Group 48 Newsletter - September 2015

Amnesty International USA Group 48

Newsletter9.15

1 13th World Day Against the Death Penalty: Drug Crimes

2 SUDAN: Urgent Action - Three Opposition Members Harassed By Niss

4 BURUNDI: Urge End of Use of Torture to Extract Con-fessions and Crush Dissent

5 EGYPT: Urgent Action - Prison Sentences For Al Jazeera Journalists

13th World Day Against the Death Penalty: Drug Crimesby Terrie Rodello, Amnesty International USA Oregon State Death Penalty Abolition CoordinatorOn October 10, 2015, the 13th World Day Against the Death Penalty is raising awareness around the use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses, to reduce its use.

Running against the abolitionist world-wide movement, many countries added the death penalty for drug crimes in their legal system between 1980 and 2000. Although this trend is going down today, in some countries, drug crimes are the main cause of death sentences and executions.

Facts about the use of the death penalty in the world for drug crimes:

◌ 33 countries and territories retain the death penalty for drug crimes:

◌ 13 of the 33 countries have carried out

an execution for drug crimes in the past five years.

◌ 12 of the 33 countries retain a manda-tory death penalty for certain categories of drug crimes.

◌ 5 of the 33 countries are abolitionist in practice.

Find out everything about World Day against the Death Penalty at www.worldcoalition.org including:

◌ The 2015 World Day poster

◌ The mobilization kit

◌ Detailed factsheets on the death pen-alty around the world

◌ The 2014 World Day Report An edu-cation guide

What can you do for World Day Against the Death Penalty?

Organize a public debate or a movie

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AIUSA-Group 48 http://aipdx.org 503-227-1878 Next Meeting: Friday September 11th First Unitarian Church 1011 SW 12th Ave 7:00pm informal gathering 7:30pm meeting starts

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http://www.worldcoalition.org/

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter September 2015 Pg 2

screening with exonerees, murder victims’ families, and ex-perts, to raise awareness on the reality of the death penalty.

◌ Join a local anti-death penalty organization or attend its event.

◌ Organize an art exhibition (photos, drawings, posters) or a theatre performance.

◌ Organize a demonstration, a ‘sit-in’, and a ‘die-in’, a ‘flash mob’…

◌ Sign petitions against the death penalty and encourage others to sign.

◌ Follow the social media campaign on Facebook and Twit-ter: #nodeathpenalty

◌ Write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper or cam-pus newspaper

◌ Write to a prisoner on death row. For information on how you or your group may write to a prisoner on Oregon’s death row, email me at [email protected].

Any ideas for events, need assistance to organize an event at your church or campus, please contact me at [email protected].

SUDAN: Urgent Action - Three Opposition Members Harassed By NissKhalid Omer Yousif (m), Magdi Okasha Amed (m) and Widad Abdelrahman Derwish (f)

men came into his house and took him to the NISS office in their vehicle. He was released the same day, but like Khalid Omer Yousif, he was also asked to report to the NISS office every day. Widad Abdelrahman Dirwesh was also arrested on the same day as Magdi Okasha and later released without being charged. She too was asked to report to the NISS office every day. For two days, she reported to the NISS office, but on August 12th she refused to show up. The NISS called her on August 12th asking her to report to their office and when she refused, six armed NISS officers were sent to collect her from her house. She was later released at 11 pm.

All three individuals report to NISS offices every day at around 8 am, they are kept in different rooms and are re-leased between 11pm and midnight. They spend the whole day in the NISS office with occasional questioning on the activities of the SCP and sometimes they are asked to identify people in videos and photographs. They are allowed to pray in the mosque in NISS office. The SCP has been holding pub-lic gatherings in Khartoum state and North Kordofan state in which they discuss the situation in Sudan including state poli-cies and the armed conflicts in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Amnesty International has documented an increase in the daily summoning of individuals by NISS as a tactic to avoiding due process and curtailing their movements.

Action Please write immediately in Arabic or your own language:

◌ Urging the Sudanese authorities to immediately inform

Khalid Omer Yousif, Magdi Okasha Amed and Widad Abdelrahman Derwish, opposition members of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), were arrested by the Sudanese Nation-al Intelligence Service (NISS) and released without charge. However, they are required to report to the NISS office every day.

Khalid Omer Yousif, a civil engineer by profession and a secretariat member of the SCP, was arrested on August 6th by NISS officers at his house at around 8.00 am as he was leaving for work. The NISS officers told him to follow them to the NISS office in his car on the assurance that he would be free to return home. His car was however confiscated along with several other documents in his car including his daughters’ passports at the NISS office. Khalid Omer Yousif was re-leased at around midnight without any formal interrogation or charge. He was instructed by NISS to report to their office every day.

Two days later, Magdi Okasha Amed, also a member of the SCP, was arrested at his home at 8.00 am. About 10 armed

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Khalid Omer Yousif, Magdi Okasha Amed and Widad Abdel-rahman Derwish the reasons for their arrest and the restric-tions on their freedom of movement;

◌ Urging them to either charge the three with an internation-ally recognizable criminal offense or else lift the restrictions on their freedom of movement, including the requirement to show up at the NISS office every day;

◌ Reminding them of their obligations under the Interna-tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Sudan is a state party, to respect the rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression.

Appeals To PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE SEPTEMBER 28th 2015 TO: President HE Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir Office of the President People’s Palace PO Box 281 Khartoum, Sudan Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister for Justice Awad Al Hassan Alnour Ministry of Justice PO Box 302 Al Nil Avenue Khartoum, Sudan Salutation: Your Excellency

Copies To Minister of Interior Ismat Abdul-Rahman Zain Al-Abdin Ministry of Interior PO Box 873 Khartoum, Sudan

Chargé d’Affaires Maowia Osman Khalid Mohammed Embassy of the Republic of Sudan 2210 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington, DC 20008 Phone: 202 338 8565

Fax: 202 667 2406 E-mail: [email protected]

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! Send a short email to [email protected] with “UA 179/15” in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent, to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date.

Additional Information Amnesty International has received numerous reports since the end of Sudan’s general elections in April 2015 that the NISS crackdown on activities of political opposition groups and civil society has intensified.

In May 2015, 12 members of the opposition Sudanese Con-gress Party (SCP) were detained by the NISS. Four members of the SCP were charged with criminal offenses including capital offenses under the 1991 Penal Code ‘complicity to ex-ecute a criminal agreement’, ‘undermining the constitutional system’ and calling for ‘opposition of the public authority by violence or criminal force’. Other SCP members Asim Omer Hassan, Ibrahim Mohammed Zain and Mastoor Ahmed were on June 6th sentenced to 20 lashes for participating in activities supporting the boycotting of the April 2015 general

Group CoordinatorJoanne [email protected]

TreasurerTena [email protected]

Newsletter EditorDan [email protected]

Darfur (Sudan)Marty [email protected]

IndonesiaMax [email protected]

Prisoners’ CasesJane [email protected]

Megan Harringtonmegan.harrington @gmail.com

Concert TablingWill [email protected]

Central Africa/ OR State Death Penalty AbolitionTerrie [email protected]

AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information

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elections. Amnesty International also documented the arrest and detention of Yasir Mirghani Abdalrahman, an activist and member of the Sudanese Congress Party.

The NISS maintains broad powers of arrest and detention under the National Security Act 2010, which allows suspects to be detained for up to four-and-a-half months without judi-cial review. NISS officials often use these powers to arbitrarily arrest and detain individuals, and to subject them to torture

and other forms of ill-treatment. Under the same Act, NISS agents are provided with protection from prosecution for any act committed in the course of their work, which has resulted in a pervasive culture of impunity. The constitutional amend-ments passed by Parliament on January 5th, which accorded sweeping powers to the NISS giving it unlimited discretion to interfere in political, economic and social issues, have exacer-bated the situation.

BURUNDI: Urge End of Use of Torture to Extract Confessions and Crush Dissentby Terrie Rodello, AIUSA Central Africa Activist Network Coordinator

◌ Ensure that victims of human rights violations and their families can obtain full reparation, in the form of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.

◌ Take immediate measures to prevent torture and other ill-treatment of detainees - such as maintaining an official regis-ter of detainees, upholding the right to receive independent legal assistance and independent medical assistance without delay and to contact relatives, and making judicial remedies available that such persons may use to challenge the legality of their detention or treatment.

◌ Establish an independent and effective national preventive mechanism against torture in accordance with the guidelines established by the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Pun-ishment.

◌ Invite the ACHPR and UN Special Procedures to investi-gate allegations of torture by the SNR and Burundi Police.

Appeals To President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza Office of the President Boulevard de l’Uprona BP 1870 Bujumbura, Burundi Fax: 011 257 22 24 89 08 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Your Excellency

H.E. Ernest Ndabashinze Ambassador of the Republic of Burundi

On August 24th, Amnesty International issued a briefing paper –Just tell me what to confess to: Torture and other ill treatment by Burundi’s police and intelligence services since April 2015– a piece on torture against protesters and those suspected to be against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term in office, by the Burundian Intelligence Services (SNR) and Burundi National Police, PNB.

Action Write a letter to the President of Burundi urging him to take the following actions and send a copy to the Burundi Ambas-sador in Washington DC:

◌ Remove from active duty anyone suspected of having com-mitted crimes under international law such as torture until the allegations against them have been independently and impartially investigated.

◌ Ensure that no person is subjected to arbitrary, secret or in-communicado detention, and that the rights of detainees are respected in all cases in accordance with international human rights law.

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Embassy of the Republic of Burundi 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 408 Washington, DC 20007 E-mail: [email protected] Fax: 1 202 342 2578

Background Demonstrations broke out in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, between April 26th and mid-June 2015 in protest against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in the July 2015 elections which was seen by many as uncon-stitutional and a violation of the Arusha Agreement.

In July this year, Amnesty International released the report: "Braving Bullets: Excessive Force in Policing Demon-strations in Burundi" highlighting a pattern of serious viola-tions in the police response to the demonstrations. Police used excessive and disproportionate force, including lethal force, against protesters, at times shooting unarmed protesters who were fleeing. Police even used tear gas and live ammuni-

tion against demonstrations where children were present.

Burundi is bound by a number of international and regional treaties that prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or de-grading treatment or punishment, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).

The CAT defines torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflict-ed on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instiga-tion of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."

EGYPT: Urgent Action - Prison Sentences For Al Jazeera Journalists Mohamed Fahmy (m), Baher Mohamed (m), Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed (m), Khaled Mo-hamed Abdulraouf Mohamed (m), Shadi Abdul Hameed Abdul Azeem Ibrahim (m), Khalid Abdulrah-man Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulwahab (m), Noura Hassan al-Banna (f)

half years, also sentencing Peter Greste in his absence to three years in prison. Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

In a brief address before the sentencing, the judge said that the court did not recognize the men as journalists, that they had been in possession of unauthorized broadcasting equip-ment, and that they had broadcast “lies” about Egypt on the Al Jazeera news network while operating without official au-thorization from a Cairo hotel. These charges led to three-year prison sentences.

The court sentenced Baher Mohamed to an additional six months in prison and a fine of 5,000 Egyptian pounds (around US$640) for possessing a bullet, which he had argued was a souvenir from his work as a journalist in Libya.

The court also sentenced students Khaled Mohamed Ab-dulraouf Mohamed, Shadi Abdul Hameed Abdul Azeem

Journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were jailed by a Cairo court on August 29th on charges of “broad-casting false news” and operating without authorization. The court sentenced journalist Peter Greste to prison in his absence.

On August 29th the Cairo Criminal Court jailed Mohamed Fahmy for three years and Baher Mohamed for three-and-a-

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Ibrahim and Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed to three years each in prison, apparently on similar charges of broadcast-ing “false news." Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed had told other defendants that security forces tortured and otherwise ill-treated him after rearresting him in early June 2015.

The court acquitted Khalid Abdulrahman Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulwahab and Noura Hassan al-Banna.

Action Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:

◌ Calling on the Egyptian authorities to release Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed immediately and uncondition-ally, ensure their convictions are quashed and facilitate Mo-hamed Fahmy’s request for deportation;

◌ Urging them to ensure that the other men’s convictions are quashed to the extent that they are based on charges relating solely to the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression;

◌ Calling on them to investigate effectively, independently and impartially Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed’s allega-tions of torture and other ill-treatment.

Appeals To PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE OCTOBER 17th 2015 TO: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Office of the President Al Ittihadia Palace Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt Fax: 011 202 2 391 1441 Salutation: Your Excellency

Public Prosecutor Deputy Public Prosecutor Ali Omran Office of the Public Prosecutor Supreme Court House, 1 “26 July” Road Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt Fax: 011 202 2 577 4716 011 202 2 575 7165 (switched off after office hours, GMT+2) Salutation: Dear Counsellor

Copies To Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights Mahy Hassan Abdel Latif Ministry of Foreign Affairs Corniche al-Nil, Cairo Arab Republic of Egypt Fax: 011 202 2 574 9713 Email: [email protected]

Group 48 has taken on a new case! Omid Kokabee is a young Iranian physicist who was pursuing post-graduate studies in optics at the University of Texas when he returned home to visit his family.

In January 2011, he was arrested, tried on vague charges related to national security, and sentenced to ten years in prison. The real issue seems to be Omid Kokabee’s principled re-fusal to engage in military or nuclear weapons research.

Calls for his release have come from the Ameri-can Physical Society, 33 Nobel Physics Prize laureates, and the Committee of Concerned Scientists, as well as Amnesty International.

Last year, the American Association for the Ad-vancement of Science gave Kokabee its 2014 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award “for his courageous stand and willingness to en-dure imprisonment rather than violate his moral stance that scientific expertise not be used for destructive purposes and his efforts to provide hope and education to fellow prisoners.”

Let’s work to get this brilliant and admirable young man out of prison!

Group 48 Taking on Case of Iranian Physicist

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Ambassador Mohamed Tawfik

3521 International Ct NW, Washington, DC 20008 Fax: 202 244 4319 -OR- 202 244 5131 Email: [email protected]

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! Send a short email to [email protected] with “UA 83/14” in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent, to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date.

Additional Information The court will produce a written ruling, detailing for each de-fendant which charges it upheld and which ones it acquitted them of. Amnesty International considers that the charges of

“broadcasting false news” are not in accordance with interna-tional human rights law and considers the charges of working without official authorization to be politically motivated and aimed at punishing the men for their journalistic work and for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced the journalists and students in June 2014 to prison terms of seven to 10 years for broadcasting “false news”, possessing unauthorized equip-ment and aiding or joining the Muslim Brotherhood move-ment. The court also tried and sentenced a number of people in their absence, including other Al Jazeera staff and a Dutch freelance journalist. Egypt’s highest court of appeal, the Court of Cassation, overturned the convictions and sentences of those jailed in the case on January 1st 2015. They were then retried before a new panel of judges at the Cairo Criminal Court, which ordered their release on bail in February, before issuing the verdicts on August 29th. All those jailed in the case may now appeal once more before the Court of Cassa-tion. Under Egypt’s Code of Criminal Procedures, all those sentenced in their absence have the right to retrial if they present themselves before the court.

Mohamed Fahmy’s representatives have said that they are seeking a presidential pardon. The journalist has also applied for deportation from Egypt to Canada under a November

2014 law allowing the authorities to transfer foreign nationals to their home countries to face trial or serve their sentences, if such a move would be in “the highest interest of the State." The authorities deported Australian national Peter Greste from Egypt under the law on February 1st 2015. Mohamed Fahmy, originally an Egyptian-Canadian national, gave up his Egyptian citizenship in prison in December 2014, after of-ficials told him it would be his only way to secure deportation. He has not received adequate medical treatment in deten-tion for Hepatitis C or his broken arm, which has limited the movement in his shoulder.

Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed was arrested on June 1st 2015, along with two of his friends, held for at least three days in National Security premises and then transferred to a mili-tary facility where he was held until June 16th, when he was transferred to Tora “Istiqbal” Prison. Sohaib Saad Mohamed was held under conditions of enforced disappearance for 16 days, without access to his family or lawyers, in the National Security premises and an unknown military facility where he was questioned and tortured. The Defense Ministry released a film on July 11th about “dangerous terror cells” in which Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed appeared, “confessing” to buying a firearm for use against the security forces. The video showed a number of other people making similar “confes-sions." He told his co-defendants in the trial that the security forces had subjected him to torture and other ill-treatment during questioning by Military Intelligence and National Security, including electric shocks and hanging him by his hands. He, along with 15 others are now facing a separate trial before a military court that is due to begin on September 6th.

The Cairo Criminal Court retried Noura Hassan al-Banna in her presence, acquitting her of joining and assisting the Mus-

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AIUSA group 48 Newsletter September 2015

lim Brotherhood, of possessing unauthorized communica-tions and broadcasting equipment, and of broadcasting “false news." The court, headed by different judges, had tried her in her absence at the first trial and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.

Over 20 other journalists are detained in Egypt, according to Amnesty International’s monitoring, many on similar charges of “broadcasting false news."

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Group 48 Newsletter - September 2015

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