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)
       Concert Tabling
       9th Annual March to Stop Executions, October 25
New Business:
 

Local Group 23 News:

• We had a table at the John Mayer concert. John Sullivan and Sheli Rae were the table volunteers.
• Sonia Montoya will be moving to Madrid, Spain, vacating her position as Refugee Coordinator. We will miss her, but the position was filled by Sarah Newhouse.
• We had a presentation about the ongoing problems in Bhopal, India. at the Houston Public Library on Stella Link.  The speakers were Texan shrimper turned environmentalist Diane Wilson and Indian activist Krishnaveni Gundu.  Two short documentaries were shown. Thanks to Juli Kring for getting it set with the library and the John Sullivan and Sheli Rae for setting up the event.
• Esmeralda Salinas and Kathryn Houmudah continue to coordinate the art show on October 18-19, which will be a fundaiser for our group, and serve as the launch of AI's Protect the Human Campaign and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). AIUSA director Larry Cox will be at the event.

• We have openings for Group Coordinator, Secretary and New Member coordinator.

[Washington, DC]--Amnesty International welcomed the announcement by the spokesperson for Iran’s judiciary that execution by stoning has been suspended, as a result of which several women have had their sentences commuted.

“Stoning is a horrific practice, designed to increase the suffering of those facing execution, and it has no place in the modern world,” Amnesty International said. “We look to the Iranian authorities to ensure that this dreadful punishment is never again used.”

The human rights organization urged Iranian authorities to ensure that this is not a hollow promise. They failed to stop the practice after Ayatollah Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s judiciary, announced a moratorium on stoning in December 2002. At least one stoning execution was carried out in 2007 in Qazvin province.

“If this announcement holds, it will represent a signal victory for Iranian human rights defenders who recently mounted their own Stop Stoning Forever Campaign,” said Amnesty International.

“Now we need to see further action by the Iranian authorities to end other cruel and inhuman punishments such as flogging and the amputation of limbs, as well as other steps to reduce use of the death penalty.”

Amnesty International welcomes the decision by the Argentine Parliament to scrap the 1951 Military Code of Justice, thus abolishing the death penalty in all cases and closing military courts of justice.

"Argentina now joins the global trend towards total abolition of the death penalty," said Amnesty International. "Today's move is also a major step towards ensuring that human rights abuses are dealt with by civilian courts."

The decision abolishes provisions for the death penalty for crimes committed in times of armed conflict or in peace time by members of the armed forces. From now on all military personnel accused of ordinary offences or crimes under international law will be tried by civilian courts. Likewise, military personnel charged with an offence or crime will be free to appoint a civilian lawyer, instead of military.

Amnesty International is also studying other provisions adopted by the Argentine Parliament today to ensure they are consistent with international law.

Tens of thousands of civilians who have already suffered from the renewal of violence in Mindanao could be at even greater risk if the Philippine government supports the creation of untrained and unaccountable civilian militias, Amnesty International said today.

Armed conflict in Mindanao escalated after 4 August, when the Supreme Court suspended a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). After 4 August, a number of MILF units occupied farmlands in North Cotabato province and burned houses, displacing more than 150,000 people. Two weeks later, MILF units in Lanao del Norte province engaged in attacks on civilians, hostage taking, bombings and arson, forcing another 50,000 people to flee their homes. The MILF central leadership has denied ordering the attacks carried out by two of their commanders.

The MILF has justified some of its recent attacks by claiming that it was targeting Civil Volunteer Organization (CVO) forces and other police auxiliaries, established by local government as emergency protection.

“MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held to account,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

“But experience from around the world shows that the deployment of civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals and only increases the danger facing civilians.”

“All sides to this conflict should step back from the brink and demonstrate their commitment to avoid harming civilians. The MILF must control its forces, and the Philippine government should take responsibility for the security of all peoples in the Philippines, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” said Sam Zarifi.

Amnesty International has verified that local political leaders in Mindanao’s Iligan City and North Cotabato province led efforts to form civilian militias after the MILF attacks. In Iligan City, the site of two bomb attacks on 17 August blamed on MILF elements, a group of 300 licensed gun owners, politicians and local government officials have set up a civilian militia called “God Save Iligan City”. In North Cotabato province, armed civilians have already formed village militias, also known locally as CVOs. Local security officials reportedly rejected a request from North Cotabato’s vice governor to provide ammunition for the CVO. However, Amnesty International has confirmed that local patrons have already supplied guns and ammunition to CVOs and police auxiliaries.

In Western Mindanao, the Provincial Peace and Order Council composed

(New York) -- Amnesty International today accused the Sudanese government of holding hundreds of people -- including women and a nine-month-old -- without charge or access to lawyers as they prepare to try another 109 individuals in sham courts over the armed attacks by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on May 10 in the outskirts of Khartoum.

The fate and whereabouts of most of those still held in Khartoum over the May 10 attacks remain unknown. Many are still unaccounted for and Amnesty International has received reports of torture and ill-treatment from people who were released. The organization fears those still detained are at high risk of torture or that they have been disappeared.

Amnesty International's charge comes after eight alleged JEM members were sentenced to death by Sudan's Anti-Terrorism Special Courts yesterday in trials that failed to meet international standards of fairness. The verdict brings the number of individuals sentenced to death in relation to the May 10 attack to 38.

"Sudan's Anti-Terrorism Special Courts are nothing but a travesty of justice," said Tawanda Hondora, Africa deputy director at Amnesty International. "Some of the people sentenced yesterday only met their lawyers for the first time during the trial, while several said they suffered torture when they were held incommunicado and that they were forced to confess to crimes."

"Those trials were clearly unfair and now Sudan is preparing to try yet more people with this system. How is that justice?" said Hondora.

One of the lawyers of those convicted on August 17 told Amnesty International that his request for an investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment by his client was rejected by the court -- including an appeal for a medical examination despite the fact that "marks of ill-treatment were still clearly visible on their bodies" when the accused were facing the judge.

The defense lawyers have appealed all the verdicts within the limited period allowed by the Special Courts. The final decision -- expected to come in the next weeks -- has to be taken by a Special Court of Appeal. Thereafter, the president will have to sign the decision for the executions to be carried out.

"The Sudanese government has the duty to investigate crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice, but they must do it in accordance to international law and their own constitution, which guarantees fair trials," said Hondora. "We urge the Sudanese authorities not to execute these men and to review their cases immediately, according to Sudan's laws."

Amnesty International also urged the Sudanese authorities to reveal the whereabouts of all individuals held in the context of the May 10 investigation and said that all should be promptly charged or else released immediately. The organization also calls for all detainees to be given regular access to lawyers and family and to be provided with the appropriate medical attention.

The Syrian authorities unexpectedly released Dr. Aref Dalilah on Thursday following a presidential amnesty. Dalilah is the former Dean of the Faculty of Economics of Aleppo University and was a well known prisoner of conscience in Syria.

Amnesty International has welcomed the release, noting that it is long overdue and hopes it will be followed by the release of all other prisoners of conscience in Syria.

Dalilah was arrested in September 2001 and convicted by the State Security Court of "attempting to change the constitution by illegal means" in July 2002. He served seven years of a 10-year sentence, much of it spent in solitary confinement in the political wing of ‘Adra prison, Damascus.

It is thought likely that Dalilah's release was related to his health, which deteriorated alarmingly while he was in prison.

He has suffered from a blood clot in his lung, deep-vein thrombosis, swelling of the heart and diabetes. He had a stroke in May 2006, losing some of the feeling on the left side of his body.

Dalilah has not been informed of any conditions on his release or restrictions he may face if seeking to travel outside the country for treatment.

Following his release, Dalilah said, "I am thankful for all the efforts made by everyone at Amnesty International and all those who took part in actions on my behalf. We are united in the struggle for the causes of justice and democracy. This struggle is still ongoing."

Out of the ten prominent individuals detained for their roles in the so-called "Damascus Spring", Dalilah received the longest sentence. The “Damascus Spring” describes the brief period of increased tolerance from the authorities for freedom of expression and pro-reform activities that followed Bashar al-Assad’s inauguration as President in July 2000.

However, Dalilah's release does not quite close the chapter of the Damascus Spring detentions. Kamal Labwani and Habib Saleh, two former prisoners of the Damascus Spring released before Dalilah, have been re-arrested. Labwani was sentenced to 15 years for his pro-democracy activities and Saleh is currently being tried for publishing political articles on the Internet. Hundreds of other political prisoners remain detained in Syria, including many prisoners of conscience.

On July 29, 2008, forty members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono requesting that he release two political prisoners: Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage. Karma and Pakage are serving 10 and 15-year prison terms for raising a flag during a peaceful protest in Abepura, Papua, Indonesia. Amnesty International has declared them prisoners of conscience and leads an international coalition seeking their release.

While President Yudhoyono has been silent about the letter, other members of Indonesia’s government have offered comments through the media. We must respectfully correct three of their assertions about the letter. In doing so, we do not presume to speak on behalf of the members of the U.S. Congress who wrote the letter.

First, the letter is about universally recognized human rights and therefore it is appropriate and even required that those rights be addressed by members of the global community, such as the United States Congress, without dismissing these legitimate concerns as merely political.

Ramses Wally, deputy chairman of Papua`s Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD)`s Commission A, said, "I think the US Congressmen`s request is a political rather than a legal move. They claimed they were acting based on the human rights point of view. The question is which human rights has Indonesia violated by sentencing Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage?" The arrest and detention of Karma and Pakage for raising the morning star flag during a peaceful demonstration violates their right to freedom of expression articulated in articles 19 and 20 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” and “everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.”

It is reliably reported that Karma and some others at the same peaceful protest were beaten by authorities, which clearly violates Article 5, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” It is, of course, a particularly extreme violation of human rights to kill a peaceful demonstrator, as recently happened in Wanema.

Second, members of Congress who signed the letter to the President of Indonesia are NOT advocating for Papua’s independence from Indonesia, nor do the NGO’s to which Ramses Wally referred. He said the letter was, “part of a political game mobilized by some international NGOs which were trying to internationalize the Papua issue so that West Papua could break away from Indonesia.” It is misleading to imply that the letter was initiated by the Free Papua Movement, as some have suggested. Amnesty International, West Papua Advocacy Team, and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network do not take a position on independence for West Papua.

We and members of the US Congress know that Karma and Pakage should have fundamental rights regardless of their political views. They were not accused of engaging in any acts of violence and are imprisoned for simply expressing an opinion regarding self-determination for their people. As political activists do around the globe, they utilized a visual symbol to make their point.

We are encouraged by statements from the Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, who said in an interview with Reuters. "I'm trying to persuade my colleagues in government...that these outbursts of flag-raising or cultural dignity should be tolerated at a certain level."

Third and finally, we are well aware of the U.S. government’s human rights failings and actively work to ensure respect for human rights by our government, just as many members of the U.S. Congress do. Amnesty International USA, for example, vigorously opposes serious human rights violations by certain US government authorities. That the U.S. government has violated human rights does not justify human rights violations by the Indonesian government.

Therefore we respectfully disagree with Abdillah Toha, chairman of Indonesia’s House of Representatives (DPR)`s Inter-parliamentary Cooperation Body, who asserted that rights violations by the Bush administration was reason enough for President Yudhoyono to ignore the Congressional request to respect the rights of Karma and Pakage.

Sincerely,

Iran’s government is failing in its duty to prevent discrimination and human rights abuses against its Kurdish citizens, particularly women, said Amnesty International in a new report published today. The organization expressed fears that the repression of Kurdish Iranians, particularly human rights defenders, is intensifying.

The report cites examples of religious and cultural discrimination against the estimated 12 million Kurds who live in Iran and form around 15 per cent of the population.

It focuses on issues related to housing, education and employment. Human rights defenders and media workers are also being targeted for speaking out.

“Iran’s constitution provides for equality of all Iranians before the law. But, as our report shows, this is not the reality for Kurds in Iran. The Iranian government has not taken sufficient steps to eliminate discrimination, or to end the cycle of violence against women and punish those responsible,” said Amnesty International.

The report says that Kurdish women face a double challenge to have their rights recognized -- as members of a marginalised ethnic minority, and as women in a predominantly patriarchal society.

Although women and girls form the backbone of economic activity in the Kurdish areas, strict social codes are used to justify denial of their human rights. Such codes mean that it can be very difficult for government officials to investigate inequalities in girls’ education, early and forced marriages, and domestic violence against Kurdish girls and women -- and the severe consequences of some of these abuses, including “honour killings” and suicide.

“Kurdish women are victims of violence on a daily basis and face discrimination from state officials, groups or individuals, including family members. Iranian authorities are obliged to exercise due diligence in eradicating violence against women in the home and in the community but this just isn’t happening,” Amnesty International said.

The report Iran: Human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority recognizes that while expression of Kurdish culture, such as dress and music, is generally respected and that the Kurdish language is used in some broadcasts and publications, the Kurdish minority continues to suffer deep-rooted discrimination.

Letter writing actions have moved to a special section of our website.