URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

15 December 2009

UA 337/09 - Fear for safety

VENEZUELA
Family members of Oscar Barrios

The lives of Oscar Barrios' family are in danger. He and his family have
been subjected to a campaign of intimidation from police officers in
northern Venezuela, since 2003. Oscar Barrios was killed on October 28,
2009 and follows the killing of three other male members of the Barrios
family.

Oscar Barrios was shot dead, by two armed men who were wearing similar
clothes to those worn by police officers in the town of Guanayen, in
Aragua State, northern Venezuela. No investigation has been opened into
this killing.

The Barrios family has been subjected to a six-year campaign of
harassment and intimidation after they reported the killing of Narciso
Barrios by police officers, on 30 November 2003. On the request of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, members of the Barrios Family
have been receiving police protection from the Venezuelan state since
June 2004. The protection given to the family has at times been sporadic
and ineffective as two other members of the Barrios family have been
killed in this time. Prior to the killing of Oscar Barrios, Luis Barrios
was killed in September 2004 and Rigoberto Barrios was killed in January
2005.

On 4 December 2009, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called
upon the Venezuelan State to take the necessary measures to guarantee the
right to life and security of the Barrios Family and to investigate the
events and sanction those responsible.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A campaign of intimidation has been waged against the Barrios family
since 12 December 2003, when Narciso Barrios was killed allegedly, by
police officers, days after an argument between Narciso and Aragua State
police officers. Members of the Barrios family have been arbitrarily
arrested, threatened, harassed and subjected to torture and other
ill-treatment.

Two other members of the family Luis Barrios and 15-year old Rigoberto
Barrios were also killed allegedly by police officers. Luis Barrios
(brother of Narciso Barrios) was shot dead at his home by two hooded men
on 20 September 2004. Two days prior to his killing the family had been
told by police officers not to be surprised if hooded men paid them a
visit. On 9 January 2005, Rigoberto Barrios was shot eight times by two
men who were allegedly wearing Aragua state police uniform hats and
trousers. Rigoberto Barrios died in hospital ten days later from his
wounds.

A previous attempt on the life of Oscar Barrios (nephew of Luis Barrios)
was made on 18 June 2005, when five unidentified armed men, wearing
civilian clothes, reportedly pursued Oscar Barrios and attempted to shoot
him as he was leaving the home of Luis Barrios' widow. Oscar Barrios was
able to escape by sheltering behind some brushwood as the attackers left
in a car. When Oscar Barrios' mother, called the police agency
responsible for their protection, no-one was sent to their home to take
their statements. This incident took place just a few days before the
Venezuelan State and representatives of the family were due to take part
in a hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. At the
hearing on 29 June 2005, the Inter-American Court called upon the
Venezuelan State to ensure the safety of the Barrios Family and to
provide them with effective protection, as well as fully investigate all
the complaints filed by the family.

Between March and September 2005, members of the Barrios family,
including Rigoberto Barrios and Oscar Barrios were detained and
ill-treated by police officers before being released with no charge.

Amnesty International is unaware of any progress in the investigations
into the murders of Narciso Barrios, Luis Barrios and Rigoberto Barrios,
nor of investigations into complaints made by the family regarding death
threats and intimidation from state police officers.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Demanding that the authorities take decisive action to guarantee the
protection of the Barrios family, in accordance with their wishes;
- Urging the authorities to order a full and impartial investigation into
the killing of Oscar Barrios;
- Calling on the authorities to reveal what progress has been made in the
investigations into the killings of Narciso, Luis and Rigoberto Barrios
and into all incidents of intimidation and threats reported by the
family.


APPEALS TO:

Minister of Interior and Justice
Ministro de Interior y Justicia
Tareck El Aissami
Ministerio del Interior y Justicia
Avenida Urdaneta Esquina de Platanal
Edificio Interior y Justicia Despacho del Ministro, Piso 3
Caracas, VENEZUELA
Fax: 011 58 212 506 1685
Salutation: Senor Ministro/Dear Minister

Governor of Aragua State
Sr. Gobernador del Estado de Aragua
Sr. Rafael Isea
Palacio de Gobierno
Avenida de Miranda
Maracay
Estado de Aragua, VENEZUELA
Fax: 011 58 243 237 8843
Salutation: Senor Gobernador/Dear Governor


COPIES TO:

Comision de Derechos Humanos de Justicia y Paz del Estado Aragua
Calle Negro Primero, Oeste
N 98, frente al Liceo 'Valentin Espinal', Cruce con Av. Ayacucho
Maracay
Estado Aragua, VENEZUELA
Fax: 011 58 243 233 6363 (if voice answers, say 'tono de fax, por favor')

Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera
Embassy of the Republic of Venezuela
1099 30th St. NW
Washington DC 20007
Fax: 1 202 342 6820
Email: prensa@...


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 26
January 2010.

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

Dec. 14



IRAN:

Mullahs sentence youngster to be blinded and have ears cut off



The Iranian regimes judiciary has sentenced a 20-year-old in Tehran
to be blinded and have his ear cut off, the state-run daily Etemad
reported on Thursday.

The young man, identified as Hamid, was only 16 when he committed the
alleged crime.

On November 8, Iranian regimes deputy chief of police, Asghar Jafari, said
that police is ready to carry out amputations to deal with insecurity,
state-run news agency IRNA reported.

He added thatEvading to carry out these sentences is the main reason why
these crimes are not uprooted in the country, and this is followed by
escalation of insecurity in the country.

In February 2008, in a press conference at the Iranian regime's embassy in
Madrid, the regimes ambassador to Spain, justified the inhuman punishment
of amputations, Spanish Media reported.

The regime's ambassador compared chopping off the hands of victims to a
"surgeon amputating a limb to prevent the spread of gangrene."  He argued
that the death penalty was necessary "to preserve the health of the
society as a whole.

"Our laws establish that we amputate a hand of those who steal. It is not
accepted in the West, but local customs must be respected", he said.

(source:  Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance
of Iran)

Dec. 14




AFRICA:

Anti-gay bigots plunge Africa into new era of hate crimes


Uganda is likely to pass a law within months that will make homosexuality
a capital offence, joining 37 other countries in the continent where
American evangelical Christian groups are increasingly spreading bigotry



"Learned behaviour can be unlearned," said David Bahati. "You can't tell
me that people are born gays. It is foreign influence that is at work."

Bahati has just presented his anti-homosexuality bill 2009 to Uganda's
parliament. The bill, which will be debated within a fortnight and is
expected to become law by February, will allow homosexuality to be
punishable by death.

"Most people have misunderstood the bill," Bahati told the Observer. "The
section of the death penalty relates to defilement by an adult who is
homosexual and this is consistent with the law on defilement which was
passed in 2007. The whole intention is to prevent the recruitment of
under-age children, which is going on in single-sex schools. We must stop
the recruitment and secure the future of our children."

There is wide support for Bahati's law which, while being an extreme piece
of anti-gay legislation, is not unique. As far as gay rights are
concerned, it would appear that much of Africa is going backwards. Nigeria
has a similar bill waiting to reach its statute books and already allows
the death penalty for homosexuality in northern states, as does Sudan.
Burundi criminalised homosexuality in April this year, joining 37 other
African nations where gay sex is already illegal. Egypt and Mali are
creeping towards criminalisation, using morality laws against same-sex
couples.

The Ugandan bill extends existing laws to make it illegal to promote
homosexuality by talking or writing about it, and forcing people to tell
the authorities about anyone they know who is gay. The bill, said Bahati,
35, an MP from the ruling party, aims to "protect the cherished culture of
the people of Uganda against the attempts of sexual rights activists
seeking to impose their values of sex promiscuity on the people of
Uganda".

He denied reports that international pressure might result in parts of the
bill being toned down. "We are not going to yield to any international
pressure  we cannot allow people to play with the future of our children
and put aid into the game. We are not in the trade of values. We need
mutual respect."

But many suspect that it was outsiders who inspired this bill in the first
place. In March, Bahati met several prominent anti-gay US Christian
activists who attended a conference in Uganda where they pledged to "wipe
out" homosexuality. The conference featured Scott Lively, president of
California's anti-gay Abiding Truth Ministries and co-author of The Pink
Swastika, a book claiming that leading Nazis were gay. Also there was Don
Schmierer, on the board of Exodus International, which promotes the
"ex-gay" movement, believing people can change their sexuality and be
redeemed. The third extremist evangelical to attend was Caleb Lee
Brundidge, who is linked to Richard Cohen who believes that psychotherapy
can "cure" homosexuality.

Bahati's bill was drawn up within weeks of the conference, but it has only
just begun to cause waves within America's powerful evangelical community.
Legalising killing gay people has triggered a bad press for the bill.

This weekend, Rick Warren, the most powerful evangelical in America,
released a video statement. "As an American pastor, it is not my role to
interfere with the politics of other nations, but it is my role to speak
out on moral issues," he said, adding that the bill was "unjust, extreme
and un-Christian toward homosexuals".

"That is a remarkable statement from Warren," said Mark Bromley, of the
Council for Global Equality "But there is still a pattern of homophobia
that is being replicated in many parts of Africa."

Lively released a half-hearted condemnation: "It should be no surprise
that modern Ugandans are very unhappy that homosexual political activists
from Europe and the US are working aggressively to rehomosexualise their
nation." The Ugandan law, he said, was "unacceptably harsh", but he
praised those who drafted it. "If the offending sections were sufficiently
modified, the proposed law would represent an encouraging step in the
right direction it would deserve support from Christian believers."

Bahati said yesterday that he regretted Warren's retreat. "It's
unfortunate that a man of God who has inspired many people across the
world can give in to pressure and disappoint them." Around 85% of Ugandans
are Christian  40% Catholics, 35% Anglican. Muslims make up 12% of the
population.

In Entebbe last week, 200 religious leaders, under the powerful umbrella
group Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, demanded diplomatic ties be
severed with "ungodly" donor countries, including the UK, Sweden and
Canada, who are "bent on forcing homosexuality on Ugandans".

Joshua Kitakule, the council's secretary-general, said: "Those countries
should respect our spiritual values. They shouldn't interfere. All senior
religious leaders have been given copies of the bill to read and educate
people in churches and mosques."

For Ugandans such as Pastor Martin Ssempa, who organises anti-gay rallies,
the bill brings legitimate moral force to bear on the "corrupting
influence" from western societies.

For John Bosco Nyombi, 38, it means he is unlikely to ever see his family
or his homeland again. "I had a life, a job, a house, a car, all that is
gone," he said. The former banker fled Uganda after a crowd of his friends
were rounded up and arrested in a police raid on a Kampala gay bar. "They
were ordered to give names of others and, of course under pressure, mine
was given. I paid money to an agent and fled to the UK."

Nyombi's first asylum bid failed and he was deported back to Uganda. "For
six months, I hid, I couldn't go out, see anyone I knew. The newspaper
printed a picture of me and revealed my case and the police were trying to
find me." Eventually, lawyers persuaded the British authorities that he
was in danger and he was allowed back to England, where he now has a job
as a care worker.

Ugandan newspapers often out "homos" and the bill will force many more
like Nyombi to leave, said Peter Tatchell, veteran gay rights campaigner.
"In many cases, these countries are using laws imposed by the British in
colonial times. Before that, homosexuality was actually tolerated or
accepted in the traditional cultures.

"The right-wing are losing the battle in the US, so they are exploiting
the poverty-stricken developing world. The response of the Commonwealth is
pathetic. Of the 80 countries who criminalise same sex-relationships
around the world, over 40 of them are in the Commonwealth  where is the
concern for human rights?"

It is not just Africa where homophobia is rife  Iran and Jamaica have seen
homosexuals imprisoned and attacked and many American states have laws
against sodomy. In South Africa, gay rights have advanced: its first gay
pride march was held in 1995 and it has now legalised civil same-sex
marriage.

But for developing nations, the attraction of right-wing organisations
with dollars to spend, combined with fears over a creeping
"westernisation" of societies, is increasing the demonisation of gay
people.

In 2004, Ruben del Prado, co-ordinator of the Joint United Nations
programme on HIV/Aids in Uganda, was prematurely transferred out of the
country after he held meetings with lesbian and gay groups about
preventing HIV/Aids. The Ugandan government later accused him of holding
secret meetings with undesirable groups. Since then, NGOs and aid
officials have kept silent.

In Britain, Archbishop Rowan Williams, head of the global Anglican
communion, has also kept quiet, to the outrage of the Lesbian and Gay
Christian Movement. Its chief executive, Rev Sharon Ferguson, said African
homosexuals were being abandoned by the church.

"It's horrendous for them," she said. "They are scared. If they are in
this country, they are scared for their families. If they are in Uganda,
they are living in fear of being imprisoned and beaten. It's no way to
live. To ignore this is against our scriptures. It also makes the pastoral
role untenable because if a gay person talks to a priest then the priest
is breaking the law if they don't report them.

"It is disgusting that Rowan Williams doesn't speak out. How far is he
prepared to let this go? Will he say something when they start killing
people? When the lesbian and gay population start to disappear, herded
away towards another Holocaust?"

Much of the recent anti-gay activity in Africa has been in response to the
increased politicisation of gay Africans, many inspired by the
introduction of civil partnerships in the west. When Kenyan-born Daniel
Chege Gichia, 39, and Charles Ngengi, 40, had a civil partnership ceremony
in October at Islington town hall they expected little more than an
exuberant reception in a north London bar and a honeymoon break in
Brighton.

Instead, they triggered outrage when a reporter from the Daily Nation in
Kenya broke the story to a shocked east African audience, reporting one
African guest at the wedding as saying: "It is time the Kenyan community
woke up to reality: some of us are gay; Kenyans have to get over it."

For days, Kenyan radio, newspapers and blogs fielded strong reactions. One
radio station estimated that one in 20 callers wanted to speak in defence
of the couple; the rest were full of fury and of condemnation at the
couple's "un-African" behaviour.

"When a man mounts another man," raged a headline in the Standard, "the
throne of God shakes."

Reporters rushed to Chege's rural home village in Murang'a district to
interview distressed relatives. "This thing has really affected the old
parents. The mother no longer wants visitors in her homestead and the old
man is no longer the same," said neighbour Mary Muthoni, 50.

"Gichia Gikonyo, Chege's father, has all but lost his ability to speak
ever since the pictures from the union emerged," reported one paper.

Chege's two brothers, Humphrey and Mwangi, reported harassment and abuse.
"People shout that the family's wealth is paid for by homosexuality. The
family endures much," one local woman, Lucy Wanjiru, 43, said.

But as the wedding guest said, it also brought home to Kenyans that
homosexuals exist and the government responded by saying it would hold a
census "with a view to knowing their numbers so that they can be educated
on safe sex".

But while some welcomed the acknowledgment that homosexuality existed,
others pointed out that a homosexual sex act can carry a 14-year prison
sentence in Kenya and wondered how many people might respond to a census.

In Uganda, the ethics and integrity minister sees the uproar surrounding
the bill as positive. Uganda was "providing leadership" to the world, said
James Nsaba Buturo.

"It is with joy we see that everyone is interested in what Uganda is
doing, and it is an opportunity for Uganda to provide leadership where it
matters most. So we are here to see a piece of legislation that will not
only define what the country stands for, but provide leadership around the
world."

It has certainly created some religious unity. It came as the Muslim
Tabliq youth revealed plans to form what they called an anti-gay squad, to
seek out and expose homosexuality.

Sheikh Multah Bukenya, a Tabliq cleric, said: "It is the work of the
community to put an end to bad practices like homosexuality."

But Gerald Sentogo, of Sexual Minorities Uganda, said the bill was
inhumane. "It violates every aspect of a human being. I mean, you cannot
tell me you will kill me because I'm gay," he said. "How will somebody
know about my sexuality unless he comes to my bedroom? You will trust
nobody because everyone will become a spy over the other.

"Imagine people fighting over other issues and somebody will say you are a
homosexual to get rid of you, and then you are arrested and you spend
seven years in jail or life imprisonment."

(source:  The Guardian)

Dec. 11



ARGENTINA:

The America Where They Do Prosecute Torture


Last week, 15 men entered a courthouse facing, amongst other crimes, 181
counts of torture. Their story, tragically, is familiar: in a fight
against terrorism, the men allegedly kidnapped and held detainees in
unknown black sites. They subjected the prisoners to brutal forms of
interrogation, such as waterboarding, sensory deprivation and simulated
executions. They denied the detainees all legal recourse, and they
defended their secret practices as essential to combating an elusive enemy
who refused to play by the rules.

But the courtroom is not in the United States, and the defendants are not
members of the Bush administration. The defendants - retired officials
from Argentina's last dictatorship - are on trial in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.

It is the latest in a wave of judicial proceedings in Latin America - in
Argentina, in Chile and in Uruguay - for atrocities committed by the
brutal dictatorships of the 1970s and '80s, a period during which tens of
thousands of citizens were tortured, forcibly disappeared and killed.
Hundreds of former military officials have recently been convicted, and
many more have been indicted.

It has been more than three months since Attorney General Eric Holder
announced his probe into torture under the Bush administration, an
investigation which seems to quickly be going nowhere. It is, of course,
within a prosecutor's discretion to bring charges, based on the strength
of the evidence, the clarity of the legal arguments and the priority of
the crimes relative to other work in the office. No doubt, there are a
number of difficult political and legal arguments weighing heavily in
Holder's decision. He may be inspired, however, by how some Latin
countries have proceeded in the face of similar concerns.

One common argument against prosecution is that torture is effective, and
we should not prosecute those who helped protect America.

This, however, was the same logic used by Latin America's military
governments: they had to wage a "dirty war" on their enemy's terms. No
doubt, the danger there was real, as it is in the United States. Leftist
groups had killed hundreds before the wave of coups claimed the lives of
thousands. But in retrospect, the dirty wars did more damage to the legal
order than had the enemy it was fighting. Our southern neighbors have
rejected the argument that one may break the law to save the law. They
have restored the law by prosecuting those who broke it.

Another argument against prosecution is the supposed impossibility of
figuring out who is responsible. Are those at the top, such as former
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or White House counsel John Yoo,
responsible? Or should blame fall only on those who carried out the
offensive practices?

In Latin America, the answer is both. Argentina's Supreme Court, in the
2005 Simon decision, held that torture is manifestly illegal and that no
excuse justifies either giving or following orders to torture. Commander
and commanded are equally responsible. Under this theory, a court last
year convicted Benjamin Luciano Menendez, one of the most powerful men in
Argentina's dictatorship, to life in prison. In addition, another court
last year convicted two lower ranking police officers for their
involvement in a 1976 massacre.

Finally, some excuse the Bush administration by saying what they did was
not torture. Waterboarding is simply an "enhanced interrogation
technique," as former Vice President Dick Cheney described it this August
while defending the practice.

But this is a lexical sleight of hand. The debate is a nonstarter in Latin
America. Though waterboarding is known by another name - the "submarino" -
it is decidedly considered torture. Courts have repeatedly convicted
defendants for subjecting prisoners to this "method," citing domestic and
international prohibitions on the use of the practice. Ironically, our own
government, lead by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, sanctioned Argentina in
the late 1970s for using this very practice (amongst other concerns).

The parallels should not be overstated - the scale and scope of the
repression was much greater in Latin America. Similarly, it has taken a
generation for some countries of Latin America to do justice. Further, not
all countries have decided to prosecute torture. Brazil, for instance,
still respects an amnesty law passed by the ancien rgime in 1979 (though a
repeal of the law is currently under debate in Brazil's Congress).

But pointing to these differences suggests that it should be easier for us
to do justice. In Latin America, thousands are implicated in the crimes of
the 1970s, and hundreds of thousands more who supported military coups
share tacit responsibility. In the United States, the ethical lines are
more clear. The practices emanated from a small group inside the White
House, the vice president's office, the pentagon and the CIA. Ever since
the practices saw the light of day, they have been met with boisterous
opposition.

For centuries, the democracies of Latin America have looked north for
inspiration: how to write their constitutions, how to design their
government buildings, how to structure their economies. Perhaps it is time
for us to look south.

(source:  Truthout.org)

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


11 December 2009

UA 334/09 - Risk of torture

SYRIA       Ma'an 'Aqel (m), journalist

Journalist Ma'an 'Aqel was arrested on 22 November in the Syrian capital,
Damascus. He is now held incommunicado, putting him at risk of torture
and other ill-treatment.

Ma'an 'Aqel writes for the state-owned newspaper al-Thawra. He was
arrested at the newspaper's office in Damascus. Three days later, State
Security officers took him in handcuffs to his home in Damascus, searched
it and took his interview recordings, computer and camera. They
reportedly told his family to wait a month before inquiring about him.

The authorities have provided no information about where Ma'an 'Aqel is
being held, why he was arrested or whether he will be charged. The Deputy
Head of the Syrian Journalists' Union, however, told a reporter in
private that Ma'an 'Aqel had been arrested on "criminal grounds", for
reasons unconnected with anything he had written. He also denied reports
that Ma'an 'Aqel had been dismissed from his job two days after he was
arrested, but added that this might be considered later. However,
according to sources in Syria, a decision to dismiss him was indeed made
on 24 November under the pretext that he was absent from work without
permission.

Ma'an 'Aqel writes about corruption in Syria, among other matters.
Because of his writing he has been summoned for questioning several
times. In December 2008, members of one of Syria's security agencies came
to his office to question him about an article he had written criticizing
the appointment of a new editor-in-chief of another state-owned
newspaper, Teshrin.

Ma'an 'Aqel spent nine years as a prisoner, from 1985 to 1994, after a
trial before the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), a special court
which was set up to prosecute perceived political opponents and whose
trial proceedings are grossly unfair. The SSSC convicted him for his then
membership of the unauthorized Party for Communist Action, which engages
secretly in non-violent political activities in Syria.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Torture and other ill-treatment are widespread in Syria's detention and
interrogation centers. In 2009, at least seven people have been reported
to have died as a result of abuses in custody. The authorities have taken
no action to investigate these allegations. "Confessions" extracted under
duress are systematically used as evidence in Syrian courts, and the
defendants' claims that they have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated
are almost never investigated.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern that Ma'an 'Aqel is being held incommunicado at an
unknown location, putting him at risk of torture and other ill-treatment;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is not tortured or
otherwise ill-treated, and reminding them that Syria is a state party to
the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment;
- Urging them to immediately allow him visits from his family, a lawyer
of his choosing, and any medical attention he may require;
- Calling on them to release Ma'an 'Aqel unless he is to be charged with
a recognizably criminal offense and tried promptly in proceedings which
meet international fair trial standards.

APPEALS TO:

President
Bashar al-Assad
Presidential Palace
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 332 3410
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Interior
Major Sa'id Mohamed Samour
Ministry of Interior
'Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street
Damascus, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 222 3428
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Minister of Information
Dr Mohsen Bilal
Ministry of Information
al-Mezze Avenue, Ba'ath House
Damascus, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 661 7665
Salutation: Your Excellency

Ambassador Dr Imad Moustapha
Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic
2215 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 202 234 9548
202 265 4585
202 232 4357
Email: info@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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Thank you for your help with this appeal.

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Email: uan@...
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Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


11 December 2009

UA 335/09 - Fear for safety

RUSSIAN FEDERATION          Adnan Ibragimov (m)

The lives of Adnan Ibragimov, a 54-year-old man from Chechnya in the
Russian Federation, and his family are in danger after he began pursuing
a criminal investigation into the apparent enforced disappearance of his
nephew, Said-Salekh Ibragimov.

On the morning of 21 October, 19-year old Said-Salekh Ibragimov left his
home in the village of Goity in Urus-Martan district, to go to the nearby
city of Grozny, the Chechen capital. At around 2pm, security forces
personnel, believed to be soldiers and police officers, raided and
searched his house. Said-Salekh Ibragimov's wife and his 80- year old
disabled grandmother were in the house at the time. Alerted by other
family members, Adnan Ibragimov came to the house from his home in
Grozny. Police arrested him and Said-Salekh Ibragimov's mother, accusing
them of helping members of illegal armed groups. Police showed them the
dead body of an alleged insurgent who, according to the police, had been
hiding in their house. Adnan Ibragimov and Said-Salekh Ibragimov's mother
claimed that they knew nothing about it. The two were taken to
Urus-Martan district police station where they were questioned, before
being released several hours later. The house where Said-Salekh Ibragimov
lived with his family was burnt down. Villagers alleged that the house
started burning when local police officers were nearby.

Later that day, police officers telephoned Adnan Ibragimov, demanding
that he return to the police station. When he arrived there, he was taken
to the headquarters of one of the police battalions in Grozny, where
officers showed him Said-Salekh Ibragimov. According to Adnan Ibragimo's
testimony, his nephew had been badly beaten. The police told Adnan
Ibragimov that his nephew had been welcoming terrorists into the family
home and that his family should disown him. The officers said that
Said-Salekh Ibragimov should be killed to avenge the death of security
forces personnel who were allegedly killed in the raid on the family
home. The police then took Said-Salekh Ibragimov away. His whereabouts
remain unknown.

Adnan Ibragimov asked the local Public Prosecutor's office to investigate
the apparent enforced disappearance. According to Adnan Ibragimov, the
official investigating the case warned him that he was putting himself
and his family at risk by pursuing the investigation. The official
initially refused to include information about circumstances of his
nephew's enforced disappearance in his report. Sources in Grozny believe
that the investigation is unlikely to be thorough and impartial.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 16 April 2009 the Russian authorities declared an end to the
counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya. However, serious human rights
violations continue to be committed in a climate of impunity in Chechnya
and other parts of the North Caucasus. The civilian population continues
to live in an atmosphere of lawlessness that engenders fear and
insecurity. Armed opposition groups in the region continue to mount
attacks. Law enforcement officials conduct counter-terrorism measures
which, in many instances, entail serious human rights violations. A
legitimate aim - that of tackling violence by armed groups and bringing
stability to the North Caucasus - is still being pursued by means which
violate international human rights law.

Relatives of those suspected of being members of armed groups are
pressured to persuade their family members to lay down their arms, and in
some cases to go and search for them ("in the mountains" or "in the
forests") to bring them back. Reportedly, the pressure has included
intimidation, arbitrary detention, forced evictions and destruction of
houses. In August 2008, President Kadyrov announced on television that
"those families whose relatives are in the forest are accomplices in
crime. They are terrorists, extremists." There have been reports of the
family homes of those who have joined armed groups being burned down.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the authorities to take immediate action to protect Adnan
Ibragimov and his family, including enrolling them on a witness
protection scheme;
- Calling for an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the
circumstances of the arrest, ill-treatment and possible enforced
disappearance of Said-Salekh Ibragimov, with all those responsible
brought to justice;
- Urging the authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough, independent
and impartial investigation into the alleged burning down by police
officers of Said-Salekh Ibragimov's house.

APPEALS TO:

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Ya. Chaika
Ul.Bolshaia Dmitrovka, 15a
Moscow GSP-3
125993 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 4956 9217 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation
Rashid.G.Nurgaliev
Ul. Zhitnaia, 16
Moscow
119049 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 605 52 43
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO:

President of the Russian Federation
Dmitry A.Medvedev
ul. Ilyinka, 23
Moscow
103132 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 9102134

Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2641 Tunlaw Road NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: russianembassy@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on May 18, 2009. Thanks!

11 December 2009

Further Information on UA 128/09 (18 May 2009) and follow-ups (19 August
2009; 24 November 2009) - Torture/Unfair trial

RUSSIAN FEDERATION       Aleksei Sokolov (m), human rights defender

A court has rejected Alexei Sokolov's appeal, and extended his pre-trial
detention until 25 December. He appears to have been detained solely for
his peaceful human rights activities, and is unlikely to receive a fair
trial. He is still at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court based its 25 November decision to extend
Alexei Sokolov's pre-trial detention on the gravity of the charges he is
facing. It thus ignored a Supreme Court ruling of 29 October that no one
on trial should be remanded in custody if non-custodial treatment was
possible. The Regional Court did not follow the Supreme Court's
guidelines, and consider whether Alexei Sokolov was likely to abscond,
interfere with the investigation of the case or be a threat to any of the
parties to the case. Neither did it examine whether there was even a
prima facie case against him. The Court claimed it had taken into
consideration that Alexei Sokolov had no previous convictions, was of
good character, was in employment and had a permanent place of residence;
he is also the father of young children and is involved in activities for
public benefit. Despite this, the court ordered that he be remanded in
custody like the other suspects in this case, all of whom have previous
convictions.

Alexei Sokolov's lawyers pointed out in the appeal that his detention had
become unlawful on 7 November, as the lower court had only upheld the
previous order to keep him in detention until 6 November. The Sverdlovsk
Regional Court, having overridden the lower court's decision by keeping
Alexei Sokolov in custody, extended his detention to 25 December, at
which point it may be extended further. According to one of Alexei
Sokolov's lawyers, the Regional Court's action was unlawful, as no
requests to extend Alexei Sokolov's detention had been submitted.

This is the latest in a series of violations of criminal procedure since
Alexei Sokolov was detained. The inadequate explanation for the extension
of his detention began much earlier in his trial. It is feared that he
will not receive a fair trial. Amnesty International believes that Alexei
Sokolov may be a prisoner of conscience, detained for the peaceful
exercise of his right to freedom of expression in the course of his
lawful human rights activities. His trial has been moved to a court in
Bogdanovichi, which is about 100 km from his home in Yekaterinburg,
making it very difficult for his family and international observers to
attend hearings.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Aleksei Sokolov is the head of the NGO Pravovaia Osnova (Legal Basis),
which campaigns against torture and other ill-treatment of people held in
Russia’s prisons and detention centers. He became prominent after he
publicized and distributed a film about torture and other ill-treatment
in a temporary holding center in Yekaterinburg called IK-2. The film
received wide coverage, both in Russia and internationally, and led to
the closure of IK-2. The work of Legal Basis brought about several
investigations into police and prison colony staff, accused of crimes
including the use of torture to force suspects to "confess."

He was also investigating possible corruption in some Yekaterinburg law
enforcement agencies: some officials, he found, had helped to cover up
the impunity in IK-2. In 2008 he learned that several prisoners were
being pressured into claiming falsely that he had been involved in crimes
including the 2004 robbery, on suspicion of which he has been in custody
since 13 May 2009.

While he has been in custody, police have threatened to torture him
because of his work in defense of human rights.

When the Sverdlovsk Regional Court ruled on 31 July that he should be
released to await trial, the police charged him with theft and kept him
in custody. His pre-trial detention has been extended several times by
the Leninskii district court in Yekaterinburg. On 20 October, a judge in
the same court ordered that he be detained until 6 November. On 2
November, another judge ruled that Aleksei Sokolov's case should be
transferred to a different district court and upheld a previous order to
detain Aleksei Sokolov until 6 November.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to release Aleksei Sokolov on bail immediately;
- Demanding that they grant Aleksei Sokolov a prompt and fair trial;
- Urging them to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated
while he remains in custody;
- Calling on them to demonstrate respect for the lawful work of human
rights defenders, and ensure they are free to pursue their lawful
activities without fear of repercussions.

APPEALS TO:

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Ya. Chaika
Ul Bolshaia Dmitrovka 15a
Moscow GSP-3
125993
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 692 17 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

Prosecutor of the Sverdlovsk Region
Yurii A. Ponomarev
Ul. Moskovskaia 21
Yekaterinburg
GSP 1036
Sverdlovsk Region
620219
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 343 377 02 41
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor

Ombudsperson for the Russian Federation
Vladimir P. Lukin
ul. Miasnitskaia 47
Moscow
107048
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 607 74 70
Salutation: Dear Mr. Lukin

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2641 Tunlaw Road NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: russianembassy@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 21
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
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Email: uan@...
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Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on November 10, 2009. Thanks!

11 December 2009

Further information on UA 305/09 (10 November 2009) and follow-up (7
December 2009) - Prisoner of conscience/Fear of forcible return

UKRAINE          Igor Koktysh (m), Belarusian social activist


On 10 December, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Belarusian
citizen Igor Koktysh, a male social activist, supporter of the Belarusian
opposition and musician, should not be extradited to Belarus. The
Ukrainian authorities have not yet indicated whether and when they will
comply with this judgment. Igor Koktysh is a prisoner of conscience, held
for the peaceful expression of his beliefs.

In October 2007, Igor Koktysh filed a complaint with the European Court
of Human Rights to challenge his detention in Ukraine and his planned
extradition to Belarus. In its judgment, the Court ruled in favor of Igor
Koktysh, and also stated that the conditions in which he is held amount
to inhuman and degrading treatment. The Court referred to findings of the
European Committee to Prevent Torture (CPT) and the Ukrainian Parliament
Commissioner for Human Rights, who recorded that in the SIZO where Igor
Koktysh is being held there are dirty cells with insufficient daylight,
insufficient nutrition and an overcrowding so that detainees have to take
turns in sleeping.

The judgment acknowledges that Igor Koktysh would face a serious risk of
torture or ill-treatment if returned to Belarus. According to the Court,
the possibility of Igor Koktysh being sentenced to death at an unfair
trial in Belarus would constitute another violation of human rights. The
Court stated that there is no legal basis for Igor Koktysh's detention
in Ukraine and that he has been unable to challenge the lawfulness of his
detention.

Igor Koktysh is currently held in a detention center (SIZO) in the
southern Ukrainian city of Simferopol. He is asthmatic and suffers from a
range of other related health problems. According to his wife, he had a
serious asthma attack on 28 November, and was not given any medication
until his wife brought some when she visited two days later. Igor Koktysh
has told his lawyer that he fears he will die in detention and that if he
were to suffer a serious asthma attack the prison doctors would not be
equipped to save his life.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Igor Koktysh, a citizen of Belarus, has been detained in Ukraine since
June 2009 after Belarus requested his extradition over an accusation that
he carried out a murder in Belarus in 2001. He is currently held in a
detention center (SIZO) in the southern Ukrainian city of Simferopol.

Igor Koktysh, a musician in the banned rock group Mlechny Put (Milky
Way), was socially and politically active in Belarus. He was a founding
member of a youth group financed by the Catholic Church, which aimed to
rehabilitate young drug users. Igor Koktysh organized rock festivals to
publicize the message "No to drugs and violence". At these festivals
opposition flags and slogans were displayed. Igor Koktysh was also an
active member of the youth opposition movement Zubr (since disbanded),
and took part in a number of political campaigns. In 2000 Igor Koktysh
tried to start an independent youth organization, the Informal Youth
Movement, but the authorities refused to register the group.

In January 2001, he was detained in Belarus and accused of murder of a
close friend's relative. A senior police officer allegedly told him that
he knew he was not guilty of the crime, but that he was under pressure
from his superiors. In custody he was allegedly tortured and ill-treated,
including by being beaten and locked naked in a very cold cell, in order
to force him to confess. Being able to prove that he was in another city
when the murder took place, he was acquitted and released. This verdict
was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Belarus on 1 February 2002. After
Igor Koktysh had moved to Ukraine in April 2002, in an unusual move the
Belarusian Prosecutor General appealed against the verdict and the case
was returned to the lower court for a retrial - hence the request for
extradition. On 25 June 2007, he was detained by Ukrainian police
following an extradition request from Belarus for the same charges of
"premeditated, aggravated murder", under Article 139 of the Criminal Code
of Belarus which carries the death penalty.

In Ukraine, Igor Koktysh continued to be actively involved in supporting
the Belarusian opposition candidate during the presidential election
campaign in Belarus in 2006. Igor Koktysh created videos, website banners
and composed songs supporting the candidate. He also created a website
for the unregistered Informal Youth Movement which contained opposition
leaflets and posters.

Igor Koktysh applied for refugee status in Ukraine, but his application
was rejected on 23 October 2008. His lawyer has appealed against this
decision.

Igor Koktysh filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in
October 2007 to challenge his extradition to Belarus and his detention
pending extradition. In October 2007 the Court called on the government
of Ukraine to not extradite him before the Court has considered the case.
The Court did so with yesterday's verdict, ruling in Igor Koktysh's
favour. In addition to the abovementioned findings, the Court noted
that Igor Koktysh had been acquitted for the charges on which the
extradition is based by the Belarusian courts at two instances in 2001.
The assurances given by the Belarusian Prosecutor General with regard to
Igor Koktysh's treatment after extradition were considered to be
insufficient guarantee for his protection against ill-treatment or
torture. The Court also held that there was no effective or accessible
remedy available to Igor Koktysh by which to complain about the
conditions of his detention and that, in this regard, there had been a
violation of his right to an effective remedy, according to Article 13.

A number of international human rights conventions to which Ukraine is a
state party prohibit the deportation or extradition of anyone to a
country where he or she may face the death penalty, torture or other
ill-treatment or other grave human rights violations.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the Ukrainian authorities to comply with the judgment of the
European Court of Human Rights without delay and to release Igor Koktysh
immediately and unconditionally;
- Calling on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that Igor Koktysh
receives full compensation in accordance with the judgment of the
European Court of Human Rights;
- Urging the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that he is provided with
effective and durable protection against return to any country, including
Belarus, where he would be at risk of the death penalty, torture or other
grave human rights violations.

APPEALS TO:

President Viktor Yushchenko
Vul. Bankovaya 11
01220 Kyiv, UKRAINE
Fax: 011 380 44 255 61 61
Salutation: Dear President Yushchenko

Oleksandr Medvedko
Prosecutor General
Vul. Riznitska 13/ 15
01601 Kyiv
UKRAINE
Fax: 011 380 44 280-26-03
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

Petro Poroshenko
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pl.Mykhalivska, 1
01018 Kyiv, UKRAINE
Fax: 011 380 44 272 22 12
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Oleh Shamshur
Embassy of Ukraine
3350 M St NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 333 0606
Fax: 1 202 333 0817
Email: letters@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on November 16, 2009. Thanks!

11 December 2009

Further information on UA 308/09 (16 November 2009) - Prisoners of
conscience

AZERBAIJAN          Emin Abdullayev (m), aged 30
                                    Adnan Hajizade (m), aged 26

Two jailed male Azerbaijani youth activists and bloggers will have their
appeal heard in the capital, Baku, on 22 December. Emin Abdullayev and
Adnan Hajizade were imprisoned on charges Amnesty International believes
to have been fabricated.

The two youth activists and bloggers were arrested on charges of
"hooliganism" on 8 July, after reporting to police that they had been
assaulted in a restaurant in Baku.

Their arrest came just over a week after Adnan Hajizade posted a video
critical of the Azerbaijani government on the video-sharing website
YouTube. On 11 November, Adnan Hajizade was sentenced to two years, and
Emin Abdullayev to two and a half years, after being convicted in an
unfair trial.

On 23 November, Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade's lawyers filed an
appeal against the verdict. On 10 December the lawyers informed Amnesty
International that the two youth activists and bloggers had been granted
a hearing at the Baku Court of Appeal on 22 December.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade have used online networking tools,
including Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, to disseminate information about
the socio-political situation in Azerbaijan. Emin Abdullayev is also a
co-founder of a youth group named Alumni Network while Adnan Hajizade is
a coordinator of the youth movement known as OL!, which advocates
non-violence and tolerance. Emin Abdullayev was also an outspoken critic
of changes to the Azerbaijani Constitution set out in a referendum on 18
March 2009, following which the presidential term limit was abolished
potentially allowing current President Ilham Aliyev or any successor to
stand for re-election on a continuous basis.

Amnesty International has repeatedly highlighted its concerns on the
increasingly limited sphere for freedom of expression in Azerbaijan and
about the use of criminal charges to silence peaceful dissenting voices,
most recently in its report Azerbaijan: Independent journalists under
siege. For instance, prisoner of conscience Qanimat Zahid, the
editor-in-chief of opposition newspaper Azadliq, was sentenced to four
years' imprisonment on charges of hooliganism and assault in March 2008.
Several other journalists have also been imprisoned on false charges in
the past few years.

The international community has also expressed concerns about Emin
Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade. For example, on 23 July 2009, the Swedish
Presidency of the European Union (EU) issued a statement on behalf of the
EU in which it expressed concern at the arrest of the two activists, and
reiterated its concern in a statement on 13 November, regretting that the
trial proceedings did not reflect due process and believes that the court
decision may further undermine the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.
On 12 November, Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, also voiced concern about the very harsh sentences imposed by the
court in Azerbaijan on Adnan Hadjizadeh and Emin Mili and stated that
this sequence of events "will have an inevitable chilling effect on
freedom of expression in Azerbaijan."

In its concluding observations with regard to Azerbaijan, published on 13
August 2009 after consideration of reports on Azerbaijan during its 96th
session in July, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern about
the "recent arrest and detention on remand of individuals who had
expressed opinions in non-conventional media, especially since no
explanation was provided as to why the arrest took place after the
individuals had reported to the police attacks on themselves and why the
judicial proceedings against them for hooliganism were not held in
public." The Committee also reiterated its concern about reports of
attacks on journalists, the closure of independent newspapers, the
removal of licenses for foreign radio stations to broadcast locally and
the pattern of hooliganism charges against journalists, and urged
Azerbaijan to take the necessary measures to put an end to direct and
indirect restrictions on freedom of expression.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to ensure that Adnan Hajizade and Emin
Abdullayev receive a fair appeal hearing in line with international fair
trial standards;
- Noting that Amnesty International believes them to be prisoners of
conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to
freedom of expression and association, and is calling for their immediate
and unconditional release.

APPEALS TO:
Fikrat Mammadov
Minister of Justice
1, Inshaatchylar prospect
Baku AZ1065, AZERBAIJAN
Fax: 011 994 12 430 09 81
Email: contact@...;
international@...
Salutation: Your Excellency

Prof. Elmira Suleymanova
Ombudsperson
Office of the Ombudsman
40 Uz. Hajibeyov Street
Baku AZ1000, AZERBAIJAN
Fax: 011 94 12 498 8574
Email: ombudsman@...
Salutation: Dear Ombudperson

COPIES TO:
Ambassador H.E. Yashar Aliyev
Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan
2741 34th Street NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 337 5911
Email: azerbaijan@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


9 December 2009

UA 330/09                      Enforced disappearance/Risk of torture

TUNISIA                      Lotfi Dassi (m)

Former political prisoner Lotfi Dassi was arrested by security forces in
Tunisia on 23 November, apparently in relation to his activities to
secure financial aid for families affected by floods in the town of
Redeyef. The authorities have not acknowledged that they are holding him.
He may have been subjected to enforced disappearance and is at risk of
torture or other ill-treatment.

State security officers arrested Lotfi Dassi in the city of Gafsa in
south-western Tunisia, on the afternoon of 23 November. Officers in
plainclothes then brought him to his home, where they confiscated his
computer before leaving with him. Lotfi Dassi's wife, who was present
when his home was searched, was not shown any search warrant; nor was she
given any reason for his arrest. Later that day and on 24 November, she
enquired about him at the police station in Gafsa. An officer
unofficially told her that he has been transferred to the Ministry of
Interior in Tunis, where he is believed to be held at the Department of
State Security. Detainees held incommunicado there are at risk of torture
and other ill-treatment.

Despite his family's inquiries to the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights and the Public Prosecutor, the authorities have
yet to officially acknowledge holding Lotfi Dassi. His whereabouts, as
well as any charges against him, remain unknown.

Lotfi Dassi's arrest appears to be related to his work for Marhama, a
German-based NGO which says it provides humanitarian assistance to
impoverished people in North Africa. Lotfi Dassi had apparently been
identifying families in the mining town of Redeyef in the Gafsa region
who were in need of financial assistance following heavy flooding in the
town in September.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Heavy flooding in late September 2009 was reportedly the cause of several
deaths in the town of Redeyef, in the south western region of Gafsa. The
town has been under the close scrutiny of the security forces since
January 2008, when Redeyef was at the center of peaceful protests by
people marginalized by unemployment and other social issues. The ensuing
crack down by the security forces left two protesters dead, and led to
arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, and imprisonment
after unfair trials.

In November, Amnesty International welcomed the release of 68 prisoners
imprisoned in connection with the popular protests, following a
presidential pardon. They had spent more than one year in prison and
included many prisoners of conscience, who had been held solely for
peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
Following the releases, the organization urged the Tunisian authorities
to extend the pardon to all those who face charges on account of their
peaceful involvement in the Gafsa protests and to lift restrictions
imposed on released prisoners. The organization also called on the
Tunisian authorities to make public the findings of any investigation
into the killing by the security forces of the two Gafsa protestors.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern that Lotfi Dassi has apparently been held in secret
and incommunicado detention since 23 November in circumstances amounting
to an enforced disappearance;
- Urging the Tunisian authorities to immediately disclose the whereabouts
of Lotfi Dassi and ensure that he has access to his family, a lawyer of
his own choosing and any medical care he might require;
- Urging them to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Urging them to release Lotfi Dassi, unless he is promptly charged with
a recognizably criminal offense and brought to trial in proceedings that
meet international standards for fair trial;
- Calling on the Tunisian authorities to return confiscated items
belonging to Lotfi Dassi.

APPEALS TO:

Minister of the Interior and Local Development
Rafik Belhaj Kacem
Ministry of the Interior and Local Development
Avenue Habib Bourguiba
1000 Tunis, TUNISIA
Fax: 011 216 71 340 888
Email: mint@...
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Bechir Tekkari
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis – La Kasbah, TUNISIA
Fax: 011 216 71 568 106
Email: mju@...
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

General Coordinator for Human Rights
Ridha Khemakhem
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
31 Boulevard Bab Benat
1006 Tunis - La Kasbah, TUNISIA

Ambassador Hebib Manssour
Embassy of Tunisia
1515 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20005
Fax: 1 202 862 1858

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 20
January 2010.

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Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on November 3, 2009. Thanks!

10 December 2009

Further information on UA 293/09 (3 November 2009) - Death threats

COLOMBIA
Jose Goyes (m)
Licifredy Arara (m)
Meraldino Cabiche (m)
Plutarco Mina (m)
Eduar Villegas (m)
Diego Escobar (m)
Members of the human rights organisation NOMADESC
Members of the Community Council of La Toma
Members of the Valle del Cauca office of the Trade Union Congress
Members of the Indigenous Community of Cerro Tijeras

Six men in Cauca department, western Colombia, including Afro-descendant
and Indigenous community leaders, all received the same threatening SMS
(text) message simultaneously on 4 December. Those threatened have been
opposing further development of a hydroelectric project in the area where
they live and work. Their lives may be at risk.

The six men threatened all received a text message which read: "Son of a
bitch, don't decide for the community if they want the resources. You
have eight days to leave. The list remains." (Hp no decidan por la
comunida (sic) que si quieren en los recurs (sic) tienen 8 dĂ­as pasalir
(sic) sige (sic) la lista).

The six men (Licifrey Arara, Yair Ortiz and Edwar Mina, members of the La
Toma Afro-descendant Community Council, Arley Gonzalez, a independent
miner; Enrique Guetio, a leader of the Indigenous community in the Cerro
Tijeras Reservation, and Edwar Villegas, a member of the Trade Union
Congress (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, CUT) all represent groups
affected by a proposal to divert a river to power the Salvajina
hydroelectric plant in Cauca..They have been active in a campaign by
local communities to oppose the diversion of the river, as well as
large-scale gold-mining by multinational corporations in the region. The
communities fear that theses large scale developments would make it
difficult for them to maintain their livelihood and their culture. Some
of those threatened have publicized and reported threats and killings
that have taken place in the region since the Salvajina hydroelectric
plant was first built in the 1980s. A few days before the threat was
received, the affected communities had arranged a public meeting. When
the men received the threat, this meeting had not yet been publicized.

On 1 December, managers of the Salvajina hydroelectric scheme met with
the community and criticized the leaders for opposing further
development, though there is no evidence of the involvement of the
associated companies in the threats. The threats come at a time when
unidentified heavily-armed men thought to be paramilitaries have been
seen patrolling in the region despite the increased presence of the armed
forces in the area over recent months.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 22 October six individuals and members of five organizations received
a death threat from the paramilitary group Black Eagles New Generation
(Aguilas Negras Nueva Generacion) in a fax sent to the Trade Union
Congress, CUT. Two of those threatened, Licifrey Arara and Edwar
Villegas, also received the text message on 4 December. Since 22 October,
four Indigenous people have been killed in the Cerro Tijeras Reservation,
in Suarez municipality, Cauca department, by armed men.

On 5 November in a meeting called by the Inter American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR) the government and community representatives,
including Licifrey Arara, met to discuss the human rights situation in
the municipalities of Suarez, Morales and Buenos Aires, which has been
affected by the development of a hydroelectric project and large-scale
gold-mining by multinational corporations in the region.

Indigenous Peoples, as well as peasant farmers and Afro-descendant
communities are among the groups most affected by the internal armed
conflict in Colombia. These communities often live in areas of intense
military conflict, many of them on land rich in natural resources such as
minerals and oil. At particular risk of attack are those communities
living in areas earmarked for large-scale mineral and oil exploitation,
agro-industrial developments or hydro-electric or other infrastructure
schemes. Repeatedly these communities have faced mass forced displacement
and other human rights violations committed by the security forces and
paramilitaries operating in collusion with the armed forces. Guerrilla
forces have also been responsible for abuses against members of these
communities.

Such abuses are sometimes designed to force them off their lands, which
are then opened up for large-scale economic development. Community
members who have opposed such developments have repeatedly been the
target of death threats and killings. The security forces repeatedly
label these communities as "subversive." Such accusations are often
followed by paramilitary attacks. Guerrilla groups also threaten and kill
members of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities they accuse of
siding with "the enemy."

Since the Salvajina hydroelectric plant was built in the mid-1980s,
Indigenous communities and other inhabitants who have demonstrated
against what they consider to have been the detrimental effects of the
project on their livelihoods have received repeated death threats and
several leaders have been killed following their participation in
protests by paramilitaries operating in collusion with the security
forces. Amnesty International is not suggesting that it has evidence of
the involvement of the associated companies in these incidents.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Demanding the authorities take decisive action to guarantee the
protection of the six threatened men, in accordance with their wishes;
- Calling on the authorities to order a full and impartial investigation
into the threats sent to them, publish the results and bring those
responsible to justice;
- Urging them to take immediate action to dismantle paramilitary groups,
in line with stated government commitments and recommendations made by
the UN and other intergovernmental organizations.


APPEALS TO:

Vice-president
Dr. Francisco Santos Calderon
Vicepresidencia
Carrera 8A No 7-27
Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 011 57 1 444 2158
say "Me da tono por favor"
Salutation: Dear Vice-president/
Sr. Vicepresidente

Minister of Interior and Justice
Sr. Fabio Valencia Cossio
Ministerio Del Interior y De Justicia
Carrera 9a. No. 14-10,
Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 011 57 1 560 4630/599 8961
Salutation: Dear Minister/Sr. Ministro


COPIES TO:

NOMADESC
Carrera 4 No. 4-43 ofi. 201
Cali, COLOMBIA

Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Place, NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 8643
Email: embassyofcolombia@...


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 21
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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Email: uan@...
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Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on January 16, 2009. Thanks!

10 December 2009

Further information on UA 15/09 (16 January 2009) and follow-up (16
September 2009) - Fear for safety/Threats/Forced eviction

MEXICO
Agustina Contreras (f)
Residents of Lomas del Poleo, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state

A woman living in the Lomas del Poleo area of Chihuahua state, northern
Mexico, was shot and injured on 4 December. Those living in Lomas del
Poleo, particularly those representing local inhabitants in a dispute
with landowners, are at risk of further acts of intimidation and attack.

On 4 December, two armed men wearing balaclavas came to the door of
Adelaida Plasencia Sierra's home in Lomas del Poleo. When she opened the
door, they initially told her they wanted to sell her a mobile phone.
When Adelaida Plasencia refused to buy the phone, they suggested she talk
to her husband, Vicente. Adelaida Plasencia did not recognize the men and
was surprised that they knew her husband's name. The men then grabbed her
and tried to force her into a car. She escaped and ran towards her house,
but the men shot her. One bullet fractured three of her ribs. The men
then shot a further nine bullets into the air and drove off. Adelaida
Plasencia is recovering in hospital.

Since 2004, the Lomas del Poleo area has been surrounded by a barbed wire
fence, with the entrance patrolled by private security guards hired by
landowners who contest the ownership of the land. People living there
have been harassed and attacked since 2003. In 2005, according to local
inhabitants, 40 homes were set on fire and a resident was beaten to death
by the guards. Today very few families still live in the area. They claim
that despite reporting the incidents to the local Public Prosecutor's
office, no serious investigation has ever been carried out.

Adelaida Plasencia has given evidence at an agrarian tribunal that is
considering the land dispute between the residents of Lomas del Poleo and
a local landowning family. The latest attack is thought to be part of an
attempt to intimidate those taking part in the tribunal. Every day for
two weeks before this attack, Adelaida Plasencia had noticed that a white
car without number plates was parked in front of her house. She believes
this was also an attempt to intimidate her. Amnesty International is not
aware of any further acts of intimidation against the individuals
previously threatened in Lomas del Poleo: Agustina Contreras, Carmen
Quinones Ortiz, Alfredo Pinon Valenzuela and Martin Gabino.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The land of Lomas del Poleo has acquired particular value in recent years
as it stands between the city of Ciudad Juarez and an area which is
destined to be developed into a new urban and industrial area by a group
of businessmen.

An agrarian tribunal has held a number of hearings between the residents
of Lomas del Poleo and a local landowning family, but the case has been
progressing very slowly.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- To ensure that Adelaida Plasencia Sierra and other residents of Lomas
del Poleo who have been attacked by security guards working for local
landowners are given appropriate protection according to their wishes;
- To order independent and impartial investigations into the attacks
committed against residents, and bring those responsible to justice;
- To prevent any illegal attempt to drive residents of Lomas de Poleo off
their land and to expedite efforts to ensure the dispute is resolved
fairly and satisfactorily in the appropriate agrarian tribunal.


APPEALS TO:

Governor of Chihuahua State
Lic. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas
Gobernador del Estado de Chihuahua
Palacio de Gobierno, 1er piso
C. Aldama #901, Col. Centro,
Chihuahua, Estado de Chihuahua, C.P. 31000, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 614 429 3300
(then dial extension 11066 when prompted)
Salutation: Senor Gobernador/Dear Governor

Attorney General of Chihuahua
Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez
Procuradora del Estado de Chihuahua
Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado
Vicente Guerrero 616, Col. Centro
Chihuahua 31000, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 614 415 0314
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Senora Procuradora

Mayor of Ciudad Juarez
Lic. Jose Reyes Ferriz
Presidente Municipal de Ciudad Juarez
Unidad Administrativa Benito Juarez.
Primer piso, ala norte.
Av. Francisco Villa # 950 Norte, Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 656 615 0690
Salutation: Dear Mayor/Senor Presidente Municipal


COPIES TO:

Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
Email: mexembusa@...


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 21
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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Phone: 202.544.0200
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----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

7 December 2009

UA 323/09 - Fear for safety

COLOMBIA       Jorge Molano (m), human rights lawyer

Human rights lawyer Jorge Molano is involved in a high-profile
prosecution of a former army officer. He is being followed, and he and
his family are in grave danger.

The two bodyguards who have been providing protection for Jorge Molano
reported to their superiors on 1 December that two men had been
attempting to get into his apartment building in the capital, Bogota. The
men had gone into the building on three occasions, but had been stopped
by the building's concierge each time: they had refused to say who they
were, and simply asked to see Jorge Molano; the concierge asked them to
wait while he checked to see whether Jorge Molano was at home, but the
men said they would call back later, and left quickly.

Because of his high-profile work and previous threats to his safety,
Jorge Molano receives some protection from the Ministry of Interior's
Protection Program. This protection, which includes two bodyguards and a
bullet proof car, was approved in November 2008, but was not fully
provided until mid-2009.

His telephone is believed to be tapped. A criminal investigation into a
long-running illegal surveillance operation carried out by the civilian
intelligence service Departamento de Administracion de Seguridad, DAS,
revealed that there were orders to monitor his communications. Over the
past year his office in Bogota has been under surveillance. On 21 August,
Jorge Molano was leaving his office when a man dressed in black tried to
get close to him. Jorge Molano's bodyguards stopped him and Jorge Molano
was able to reach the safety of his car. Later the bodyguards told Jorge
Molano this man was one of a pair they had seen watching the office
earlier that day.Jorge Molano has also represented victims in other
high-profile human rights cases, including the case of members of the
army's XVII Brigade, who are accused of colluding with paramilitary
groups in the killing of members of the Peace Community of San Jose de
Apartado on 21 February 2005. His work as a human rights lawyer has made
him the target of threats.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Jorge Molano is one of the lawyers representing the families of 11 people
subjected to enforced disappearance by the army in 1985, during an
assault on the Palacio de Justicia (Law Court), which had been seized by
the guerrilla group M-19. The officer who oversaw the operation was
Colonel Luis Alfonso Plazas Vega, and he is now on trial, with a number
of other retired senior army officers. The army has claimed that the case
should be heard by the military justice system, but it has remained in
the civilian system, and a verdict is expected soon. Over 100 people died
in the assault, including 12 Supreme Court judges.

His work on this case has made Jorge Molano the target of threats. He has
been attacked in the blogs of the country's major newspapers, which have
been reporting on the Plazas Vega case. One comment read, "I address
exclusively the vulgar and shameless … Jorge Molano to express my
disgust, my repugnance, he sounds like a terrorist, like an unpatriotic
person." (Me dirijo exclusivamente al vulgar y desvergonzado -- jorge
molano para manifestarle mi asco, mi repugnancia, huele a terrorista, a
apatrida.) Another comment read, "To this LAWYER MOLANO; your duty is to
PROVE that PLAZAS VEGA 'murdered' those thugs you represent" (A ese
ABOGADO MOLANO … lo que le competer PROBAR es que PLAZAS VEGA
"assesino" a ese poco de Hampones a los que representa).

In April, Colombian press and broadcasters reported that the DAS, which
reports directly to the president, had carried out a massive and
long-running illegal surveillance operation against human rights
defenders, opposition politicians, lawyers, judges and journalists to
restrict or neutralize their work, and had done so in close cooperation
with paramilitary groups. Foreign diplomats and human rights defenders
were also targeted.

During Colombia's 40-year armed conflict, members of human rights
organizations, trade unions and other social organizations have often
been labeled as guerrilla collaborators or supporters by the security
forces and paramilitaries. As a result they are often threatened,
attacked or killed. Guerrilla groups have also threatened or killed human
rights defenders they consider to be siding with the enemy.

In September 2009, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, visited Colombia and concluded that
"patterns of harassment and persecution against human rights defenders,
and often their families, continue to exist in Colombia -  I am in
particular deeply concerned about the widespread phenomenon of threats
from unknown authors against human rights defenders and their families."
She also expressed her "serious concern about the arbitrary arrests and
detention (sometimes on a massive scale) of human rights defenders, as
well as unfounded criminal proceedings brought against them."

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- Expressing concern for the safety of Jorge Molano and his family, and
urging the authorities to provide them with effective protection, in
strict accordance with their wishes;

- Calling on the authorities to order a full and impartial investigation
into the intimidation and harassment of Jorge Molano, publish the results
and bring those responsible to justice;

- Reminding the authorities to adhere to their obligations regarding the
situation of human rights defenders, as laid out in the 1998 UN
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

APPEALS TO:
President
Senor Presidente Alvaro Uribe Velez
Presidente de la Republica, Palacio de Narino,
Carrera 8 No.7-26,
Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 011 57 1 337 5890
Salutation: Dear President Uribe/Excmo. Sr. Presidente Uribe

Vice-President
Dr. Francisco Santos Calderon
Vicepresidencia de la Republica
Carrera 8A No 7-27
Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 011 57 1 565 7682 (ask: "me da tono de fax por favor")
Salutation: Dear Mr Vice-president/Estimado Sr. Vicepresidente

COPIES TO:
Acting Attorney General
Dr. Guillermo Mendoza Diago
Fiscal General de la Nacion (e)
Diagonal 22B (Av. Luis Carlos Galan No. 52-01)
Bloque C
Piso 4, Bogota, COLOMBIA
Fax: 011 57 1 414 9108
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Estimado Sr. Fiscal General

Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Place, NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 8643
Email: embassyofcolombia@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 18
January 2010.

----------------------------------
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to the date a case is issued.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
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Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE
5th fl Washington DC 20003 Email: uan@...
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 202.544.0200 Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------

END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL

Amnesty International Press Release

For Immediate Release

Monday, December 7, 2009

Amnesty International Condemns Excessive Force by Iranian Security in
Student Protests

Organization Receives Reports of Confrontations Between Basij Militia and
Students Across the Country

(New York) -- Amnesty International condemned the excessive use of force
by Iranian security forces today that saw scores of protesters beaten and
detained during student-led demonstrations.

Security forces - including the volunteer Basij militia - used batons and
tear gas to disperse opposition supporters in the wake of threats by
officials that all demonstrations would be considered illegal and met by
force.

By the end of the day, the number of protestors arrested was not known.

"Since the disputed election a pattern has emerged of the authorities
preventing peaceful demonstrations, and then hastily resorting to
violence against people who nevertheless choose to exercise their right
to freedom of expression and assembly." said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui,
deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa
program.

"All those arrested for simply attending today's demonstrations should
be immediately and unconditionally released. The Iranian authorities
continue to treat peaceful dissenters as criminals in violation of
Iran’s Constitution."

Others arrested should be released unless they are to be charged with a
recognizably criminal offence and tried promptly and fairly.

Thousands of opposition supporters and students had gathered in Tehran
and cities across the country to mark the anniversary of the killing of
three students by security forces in 1953. In recent years the
anniversary has become a focus for demonstrations by students on campuses
calling for reform and greater respect for human rights.

One eyewitness told Amnesty International that students from Shahid
Beheshti University marched alongside the walls of Evin Prison in
northern Tehran chanting "political prisoners should be free" and
"students will die, we won't accept oppression."

Another told Amnesty International that central Esfahan and the
university in the southern part of that city was full of Basij militia
and plain clothed security officers to clamp down on any protests.

Over the course of the day, Amnesty International has been receiving
reports of confrontations between plain-clothed security officers
believed to be Basij and students at sites throughout the country, such
as at Mazandaran and Sari universities, in the north of the country.
Since the morning, security forces in Sari are said to have told students
not to attend university.

According to reports, police used plastic bullets at Amir Kabir
University in Tehran to stop students inside the campus from joining up
with protestors outside.

In recent weeks, students suspected of organizing the protests had
received threats and scores were detained in an attempt to stifle the
dissent.

Protestors also faced other repressive restrictions as the authorities
blocked the use of the internet and mobile phones.

In a further crackdown the authorities banned foreign media from covering
the protests.

On Saturday the security forces arrested up to 29 women taking part in a
silent protest in Tehran. The group, Mourning Mothers, which is made up
of mothers whose children died in the post-election violence and other
women who gather every week to call for an end to the human rights
violation which have taken place since the election, including justice
for their dead children.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist
organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and
volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights
worldwide.  The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates
and mobilizes the public, and woArks to protect people wherever justice,
freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

Please visit www.amnestyusa.org<http://www.amnestyusa.org> for more
information.

Dec. 5




RWANDA:

Rwanda - first landmine-free country  ----  Rwandan soldiers were
specially trained for the mine clearance programme



Rwanda has been declared free of landmines - the first country to achieve
this status.

The announcement was made at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World in
Colombia.

Hundreds of people have been killed and horrifically injured by landmines
in Rwanda.

Landmines were laid between 1990 and 1994 in Rwanda and over the past
three years more than over 9,000 have been destroyed by Rwandan soldiers.

Ben Remfrey of the Mines Awareness Trust, which supervised the clearance,
says although other countries have had far more mines laid, this is a
significant step.

"Rwanda has made history by becoming the first country in the world to be
officially declared free from landmines," he told the BBC World Service.

"Rwanda had a problem, it wasn't huge but it was still significant... and
had a big social and economic impact."

Land scarce

Landmines have been devastating for Rwanda since their existence prevented
many people from being able to live from their land.

Since 80% of the population earn a living by through agriculture, and
Rwanda is Africa's most densely populated country, land is already scarce.

Nteziyaremya Alphose, a 40-year-old farmer living in a village north of
Kigali, had mines on his farm.

Two adults lost legs and a child and a cow were killed on his farm.

Now his land has been cleared, he says his family are able to grow enough
produce to feed themselves.

"I can now use every piece of my land without becoming a victim of
landmines, my livestock can now graze on this land and not be taken away
from me," he says.

Destroying the mines

The landmines were cleared by Rwandan soldiers who were specially trained
in Kenya at the International Mines Action Training Centre.

One hundred and eighty soldiers were involved in the clearance process in
which 20 minefields were surveyed and de-mined over three years.

The mines, mostly anti-personnel landmines, were either neutralised or
destroyed where they were found by qualified personnel.

To be declared as landmine-free, Rwanda had to meet the conditions of the
Ottawa Landmine Treaty.

These stipulate that not only does a country have to ensure its land is
free of mines but also that it destroys its landmine stockpiles.

Each of the minefields was checked by Mine Detection Dogs

The Mines Awareness Trust say that all Rwandan stockpiles were destroyed
either by burning or controlled explosions, ensuring these items could
never be used again.

A dog specialist and a team of Mine Detection Dogs provided a final check
of all the land surveyed and manually cleared so that the land could be
signed off to international standards.

Overall, 1.3m square metres of land were tested and cleared.

Gareth Thomas, Africa Minister at the Department for International
Development which funded the programme, said that this project was
important for Rwanda.

"This means that Rwandans from those areas are now able to farm their
land," he told the BBC's World Today programme.

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban convention, better known as the Ottawa
Convention, was brought into force 10 years ago.

Its aim was to help rid the world of landmines on the ground as well as
stockpiled mines.

Since then, a total of 165 states have ratified the convention and
production of anti-personnel mines has ceased in 38 countries.

But according to Landmine Monitor's estimates, more than 160m mines are
held by countries not party to the convention and 13 states are still
producing mines or retain the right to do so.

(source:  BBC News)

Dec. 4




MEXICO

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


3 December 2009

UA 321/09 - Fear for safety

MEXICO
       Mariano Abarca Roblero (m), environmental defender
       his family
       other environmental protesters in Chicomuselo, Mexico

The family of Mariano Abarca Roblero and other environmental protesters in
Chicomuselo, southern Mexico, are at risk after Mariano Abarca was shot
and killed in front of his home. Before his killing, he and members of his
family are believed to have been repeatedly threatened.

On 27 November, Mariano Abarca Roblero, a male human rights defender and
leading member of the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining (Red
Mexicana de Afectados por la Mineria, REMA), was shot three times by a man
riding a motorbike. At the time of the attack, Mariano Abarca Roblero was
standing in front of his house in Chicomuselo municipality, Chiapas state,
talking with a neighbour, also a member of REMA who was injured but
survived the attack.

Days before his death, Mariano Abarca Roblero had filed a complaint with
the State Attorney General's Office (Procuraduria General de Justicia del
Estado) relating to a death threat he had received in August. According to
the complaint, a man had claimed he would "pump lead into him"
("quebrar[le] la madre a plomazos") for leading the protests. The PGJE has
opened an investigation into the murder of Mariano Abarca Roblero.

Mariano Abarca Roblero and other activists with REMA had set up a
roadblock in June to protest at a mining company operating in the area,
which they believe is polluting and damaging the environment. They blocked
one of the two access roads to the mine. On 17 August, Mariano Abarca
Roblero was arrested at the site of the protest by Chiapas state police
officers without an explanation or a warrant. He was held in pre-charge
detention (arraigo) for his participation in the protests but he was
released unconditionally on 25 August because there was no evidence that
the protest in which Mariano Abarca Roblero was participating was violent
or threatened public order. His arrest took place days before members of
REMA held a regional meeting in Chicomuselo for environmentalist
activists.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Human rights defenders in Mexico face attacks, threats, politically
motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests or
promoting respect for human rights. The government has agreed to provide
protection measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights to several human rights defenders, but some have reported that no
effective protection has been provided. Substantial efforts have not been
made to investigate cases of abuses against human rights defenders;
impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility
of further attacks.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the federal and state authorities to provide immediate and
effective protection for Mariano Abarca Roblero's family, witnesses to his
murder, and members of REMA in Chicomuselo, in accordance with their
wishes;
- urging the authorities to take immediate steps to expedite a thorough
and impartial investigation into the killing of Mariano Abarca Roblero on
27 November in Chicomuselo, to ensure the findings are made public and
those responsible brought to account;
- reminding the authorities that local activists who campaign for respect
for human rights, including the provision of basic services in their
communities, are human rights defenders protected under the UN Declaration
on Human Rights Defenders which recognizes the legitimacy of the
activities of human rights defenders and obliges states to ensure they can
carry out their activities without obstacles or fear of reprisals.


APPEALS TO:

Minister of Interior
Lic. Fernando F. Gomez-Mont Urueta
Secretaria de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. Piso
Col. Juarez, Del. Cuauhtemoc
Mexico D.F.,
C.P.06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
E-mail: secretario@...
Salutation: Senor Secretario/Dear Minister

Chiapas Attorney General
Mtro. Raciel Lopez Salazar
Procurador General de Justicia del Estado de Chiapas
Libramiento no. 2010
Col. El Bosque
Tuxtla Gutierrez, MEXICO, CP 29049
Fax: 011 52 961 6165724
Email: raciel.lopez@...
Salutation: Dear Attorney General / Senor Procurador

Governor of Chiapas
Lic. Juan Jose Sabines Guerrero
Gobernador del Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno,
1o piso, Col. Centro, C.P. 29000, Tuxtla Gutirrez, Chiapas, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 961 618 8050, ext.: 21122
Email: juansabines@...
Salutation: Dear Governor/Senor Gobernador

COPIES TO:

Human Rights Organization
Otros mundos
Francisco I. Madero 49
Barrio Guadalupe
San Cristobal de las Casas
Chiapas 29200
MEXICO

Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
Email: mexembusa@...


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 14
January 2010.

----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a
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To Canada:
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To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and
defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact
information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help
with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@...
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

Nov. 29



POLAND:

Polish president signs chemical castration law -- Polish MPs passed the
legislation in September


Polish President Lech Kaczynski has signed a law making chemical
castration compulsory for adults who rape children or immediate family
members.

The introduction of the law means that Poland is now the only country in
Europe where certain sex offenders will be forced to undergo the
treatment.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed the law in the wake of several
high-profile paedophile cases.

The practice has been tried elsewhere but usually on a voluntary basis.

According to its politicians, Poland now has the toughest legislation
towards paedophiles in Europe.

Popular support

Under the law, adults convicted of raping a child under the age of 15 or
committing incest will be forced upon release to take drugs to reduce
their libido - a practice commonly referred to as chemical castration.

Other European countries have experimented with the practice, which can
produce unpleasant side effects such as breast growth, but only as a
voluntary option to try to prevent people from re-offending.

The Polish law was drafted following a case last year in which a
45-year-old man repeatedly raped his daughter and fathered two children by
her.

The law has been criticised by human-rights groups, but it enjoys
widespread public support, with one survey saying close to 80% of people
here support the measure.

(source:  BBC News)

Nov. 29



Plan to open Bhopal's 'factory of death' dropped


INDIAN authorities in Bhopal, site of the world's worst industrial
accident, have decided against opening up the factory at the centre of the
tragedy.

The controversial idea, announced earlier this month, was that the Union
Carbide plant would be opened for a week to mark the 25th anniversary of
the accident in a bid to dispel fears that the site was still harmful.

It sparked protests from victims groups who said the step would put people
in danger and was insensitive towards the tens of thousands estimated to
have been killed by the gas leak from the factory on December 3, 1984.

Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Babulal Gaur, from the Madhya
Pradesh state government, said the factory would not be opened because it
could be seen as influencing voters before local elections.

Officials had said that visitors would be allowed to tour the Bhopal plant
to commemorate the disaster and help people come to terms with it.

A court had ordered that the guarded gates of the factory be opened to let
people tour from a barricaded distance of about six metres.

Survivors say the site is still contaminated and are demanding a complete
clean-up of one of the world's worst industrial disasters, which killed
more than 15,274 people.

Standing in front of the rusting remains of the abandoned factory, Tota
Ram Chauhan pointed to glittering white streaks in the brown soil.

''This is pure mercury, and you will find it all over this contaminated
place,'' said Mr Chauhan, 55, who worked as the plant operator for 10
years.

He said residue from dozens of deadly chemicals were present at the site.
''I know this because I have dumped so many barrels of chemical effluents
during those years here,'' he said.

Many people living in the shanties hugging the factory have taken their
cases to court, saying soil and groundwater contamination are still
causing diseases and birth defects.

''It is a factory of death. There is poison inside the factory which
continues to enter our wells and bodies,'' said Rajbai Moolchand, 70, who
lives in the shanties and was exposed to the gas leak. She complains of
skin and respiratory problems. ''Our government wants to fool the world.''

Mr Gaur has called such claims baseless. He cited a study by the Defence
Research and Development Establishment last year that said samples taken
from the site had ''very low mammalian toxicity''.

After visiting the site in September, India's Environment Minister, Jairam
Ramesh, said: ''I went inside, touched toxic material and I am still
alive. I am not coughing.''

His remarks offended many survivor groups.

Union Carbide settled out of court in 1989 and paid the Indian government
$US470 million. But many victims complain that more than 90 per cent of
victims received only about $US500 each.

''Every day we are fighting the battle for the real issues of inadequate
compensation, shabby hospital care, pension for gas-affected widows and
rehabilitation of people with permanent disabilities,'' said Abdul Jabbar,
a victim who heads the largest group of female survivors in Bhopal.

(source:  The New Age)

Nov. 26



CAMBODIA:

Khmer Rouge torturer had to "kill or be killed"



The Khmer Rouge's chief torturer and jailer had to "kill or be killed"
and operate like an "obedient machine", his lawyer said on Thursday in
defending the first member of Cambodia's murderous regime to face
justice.

In the final two days of testimony in the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal,
a lawyer for the commander of the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison said
his client's life was at stake when he ordered the murder of more than
14,000 people in the 1970s.

Speaking a day after prosecutors asked the court to sentence Kaing Guek
Eav, better known as Duch, to 40 years in prison, the lawyer said the
tribunal should show leniency because the 67-year-old former maths teacher
had fully cooperated.

"Without Duch, the trial could not have unfolded if he, like others, had
decided to remain in silence," Francois Roux, Duch's lawyer, told a
courtroom packed with more than 600 people, including many survivors of
the ultra-communist regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in 1975-79.

"The accused was absolutely, himself, in the hands of the party. And in
fact, he had to operate like a machine, an obedient machine," said Roux.
"He himself was in a situation where he had to choose to kill or be
killed."

"We do not wish our client to be the scapegoat," he added.

Duch is scheduled to take the stand again on Friday on the final day of
the trial. A verdict is expected by March.

He is accused of "crimes against humanity, enslavement, torture, sexual
abuses and other inhumane acts" as commander of Tuol Sleng prison, a
converted high school also known as S-21, during one of the darkest
chapters of the 20th century.

Only seven of 14,000 people who passed through S-21 survived.

Prosecutors have urged the tribunal's five-judge panel to reject Duch's
assertion he had little choice but to carry out orders, saying Duch was
"ideologically of the same mind" as the Khmer Rouge leaders and did
nothing to stop prison guards from inflicting rampant torture.

QUARTER OF POPULATION DIED

Lead prosecutor William Smith told the court this week "the accused was
neither a prisoner, nor a hostage, nor a victim. He was an idealist, a
revolutionary, a crusader -???? prepared to torture and kill willingly for
the good of the revolution."

The tribunal seeks justice for nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population
who perished from execution, overwork or torture during the Khmer Rouge's
agrarian revolution, which ended with the 1979 invasion by Vietnam.

Duch faces up to life in prison if convicted. Smith said on Wednesday he
should get 40 years. Cambodia does not have capital punishment.

Now a born-again Christian, Duch expressed "excruciating remorse" on
Wednesday for the S-21 victims, most of them tortured and forced to
confess to spying and other crimes before they were bludgeoned to death at
the "Killing Fields" execution sites.

Witnesses in 72 days of hearings spoke of beatings with metal pipes,
electrocution, near-starvation, violent rape and prisoners forced to eat
their own excrement.

Duch has asked if he could apologise in person to his victims' families,
and has said he was convinced he was fighting to free Cambodia from U.S.
imperialism during the Vietnam War.

Four other senior Khmer Rouge cadres are in custody awaiting trial. They
are ex-president Khieu Samphan, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, his
wife Khieu Thirith and "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea. Unlike Duch, they
have not publicly apologised.

Pol Pot, architect of the Khmer Rouge's "Year Zero" peasant revolution,
was captured in 1997 and died in April 1998.

The chamber of three Cambodian and two foreign judges -- known as the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia -- requires four to agree
on a verdict.

(source:  Reuters)

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


24 November 2009

UA 313/09             Medical concern

VIETNAM            Father Nguyen Van Ly (m)

Imprisoned pro-democracy activist and Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van
Ly suffered a suspected stroke on 14 November in Viet Nam. He is
conscious but paralyzed on one side. He has been moved to a prison
hospital in the Vietnamese capital, Ha Noi. He may be returned to prison,
where he would not receive adequate medical treatment for a potentially
life-threatening condition.

Father Nguyen Van Ly, who is 63 years old, has been moved from Ba Sao
prison, in Ha Nam province, northern Viet Nam, where he has been held in
solitary confinement since March 2007, to Prison Hospital 198,
administered by the Ministry of Public Security in Ha Noi. Five prison
officers are guarding his room, and they only allow family members to see
him in order to give him additional care, including by providing him with
changes of clothing and food. Sources in Viet Nam say that Father Ly is
undergoing medical tests. While in prison he has suffered from high blood
pressure and other health problems. He has been ill a number of times in
the last six months, including an incident when he fell and hit his head
and was unable to stand up, and also had temporary loss of movement on
one side of his body. He recovered despite receiving inadequate medical
treatment at Ba Sao prison.

Father Ly is a Catholic priest and activist for human rights and
democracy. In March 2007 he was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment
for "conducting propaganda" against the state. He was accused of
involvement in the internet-based pro-democracy movement Bloc 8406, which
he co-founded in April 2006, and taking part in the establishment of
banned political groups. He also secretly published a dissident journal,
Tu Do Ngon Luan (Freedom and Democracy).

Since Father Ly was first jailed for his activism in the late 1970s, he
has spent some 17 years as a prisoner of conscience, detained for calling
for respect for human rights and freedom of expression, and criticizing
government policies on religion.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Freedom of expression and association is strictly controlled in Viet Nam.
Dissidents who are critical of government policies and speak out about
human rights violations face a range of sanctions to silence them. At
least 30 dissidents have received long prison sentences, since a series
of arrests began in 2006 after a short-lived period of official tolerance
of increased web-based activism challenging the government. Another wave
of arrests began in May 2009, and nine activists have recently been
sentenced after unfair trials.

Law enforcement agencies arbitrarily use the Penal Code to stifle and
criminalize peaceful dissent, in breach of international human rights
treaties that Viet Nam has ratified. Restrictions and regulations on
internet use penalize freedom of expression on topics deemed sensitive,
including human rights and advocacy of democracy. Recent regulations on
blogging enacted in December 2008 restrict content to personal matters,
and prohibit dissemination of anti-government material, and
“undermining national security”.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing grave concern that if Father Ly is returned to prison after
suffering a suspected stroke, he would not receive all the medical care
he needs, and his life would be at risk;
- Urging the authorities to allow Father Ly's family frequent access to
him in the prison hospital;
- Calling on the authorities to urgently release Father Ly into the care
of his family so that they can arrange immediate provision of independent
professional medical care and hospital treatment;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is released
unconditionally and not returned to prison.

APPEALS TO:

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pham Gia Khiem
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam Street
Ba Dinh district, Ha Noi
VIET NAM
Fax: 011 8443 823 1872
Email: bc.mfa@...
Salutation: Dear Minister

Minister of Public Security
Le Hong Anh
Ministry of Public Security
44 Yet Kieu Street
Ha Noi
VIET NAM
Fax: 011 8443 942 0223
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Le Cong Phung
Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th St NW #400
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 861 0917
Email: info@... OR consular@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 5
January 2010.

----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes
and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact
information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help
with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@...
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

Nov. 23

RWANDA:

Human rights concerns raised as Rwanda set to join Commonwealth----Kigali
wants allowances made for how far it's come since the genocide


Rwanda is set to succeed in its bid to join the Commonwealth this week
despite serious concerns over its human rights record, according to a
senior source close to the negotiations.

A summit of Commonwealth heads of government in Trinidad and Tobago will
add the central African nation to its 53 current members, despite its
failure to meet entry requirements. "There is consensus on Rwanda" a
senior African negotiator told The Independent.

The decision, expected before the week's end, has been greeted with dismay
by NGOs, while the author of a major report on Rwanda's candidacy said it
was clear evidence that the Commonwealth "could not care less about human
rights".

Professor Yash Pal Ghai, a Kenyan-born expert in constitutional law and
author of an independent report for the Commonwealth Human Rights
Initiative (CHRI) said: "From the very beginning, the governments of the
Commonwealth had decided they wanted Rwanda in. The secretary general,
Britain and Uganda have all been pushing for that outcome."

Supporters of the bid have argued that entry into the club would encourage
Kigali to raise its standards, but critics counter that it will "lower the
group's average" and make it harder to take actions against states  such
as Fiji, currently suspended for refusing to call elections  that
trangress in future. "The Commonwealth stands for very little if it
doesn't stand for human rights and democracy," said Tom Porteous, head of
Human Rights Watch in London. "Admitting Rwanda will make it harder for
the Commonwealth to project itself as a credible promoter of these
values."

Rwanda, a former German colony, which later came under a Belgian mandate
from the League of Nations, applied in 2007 to join the voluntary
association of mainly English-speaking former British colonies. That move
followed the breakdown in relations between Kigali and France as both
countries traded accusations over events in the build-up to the 1994
genocide.

Applicant countries are meant to have some historical or constitutional
link with the Commonwealth, although the grouping made an exception for
the former Portuguese colony Mozambique in 1995.

In its bid, which has been strongly backed by Britain, Australia and
Uganda, Rwanda has argued that it should be judged on how far it has come
since 1994 rather than against a global standard. "There is room to
improve, but no country is 100 per cent perfect," Foreign Minister
Rosemary Museminali said. "Rwanda should be looked at in the context of
where it's come from."

President Paul Kagame, whose Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front took power
in the country after routing the Hutu militias responsible for the
massacres, has succeeded in modernising the country's image. The
administration has a reputation for efficiency and has attracted strong
international support including substantial foreign aid from the UK and US
in particular.

However, the CHRI's report paints a portrait of a very different Rwanda.
"The Rwandan government has excellent public-relations machinery. Its
leaders are astute, and effectively play upon the conscience of the
world," it states.

The report details a country in which democracy, freedom of speech, the
press and human rights are undermined or violently abused, in which courts
fail to meet international standards, and a country which has invaded its
neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo, four times since 1994.

Professor Ghai draws attention to the laws against "genocide ideology",
prohibiting the raising of doubts about the extent of the killing of
Tutsis in 1994 or any discussion of retaliatory killings of Hutus.
Censorship is prevalent, according to the report, and the government has a
record of shutting down independent media and harassing journalists.

It concludes that Rwanda's constitution is used as a "faade" to hide "the
repressive nature of the regime" and backs claims that Rwanda is
essentially an "an army with a state". Kigali reacted furiously to the
accusations, saying the claims had "absolutely no basis".

Rwanda has trumpeted its Commonwealth credentials with the switch from
French to English instruction in schools last year, and won acclaim for
low levels of corruption and high health and education spending. Rwanda's
former ambassador to the UN, Gideon Kayinamura, has boasted that other
countries could learn from its democracy "where as many as 56 per cent of
its MPs are women". Its membership bid is strongly backed by Tony Blair
who works as an unpaid advisor on governance.

Suspicions persist that, beyond talk of deepening trade and improving
cultural ties, Commonwealth diplomats are tempted by the prospect of
cementing such a public defection from the Francophone world. "This
British-French rivalry is a batty reason," declared Professor Ghai, who
said diplomats responded with "glee and pleasure" at the prospect of
Rwandan membership which, they admit, would have no big impact on trade or
relations."

(source:  The Independent)






CAMBODIA:

Closing arguments in Khmer Rouge trial


A U.N.-backed Cambodian court started closing arguments Monday in
the trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief accused of killing
thousands of people three decades ago.

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, faces charges that include war crimes,
crimes against humanity and torture during the communist regime's rule
from 1975 to 1979.

Prosecutors say he oversaw the torture and killing of more than 15,000
people and actively took part in some cases.

The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, was blamed for one of the worst horrors
of the 20th century. At least 1.7 million people -- nearly one-quarter of
Cambodia's population -- died under the regime, from execution, disease,
starvation and overwork.

The now-66-year-old Duch ran S-21, a prison converted from a school. At
the prison, men, women and children were shackled to iron beds and
tortured before they were beaten to death, prosecutors said.

About 90 survivors attended the proceedings Monday outside the Cambodian
capital, Phnom Penh. In the courtroom, Duch was separated by a large
bulletproof glass window to prevent revenge attacks.

Duch has repeatedly apologized for the atrocities and, during opening
statements in March, pledged to work with court officials to resolve the
case.

Cooperation is the best "remedy that can help me to relieve all of the
sorrow of the crimes that I have committed," he said at the time.

"I will answer all questions you may ask me in the court ... and also the
questions posed by the civil parties, and based on the evidence."

The former math teacher, now a born-again Christian, has admitted to about
two-thirds of the charges, said Lars Olsen, a U.N. spokesman.

Closing arguments end later this week and a verdict is expected early next
year, Olsen said.

Duch faces five years to life in prison if convicted by the tribunal,
which does not have the power to impose the death penalty, Olsen said.

(source:  CNN)

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on September 22, 2009. Thanks!

18 November 2009

Further information on UA 250/09 (22 September 2009) - Fear for safety

MEXICO       Ricardo Lagunes Gasca (m), human rights lawyer
                         Carmen Aguilar Gomez (f)
                         People in the village of Ejido Jotola, Chiapas
state

Four men on trial for an attack on human rights lawyer Ricardo Lagunes
Gasca, and other inhabitants of Ejido Jotola, southern Mexico, in
September, have been intimidating witnesses and have threatened to kill
and rape villagers since they were released on bail on 11 November.

The men were arrested on 3 November for the attack on human rights lawyer
Ricardo Lagunes Gasca and villagers of Ejido Jotola, Chilon municipality,
Chiapas state, including Carmen Aguilar Gomez who was shot in the leg.
The men were charged with attempted murder, deprivation of liberty and
causing injuries, but on 11 November a judge released them on bail
arguing that their offenses were not serious.

During the night of 11 November, the men arrived back in Ejido Jotola,
apparently drunk, and stood around outside the home of the mother of a
man who provided a witness statement against them. Local women also
reported that in the following days the men shouted at them saying that
they would "kill [those sympathizing with the National Zapatista
Liberation Army (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, EZLN)] one by
one and will rape all the women".

According to community members, the attackers are part of an illegal
armed group known as the Organisacion para la Defensa de los Derechos
Indigenas y Campesinos (Organization for the Protection of Indigenous and
Peasants' rights,
OPDDIC), which is in opposition to EZLN sympathizers. On 7 November,
members of OPDDIC threatened to set fire to homes in Ejido Jotola in
retaliation for the arrests of the four men.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ricardo Lagunes Gasca, a lawyer with the Fray Bartolome de las Casas
Human Rights Center, visited Ejido Jotola on 18 September as he was
advising relatives of two men who are being prosecuted on the basis of
evidence extracted under torture (see UA 103/09,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/049/2009/en and follow-ups).
As he was leaving the village, the group of OPDDIC members, some armed
with rifles and others with sticks and rocks, grabbed hold of Ricardo
Lagunes, then hit him and threatened to lynch him. The attempt on his
life was stopped by other community members, but in the violence that
followed, Carmen Aguilar Gomez was shot and injured.

Human rights defenders in Mexico face threats, attacks, politically
motivated criminal charges and imprisonment for leading protests or
promoting respect for human rights. The government has agreed to provide
protection measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights to several human rights defenders, but some have reported that no
effective protection has been provided. Substantial efforts have not been
made to investigate cases of abuses against human rights defenders;
impunity is the general rule in these cases, leaving open the possibility
of further attacks.

Threats and attacks by groups opposed to the EZLN, such as OPDDIC,
against members of communities perceived as EZLN supporters remain common
in the areas of Chiapas where the EZLN influence is contested. The
failure of the authorities to tackle these groups has left many
communities in fear of further attacks.

The EZLN is an armed opposition group which has been militarily inactive
for many years, but continues to operate as a social and political
movement in many areas of Chiapas.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to immediately provide protection for the
inhabitants of Ejido Jotola, Chilon municipality, as well as to human
rights defenders working in the area, in accordance with their wishes;
- Calling on them to ensure that adequate measures are taken to prevent
the four men accused of the initial attack from threatening or attacking
members of the community;
- Calling for a prompt and impartial enquiry into the new threats against
villagers and to investigate how the men awaiting trial were allowed to
return to the community without any measures in place to prevent new acts
of intimidation.

APPEALS TO:
Minister of the Interior
Secretario de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juarez
Del. Cuauhtemoc, Mexico D.F., C.P.06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Email: secretario@...
Salutation: Senor Secretario/Dear Minister

Attorney General of Chiapas
Mtro. Raciel Lopez Salazar
Procurador General de Justicia del Estado de Chiapas
Libramiento Norte no. 2010, Col. El Bosque, Tuxtla
Gutierrez, Chiapas, CP 29049, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 961 616 5724
Email: raciel.lopez@...
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Senor Procurador

Chiapas Human Rights Commission
Presidente de la Comision Estatal de Derechos Humanos de Chiapas
Blvd. Comitan 143, Col. Moctezuma, Tuxtla Gutierrez,
Chiapas, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 961 639 6615 (if someone answers, say "me da tono de fax, por
favor")
Email: cdh@...
Salutation: Senor Presidente/Dear President

COPIES TO:
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolome de las Casas
Email: accionurgente@...

Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698
Email: mexembusa@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 30
December 2009.

----------------------------------
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Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

Nov. 13





UGANDA:

ICC Conflicts With Country's Constitution


UGANDA has delayed to adapt the International Criminal Court (ICC)
statute because some of its provisions contradict the country's
constitution, a foreign affairs ministry official has said.

Isaac Biruma Sebulime, the head of the multilateral organisations and
treaties department, on Wednesday said Uganda was yet to adapt the statute
because it had provisions that remove the immunity of the president.

"The ICC also does not allow the death penalty, yet Uganda has not
abolished it," he noted.

Sebulime was responding to queries raised by the Uganda National Governing
Council on the African peer review Mechanism report.

This was at the ministry's offices in Kampala, where the council members
led by the chairperson, Dr. Zac Niringiye, met the ministry officials.

Evaluating the report, Niringiye said domestication of standards and codes
was among the issues that needed urgent consideration.

He regretted that many treaties and conventions had been ratified but not
domesticated.

Niringiye said Uganda needed a database of signed, ratified or
domesticated standards and codes for proper monitoring.

Sebulime clarified that lime ministries were responsible for pushing the
domestication of conventions and not the foreign affairs ministry.

"We are the coordinating ministry. We do not sign the treaties. It is done
by lime ministries," he said.

(source:  The New Vision)





USA/ASIA:

US President Barack Obama should urge Asian leaders at the first ASEAN-US
summit to unite in addressing the region's most pressing human rights
concerns, Human Rights Watch said today.


Human Rights Watch called on Obama, in his meetings with leaders of the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to raise the
lack of democratic change in Burma, restraints on freedom of expression
across the region, widespread impunity for rights violations, and a weak
regional human rights institution.

Obama, on his first visit to Asia as president, will meet with ASEAN
leaders on November 15, 2009, the day after the annual Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore.

"Obama should use his first trip to Southeast Asia as president to put
human rights on the ASEAN agenda," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. "Burma is the obvious place to start, but
media repression and unpunished rights violations are rampant throughout
the region."

The Obama administration has undertaken a dual approach to Burma by
beginning talks with Burma's senior generals to press them to accept
democratic change, while maintaining sanctions until there are genuine
improvements. Senior US State Department officials visited Burma earlier
this month, and on November 11, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told
the APEC summit, "We would like to see countries individually and through
ASEAN reach out to the Burmese leadership, persuade them that it's time to
start planning for free, fair and credible elections in 2010." Clinton
also reaffirmed that sanctions will not be lifted until there is progress
on democracy in Burma.

Human Rights Watch urged Obama to call on all ASEAN leaders to speak
forcefully and with one voice to call for the release of all political
prisoners in Burma, including the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as
well as for an inclusive political process ahead of the 2010 elections.

Obama should also urge ASEAN leaders to meet international standards of
refugee protection, considering the large numbers of asylum seekers from
Burma seeking sanctuary in Southeast Asian countries, Human Rights Watch
said.

"ASEAN leaders have long sent mixed messages on Burma, so Obama should
encourage them to unite in a strong statement of support for real
democratic reforms," Pearson said. "All ASEAN countries should oppose
repression in Burma and adopt basic refugee protections to promote the
rights of the Burmese people."

For ASEAN to be an effective force for human rights, Obama should urge
leaders to resolve ongoing human rights problems in their own countries,
Human Rights Watch said. Obama should publicly reiterate the importance of
freedom of expression and media freedom as an integral part of democratic
society.

A major problem is the widespread use of legal systems in Southeast Asia
to silence peaceful government critics, journalists, and human rights
defenders, in violation of international law. Cambodia, Indonesia, and
Singapore use criminal defamation laws, Malaysia and Vietnam take
advantage of overbroad national security laws, and Thailand makes
arbitrary use of the lese majeste law and the Computer Crimes Act.

On Cambodia, Human Rights Watch urged Obama to openly challenge Prime
Minister Hun Sen's increasingly authoritarian practices, in which he and
other ruling party officials use violence, threats, and the country's
notoriously corrupt judiciary to silence and imprison opposition party
members, journalists, land rights activists, and other government critics.

Human Rights Watch also called on Obama to urge Vietnam, which will assume
the chair of ASEAN in 2010, to set an example by improving its human
rights practices. The government could start by releasing the hundreds of
peaceful government critics, independent church activists, bloggers, and
democracy advocates imprisoned in violation of international law on
groundless national security charges for expressing peaceful dissent.

Human Rights Watch also noted that in Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines,
and Thailand, security forces continue to commit serious abuses without
fear of punishment. Despite assurances from leaders that they intend to
bring the perpetrators to justice, abusive officials are not being
prosecuted successfully. Past violators go unpunished, while those
implicated in abuses remain in the security forces and may even be
promoted.

In Thailand, military and police officers known to have been involved in
abuses during the 2003 "War on Drugs" and counterinsurgency operations
have been promoted rather than punished. In Indonesia, human rights
violators continue to be promoted within the Indonesian special forces
branch, Kopassus, and the masterminds behind the 2001 murder of the human
rights advocate Munir bin Thalib remain free.

Human Rights Watch urged Obama to make a firm commitment that US agencies
will review information about units and individual members of security
forces participating in US-funded programs to ensure that none have been
implicated in human rights violations, particularly torture, enforced
disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. Obama should also consider
conditioning a greater amount of the US's security aid on progress in
prosecuting those abuses.

ASEAN members have ratified a charter that commits member states to
protect human rights, but the Intergovernmental Commission on Human
Rights, introduced at the 15th ASEAN Summit in October, is weak. Several
of the commissioners lack independence from their governments, and the
commission's mandate is largely limited to allowing members to promote
human rights, rather than protecting them.

"Obama should let ASEAN know that the regional grouping can be a
formidable force for human rights," Pearson said. "But this means the new
ASEAN human rights commission should have the power to protect people from
abuses, not just pay lip service to human rights."

(source:  Human Rights Watch)

Nov. 17




MYANMAR:

Obama urges Myanmar to free democracy leader Suu Kyi



Aung San Suu Kyi, the iconic face of democracy in Myanmar, was placed
under house arrest in 1989.

President calls for "unconditional release of all political prisoners" in
nation

He also urges government to talk with minority groups, democratic
opposition

U.S. officials say Obama isn't talking just with Myanmar leader at ASEAN
summit

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years


President Obama on Sunday called for the release of Myanmar democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

"There are clear steps that must be taken: the unconditional release of
all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; an end to conflicts
with minority groups; and a genuine dialogue between the government, the
democratic opposition and minority groups," according to Obama, who said
the regime should work to ensure its people's needs are met.

He spoke during a meeting with ASEAN-10 leaders that included the prime
minister of Myanmar. Obama is the first U.S. president to take part in a
summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic alliance.
The formal meeting was held Sunday.

That 10-nation alliance includes Myanmar, which the United States and
other nations have accused of human rights abuses.

U.S. officials were careful to avoid any perception that Obama's presence
at the ASEAN meeting would amount to a bilateral discussion with the prime
minister of Myanmar.

After years of refusing direct talks with Myanmar, also known as Burma,
the United States has indicated a possible re-engagement with the military
regime it considers repressive for cracking down on political opposition,
including the National League for Democracy.

The league is led by Suu Kyi, a detained Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let
the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog," said Jeffrey Bader, the National
Security Council's senior director for East Asian affairs. "We're going to
meet with all 10, and we're not going to punish the other nine simply
because Burma is in the room, but this is not a bilateral."

Obama reiterated his stance in a speech Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

"Despite years of good intentions, neither sanctions by the United States
nor engagement by others succeeded in improving the lives of the Burmese
people," he said.

"So we are now communicating directly with the leadership to make it clear
that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward
democratic reform."

Suu Kyi, the iconic face of democracy in Myanmar, was placed under house
arrest in 1989.

The next year, the National League for Democracy won more than 80 percent
of the legislative seats in the first free elections in the country in
nearly 30 years.

But Myanmar's military junta disqualified Suu Kyi from serving because of
her house arrest and annulled the election results.

Her supporters say Suu Kyi's latest arrest -- ostensibly over an American
visiting her home without government permission -- is meant to keep her
confined so she cannot participate in the general elections that the junta
has scheduled for next year.

She has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, and is rarely
allowed visitors, except for her doctor.

(source:  CNN)

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


17 November 2009

UA 310/09 - Abduction

RUSSIAN FEDERATION       Zarema Gaisanova (f)

Zarema Gaisanova, a 39-year-old Chechen woman, was abducted on 31 October
in the Chechen capital, Grozny, in the Russian Federation's North
Caucasus region. It appears that law enforcement officials may have been
responsible for her abduction. She has not been seen since then. Zarema
Gaisanova's mother was told by a representative of the Public
Prosecutor's office that she was alive, but he could not give her more
information.

According to neighbors, people they believed to be law enforcement
officials in camouflage uniforms searched the house next to the home of
Zarema Gaisanova on the afternoon of 31 October. The officials shot at
the neighboring house, and then started to shoot at Zarema Gaisanova's
house, which then caught fire: a large part of it burned down. Zarema
Gaisanova's mother said that witnesses had told her that law
enforcement officials had taken a woman out of the house, in a pink
housedress like her daughter wore, and had driven her away in a van.
Zarema Gaisanova's mother has approached law enforcement agencies,
including the police and the Public Prosecutor's office, for information
about her daughter. On 9 November she was informed that her daughter was
alive but that the Prosecutor's office had no access to her.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The North Caucasus of the Russian Federation remains a highly volatile
region. In April 2009 the Russian authorities declared an end to the
so-called counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya, stating that the
situation in the republic had normalized. However, violence and human
rights violations continue to occur and seem to have increased even over
the last months. The security forces continue to commit human rights
violations, including abductions, torture and other ill-treatment and
extrajudicial executions. Attacks on law enforcement officials, which
often lead to indiscriminate killings of civilians as well as direct
attacks on civilians by armed groups have increased. There are many
reports of intimidation and harassment of relatives of alleged fighters.
Human rights violations are being committed amidst a clampdown on civil
society and widespread impunity for violations of human rights.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern for Zarema Gaisanova, who was seen being taken from
her home by people believed to be law enforcement officials on 31
October;
- Urging the authorities to order an immediate investigation to establish
the fate and whereabouts of Zarema Gaisanova, and if it is found to be
true that she is in custody, to either release her immediately or charge
her with a recognizably criminal offense.

APPEALS TO:
Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Yakovlevich Chaika
Ul.Bolshaia Dmitrovka, 15a
Moscow GSP-3
125993
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 692 17 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

President of the Chechen Republic
Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov
Administration of the President and the Government of the Chechen Republic
Ul. Garazhnaia, 10. g. Grozny
364000 Chechen Republic
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 8712 22 45 53
Salutation: Dear President Kadyrov

Ombudsman of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Petrovich Lukin
ul. Miasnitskaia, 47
107084, Moscow
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 607 74 70
011 7 495 607 39 77

COPIES TO:
Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2641 Tunlaw Road NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: russianembassy@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 29
December 2009.

----------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


16 November 2009

UA 309/09 - Fear for safety

HONDURAS             Luis Galdamez (m), journalist

Luis Galdamez, a male journalist freelancing for an independent radio
station in Honduras, has been receiving death threats as a result of his
broadcasting work and comments in support of the country's ousted
president, Manuel Zelaya.

Luis Galdamez, who presents a daily programme, "Tras La Verdad" (Behind
the Truth) on Radio Globo, a radio station with national coverage, has
received a number of death threats via SMS (text) messages and anonymous
calls to his mobile phone. The threats against him and his family started
soon after Luis Galdamez used his radio programme to criticise the de
facto authorities. One SMS threat said: "Perro ya te tenemos esta vez no
te escapas... Estas advertido, ya conocemos donde vivĂ-s y sabemos donde
estudian tus hijos, hijo de puta te tenemos bien vigilado a vos y tu
familia, si no te callas, te matamos basura" (We've got you now, this
time you won't get away...you have been warned. We know where you live
and we know where your sons go to school, son of a bitch, we are watching
you and your whole family, if you don't keep quiet we will kill you, you
piece of shit.)

On 21 September, Luis Galdamez broadcast from the Brazilian embassy in
Tegucigalpa, as Manuel Zelaya had just arrived there after being out of
the country since being forced from office. Since 21 September, Luis
Galdamez has remained inside the embassy, as he fears for his life if he
leaves due to the threats he has received. The Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights (IACHR), has called on the Honduran authorities to
protect Luis Galdamez. However, Luis Galdamez has told Amnesty
International that the authorities have not yet taken any action to offer
him protection.

Since President Zelaya was ousted on 28 June, there have been a number of
attacks on media workers. An explosive device was thrown at the office of
HRN, a radio station on 5 November, injuring two people and damaging
broadcasting equipment. On 6 November, the director of TV channel Canal
36 alleged that the cutting of a fibre optic cable was part of an attempt
by the authorities to impede their ability to broadcast. To Amnesty
International's knowledge no one has been held to account for these
attacks.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The democratically elected president of Honduras, Jose Manuel Zelaya
Rosales, was deposed on 28 June by a military-backed group of politicians
led by Roberto Micheletti, the head of Congress. There has been
widespread unrest in the country since then, with frequent clashes
between the police and army and civilian protestors. According to local
sources, at least seven people have died in unclear circumstances since
28 June.

Furthermore, media workers have been under increased pressure in the
months since Roberto Micheletti seized power. Many radio programmes have
been taken off air and two media stations shut down by the de facto
authorities, including Radio Globo. This station was raided by police
officials and their broadcasting equipment confiscated on 28 June.
Roberto Micheletti issued a decree on 26 September allowing newspapers
and broadcasters to be closed down if they "insult public officials."
Following international pressure the decree was later repealed, but
threats and attacks against media workers and stations continue. Radio
Globo was given leave to broadcast again on 19 October.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling on the de facto authorities to act immediately to give all
necessary protection to Luis Galdamez, in accordance with his wishes;
- Calling for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into
the threats against Luis Galdamez, with the results made public and those
responsible brought to justice;


APPEALS TO:

De facto President
Roberto Micheletti
Casa Presidencial
Boulevard Juan Pablo Segundo
Palacio Jose Cecilio del Valle
Tegucigalpa
HONDURAS
Fax: 011 504 239 3298 (may not be reliable, please send appeals by post
as well)
Salutation: Dear Mr Micheletti/ Sr. Micheletti

COPIES TO:

Local NGO
Comite por la Libre Expresion (C-Libre)
Colonia Ruben DarĂ­o,
Calle Palermo, casa No. 2244B
Tegucigalpa
HONDURAS
Fax: 011 504 239 8246

Mr. Eduardo Enrique Reina
Embassy of Honduras
3007 Tilden St. NW Suite 4M
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 966 9751
Email: embajadadehondurasdc@...


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 28
December 2009.

----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible
to the date a case is issued.

** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@...
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

Nov. 16



USA:

Supreme Court refuses to hear Redskins' naming case


The Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a lawsuit on behalf of
Native American activists who claimed that the Washington Redskins' team
name is so offensive that it does not deserve trademark protection.

The court without comment refused to get involved in the long-running
dispute. The decision essentially lets stand a lower court ruling that the
activists waited too long to bring the challenge.

The team has been known as the Redskins since 1933, when the name was
changed from the Boston Braves. It became the Washington Redskins in 1937,
when the team moved south.

The lawsuit was filed in 1992, when seven activists challenged a Redskins
trademark issued in 1967. They won seven years later in a decision by the
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which said the name could be interpreted
as offensive to Native Americans. The case is Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc.

Trademark law prohibits registration of a name that "may disparage . . .
persons, living or dead, . . . or bring them into contempt, or disrepute."

The team appealed to federal court.

Judges at the district and circuit levels said the activists' trademark
cancellation claim was barred by the doctrine of laches, which serves as a
defense against claims that should have been made long ago.

The activists argued that disparaging trademarks can be challenged at any
time, citing a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd
Circuit. The decision was written by then-judgeSamuel A. Alito Jr., who
now sits on the Supreme Court.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said that was merely a
"suggestion" of how to interpret the law.

The federal district judge who heard the lawsuit also said the activists
had not proven that the name was disparaging.

The Supreme Court considered only the question of whether the suit was
barred because of the passage of too much time.

(source:  Washington Post)

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


13 November 2009

UA 306/09 - Fear for safety

BRAZIL      Rolindo Vera (m), teacher


Male teacher Rolindo Vera, a member of the Guarani Kaiowa Indigenous
group, went missing on 30 October after a violent eviction carried out by
armed men in Mato Groso do Sul state near Brazil's border with
Paraguay. Another male teacher, Genivaldo Vera, also went missing during
the eviction. His body was later found in a nearby river. Rolindo Vera's
life is in grave danger.

On 29 October, approximately 25 members of the Guarani Kaiowa Indigenous
group, who live in the village of Pirajui, near the border with Paraguay,
reoccupied farmland they claim as ancestral near the town of Paranhos.
The following day, as the group began erecting shelters, dozens of armed
men arrived in a truck and began firing rubber bullets. The group, which
included women and children, fled into a nearby forest. Community members
say that they saw Genivaldo Vera being taken away by the gunmen and his
cousin Rolindo Vera fleeing into the forest.

On 7 November Genivaldo Vera's body was found in a nearby stream,
although it was not identified until 10 November. An official forensic
report has not yet been issued, but photos of the body released by the
police to the family suggest he had been bound and tortured. Genivaldo
Vera's head had been shaved, his body had extensive bruising and there
were marks around wrists. However, Rolindo Vera's whereabouts remain
unknown, and the community fear he may have been abducted and taken into
Paraguay. They are calling on the Federal Police, who have already
suspended their search, to take up the search again and work with their
counterparts in Paraguay to extend the search across the border.

Rolindo Vera and Genivaldo Vera, both aged in their 20s, were teaching
literacy skills in Pirajui - an extremely poor, 3,000-strong Indigenous
community. The ancestral lands that the community reoccupied should have
already been surveyed by government anthropologists to enable them to
identify lands to be returned to the community, as outlined in an
agreement signed in 2007. However, farmers in the area have repeatedly
blocked attempts to carry out the surveys necessary for identifying the
land to be returned.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mato Grosso do Sul state contains some of the smallest, poorest and most
densely populated Indigenous areas in Brazil: rural pockets of poverty
surrounded by large soya and sugar cane plantations and cattle ranches
where life is plagued by ill-health and squalid living conditions. Some
60,000 Guarani Kaiowa Indigenous people live a precarious existence -
social breakdown has led to high levels of violence, suicide and
malnutrition. Frustrated at the slowness of the land demarcation process,
the Guarani Kaiowa have begun reoccupying ancestral lands, but have been
subjected to intimidation and violent evictions.

In November 2007 the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Public Prosecutor's
Office, Fundacao Nacional do Indio, (the National Indian Foundation, the
federal body which deals with Indigenous affairs, FUNAI) and 23
Indigenous leaders, signed an agreement (Termo de Ajustamento de Conduta,
TAC) which commits FUNAI to identify 36 different Guarani Kaiowa
ancestral lands - including the tekoha Ypo'I, the traditional lands
reoccupied by those from Pirajui - by April 2010, for demarcating how
much land will be returned to the Indigenous communities.. The agreement
was vehemently opposed by state government and the farming lobby. After
the signing of the TAC, the state governor Andre Puccinelli threatened
not to honor the accord and the acting vice-governor, Jerson Domingos,
inflamed the situation by warning the process would inevitably lead a
"bloodbath", with conflict between the police, the Indians and the land
owners. Local farming interests have opposed the process, exaggerating
the amount of land that could be identified as Indigenous in the media,
and repeatedly trying to block the process judicially. There are
currently over 80 appeals being heard in the Regional Federal Court
(Tribunal Regional Federal) involving Indigenous land in Mato Grosso do
Sul.

Because of the ongoing failure to resolve outstanding land claims,
several Guarani Kaiowa communities have ended up reoccupying the lands,
which have been followed by a series of violent evictions, often
involving armed men. Irregular security companies, many of whom are
effectively acting as illegal militias in the service of landowners or
agro-industry, have been involved in many human rights abuses in rural
Brazil and remain a serious threat to both Indigenous peoples and rural
workers fighting for their right to land.

Both the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which Brazil
endorsed in 2007 and the International Labor Organization's Convention
169 to which Brazil is a party, enshrine Indigenous People's rights to
their ancestral lands and call on states to establish mechanisms whereby
these rights can be adjudicated and recognized. The Brazilian
constitution also affirms Brazilian Indigenous People's rights to their
lands and the Union's responsibility to demarcate them.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- demanding that the Federal Police, working with their counterparts in
Paraguay, resume their search, doing everything in their power to find
Rolindo Vera;
- call on the authorities to launch an immediate and thorough
investigation into the violent eviction of around 25 people from
farmlands near the border town of Paranhos and the subsequent death of
Genivaldo Vera, and to bring those responsible to justice;
- urge the authorities to fulfill their obligations under the
International Labor Organization's Convention 169, the UN Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Brazilian constitution by
demarcating lands to be returned to Indigenous communities.

APPEALS TO:
Federal Minister of Justice
Exmo. Sr. Tarso Genro
Esplanada dos Ministerios,
Bloco "T"
70712-902 - Brasilia/DF BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 61 3322 6817/ 3224 3398
Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister

Federal Human Rights Secretary
Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos
Exmo. Secretario Especial
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi Esplanada dos Ministerios- Bloco
"T" - 4o andar,
70064-900 -Brasilia/DF BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 61 3226 7980
Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Secretario

COPIES TO:
Conselho Indigenista Missionario (local NGO)
CIMI Regional Mato Grosso do Sul
Av. Afonso Pena, 1557 Sala 208 Bl.B
79002-070 Campo Grande/MS, BRAZIL
Email: cimims@...

Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota
Brazilian Embassy
3006 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 238 2827
Email: ambassador@...

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 25
December 2009.

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Thank you for your help with this appeal.

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Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA


Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not
have received the original UA when issued on March 11, 2009. Thanks!

12 November 2009

Further Information on 71/09 (11 March 2009) and follow-up (20 May 2009)
- Fear of flogging

SAUDI ARABIA
Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, (f), 75
Known only as Fahad (m), aged 24
Known only as Hadyan (m)

Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, a 75-year-old Syrian woman, along with two
younger Saudi Arabian men known only as Fahad, aged 24, and Hadyan, have
had their sentences of flogging and imprisonment reimposed and confirmed
on appeal after the Court of Cassation in Saudi Arabia sent the case back
for retrial to the lower court which first heard it. If the recently
established Supreme Court upholds their sentences, they will be
imprisoned and at imminent risk of flogging.

On 25 August a court in al-Shamli, north of the capital Riyadh, reimposed
sentences it had originally handed down on 3 March 2009 against Khamisa
Mohammed Sawadi, Fahad and Hadyan; Khamisa and Fahad were again sentenced
to 40 lashes and four months' imprisonment, and Hadyan to 60 lashes and
six months' imprisonment. Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi was also sentenced to
be returned to her native country Syria on completion of her prison term.
They had all been found guilty of khilwa (being in the company of members
of the opposite sex who are not close relatives). An appeal court in
Riyadh has since confirmed this decision, which, according to their
lawyer, is now before the Supreme Court for a final review. If they are
detained following the Supreme Court's decision, they would be prisoners
of conscience as Amnesty International considers imprisonment on grounds
of khilwa to be a violation of their internationally recognized rights to
freedom of expression and to privacy.

Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, Fahad and Hadyan were arrested on 21 April 2008
by members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of
Vice (also known as the Mutawa'een or religious police). At their first
trial, Fahad and Hadyan stated in their defense that they were delivering
bread to Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi. Fahad argued that the offense of khilwa
did not apply on the basis that he was related to Khamisa Mohammed
Sawadi, who breastfed him when he was a child. The court, however,
rejected this argument.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Supreme Court began to function in February 2009 as the final court
of appeal. This is part of a new court system introduced by the 2007 Law
of the Judiciary. The Court of Cassation, which acted as an appellate
body, has now been replaced by courts of appeal. For more information
regarding the judicial reforms, please see Saudi Arabia: Affront to
Justice: Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia, 14 October 2008:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/
    saudi-arabia-executions-target-foreign-nationals-20081014

Flogging is mandatory in Saudi Arabia for a number of offenses and can
also be used at the discretion of judges as an alternative or in addition
to other punishments. Sentences can range from dozens to thousands of
lashes, and are usually carried out in installments, at intervals ranging
from two weeks to one month. The highest number of lashes imposed in a
single case recorded by Amnesty International was 40,000 lashes. They
were imposed this year in a case of a defendant tried on murder charges.

The use of corporal punishments such as flogging violates the absolute
prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman and or degrading
treatment or punishment set out in Article 5 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which states that "No one shall be subjected to torture
or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", as well as
Saudi Arabia's obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which it is a
state party. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has stated that
"corporal punishment is inconsistent with the prohibition of torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Amnesty International considers the criminalization of khilwa to be a
violation of the right to freedom of expression and to privacy as set out
in international human rights standards. In particular, it violates an
individual's right to freedom from arbitrary interference with their
privacy and family, as set out in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, and their right to freedom of expression, as set out in
Article 19.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to drop the charge of khilwa against Khamisa
Mohammed Sawadi, Fahad and Hadyan as it violates their rights to freedom
of expression and to privacy;
- Noting that, if the three are imprisoned following the Supreme Court's
review, Amnesty International would consider them to be prisoners of
conscience and call for their immediate and unconditional release;
- Calling on the authorities not to flog the three, as flogging is in
violation of Saudi Arabia's obligations under the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to
which Saudi Arabia is a state party.


APPEALS TO:

King and Prime Minister
His Majesty King 'Abdullah Bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior)
011 966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Majesty

Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior
His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud
Ministry of the Interior
P.O. Box 2933, Airport Road
Riyadh 11134
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: 011 966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Royal Highness


COPIES TO:

President, Human Rights Commission
Mr Bandar Mohammed 'Abdullah al- Aiban
Human Rights Commission
P.O. Box 58889, King Fahad Road, Building No. 373
Riyadh 11515
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
Fax: 011 966 1 461 2061
Email: hrc@...

Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 5983
Email: info@...


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24
December, 2009.

----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a
case is issued.

** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
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To Canada:
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To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes
and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact
information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help
with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@...
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566

----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------

Nov. 12



CHINA:

November 11, 2009

Detained petitioners stand behind locked gates of a black jail in Beijing.

The existence of black jails in the heart of Beijing makes a mockery of
the Chinese governments rhetoric on improving human rights and respecting
the rule of law. The government should move swiftly to close these
facilities, investigate those running them, and provide assistance to
those abused in them.
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director


Since 2003, large numbers of Chinese citizens have been held
incommunicado for days or months in secret, unlawful detention facilities
known as "black jails" by state agents who violate detainees' rights with
impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The 53-page report, "An Alleyway in Hell," documents how government
officials, security forces, and their agents routinely abduct people off
the streets of Beijing and other Chinese cities, strip them of their
possessions, and imprison them. These black jails are often located in
state-owned hotels, nursing homes, and psychiatric hospitals.

"The existence of black jails in the heart of Beijing makes a mockery of
the Chinese government's rhetoric on improving human rights and respecting
the rule of law," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human
Rights Watch. "The government should move swiftly to close these
facilities, investigate those running them, and provide assistance to
those abused in them."

Human Rights Watch found that it is usually petitioners who are detained
in black jails. These are citizens from mainly rural areas who come to
Beijing and other provincial capitals seeking redress for abuses ranging
from illegal land grabs and government corruption to police torture. Local
officials, with the tolerance of public security authorities, establish
the black jails as a way to ensure these complainants are detained,
punished, and sent home so that these officials will not suffer demerits
under rules that impose bureaucratic penalties when there is a large flow
of petitioners from their areas.

The Chinese government has flatly denied the existence of black jails. In
an April 2009 Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) press conference, a MOFA
official responded to an Al Jazeera correspondent's query about black
jails by stating categorically that, "Things like this do not exist in
China." In June 2009, the Chinese government asserted in the Outcome
Report of the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic
Review of China's human rights record that, "There are no black jails in
the country."

Black jail guards routinely subject these detainees to abuses including
physical violence, theft, extortion, threats, intimidation, and
deprivation of food, sleep, and medical care.

A 46-year-old former detainee from Jiangsu province, who spent more than a
month in a black jail, cried with fear and frustration as she recalled her
abduction."[The abductors] are inhuman...two people dragged me by the hair
and put me into the car. My two hands were tied up and I couldn't move.
Then [after arriving back in Jiangsu] they put me inside a room where
there were two women who stripped me of my clothes...[and] beat my head
[and] used their feet to stomp my body," the former detainee said.

The majority of the former black jail detainees interviewed by Human
Rights Watch said that they were abducted by individuals who provided no
legal justification for detention or any information about detainees'
eventual destination or possible length of detention. One 52-year-old
petitioner from Liaoning province told Human Rights Watch: "I was detained
by retrievers from [my home province of] Liaoning who were in plainclothes
and never showed me any identification. I doubt they had any [official]
identification. They never told me the reason why they detained me; they
never even spoke to me and didn't tell me how long they were going to
detain me for."

Black jail detainees are also subject to psychological abuse, including
threats of sexual violence. A 42-year-old former detainee from Sichuan
province was told by her black jail guards that if she attempted to escape
they would "... take me to the male prison and let [the inmates] take
turns raping [me]." Human Rights Watch also documented black jail guards'
use of sleep and food deprivation and denial of needed medical care as a
means of punishment or to control or elicit information from detainees. A
70-year-old former detainee from Hubei province resorted to a three-day
hunger strike to compel her captors to allow her access to a doctor.

Minors under the age of 18 have been detained in black jails in blatant
violation of China's commitments to the rights of children. One former
detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch was a 15-year-old girl,
abducted from the streets of Beijing while petitioning on behalf of her
crippled father, who was locked up in a nursing home in Gansu province for
more than two months and subjected to severe beatings.

"To visit these kinds of abuses on citizens who have already been failed
repeatedly by the legal system is the height of hypocrisy," said
Richardson.

Black jails appear to have emerged since the Chinese government abolished
laws permitting the arbitrary detention of non-residents and vagrants.
While that decision was a welcome move to curb the police's powers of
arbitrary detention, black jails now serve as extralegal detention centers
for "undesirables" in cities. Black jails constitute an unlawful system to
detain petitioners as a means to protect government officials at the
county, municipal, and provincial levels from financial and career
advancement penalties linked to limiting petitioning activities by
citizens from their areas in major cities like Beijing. Unpublished local
government documents describe penalties levied against local officials who
fail to take decisive action when petitioners from their geographical area
seek legal redress in provincial capitals and Beijing. In addition, the
operators of black jails receive from those local-level governments daily
cash payments of 150 yuan (US$22) to 200 yuan (US$29) per person, creating
another incentive to employ forms of illegal detention.

The detention of petitioners is a violation of international law, which
guarantees the freedom of expression, and of China's own Regulations on
Letters and Visits, the law which regulates petitioning activities.
Detaining anyone - even suspected offenders - without legal authority to
do so and without giving the detained recourse to legal process is a
serious violation of several international instruments as well as China's
constitution and numerous domestic laws. Under international law, a state
commits an enforced disappearance when its agents take a person into
custody and it denies holding the person or fails to disclose the person's
whereabouts.

"China has laws that set out how arrests and detentions should take place,
but the government is blatantly ignoring those in the cases of black jails
and those detained in them," said Richardson. "A failure to live up to its
own legal standards - let alone international standards - is not the
hallmark of a government aspiring to global respect."

Testimony from former detainees of China's black jails
"[The guards] entered without a word, grabbed me...kneed me in the chest
and pounded my lower belly with their fists until I passed out. After it
was over I was in pain, but they didn't leave a mark on my body."
-         a former black jail detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch

"I asked why they were detaining me, and as a group [the guards] came in
and punched and kicked me and said they wanted to kill me. I loudly cried
for help and they stopped, but from then on, I didn't dare [risk another
beating]."
-         a former black jail detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch

"There was no medical treatment [in the black jail]. I'm not very healthy
and combined with the disgusting conditions inside [the facility], I was
sick every day, but they wouldn't give me medical treatment and wouldn't
let me go to see a doctor. [A guard] said, You don't want to die here
because your life [to us] isn't worth one cent. [If] I want you dead, you
can die [here] as easily as an ant.'"
-         a former black jail detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch

"Every day I could only sleep three hours and they would at any time wake
me in order so that I couldn't run away. I was hungry every day, but
couldn't get enough to eat. The second time I was detained for 37 days...I
lost 20 kilograms."
-         a former black jail detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch

(source:  Human Rights Watch)