Group 48 Newsletter - November 2009

Newsletter Amnesty International USA Group 48

11.09

In This Issue . . .

Bjarte Kvinge Tvedt Stock.Xchng

1 CHINA Urgent Action Fear of Torture 3 USA Urgent Action Death Penalty 6 MEXICO Urgent Action Torture 7 Amnesty International Welcomes Introduction of “Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act”

AIUSA-Group 48 http://aipdx.org 503-227-1878 Next Meeting: Friday November 13th First Unitarian Church 1011 SW 12th Ave 7:00pm informal gathering 7:30pm meeting starts

CHINA Urgent Action - Fear of Torture Hairat Niyaz (m), journalist

Uighur journalist Hairat Niyaz was NewsLetter Designed By Michelle Whitlock MichelleWhitlock.com

taken from his home on 1 October. On 4 October, police delivered a notice to his family which said he had been arrested for “endangering state security.” He is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Police told his family he had been detained because he had “given too many media interviews.” His family, and friends within the Uighur community, believe he has been detained because of his comments in interviews about the cause of unrest in the Xinjiang Uighur »

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Autonomous Region (XUAR) that began on 5 July. He told down while ignoring the underlying causes of the discontent. journalists that 20 years of discriminatory ethnic policies, Eyewitness accounts received by Amnesty International conincluding the use of “anti-terrorism” legislation to target Uitradict government accounts of the events of July, and suggest ghurs, and marginalizing Uighurs economically, were the root the authorities used excessive force against the protesters, cause of the unrest. He warned the local authorities on 4 July resulting in the deaths of possibly hundreds of people. that unrest was possible. They ignored his warning, but later In the XUAR, the authorities routinely associate Uighur used it to place him under investigation. cultural activities, religious practice and expressions of dissent Hairat Niyaz has been held incommunicado since he was with the “three evils” of “terrorism, separatism and religious detained. He is now held at the Tianshan detention center in extremism.” Many Uighurs are arbitrarily detained and jailed the XUAR capital, Urumqi. as political prisoners or prisoners of conscience. The editor of the popular Uighur website Uighurbiz.net, Hairat Niyaz is a well-known journalist within China’s Uighur Ilham Tohti, was taken from his home on 8 July, shortly after the authorities said that articles posted on his website had community. He graduated from Beijing National University fuelled the violence. Ilham Tohti has denied this, saying that in 1982, has since worked for several publications and is deliberately using the Chinese language to report on the culture he would never agree with using violence. He was released on 23 July but remains under surveillance. There are unconand situation of Uighurs in the XUAR to better reach Chinese-speaking domestic and overseas audiences. He has been firmed reports that some other staff or regular contributors to Uighurbiz.net have gone missing. a senior journalist with the Xinjiang Economic Daily, Chief Editorial Director of Xinjiang Legal Daily, and Deputy DirecAnother journalist, Dilixiati Paerhati, has been detained tor of the legal magazine Fazhi Zongheng . A collection of incommunicado since 7 August, after being interrogated over interviews he gave on the 5 July unrest, can be found in Chiaround eight days from 24 July, in relation to the 5 July unrest. nese on the Uighur Online International Forum http://www. (For details see: UA 262/09, 30 September 2009.) uighurbiz.net/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=227486&highlight= On 27 September the XUAR Regional People’s Congress Violence and widespread unrest broke out in Urumqi and Standing Committee issued new regulations that explicitly other parts of the XUAR on 5 July, after a police crackdown forbade the use of the internet to “endanger state security” or on demonstrations by Uighurs in Urumqi, which had begun “instigate ethnic separatism.” peacefully. The demonstrators were protesting at the authorities’ failure to take immediate action following the death of The Criminal Law already includes the crime of “endangertwo Uighur workers during a riot at a factory in the city of ing state security,” which includes “subversion of state power,” Shaoguan, in the southern province of Guangdong. After a “separatism” and “leaking state secrets.” However, over recent violent crackdown, the authorities accused overseas Uighurs, years the authorities have increasingly used these vaguelyin particular the World Uyghur Congress and its president, worded provisions to silence and imprison peaceful activists Rebiya Kadeer, of having masterminded the unrest. and to curtail freedom of expression. Background Information

Since the July unrest in the XUAR the authorities have detained thousands of people, brought dozens to trial, threatened those involved in the unrest with harsh sentences and in October announced that 11 people had received the first death sentences handed down for involvement in the unrest. The authorities have interpreted all dissent as stemming from “terrorist” or “separatist” activities, justifying their harsh crack-

Recommended Action

Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: ◌◌ urging the authorities to release Hairat Niyaz immediately and unconditionally, unless he is charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense; ◌◌ calling on them to guarantee Hairat Niyaz will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated; »

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◌◌ calling on them to ensure that he is given access to legal counsel of his choice, his family and any medical attention he may require.

People’s Republic of China Salutation: Dear Director

Appeals To

Chairman, Ethnic Affairs Commission YANG Jing Zhuren Guojia Minzu Shiwu Weiyuanhui 252 Taipingqiaodajie, Xichengqu Beijingshi 100800 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Salutation: Your Excellency

Chairman, XUAR Government Nur BEKRI Zhuxi Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu 2 Zhongshanlu Wulumuqishi, 830041 Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Chairman Director, XUAR Department of Public Security LIU Yaohua Tingzhang Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Gong’anting 58 Huanghelu Wulumuqishi 830001 Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu

Copies To

Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 2300 Connecticut Ave. NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 328-2582 Email: [email protected] PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 8 December 2009.

USA Urgent Action - Death Penalty

John Allen Muhammad (m) Luiz Baltar Stock.Xchng

John Allen Muhammad is due to be executed in Virginia on

10 November. He was convicted in 2003 of capital murder in relation to a series of shootings in 2002. His lawyers are seeking clemency on the grounds that he suffers from severe mental impairment.

There were a series of 16 shootings between 5 September and 22 October 2002 in Maryland, Alabama, Louisiana, Washington, DC and Virginia, leaving 10 people dead and another six seriously wounded. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested by federal agents in Maryland on 24 October 2002, asleep in a car. Among the items found in the car was a Bushmaster rifle which was linked to many of the shootings through ballistics testimony. John Muhammad was tried in Virginia in 2003 for the murder of Dean Meyers, who had been shot while fueling his car at a gas station in Manassas,Virginia, on 9 October 2002. Initially John Muhammad chose to represent himself at trial despite being warned by the judge that he would be making a “tremendous mistake” given the complexity of the case. Two days later he fired himself and his stand-by counsel took over his representation. »

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A psychiatric evaluation obtained by his lawyers determined that despite an “ability to sometimes show a superficial brightness,” Muhammad did not have “a reasonable degree of rational understanding.” The psychiatrist concluded that he “was not competent to stand trial,” that his “ability to make decisions and understand the proceedings was impaired,” and that his “judgment and ability to think logically were severely compromised.” Magnetic Resonance Imaging revealed that John Muhammad’s brain had serious abnormalities, including a shrunken cortex, indicating a loss of brain tissue likely to have been caused by a severe injury to the head. Another abnormality found in his brain is sometimes associated with schizophrenia, and two experts retained concluded that Muhammad probably suffered from this serious mental illness. This opinion was consistent with indications that John Muhammad suffered from delusional and bizarre thinking. Other testing indicated that he had severe cognitive impairments. Because John Muhammad refused to be interviewed by the prosecution’s psychiatrist, however, the trial judge ruled that no expert testimony could be introduced, greatly reducing the defense lawyers’ ability to protect Muhammad from the death penalty. They had built a mitigation case based around the testimony of a mental health expert. Among other things, according to Muhammad’s appeal lawyers, his relatives and others had provided the expert with “heart-wrenching stories of the abuse and neglect Muhammad suffered as a child beatings with hoses and electrical cords, denial of food, clothing and basic necessities, and suffering on a scale difficult to imagine.” Mental health experts have linked this abuse with John Muhammad's brain dysfunction. Background Information

State and federal officials were divided over where to first prosecute John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, and which jurisdiction would be best placed to obtain and carry out the death penalty became a disturbing part of the decisionmaking process. Despite the fact that the two suspects were arrested in Maryland and most of the murders had happened there, the prosecutions were handed to Virginia which, unlike Maryland and the federal government, was and remains one of the most “efficient” executing jurisdictions in the USA,

second only to Texas in the number of executions carried out since 1977 and with a reputation for moving cases swiftly through the appeals system. On 7 November 2002, US Attorney General John Ashcroft, an ardent advocate of capital punishment, announced that Virginia should conduct the initial prosecutions, emphasizing at a press conference that it was “imperative that the ultimate sanction be available for those who have committed these crimes,” even in the case of the teenaged Malvo. The 2002 sniper shootings were undoubtedly traumatic for the individuals and communities affected by them. Amnesty International does not seek to downplay the seriousness of these crimes or the suffering they have caused. It nevertheless opposes unconditionally the execution of John Allen Muhammad, as it does every execution, regardless of the seriousness » AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information Group Coordinator Joanne Lau 971-221-5450 [email protected] Concert Tabling Will Ware 503-227-5225 [email protected] Newsletter Editor Dan Webb 503-253-3491 [email protected] Treasurer Janan Stoll 503-282-8834 [email protected] Legislative Coordinator Dan Johnson 503-310-4540 [email protected] Central Africa RAN Terrie Rodello 503-246-6836 [email protected]

OR State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator Terrie Rodello 503-246-6836 [email protected] Central America RAN Marylou Noble 503-245-6923 marylou_noble@ yahoo.com Dignity Campaign Janie Whitlock 360-859-3050 [email protected] Guantanamo cases & Darfur Jane Kristof [email protected] Marty Fromer 503-227-1878 [email protected] Indonesia RAN Max White 503-292-8168 [email protected]

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 5

Recommended Action

of the crime or the culpability of the condemned. To end the death penalty is to abandon a destructive, diversionary and divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held values. It not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly, to the public purse as well as in social and psychological terms. It has not been proven to have a special deterrent effect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, on grounds of race and class. It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to complex human problems, rather than pursuing explanations that could inform positive strategies. It prolongs the suffering of murder victims’ families, and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It diverts resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it. Today, some 139 countries are abolitionist in law or practice International law is abolitionist in outlook, seeking to have retentionist countries narrow the applicability of the death penalty with a view to ending its use altogether. Consistent with this, even those tried by international tribunals for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community - crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes - cannot be subjected to the death penalty. In July 2002, a year before John Muhammad was sentenced to death, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court came into force. Under Article 77 of the Statute, the maximum penalty which the Court can impose is life imprisonment, subject to review after 25 years. Lee Malvo was also tried in Virginia, and was sentenced in December 2003 to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a sentence which violates international law in the case of an offender convicted for a crime committed when he or she was under 18 years old (see UA 288/03, 9 October 2003, and update, 24 December 2003). There have been 42 executions in the USA this year, bringing to 1,178 the total number of executions carried out there since judicial killing resumed in 1977.Virginia accounts or 103 of these executions. See also, USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders, January 2006, http://www.amnesty.org/en/ library/info/AMR51/003/2006/en.

Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: ◌◌ Recognizing the serious crimes in this case and the trauma and suffering caused; ◌◌ Opposing the execution of John Allen Muhammad; ◌◌ Noting expert evidence not heard by the jury that he suffers from brain damage and severe mental illness; ◌◌ Calling on Governor Kaine to commute John Muhammad's death sentence and to work against the death penalty. Appeals To

Governor Timothy M. Kaine Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor 1111 East Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 Fax: 1 804 371 6351 Email: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/ contactGovernor.cfm Salutation: Dear Governor PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 10 November 2009.

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.

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 6

MEXICO Urgent Action - Torture

Roselio de la Cruz and José Manuel de la Torre Vince Petaccio Stock.Xchng

Two men, both members of a peasant farmers’ organization

in Chiapas state, southern Mexico, have been tortured in custody after being arrested without a warrant. A third man who is a member of the same organization is being held 2,000km away, where he is unable to see his lawyer and family. All three men are accused of illegally occupying land in 2005.

In the early hours of 24 October the homes in Venustiano Carranza municipality of several members of Organización Campesina Emiliano Zapata (“Emiliano Zapata” Peasant Organisation, OCEZ) were searched by state police. When the police entered the home of Roselio de la Cruz González, they hit and threatened one of his sons at gunpoint to reveal the whereabouts of his father. Roselio de la Cruz immediately gave himself up. His family saw him being hit in the stomach before being bundled in a police van. On the same night, police entered the nearby home of José Manuel de la Torre Hernández. They hit him and his three children who were trying to stop him being taken away. The police did not

show warrants to arrest the men or search their homes. Other homes of OCEZ members in the area were searched, but no one else was arrested. According to a local human rights organization, hundreds of police officers and soldiers remained in the area for at least two days. Roselio de la Cruz and José Manuel de la Torre are currently held in a state prison. Their lawyer said that during interrogation, they were blindfolded, bound and beaten. Roselio de la Cruz was also threatened with death, while officials put a plastic bag over the head of José Manuel de la Torre until he was almost suffocating, then he was forced to inhale water till he fainted. Both men were forced to sign papers which they were not allowed to read. Another member of OCEZ who lives in the area, José Manuel Hernández Martínez, was arrested on 30 September. Though he should be held by the Chiapas state authorities, on 16 October he was moved to a federal prison 2,000 km away. This is too far for his family and lawyer to visit him, and so he is effectively held incommunicado. PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language, calling on the Mexican authorities: ◌◌To guarantee that that Roselio de la Cruz and José Manuel de la Torre will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated; ◌◌To immediately carry out an impartial investigation into their torture, with those responsible brought to justice; ◌◌To ensure that the two men are either released immediately, or else charged promptly with a recognizably criminal offence and tried fairly according to international standards, with any evidence obtained through torture ruled inadmissible; ◌◌To ensure that José Manuel Hernández Martínez has access to his family and lawyer; ◌◌To end illegal house searches and intimidation of OCEZ supporters and other inhabitants of Venustiano Carranza, and to investigate into the conduct of the police operation. »

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Appeals To

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE DECEMBER 8 2009 Governor of Chiapas Lic. Juan Sabines Guerrero Gobernador del Estado de Chiapas Palacio de Gobierno Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, MEXICO Fax: +52 961 6188050 ext. 21122 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Governor/Señor Gobernador Chiapas Attorney General Mtro. Raciel Lopez Salazar

Procuraduria General de Justicia Libramiento Norte no.201 Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico Fax: + 52 961 6165724 Salutation: Dear Attorney General/ Señor Procurador Attorney General of the Republic Lic. Arturo Chávez Chávez Procuraduría General de la Republica Av. Paseo de la Reforma no. 211.213, México D.F., C.P. 06500, MEXICO Fax: + 52 55 53 460908 SalutationDear Attorney General/ Señor Procurador

Amnesty International Welcomes Introduction of “Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act” Bill Would Provide Critical Options to Death Row Inmates with New Evidence of Innocence November 4, 2009

innocence, he should have ample opportunity to bring those claims back into a court of law. The law as it stands today is flawed in this respect. Rep. Johnson’s bill would ensure that death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence of innocence. Given that 139 people have been wrongfully convicted and sent to death row in the last three decades in the United States, it is especially important that lawmakers take a close look at the flaws in a system that irreversibly takes human life. Amnesty International believes the death penalty should be abolished; this would be the best way to ensure that innocent people are not executed. But we hope that lawmakers on various sides of the debate can find common ground on the issue of innocence.“

Laura Moye, director of Amnesty International’s Death

Penalty Abolition Campaign, made the following comments today following introduction of HR 3986, the “Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act.”:

“We are grateful to Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga. for his leadership in addressing the serious issues that can prevent death row inmates from establishing a strong claim of innocence. When a person facing execution has strong evidence of his

Georgia prisoner Troy Davis, who faced execution three times despite having strong claims of innocence, faced a difficult legal battle in presenting his innocence claims due to the AntiTerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which limited his ability to appeal his case in federal courts. This bill would help prisoners with similar cases. Davis, who has always maintained his innocence, has been on death row since 1991. Last year, he came within two hours of »

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execution, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in August that he should be allowed a new hearing to establish his innocence. Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing police officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia, in 1989. No murder weapon was produced at trial, nor any physical e vidence linking Davis to the crime. Seven of nine witnesses against him later recanted or changed their initial testimonies in sworn affidavits. A delegation from AI UK visited Troy Davis on death row this past September.

HR 3986 can be viewed online at: http://thomas.loc.gov/ home/gpoxmlc111/h3986_ih.xml

Top from left: Richard Hughes - drummer of British band Keane, Davis, Alistair Carmichael - a Member of the UK Parliament, Kim Manning-Cooper - AI UK’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaigner, and Laura Moye - AIUSA Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Director. Bottom from left: Davis’ mother Virginia Davis and his sister Martina Correia.

Postage

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009