Group 48 Newsletter - November 2008

Millions at risk in Somalia as attacks on aid workers escalate (6 November 2008) An escalation of attacks on aid workers and human rights defenders in southern and central Somalia is putting at least 3 million Somalis at even greater risk of malnutrition and disease. Many organizations have suspended programmes and withdrawn staff. At least 40 humanitarian and human rights workers have been killed so far this year, as highlighted in Fatal Insecurity: Attacks on Aid Workers and HRDs in Somalia, a new report by Amnesty International. This is at a time when Somalia is in the middle of a humanitarian emergency, with the UN estimating that around 3.25 million Somalis – 43 percent of the population – will require food aid until the end of 2008. The restrictions on the freedom of humanitarian agencies to deliver emergency humanitarian services – food, shelter and essential medical services – form one of the leading factors contributing to widespread malnutrition and death from starvation or preventable diseases throughout the area. One humanitarian worker said: “We are not able to start new programmes because our staff can’t go in. There is acute malnutrition in Mogadishu, but we’re not able to respond quickly enough, we have to work by remote control, and quality suffers.” ”These killings, abductions and threats mean that workers and rights defenders no longer enjoy the limited protection they previously held, based on their status in the community as impartial distributors of food and emergency services, or as advocates of peace and human rights,” said David Copeman, Amnesty International’s Somalia Campaigner. Many Mogadishu-based human rights defenders and other civil society members have this year been forced to flee Somalia for the first time since the end of the government of former President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Attacks continue, with UN staff killed by bombing attacks on 29 October, the targeted killing of an UNICEF engineer in the central town of Hudur on 19 October and a women’s rights activist killed in Guriel on 25 October. Where the identity of the attackers is known, the majority of killings have been attributed to members of armed opposition groups, including al-Shabab militias, and the various Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS)-affiliated militias (often also called Islamic Courts). The remaining killings were attributed to criminal gangs, or in a smaller number of cases, to militias associated with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) or to the Ethiopian military. Most recent killings have been carried out by one or more gunmen, almost always described as between 15 and 25 years old. Threats are issued by phone, in leaflets and by word of mouth. Amnesty International is calling on all parties to the conflict in Somalia to stop these illegal attacks on humanitarian workers and civil society.

Amnesty International Group 48 Newsletter November 2008

www.aipdx.org 503-227-1878 Next Meeting: Friday, November 14th First Unitarian Church 1011 SW 12th Ave 7:00pm informal gathering 7:30 Meeting starts

Iran: Attacks Escalate Against Women’s Rights Activists (New York, October 28, 2008) – The Iranian government is escalating its attacks against women activists, subjecting them to arbitrary detention, travel bans, and harassment, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 26, 2008, security agents blocked Sussan Tahmasebi, a leader of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality, from boarding a plane and confiscated her passport, without charging her with any crime. At her home, they confiscated her computer and demanded that she report to court for interrogation. The government has prevented Tahmasebi from leaving the country for the past two years, but has never brought charges against her or provided a reason for her travel ban. “Instead of seeking to silence women’s rights advocates who draw attention to the urgent need for reform, the government should move to repeal Iran’s discriminatory laws,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch said the Judiciary has prosecuted more than 100 women’s rights activists over the past three years and continues to detain, intimidate, and prohibit from traveling a number of other women’s rights activists, particularly those involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality. The grassroots campaign aims to raise awareness of Iranian laws that sanction discrimination against women, by collecting 1 million signatures throughout the country in an effort to repeal them. This article from Human Rights Watch. www.hrw.org

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th Anniversary Commemoration Program Presented by United Nations Association of the USA, Oregon Division At First United Methodist Church, Portland, Oregon 3:30 to 5:00 PM Sunday, December 7, 2008 Keynote speaker will be former Governor Victor Atiyeh speaking on “Renewing America’s Commitment to Human Rights; Do We Really Mean It?” Other speakers will include Tom Potter, Mayor of Portland, and David Leslie, Executive Director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. The League of Women Woters will present a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt. For more information, contact Gordon Green of the United Nations Association of Oregon at: [email protected].

Urgent Action on behalf of Women’s Rights Defenders in Mexico 07 November 2008 Further Information on UA 167/07 (28 June 2007) and follow-up (28 May 2008) – Fear for safety/Death threats Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on June 28, 2007. Thanks! MEXICO Marisela Ortíz Rivera (f), human rights defender; Norma Andrade (f), human rights defender; María Luisa García Andrade (f), human rights defender; Other members of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (Our Daughters Return Home) Human rights defenders María Luisa García Andrade and Marisela Ortíz Rivera have received written death threats. The threats were sent within days of the screening of “Bajo Juárez: The city devouring its daughters”, a documentary on the killings of women in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua City, Chihuahua state. Among those who feature in the documentary is Lilia Alejandra García Andrade, the murdered daughter of Norma Andrade and sister of María Luisa García. The latter and Marisela Ortíz feature in the film as they are prominent campaigners from Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (NHRC), an organization which calls for justice on behalf of women murdered in the region. According to an eyewitness, on 30 October a dark car with tinted windows approached María Luisa García’s home in Ciudad Juárez while she was out. A man got out of the car, threw a stone at the house which broke a window through which he threw a large card which threatened to kill her and harm her children. On 5 November, Marisela Ortíz also found in front of her home a card with letters pasted on to it saying “Under Juarez, death” (Vajo (sic) Juarez muerte). Both women have filed a complaint with the Federal Special Prosecutor on Violence against Women and People Trafficking. Concerns for members of NHRC are heightened by the fact that they have previously been threatened in the past. In May 2008, following the opening of the film “Bordertown”, which was loosely based on the stories of women murdered in the region, NHRC members received an offensive and threatening email following their support of the film’s release as a way of raising awareness of the killings of women in Ciudad Juárez. Since the members of NHRC and their families were threatened in May 2008, there have been no advances in the investigation and the search for those responsible. Marisela Ortíz Rivera and María Luisa García Andrade have only received limited protection by federal police agents and no attention by the Chihuahua Attorney General’s office or protection by state police, even though the Inter American Commission for Human Rights ordered the Mexican government to provide protection measures for them. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern at the new threats received by María Luisa García on 30 October and Marisela Ortíz on 5November; - calling on the authorities to put in place comprehensive protection measures for them and their families, in accordance with her own wishes; - urging the authorities to carry out an immediate and impartial investigation to identify those responsible for the threats received by María Luisa García and Marisela Ortíz and to bring them

to justice; - calling on the authorities to provide information on the steps taken to investigate previous threats against them and other leading members of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa in May 2008; - calling on the authorities to fulfill their obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and ensure that human rights defenders have a right to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals. APPEALS TO: Governor of Chihuahua State Lic. José 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 Salutation: Señor Gobernador / Dear Governor Chihuahua State Attorney General Patricia González Rodríguez Procuradora del Estado de Chihuahua, Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado Vicente Guerrero 616, Col. Centro, Chihuahua 31000, Estado de Chihuahua, MEXICO Fax: 011 52 614 415 0314 Salutation: Señora Procuradora General / Dear Public Prosecutor COPIES TO: Special Prosecutor on Violence against Women and People Trafficking Dra. Guadalupe Morfín Otero Fiscal Especial para los Delitos de Violencia contra las Mujeres y Trata de Personas Procuraduría General de la República, Río Elba, No. 17, Col. Cuauhtemoc, Del. Cuauhtemoc, México D.F., C.P. 06300, MEXICO Fax: 011 52 55 5346 2540 Email: [email protected] Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa Email: [email protected] Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana Embassy of Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington DC 20006 Fax: 1 202 728 1698 Email: [email protected] PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 19 December 2008. (page two)

Central Africa Regional Action Network

Protect Civilians in the DRC The situation in the DRC remains on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The priority now is reinforcing the capacity of the UN’s peacekeeping force, MONUC, to protect civilians and to ensure people have access to humanitarian assistance. It is high time for regional leaders and the UN Security Council to step up its efforts: At least 250,000 civilians, most of them women and children, were displaced by the recent fighting. These people are in a desperate situation, without sufficient food, water, medical supplies or shelter, and cannot wait any longer. Action Request: This month, the United Nations Security Council will consider increasing the support of the UN peacekeeping mission. Amnesty International members must call on the US government to ensure that the UN Security Council takes the steps necessary to protect civilians in eastern DRC. Using the sample letter below as a model, please write letters to the following US government officials who urge the United Nations to take action to protect civilians: Secretary Condoleezza Rice U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad United States Mission to the UN Press and Public Diplomacy Section United States Mission to the United Nations 140 East 45th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Fax: 212-415-4053 Email: [email protected] Jendayi Frazer Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Sample Letter: Dear ________ I am deeply concerned that the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. While a long-term solution is necessary, the priority should be reinforcing the capacity of the UN’s peacekeeping force, Mission des Nations Unies en Republique Democratique du Congo (MONUC), to protect civilians and to ensure people have access to humanitarian assistance. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council the United States should utilize its leadership to support MONUC. MONUC remains the only force capable of providing meaningful protection to civilians. The UN Security Council should send immediate assistance to MONUC in the form of additional troops, intelligence-gathering capabilities, air support and other equipment. Only then will the UN peacekeepers be able to forestall armed group attacks against civilian populations, safeguard humanitarian operations and enforce the UN arms embargo on the DRC, in line with its mandate. The humanitarian and human rights crisis in eastern DRC has dete-

riorated dramatically in the past month. In October, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), under the command of renegade general Laurent Nkunda, launched a fresh offensive against government forces. Over four days in late October the CNDP, which numbers possibly around 6,000 fighters, routed the national army, captured the major town of Rutshuru and moved to within 15 km of the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, before declaring a unilateral cease-fire on 30 October. Amnesty International’s most recent report, North Kivu: No end to war on women and children highlights the serious human rights violations and abuses committed by the parties to the conflict in the province. Considering the gravity and urgency of the humanitarian and human rights situation in eastern DRC, I call on you to ensure that the UN Security Council: * reinforces MONUC peacekeeping contingents in North-Kivu province immediately, ensuring that peacekeepers have the necessary troop numbers, intelligence-gathering, air-surveillance and other assets to ensure effective protection of civilians, to forestall possible armed group attacks against local communities, to safeguard humanitarian operations and to enforce the UN arms embargo on the DRC in line with MONUC’s mandate. * urges all parties to the conflict to ensure that humanitarian aid agencies are not hindered in their work to provide aid to displaced people, including those who are injured, and ensure that safe corridors for humanitarian aid are opened throughout the province. * presses the warring parties, especially the CNDP, and governments that have influence over them, especially Rwanda, to prevent more civilian casualties. * presses the governments of the DRC and Rwanda to abide by the commitments made in the Nairobi joint communiqu? of November 2007, particularly to end negative propaganda against each other and to refrain from providing support to armed groups, including the CNDP and the Rwandan Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). * asserts that justice and an end to impunity has a central place in the search for durable peace in the Great Lakes Region, and that deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians and peacekeepers carrying out their duty of protecting civilians is a war crime, punishable under international law. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. Sincerely To send an email: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=11439 For information about Amnesty International’s concerns in the DRC, news releases, and reports: http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/congo-dem-repof/page.do?id=1011136 If you have any questions or have difficulty with the links, please let me know. Thank you, Terrie Rodello, AIUSA Central Africa RAN Coordinator (page three)

Partners in Oppression in Burma and North Korea A commentary by Kay Seok, North Korea researcher, and David Scott Mathieson, Burma consultant, for Human Rights Watch. Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win visited North Korea on Oct. 27 to hold the first high-level meeting since diplomatic relations were severed 25 years ago. When the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in April 2007, the reaction was largely twofold: banal and alarmist. The banal views argued that both authoritarian states were merely re-establishing formal diplomatic relations severed after North Korean agents bombed the Martyrs Mausoleum in Rangoon in 1983, killing several members of the South Korean cabinet. Alarmist views spoke of the specter of North Korea handing over nuclear weapons technology to Burma, even though North Korea has been supplying conventional weapons to Burma’s military ruled State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) for years. The SPDC also announced the purchase of a 10 megawat nuclear reactor (the same size as North Korea’s) from Russia, just weeks after the two countries restored ties. While both perspectives hold truth, the real concern should be for the citizens of Burma and North Korea, who continue to suffer under the repressive regimes. Both countries rank among the worst human rights abusers, persecute those who attempt to flee, and severely curtail the ability of the outside world to help those in need. In Burma, following the crackdown on peaceful protests for change led by monks in September 2007, more than 1,000 people were incarcerated, with many killed. In North Korea, basic freedoms have been restricted for so long and on such a scale that there has never been a public demonstration calling for freedom and democracy. Those attempting to flee repression and poverty at home are routinely persecuted. For years, North Korea has threatened to severely punish all who are caught in China and repatriated. More than 1,000 North Koreans in the past year have trod a perilous route from their country through China into Laos, then across the Mekong River to Thailand with hopes to ultimately reach South Korea, or in some cases the United States. Some have even attempted to transit through Burma. In light of the restored diplomatic relations between North Korea and Burma, some observers fear that North Koreans caught in Burma would be returned home to face torture and imprisonment. The military offensives and other actions of Burma’s SPDC has driven over 160,000 refugees across the border with Thailand, thousands more into India, while hundreds of thousands live precarious lives as migrant workers in China, Thailand and India. The international community is often called on to respond to the government orchestrated misery of the people of North Korea and Burma. Efforts by relief and development agencies to alleviate this suffering are restricted by paranoid and often corrupt officials. In North Korea, international aid workers have been struggling to properly monitor food distribution to ensure that the food reaches the most vulnerable population instead of the elite or the military. Aid workers often face rejection and restriction by North Korean officials. In Burma, the initial government restrictions on the activities

of foreign humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies in the wake of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 have evidently eased. But this followed weeks of obstruction when over 2.4 million people waited for desperately needed aid to arrive. Such optimism is not the case in the rest of Burma, where government restrictions and surveillance have hampered aid programs for years. Restrictions on organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has severely limited their access to prisons in Burma since late 2005, and the ICRC released a rare public statement in June 2007 pointing to frequent violations of international humanitarian law in ethnic conflict areas. In North Korea, the ICRC has yet to obtain access to its notorious detention facilities. The U.N. expert on North Korea, Vitit Muntarbhorn, has never been permitted to visit the country, while Tomas Ojeo Quintana, the new U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, visited Burma in a short, tightly scripted visit in August this year. The U.N. Secretary General’s Special Adviser to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, has visited several times since 2005, and despite initial optimism he was making progress, was rebuffed by senior SPDC officials in August, and his efforts now seem stalled. The chumminess of bilateral visits should not belie the effects closer ties could have on the people of North Korea and Burma. The renewed ties mean that both governments have a new, formal ally in prolonging and justifying their system of repression. The people who suffer will not be the elites who rule, but those who exist precariously in the face of international banality and alarmism, which both the North Korean leadership and the Burmese military are relying on.

AI Group 48 Contact Info

Phone Guy Marty Fromer 503-227-1878 [email protected]

China RAN Joanne Lau, 971-221-5450 [email protected]

Treasurer Janan Stoll, 503-282-8834 [email protected]

Philippine/Indonesia RAN Max White, 503-292-8168 [email protected]

Central Africa RAN Christine Glenn, Terrie Rodello 503-452-8087 [email protected]

Central American RAN Marylou Noble 503-245-6923 [email protected]

OR State Death Penalty Coordinator Terrie Rodello, 503-246-6836 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor / Designer Dan Webb (503) 253-3491 [email protected]

Legislative Coordinator Dan Johnson, 503-310-4540 [email protected]

(page four)

CHINA Regional Action Network

Urgent Action Needed on behalf of Chen Zhenping UA 305/08 Fear of torture PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Falun Gong practitioner November 3rd, 2008--Falun Gong practitioner Chen Zhenping was arrested without a warrant on 9 July 2008 at her home in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan province. Her family have not been allowed to visit her, and it is unclear where she is now held. She is in grave danger of torture. She was first held for 10 days at Matougang Village Detention Centre, and then moved to Zhengzhou City No.1 Detention Centre. Zhengzhou City Jingshui People’s Court officials told one of her relatives on 10 October that Chen Zhenping had been sentenced to between seven and 15 years’ imprisonment. However, her family have not been served an official notification of a trial by court authorities. After Chen was arrested, her family contacted lawyers in Zhengzhou to represent her. The lawyers told them that before the Olympic Games the government had warned them not to take Falun Gong cases. Chen is therefore unlikely to have had legal representation, making any trial that took place unfair. On 28 October Chen’s family discovered that her signature had been forged on the register where detainees are required to sign when they receive provisions from relatives and friends. According to a fellow inmate, Chen Zhenping has been held in a cell with over 30 people and forced to sleep on the floor. She was reported by a former cell-mate to have been forced to work up to 19 hours a day producing rugs, Q-tips and other goods, with strict production targets: if she did not meet these targets she was beaten and otherwise ill-treated. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Falun Gong is a spiritual movement that gained large numbers of adherents in China during the 1990s. After a peaceful sit-in on Tiananmen Square in July 1999, the government outlawed the group and launched a long-term campaign of intimidation and persecution, directed by a special organization called the 610 Office. The crackdown on Falun Gong intensified in the lead-up to the Olympics. Falun Gong sources reported over 8000 arrests of Falun Gong practitioners nationwide during this period, and say that in 2007 over 100 died in detention or shortly after being released due to torture, starvation and lack of medicine. Falun Gong practitioners are a primary target of China’s system of Re-education through Labor (RTL), a form of punitive administrative detention in which people can be deprived of their liberty without trial for up to four years. Between 300,000 and 500,000 people are estimated to be under RTL. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:- asking the authorities where Chen Zhenping is held, and asking them to provide immediate guarantees for her safety, and assurances that she will not be tortured or ill-treated;asking them to release Chen Zhenping immediately and unconditionally unless she is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence; — demanding she be given immediate access to a lawyer of her own choosing, her family and any medical treatment she may require;— expressing concern that she has been imprisoned solely for her religious beliefs.

APPEALS TO: President of the Supreme People’s Court Xiao Yang Yuanzhang Zuigao Renmin Fayuan 27 Dongjiaomin Xiang, Beijingshi 100006 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Fax: 011 86 10 65292345 Salutation: Dear President

Minister of Justice Director Wu Aiying Buzhang Sifabu 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020 People’s Republic of China Fax: 011 86 10 65292345 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Minister Mayor of the Zhengzhou City People’s Government ZHAO Jiancai Shizhang Zhengzhoushi Renmin Zhengfu 233 Zhongyuanxilu Zhengzhoushi 450007 Henansheng PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Salutation: Dear Mayor Zhengzhou City No 1 Detention Centre Zhengzhou shi Diyikanshousuo Hanghailu yu Disandajie Zhengzhoushi, Henansheng PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Salutation: Dear Director COPIES TO: Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 2300 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Fax: 1 202 745 7473 Email: currently unavailable — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — ** POSTAGE RATES ** Within the United States: $0.27 - Postcards $0.42 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.) To Mexico and Canada: $0.72 - Postcards $0.72 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.) To all other destination countries: $0.94 - Postcards $0.94 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.) Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

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Amnesty International calls on President-elect Barack Obama to put human rights at the heart of government (Nov 5th, 2008) Amnesty International today urged US President-elect Barack Obama to show true leadership by making human rights central to his new administration. The organization is calling on the new government to take concrete steps in its first 100 days which would show genuine commitment to bring the USA into line with its international obligations. In the first 100 days of the presidency, Amnesty International is specifically calling on the new administration to: • announce a plan and date for the closure of the detention centre at Guantánamo, • issue an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment, as defined under international law and applicable to all US agents, and • ensure the setting up of an independent commission to investigate abuses committed by the USA in its war on terror. These demands form part of a “checklist” of actions Amnesty International is asking the new US President to take during his first 100 days in office. “President-elect Barack Obama must reverse the damage done at home and abroad by the US government’s unlawful actions in the name of national security,” said Larry Cox, executive director at Amnesty International USA. “The US government’s policies during the past eight years have violated the basic rights of thousands of individuals, damaged the United States’ credibility on human rights issues and strained diplomatic relations. With the entire world watching, and the

election of a new President and Congress, it’s time to commit the United States to its international obligations and ensure that the rule of law will be the foundation for its policies.” Amnesty International is also urging President-elect Barack Obama to push forward policies that will advance internationally recognized human rights. The US government should also provide principled leadership in stopping mass atrocities against civilians in places such as Darfur, in ending the continued violence against women and girls in the USA and abroad, supporting human rights defenders and the international system of justice with the International Criminal Court at its heart. “Human rights must be an integral aspect of every policy, action and issue embarked on by President-elect Barack Obama and his administration,” said Larry Cox. “Although the current economic circumstances will dominate much of the public debate and international agenda, a strong and vigilant human rights agenda must also be a priority. The importance of reversing the legacy of the US as a human rights abuser cannot be overstated.” During the first 100 days of the new administration, Amnesty International will be mobilizing its members and supporters in the USA and around the world to call on the new US President and Congress to take immediate steps to demonstrate a commitment to human rights and urgently address pressing issues at home and abroad.

Amnesty International USA Group 48 Portland, Oregon USA

Amnesty International Group 48 Newsletter November 2008