Newsletter

Amnesty International USA Group 48

11.09
In This Issue . . .
1 CHINA Urgent Action

Bjarte Kvinge Tvedt Stock.Xchng

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
CHINA Urgent Action - Fear of Torture
7:30pm meeting starts
Hairat Niyaz (m), journalist

Uighur journalist Hairat Niyaz was
taken from his home on 1 October.
On 4 October, police delivered a notice
to his family which said he had been
NewsLetter Designed arrested for “endangering state secu-
By Michelle Whitlock rity.” He is at risk of torture or other
MichelleWhitlock.com 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 »
 AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 2

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 con-
including the use of “anti-terrorism” legislation to target Ui- tradict 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
used it to place him under investigation. In the XUAR, the authorities routinely associate Uighur
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.
Background Information 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
community. He graduated from Beijing National University the authorities said that articles posted on his website had
in 1982, has since worked for several publications and is de- fuelled the violence. Ilham Tohti has denied this, saying that
liberately using the Chinese language to report on the culture he would never agree with using violence. He was released
and situation of Uighurs in the XUAR to better reach Chi- on 23 July but remains under surveillance. There are uncon-
nese-speaking domestic and overseas audiences. He has been firmed reports that some other staff or regular contributors to
a senior journalist with the Xinjiang Economic Daily, Chief Uighurbiz.net have gone missing.
Editorial Director of Xinjiang Legal Daily, and Deputy Direc-
Another 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 Chi-
around 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 authori-
ties’ failure to take immediate action following the death of The Criminal Law already includes the crime of “endanger-
two 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 vaguely-
in 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.
Since the July unrest in the XUAR the authorities have Recommended Action
detained thousands of people, brought dozens to trial, threat- Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
ened those involved in the unrest with harsh sentences and ◌◌ urging the authorities to release Hairat Niyaz immediately
in October announced that 11 people had received the first and unconditionally, unless he is charged with an internation-
death sentences handed down for involvement in the unrest. ally recognizable criminal offense;
The authorities have interpreted all dissent as stemming from
◌◌ calling on them to guarantee Hairat Niyaz will not be tor-
“terrorist” or “separatist” activities, justifying their harsh crack-
tured or otherwise ill-treated; »
 AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 3

◌◌ calling on them to ensure that he is given access to legal People’s Republic of China
counsel of his choice, his family and any medical attention he Salutation: Dear Director
may require. Copies To
Appeals To Chairman, Ethnic Affairs Commission
Chairman, XUAR Government YANG Jing Zhuren
Nur BEKRI Zhuxi Guojia Minzu Shiwu Weiyuanhui
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu 252 Taipingqiaodajie, Xichengqu
2 Zhongshanlu Beijingshi 100800
Wulumuqishi, 830041 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Salutation: Your Excellency
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Salutation: Dear Chairman Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Director, XUAR Department of Public Security Washington DC 20008
LIU Yaohua Tingzhang Fax: 1 202 328-2582
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Gong’anting Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
58 Huanghelu
Wulumuqishi 830001 PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending ap-
peals after 8 December 2009.

USA Urgent Action - Death Penalty

John Allen Muhammad (m)
There were a series of 16 shootings between 5 September and
22 October 2002 in Maryland, Alabama, Louisiana, Washing-
Luiz Baltar Stock.Xchng

ton, DC and Virginia, leaving 10 people dead and another six

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.
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 “tre-
mendous mistake” given the complexity of the case. Two days
later he fired himself and his stand-by counsel took over his
representation. »
 AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 4

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 Muham-
mad’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 schizophre-
nia, and two experts retained concluded that Muhammad
probably suffered from this serious mental illness. This opin-
ion was consistent with indications that John Muhammad
suffered from delusional and bizarre thinking. Other testing
indicated that he had severe cognitive impairments.
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 At-
torney 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 Muham-
mad, as it does every execution, regardless of the seriousness »
AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information

Because John Muhammad refused to be interviewed by the Group Coordinator OR State Death
prosecution’s psychiatrist, however, the trial judge ruled that Joanne Lau Penalty Abolition
no expert testimony could be introduced, greatly reducing 971-221-5450 Coordinator
jlau@easystreet.net Terrie Rodello
the defense lawyers’ ability to protect Muhammad from the
Concert Tabling 503-246-6836
death penalty. They had built a mitigation case based around trodello@igc.org
Will Ware
the testimony of a mental health expert. Among other things, 503-227-5225 Central America RAN
according to Muhammad’s appeal lawyers, his relatives and ww_ware@yahoo.com Marylou Noble
others had provided the expert with “heart-wrenching stories Newsletter Editor 503-245-6923
of the abuse and neglect Muhammad suffered as a child - Dan Webb marylou_noble@
yahoo.com
beatings with hoses and electrical cords, denial of food, cloth- 503-253-3491
danielw2@earthlink.net Dignity Campaign
ing and basic necessities, and suffering on a scale difficult to
Treasurer Janie Whitlock
imagine.” Mental health experts have linked this abuse with 360-859-3050
Janan Stoll
John Muhammad's brain dysfunction. 503-282-8834 janie.whitlock@gmail.com
jjjn4now@aol.com Guantanamo cases
Background Information & Darfur
Legislative
State and federal officials were divided over where to first Coordinator Jane Kristof
prosecute John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, and which Dan Johnson kristofj@pdx.edu
Marty Fromer
jurisdiction would be best placed to obtain and carry out 503-310-4540
subtlet@hotmail.com 503-227-1878
the death penalty became a disturbing part of the decision- martyfromer@gmail.com
making process. Despite the fact that the two suspects were Central Africa RAN
Indonesia RAN
Terrie Rodello
arrested in Maryland and most of the murders had happened Max White
503-246-6836
there, the prosecutions were handed to Virginia which, unlike trodello@igc.org 503-292-8168
Maryland and the federal government, was and remains one maxw33@comcast.net
of the most “efficient” executing jurisdictions in the USA,
 AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 5

Recommended Action
of the crime or the culpability of the condemned. To end the Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
death penalty is to abandon a destructive, diversionary and ◌◌ Recognizing the serious crimes in this case and the trauma
divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held and suffering caused;
values. It not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also ◌◌ Opposing the execution of John Allen Muhammad;
costly, to the public purse as well as in social and psychologi-
◌◌ Noting expert evidence not heard by the jury that he suffers
cal terms. It has not been proven to have a special deterrent
from brain damage and severe mental illness;
effect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, on
grounds of race and class. It denies the possibility of reconcili- ◌◌ Calling on Governor Kaine to commute John Muhammad's
ation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to death sentence and to work against the death penalty.
complex human problems, rather than pursuing explanations Appeals To
that could inform positive strategies. It prolongs the suffering Governor Timothy M. Kaine
of murder victims’ families, and extends that suffering to the Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It diverts resources 1111 East Broad Street
that could be better used to work against violent crime and Richmond, VA 23219
assist those affected by it. Fax: 1 804 371 6351
Email: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/
Today, some 139 countries are abolitionist in law or practice
contactGovernor.cfm
International law is abolitionist in outlook, seeking to have
Salutation: Dear Governor
retentionist countries narrow the applicability of the death
penalty with a view to ending its use altogether. Consistent PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
with this, even those tried by international tribunals for the Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending ap-
most serious crimes of concern to the international com- peals after 10 November 2009.
munity - 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
Postage Rates
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 Within the United States
after 25 years. $0.28 - Postcards
Lee Malvo was also tried in Virginia, and was sentenced in $0.44 - Letters and Cards up to 1 oz.
December 2003 to life imprisonment without the possibility To Canada
of parole, a sentence which violates international law in the $0.75 - Postcards
case of an offender convicted for a crime committed when $0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards up to 1 oz.
he or she was under 18 years old (see UA 288/03, 9 October To Mexico
2003, and update, 24 December 2003). $0.79 - Postcards
There have been 42 executions in the USA this year, bring- $0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards up to 1 oz.
ing to 1,178 the total number of executions carried out there To all other destination countries
since judicial killing resumed in 1977.Virginia accounts or $0.98 - Postcards
103 of these executions. See also, USA: The execution of men- $0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards up to 1 oz.
tally ill offenders, January 2006, http://www.amnesty.org/en/
library/info/AMR51/003/2006/en.
 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 cus-
tody 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 immedi-
ately 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 orga-
nization, 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 interroga-
tion, 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 incom-
municado.
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. »
 AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 7
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: juansabines@chiapas.gob.mx
Salutation: Dear Governor/Señor Gobernador
Chiapas Attorney General
Mtro. Raciel Lopez Salazar
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
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 leader-
ship 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
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
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 vari-
ous sides of the debate can find common ground on the issue
of innocence.“
Georgia prisoner Troy Davis, who faced execution three times
despite having strong claims of innocence, faced a difficult le-
gal battle in presenting his innocence claims due to the Anti-
Terrorism 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 »
 AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009 Pg 8

execution, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in August that

A delegation from AI UK visited Troy Davis on death row this
past September.
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.
he should be allowed a new hearing to establish his inno-
cence.
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.
HR 3986 can be viewed online at: http://thomas.loc.gov/
home/gpoxmlc111/h3986_ih.xml

Bottom from left: Davis’ mother Virginia Davis and his sister
Martina Correia.

Postage

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter November 2009