/.
Action 2 Take a photo of yourself. First, write the hashtag FreeFred, FreeYves on your hands and, take your photo and to post your picture online to show support.
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Please also post the pictures on Twitter and any Facebook pages to promote the campaign! Check out campaign video: The DRC Team has produced a campaign video with the help of the Senegalese and Burkinabé activists https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e03hkWWG7dU The video links up
to the petition which is running on the website of the Franco-phone section of Amnesty Belgium. The petition is also run-ning on the website of Flemish section of AI Belgium and on the website of AI Senegal. We still encourage more signatures to the petition!
CENTRAL AFRICA: Gabriel Rufyiriby Terrie Rodello, AIUSA Central Africa Activist Network Coordinator
Your support through solidarity messages is needed. Please consider taking as many of the following actions yourself, in your local group and distribute to your activist networks who may be interested. Also please distribute to other AIUSA activists and groups who may take these actions.
Action 1 Please distribute the following tweets Stand in Solidarity with Gabriel Rufyiri. Check out his profile! #KomeraTurikumwe #WeStandWithBurundi
#BurundiGov must end threats against human rights defend-ers. #KomeraTurikumwe #WeStandWithBurundi
#BurundiGov must ensure a favorable space for civil society’s work. #Komeraturikumwe
#WeStandWithBurundi
CC the following Burundi Government Official Accounts: On Twitter: @BdiPresidence @willynyamitwe On Facebook: www.facebook.com/PresidenceBurundi Please add the attached profile on the tweet.
Action 2 Take a picture of yourself and your group members with a solidarity message. Please send the photo to me at [email protected] and I will send them to the IS Team, who will forward
For more than six years now, the Government of Burundi has not been able to close the murder case of Ernest Mani-rumva. Ernest Manirumva was a HRD working for Observa-toire de Lutte contre les malversationseconomiques – OLU-COME, a local organization that focuses on governance and corruption in Burundi. Despite the help provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for the investigation of this assassination, the authorities are yet to disclose their findings or make any significant arrest related to this case. Instead, the Burundi authorities have accused Gabriel Rufyiri, colleague of the late Ernest Manirumva, of having ordered the killing of his own colleague. He has been interrogated at the pros-ecutors’ office on several occasions. Activities related to the campaign that aims to seek justice on this case, Justice pour Ernest Manirumva have been restricted by the authorities.
The Burundian authorities have also targeted and restricted a campaign against the high cost of living in Burundi – Cam-pagne contre la vie chère. Initiated by OLUCOME in 2011, this campaign is now made up of a coalition of hundreds of Burundian NGOs demanding accountability from their gov-ernment and a stop to the increasingly high cost of living in Burundi. Human rights defenders engaged in this campaign’s activities are being targeted and harassed, including its lead-ing figure, Gabriel Rufyiri.
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them to Gabriel and post on the IS Africa Online Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amnestyafrica?fref=ts .
Action 3 Please write a letter or email to the President of Burundi with a copy to the Ambassador of the Republic of Burundi in Washington DC making the following points: The Government of Burundi must:
◌ Ensure the security of Mr. Gabriel Rifyiri;
◌ Investigate threats against Mr. Gabriel Rifyiri and prosecute those responsible;
◌ Make public the report on the assassination of the late Ernest Manirumva. Six years without a court decision on this assassination is a miscarriage of justice;
◌ Cease all action of judicial harassment against Mr. Gabriel Rifyiri.
Appeals To President of Burundi
Pierre Nkurunziza Office of the President Boulevard de l’Uprona BP 1870 Bujumbura, Burundi Fax: 011 257 22 24 89 08 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Your Excellency
Copies To His Excellency Ernest NDABASHINZE Ambassador of the Republic of Burundi 2233 Wisconsin Ave NW, Suite 408 Washington, DC 20007 E-mail: [email protected] Fax: 1 202 342 2578
Please let me know if there are any questions by emailing me at [email protected]
CHINA: Urgent Action - Health Fears for DetaineeLi Xiaobo, m
Li Xiaobo was first detained in April 2014 while distributing Falun Gong leaflets with his son, a Canadian citizen who was initially detained but then deported back to Canada. Prior to his trial, he was denied family visits and medical attention. Li Xiaobo was sentenced to eight years in prison by Chengdu Longquanyi District People’s Court on April 21st, 2015. He was charged with “using a heretical organization to subvert the law” for his continued activities for and practice of Falun Gong. His lawyers reported that they and Li Xiaobo were constantly interrupted during the trial and that the court refused to allow the Canadian Consul General to observe the hearings. Li Xiaobo is appealing the verdict.
Li Xiaobo was previously sentenced in 2005 also for “using a heretical organization to subvert the law” and served eight years in prison. He reported being tortured while in deten-tion, including repeated beatings by prison guards and other inmates on orders from the guards, and being forced to stand naked with his bare feet in water for hours at a time during winter.
Action Please write immediately in Chinese or your own language:
◌ Demanding that the authorities immediately and uncondi-
There are grave concerns for Falun Gong practitioner Li Xiaobo, who is detained in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, cen-tral China as a result of his beliefs. His lawyers have reported that his health is deteriorating rapidly and he is also at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Li Xiaobo suffers multiple health problems, many of which are thought to result from the torture he suffered during a previous imprisonment. His lawyers visited him at the Longquanyi District Detention Centre in the first week of May and said that his condition is clearly worsening and that he is not receiving the treatment he needs. His teeth have deteriorated to the point that he has great difficulty eating, he is blind in one eye and his vision in the other is down to 60 per cent.
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tionally release Li Xiaobo, as he has been imprisoned solely for exercising his right to freedom of belief and expression;
◌ Urging them to ensure that Li Xiaobo is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, that he is immediately provided with any medical treatment he requires, and that the conditions of his detention adhere to international law and standards;
◌ Calling on them to ensure he has regular access to his fam-ily, and lawyers.
Appeals To PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE JUNE 30th, 2015 TO: Head of Longquanyi DistrictDetention Center Fang Shengquan Suozhang Longdou Nanlu Longquanyi Qu Chengdu, Sichuan 610100 People’s Republic of China Salutation: Dear Director
Head of Sichuan Provincial Department of Public Security Department Deng Yong Tingzhang 9 Jindunlu Qingyangqu, Chengdushi, Sichuan 610014 People’s Republic of China Salutation: Dear Director
Copies To Premier Li Keqiang Guojia Zongli The State Council General Office 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu Beijingshi 100017 People’s Republic of China Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Ambassador Cui Tiankai Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 3505 International Place NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 495 2138 Email: [email protected]
Additional Information The spiritual movement Falun Gong was banned in China as
Majid Tavakoli, well-known stu-dent activist was released from Ra-jaei Shahr prison.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Majid Tavakoli, was re-leased from Rajaei Shahr prison, after nearly 5 and half years, on May 10.
This student activist was given a three-day-furlough on April 20. Despite the reports which suggested that the furlough would be joint to ul-timate freedom, he had to go back to the prison.
Majid Tavakoli is the former member of Central Council of Islamic Association of Amir Kabir University of Technology Students, who was ar-rested after being beaten, on December 9, 2009 after giving a speech among the students.
He was charged with collusion against the re-gime, propaganda against the regime, insulting the supreme leader and insulting the president on branch number 15 of the revolutionary court and sentenced to 8 years in prison, 5 years de-privation from political activities and five years deprivation from leaving the country.
He was sentenced to another 6 months in pris-on during his imprisonment by judge Moghiseh on charge of propaganda against the regime, for a letter that he had publicized from inside the prison for commemoration of students’ day.
Majid Tavakoli Released from Rajai Shahr Prison - Posted on May 11th 2015,
HRANA News Agency
Majid Tavakoli (3rd from left) celebrates his birthday at home for the first time after spending more than 5 years in prison. AIUSA Group 48 adopted his case last year and petitioned for his release.
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a “threat to social and political stability” after its practitioners held a peaceful sit-in on Tiananmen Square in July 1999. The government established a dedicated office, referred to as the
“610 Office”, responsible for overseeing the crackdown on the Falun Gong and other “heretical cults”, with offices operat-ing from the central level down through provincial and local party and government organs.
Since then, tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained where the mission is to “trans-form” them by forcing them via coercion into renouncing their spiritual beliefs, often through the use of torture and ill-treatment. The vast majority of Falun Gong practitioners
were held in Re-education Through Labour (RTL) facilities until this form of administrative detention was abolished in 2013. The Chinese authorities are increasingly using alter-native channels of arbitrary detention, as well as criminal prosecutions of individuals who previously may have been sent to RTL.
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, although China ratified the UN Convention Against Torture in 1988. Amnesty International also receives regular reports of deaths in custody, many of them caused by torture, in a variety of state institutions, including prisons and police detention centers.
Group CoordinatorJoanne [email protected]
TreasurerTena [email protected]
Newsletter EditorDan [email protected]
Darfur (Sudan)Marty [email protected]
IndonesiaMax [email protected]
Prisoners’ CasesJane [email protected]
Megan Harringtonmegan.harrington @gmail.com
Concert TablingWill [email protected]
Central Africa/ OR State Death Penalty AbolitionTerrie [email protected]
AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information
Nebraska: 19th State to Repeal Death Penaltyby Terrie Rodello, AIUSA Oregon State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator
ordinator for Amnesty International USA. In addition to her AIUSA role, Christy is a former board member of Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NADP) and a current member of the NADP Action Committee. http://blog.am-nestyusa.org/us/victory-nebraska-becomes-the-19th-us-state-to-abolish-the-death-penalty/?utm_source=feature&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=DP
Can Oregon be the 20th or 21th state to repeal the death pen-alty? That is what we are trying to do. Contact me by email at [email protected] if you like to help.
Today, Nebraska has become the 19th state to repeal their death penalty. The Nebraska legislature voted to override the governor’s promised veto. The vote was 30 for repeal and 19 for retaining their death penalty. There are now 19 states with-out a death penalty. Considering that ten more states that still have a death penalty, have not had an execution in more than five year means that the majority of American states are not currently in the business of executing convicted inmates.
Having Nebraska join New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut and Maryland the states that have repealed their death penalty laws within the past decade gives the national movement to abolish the death penalty another boost.
To read the press release issued today by Amnesty Interna-tional USA click on this link: http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/nebraska-legislature-overrides-veto-of-death-penalty-repeal
For a perspective from a Nebraska resident who has been working to repeal the death penalty in Nebraska since 1992, please read this blog written by Christy Hargesheimer, Ne-braska resident and Nebraska State Death Penalty Action Co-
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AIUSA group 48 Newsletter June 2015
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