P.O. Box 130901, Houston, TX 77219-0901
281-587-5386
http://www.amnestyhouston.org
mail@amnestyhouston.org

Monthly meeting first Wednesday of every month (except holidays).

NEWS AND NOTES

Monthly Meeting Agenda:

       Introductions
       Reports by Coordination Groups:
       Group case (Bárbara Italia Méndez)
       Avdo Palic
       Death Penalty
       Radio Committee
       Stop Violence Against Women Campaign
       Counter Terror With Justice Campaign
       South Asian Regional Action Network (SARAN)
       Refugees
       Out Front Campaign
       Who Will Bring Letter Next Meeting
Old Business:
       Fall Art Show (Esmeralda and Kathryn)
New Business:
       Rothko/UDHR event with TCADP and UNA
       December Meeting (party/write-a-thon)
 

Local Group 23 News:

• Sara Newhouse agreed to be our new member coordinator relieving Phivan who was filling in.
• The art show and new AIUSA campaign kickoff at the Winter Street Gallery was a huge success with most of the invitees showing up. The most kudos goes to Esmeralda Salinas who put in countless hours for almost a year to make it happen.  Esmeralda can be very proud of what she accomplished. The planning committee consisted of Esmeralda Salinas (who made it all happen), Shelley Shanks, Dave Atwood, Sara Newhouse and Phivan Wright.  Volunteers were Deborah Lowery-Adams, Hana Pinard, Linda Abad, Pauline Ohsie, John Sullivan, Sheli Rae, Shilpa Rao, Madeline Latorre, Alice Fa, Miranda Wang, Amelia Min-Venditti, and Hannah Thalenberg.  AI staff were Will Cordery, Adiyah Ali and Kathryn Hamoudah.  Catering provided by Lila and Matt Sheffer.  Music provided by Kerr High School students.  Event supplies provided by Galena Park Middle School.  Event Photographer:  Matthew Crawford. 

• We have openings for Group Coordinator and Secretary.

Tens of thousands of women migrant domestic workers in Jordan face isolation, exploitation and abuse, with little or no protection from the state.

Migrant domestic workers are crucial to the economy in Jordan, contributing to the well-being of the households where they work and providing vital incomes for their own families and communities. Many face exploitation and abuse, working up to 19 hours per day. Wages are meagre, and some do not receive payment until years later.

Jordan has some 40,000 registered women migrant domestic workers. Many come from South and South-East Asia, mostly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Many workers report being violently treated at the hands of members of their employer’s household; they say they are slapped, kicked, beaten, spat at and threatened with violence in the homes in which they work. Several have fallen to their deaths in recent years in circumstances recorded as accidents but which remain inadequately investigated and explained. Around 10 domestic workers are believed to commit suicide every year.

Many women migrant domestic workers are also routinely beaten by representatives of recruitment agencies shortly after their arrival in Jordan, apparently to frighten them and discourage them from running away or from making complaints about their employers.

Although new safeguards were introduced in 2003 in the form of a special contract for migrant domestic workers, they appear to have had little impact in practice. Until this summer, the Labour Law in Jordan excluded domestic workers from the protection offered to other workers, such as minimum wage provisions, sick leave or days off. Amendments to the Law were endorsed by the Jordanian parliament in July to state that a separate regulation would be issued to define the terms of their working conditions. Although this is a step forward, more needs to be done to ensure that the rights of women migrant domestic workers are protected in line with international human rights standards.

Amnesty International is calling on the US authorities to investigate reports that a cross-border raid from Iraq into Syria by US forces on Sunday killed eight civilians, including one child, in a village east of Damascus, and to disclose whether prisoners were taken during the attack, as one report suggests.

The Syrian authorities say that at least eight people were killed and others were injured when, just before 5pm on 26 October, US forces attacked a "civilian building under construction" at a farm in the village of al-Sukkariyah near the town of al-Bukamal, located in Syria some eight kilometres from the country's border with Iraq. They say those killed included five members of the same family, a father and his four sons, the youngest aged 16.

Eyewitnesses from the village are reported to have told journalists who visited the scene that a group of US soldiers landed in two helicopters, entered the building under construction and shot dead seven construction workers inside. The soldiers were reported to have then moved to a nearby tent in which the building's guard resided with his family and opened fire into it, killing him and seriously injuring his wife. One eyewitness is reported to have alleged that at least two people were taken away as prisoners by the US troops, but no claim to this effect has been made by the Syrian authorities or other sources.

US officials, speaking to the press on condition of anonymity, are reported to have said that the attack was directed at the compound of a network that smuggles fighters into Iraq, carried out as part of the US government's "expansive definition of self-defence". The anonymous sources also claim that a suspected prominent leader of al-Qa'ida and other "fighters" associated with him were killed but not civilians. Official US government spokespersons at the Pentagon and State Department, however, have declined to date to comment on the attack.

The Iraqi authorities initially appeared to condone the raid as being aimed against insurgents who infiltrate Iraq, but then on 28 October condemned the assault, declaring that they had opened an investigation into the incident and that they intended to share the findings with the Syrian authorities.

While Amnesty International welcomes the announcement of the investigation by the Iraqi authorities, it urges the US authorities to open immediately a thorough and independent investigation to determine whether its forces respected relevant rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. These provide that civilians must never be targeted and must be protected at all times from reckless and disproportionate force. Such an investigation should be conducted urgently and its full findings should be publicly disclosed. Anyone reasonably suspected of having committed a serious violation should be brought to justice in proceedings that conform to international fair trial standards.

Amnesty International is also calling on the US authorities to disclose whether prisoners were taken during the attack and, if so, to divulge their number and identities and their present whereabouts and legal status.

Amnesty International condemns today's sentencing by a Syrian criminal court of 12 pro-democracy activists to two and a half years in prison.

The activists, all of whom belong to the Syrian opposition group the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change, were found guilty following an unfair trial of "weakening national sentiment" and "broadcasting false or exaggerated news which could affect the morale of the country".

Amnesty International considers all 12 activists to be prisoners of conscience who have been imprisoned for calling for democratic reform and respect for human rights. The organization will continue its campaign to secure their release.

Forced Displacement, Attacks on Social and Human Rights Activists, and Killings by Security Forces All Increased, Says Human Rights Organization

(Madrid) -- The Colombian government is painting a false picture of the state of human rights in Colombia, when in fact the situation is deteriorating, including increasing reports of forced internal displacement, attacks against social and human rights activists, and killings by security forces, said Amnesty International in a new report released today.

“The Colombian authorities are in absolute denial, even refusing to admit there’s an armed conflict in their country, but people are telling us a very different story,” said Marcelo Pollack, Colombia researcher at Amnesty International. “It’s impossible to solve a problem without admitting there is one. Denial only condemns more people to abuse and death.”

Amnesty International’s report is the most comprehensive, up-to-date study on the state of human rights in this South American country. It shows that while some human rights indicators – such as kidnappings and the security situation in some cities – have improved over the years, many others have deteriorated.

The study also debunks statements repeated by the Colombian government that paint a positive picture of the human rights situation in the country; for example, that paramilitary groups no longer operate, that human rights abusers are held to account, and that the work of social activists and trade unionists is being fully respected.

"The government claims that Colombia is experiencing an irreversible renaissance of relative peace, rapidly falling levels of violence, the successful demobilization of tens of thousands of paramilitary combatants, and effective justice for victims of human rights abuses. It is certainly true that in recent years the incidence of some abuses has declined. Others, however, have increased, particularly extrajudicial executions carried out directly by the security forces and forced displacement. The recent upsurge of violence against human rights defenders and trade unionists is a cause for serious concern. There is also strong evidence to show that paramilitary groups remain active – and continue to commit human rights violations – despite government claims to the contrary," the report states.

The report provides recent examples of escalating violence, including the killing of Ingrid Yahaira Sinisterra, 16, who was abducted and killed by paramilitaries in August 2007, in Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca Department. Her family went to see the paramilitaries to ask for her body. They told Ingrid’s family that they had killed her as a warning to others not to have relationships with guerrillas.

The report recounts the stories of individuals and communities hardest hit by the conflict, including members of afro-descendant, indigenous and campesino communities killed or displaced from their homes; the victims of kidnappings; women and girls raped; children recruited by paramilitary and guerrilla groups or maimed by landmines; communities taking an active stand to defend their right not to be drawn into the conflict; and human rights defenders and trade unionists whose work in defense of human rights has cost them their lives.

“For over 40 years, Colombians have been trapped in one of the worst forgotten conflicts in the world. They are attacked by security forces, paramilitaries, and guerrilla groups, and their government fails to take any meaningful action to protect them,” said Pollack.

Amnesty International’s study showed that across Colombia:

*At least 1,400 civilians were killed in 2007, up from 1,300 in 2006. Of the cases where the perpetrator is known, the security forces were responsible for at least 330 of these, the paramilitaries for around 300 and the guerrilla for some 260.

*As many as 305,000 Colombians were displaced in 2007, compared with 220,000 in 2006.

*At least 190 people were victims of either enforced disappearances by the security forces and paramilitaries or missing following abductions by guerrilla groups in 2007, up from around 180 in 2006.

Amnesty International is calling on all parties to the Colombian conflict to demonstrate the political will to end human rights abuses. The organization also urges the international community to make greater efforts to ensure that both sides of the conflict respect the human rights of Colombians.

The leaders of the activist organisation Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, were denied bail on Monday following their arrest on 16 October 2008. They are being held at Mlondolozi Prison in the city of Bulawayo, where conditions are said to fall well below international standards.

The decision came as at least 40 women were arbitrarily arrested during a peaceful protest in Harare. The women, many of whom were in their 60s, were released from police custody at about 9pm last night by the Zimbabwe Police.

Those arrested in Harare were members of the Women's Coalition, an organization working for the equality of women. They were peacefully praying and protesting outside the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare as President Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara met with leaders from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss the country's power-sharing deal. The protestors argue that the deal has been too slow in achieving any progress.

They were charged with "disorderly conduct in a public place" and released after paying a fine. They were initially denied access to a lawyer.

They only were able to speak with a lawyer for a couple of minutes as they were getting their lunch. Their colleagues were able to bring in food, sanitary pads and painkillers for the women.

At least 30 people were also injured when the police used tear gas and batons to disperse protestors. The majority of those injured were women from the Women's Coalition. Their injuries were consistent with being beaten with batons, falls during flight, teargas inhalation and other injuries.

One activist was admitted at a private clinic for observation after inhaling teargas and experiencing respiratory distress. Four others were admitted for severe injuries and suspected fractures.

Protestors from other organizations including student, youth and other human rights groups, were also beaten by the police with batons, exposed to tear gas and some had to receive medical treatment for their injuries.

Amnesty International has condemned the continued arbitrary arrest, detention and use of excessive force against peaceful protestors by police. The organization has also called on the Southern African Development Community leaders to speak out against human rights violations and demand an end to the suppression of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression and association.

Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were arbitrarily arrested after participating in a peaceful protest outside Mhlahlandlela Government Complex in Bulawayo, in which they were demanding access to food aid in Zimbabwe. Police used excessive force to break up the peaceful protest by about 200 WOZA activists. Magodonga Mahlangu was beaten by police during her arrest and is reported to be in pain. They are lodging appeals with the high court.

Amnesty International considers Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu to be prisoners of conscience and calls for their immediate and unconditional release. Their arrest is part of the government of Zimbabwe's clampdown on human rights defenders who are campaigning to highlight the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.

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