From the Editor
This newsletter is published by the AIUSA Middle East Coordination Group (the country specialists) for all the members of the AI local, student and MERAN groups that work on Action files , MERAN actions, or any other Amnesty work in the Middle East. We will feature regional background, news, and action. We hope this will help create a sense of community, the “big picture”, and that we are all in this together, as many of the issues and themes overlap the entire Middle East. We would also like the members to be able to share their successes, events, ideas with everyone. So, please email me and they will be in the next newsletter!
Pat Gerencser, Editor- pgerencser@igc
Israel/OPT: Forty years of occupation -- no security without basic rights
On the eve of the 40th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Amnesty International today called on the Israeli authorities to end the land-grabbing, blockades and other violations of international law carried out under the occupation. These have resulted in widespread human rights abuses and have also failed to bring security to the Israeli and Palestinian civilian populations.A 45-page report published today, Enduring Occupation: Palestinian under siege in the West Bank, illustrates the devastating impact of four decades of Israeli military occupation. The report documents the relentless expansion of unlawful settlements on occupied land that deprives the Palestinian population of crucial resources and documents a plethora of measures that confine Palestinians to fragmented enclaves and hinder their access to work, health and education facilities. These measures include a 700km fence/wall, more than 500 checkpoints and blockades, and a complicated system of permits."Palestinians living in the West Bank are blocked at every turn. This is not simply an inconvenience -- it can be a matter of life or death. It is unacceptable that women in labour, sick children, or victims of accidents on their way to hospital should be forced to take long detours and face delays which can cost them their lives," said Malcolm Smart, Director for Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme."International action is urgently needed to address the widespread human rights abuses being committed under the occupation, and which are fuelling resentment and despair among a predominantly young and increasingly radicalized Palestinian population," said Malcolm Smart. "For forty years, the international community has failed adequately to address the Israeli-Palestinian problem; it cannot, must not, wait another forty years to do so."Amnesty International is calling for the urgent deployment of an effective international human rights monitoring mechanism to monitor compliance by both parties, Israeli and Palestinian, with their obligations under international law. This must be backed up with a commitment to investigate and prosecute, through the exercise of universal jurisdiction, those who commit war crimes or other crimes under international law."We do not underestimate the difficulties of establishing such an independent monitoring system, whether by the UN or another appropriate body, but it is vital that the international community should become more engaged in finding a solution, and in holding the parties to their obligations under international law," said Malcolm Smart.In its report, Amnesty International acknowledges Israel’s legitimate security concerns and the government’s obligation to protect the population within its borders, but says this does not justify blatant violations of international law, such as construction of much of the fence/wall inside the West Bank on Palestinian land."If the intention was simply to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from entering Israel, the barrier would be located on the Green Line, the border between Israel and the West Bank," said Malcolm Smart. "Yet, the reality is that most of it is being built on Palestinian land, in defiance of the International Court of Justice, and is separating Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank."In addition to the fence/wall, the movement of Palestinians is several constrained by a host of other restrictions, including over 500 checkpoints and blockades, and a network of roads for Israeli settlers to use and off-limits to Palestinians. The barrier, together with these roads and roadblocks, benefit continuously expanding but unlawful Israeli settlements and make them territorially contiguous with Israel."Harsh Israeli restrictions have caused the virtual collapse of the Palestinian economy and are exacerbating the increasingly fragile conditions in which Palestinians live and work -- resulting in levels of despair, poverty and food insecurity never before seen in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," said Malcolm Smart."Most Palestinians are now relying on aid for subsistence, with families reducing the quality and quantity of the food they consume and selling assets essential for their livelihoods."Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities to:* lift the regime of blockades and restrictions on Palestinians in the OPT, which constitute collective punishment, and ensure that restrictions imposed in response to specific security threats only target the individuals concerned -- not entire communities.* halt the construction of the fence/wall inside the West Bank, and remove the sections already built there;* cease the construction or expansion of Israeli settlements and related infrastructure in the OPT as a first step towards removing Israeli settlements and "outposts";* cancel all demolition orders on homes in the OPT, and provide reparation to Palestinians whose homes and properties have already been destroyed.The organization is also reiterating its call on Palestinian armed groups to end immediately attacks on civilians and on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take effective action to stop and prevent such attacks and bring to justice those responsible. To see a full copy of the report, please go to http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332007
Egypt Closes Door on AI Trial Observers
The Egyptian government June 3 refused to allow human rights groups to observe the military trial of 33 leading members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, undercutting the government's claims that civilians will have a fair trial before military courts, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. Along with mass arrests of political opponents and democratic activists in the days preceding the June shura legislative council elections, the closing of the military court trials is indication that human rights are moving in the wrong direction in Egypt.Amnesty International, the Arab Commission for Human Rights, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch had sent observers to monitor the trial of 33 leading members of the Brotherhood. None of the groups was allowed to attend. Among the accused is Khairat al-Shatir, the organization's deputy supreme guide, who was arrested on December 14, 2006, along with 16 other prominent Muslim Brotherhood members in predawn raids. They were subsequently charged with membership in a banned organization, providing students with weapons and military training. On January 29, 2007, a Cairo criminal court dismissed all charges against al-Shatir and his co-defendants and ordered their immediate release. Security forces re-arrested the men moments after the ruling, and on February 4, President Hosni Mubarak, ignoring the court's verdict, ordered the cases, and those of 23 other alleged members of the Brotherhood, transferred to a military court. On May 8, a Cairo administrative court ruled that President Mubarak's order was invalid, but on May 14, the Supreme Administrative court reversed that decision after the government appealed. After the June 3 session, the court adjourned until July 15. "Twelve years ago the court granted me unfettered access when I observed the military trial of senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood," said Palestinian lawyer Anis Kassim, Amnesty International's senior trial observer. "I am extremely disappointed in the government's attitude this time." Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said that trying civilians before Egyptian military courts flouts international standards for fair trials.
TAKE ACTION: Amnesty International Member Fighting Forcible Return and Likely Torture in Egypt
Time is running out for Amnesty International member Sameh Khouzam. Khouzam, an Egyptian native who faces forcible return to Egypt, has received a 12-day stay of deportation. This is due to expire on 18 June, leaving him at risk of torture or ill-treatment if he is then returned to Egypt.
Sameh Khouzam, who is currently a member of the AIUSA chapter in York, Pa., fled Egypt in 1998 after reportedly being tortured and ill-treated by the Egyptian police because of his Coptic Christian religious beliefs. He alleges that he and his family had been subjected to a sustained campaign of intimidation and abuse on account of his refusal to convert to Islam. On one occasion in 1997 he alleges that he was beaten and sexually abused in a police station. The Egyptian authorities have reportedly told the US State Department that he is wanted in Egypt on a murder charge.
Sameh Khouzam was held in US immigration detention until February 2006, when he was released on condition that he report regularly to the immigration authorities. However on 29 May 2007, he was taken into custody again and told that he could be returned to Egypt within days. He is believed to have received a letter from the US Department of Homeland Security stating that it had received diplomatic assurances from the Egyptian authorities that he would not be tortured on his return.
Amnesty International does not take a position on the murder charges. What does concern us is that a U.S. court ruling staying his deportation because of the torture concerns has been quietly overruled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without any public process. What does concern us is that the decision was based on diplomatic assurances from the Egyptian government that he wouldn't be tortured, assurances that Amnesty's documentation and the Department of State's own reports indicate can't be trusted. What concerns us is international and U.S. law says a prisoner cannot be returned to a country where it is likely he will be tortured.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- welcoming the stay of deportation granted to Egyptian national Sameh Khouzam, but expressing continued concern that he may face torture or ill-treatment if returned to Egypt when the current order expires on 18 June;
- calling on the US authorities to halt his deportation;
- urging them not to rely on diplomatic assurances when deciding whether a person is at risk of torture or ill treatment if transferred to another country;
- calling on them to reaffirm the absolute nature of the obligation under international law not to transfer any person to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
APPEALS TO:
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20520, USA
Fax: 1 202 261 8577
E-mail: secretary@state.gov
Salutation: Dear Secretary of State
The Honorable Michael Chertoff
Secretary of Homeland Security
US Department of Homeland Security
Washington DC 20528, USA
Fax: 1 202 456 2461
Salutation: Dear Secretary Chertoff
Women in Iran have been at the forefront of the human rights movement in that country, advocating on a broad spectrum of issues, such as for reforms in the legal system that would revise provisions that hamper women’s rights, for an end to execution by stoning, and for better pay and working conditions for teachers and others. Although their advocacy has consisted of peaceful activities such as participating in non-violent demonstrations and circulating petitions, they have been met with harsh repression from the Iranian government, as part of a recent pervasive crackdown on a wide range of activists, who have suffered arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, imposition of prison sentences and fines. As one activist Jila Baniyaghoub told the Associated Press, over the past year, the Iranian security forces have "become more and more aggressive even as women's actions have become more peaceful and more tame.”
Amnesty International is concerned that Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie has publicly accused the Iranian women’s movement and student activists of being part of an enemy conspiracy for a “soft subversion” of the Iranian government on 10 April 2007. Despite the repressive conditions and real threats to their safety, fearless women activists persevere in their human rights work. Amnesty International has been working to support the many initiatives taken by these brave Iranian women.
One campaign spearheaded by Iranian women is the “Campaign for Equality,” also known as the “Million Signatures Campaign,” which seeks to reform the Iranian legal system. Although women in Iran have achieved success in education and in many professions—the majority of university students in Iran, for instance, are women—they are subject to discriminatory family laws involving divorce, inheritance and custody rights. Women activists launched the campaign in August 2006 and have been circulating petitions with the goal of collecting at least a million signatures calling for an end to these inequitable laws. Their campaign involves going door to door and talking to other women in their homes, in schools and universities and in factories. They have also held peaceful demonstrations and have been active on the Internet, setting up a number of Web sites dedicated to women's issues. Amnesty International is supporting this campaign and issued a joint statement calling for equal rights for women in Iran on International Women's Day on 7 March 2007 with Iranian lawyer and prominent human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
One of the leading activists in this campaign has been Zeinab Peyqambarzadeh. She was arrested on 8 May 2007 for her participation in a peaceful protest on 4 March 2007. She had reported to the Revolutionary Court after receiving a summons and was then arrested and sent to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. Her family and lawyer attempted to post bail but the court would not authorize her release. Five other women active in the “Million Signatures Campaign” had been arrested on 2 April 2007 while collecting signatures. Three were released after one day in detention, but Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh and Nahid Keshavarz were taken to Evin Prison and were released on bail on 15 April 2007. They were reportedly accused of “acting against state security through propaganda against the system.” And on 10 June 2007 Ehteram Shadfar, a 62-year-old member of the Women’s Cultural Center, who has been active collecting signatures for the campaign, was arrested and taken to Niloufar police station and then transferred to the Vozara Detention Center, where they are believed to be still held. No charges are known to have been brought against them, but activists believe they have been detained in connection with their collection of signatures for the campaign.
Two women who had been prosecuted for their participation in a peaceful demonstration on 12 June 2006 calling for equal rights for women were sentenced to prison terms on 18 April 2007. That June 2006 demonstration had been violently dispersed by security forces who arrested at least 70 people. Fariba Davoudi Mohajer was sentenced to four years, three of which were suspended, and Sussan Tahmasebi was sentenced to two years, eighteen months of which were suspended. The two are currently free pending an appeal of their sentences. Also on 18 April, Behareh Hedayat, a university student, was tried, without the presence of her lawyer, on charges of “acting against state security”, “participating in an illegal demonstration on 12 June 2006” and “disturbing public order”. Earlier, on 11 April, Azadeh Forghani, a university student, was given a two-year suspended sentence in connection with the same demonstration. Several days later, she was summoned to court where she was questioned and informed that she was facing new charges in connection with a peaceful gathering on 4 March 2007 held to protest against the prosecution of five other activists in connection with the demonstration in June 2006.
Over 30 women activists were arrested on Sunday, 4 March 2007 while staging a peaceful demonstration in Tehran. The arrests were apparently intended to deter activists from organizing events to mark International Women's Day on 8 March. The women were arrested outside Tehran's Revolutionary Court, where they had gathered to protest at the trial of five women charged in connection with a demonstration held on 12 June 2006 to demand that women be given equal rights with men under the law in Iran."Rather than arresting peaceful demonstrators, the Iranian authorities should be taking seriously women's demands for equality before the law and addressing discrimination against women wherever it exists in the Iranian legal system," said Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General.” In their joint statement of 7 March 2007, Shirin Ebadi and Irene Khan stated, “as long as women are denied human rights, anywhere in the world, there can be no justice and no peace. Recognizing women's equal rights, therefore, is an essential requirement for the creation of strong, sustainable and stable societies and ensuring that women enjoy equality with men in all areas of life is a key step to making human rights a universal reality.” Unfortunately, due to the failure of the Iranian government to recognize the basic human rights of its citizens, as noted by Shirin Ebadi in an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, "harassment is a fact of life for someone pursuing human rights in Iran."
Appeals to be sent to:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
istiftaa@wilayah.org
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: Please send emails via the feedback form on the Persian site of the website: http://www.iranjudiciary.org/contactus-feedback-fa.html
Salutation: Your Excellency
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 6 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
(Or via website) http://www.president.ir/email
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear:I am writing to you to express my deep concern about the prison sentences recent imposed on a number of women activists as well as the arrests and harassment of a number of other women in the last few months, including students, teachers, and academics—some of whom had been involved in peaceful demonstrations calling for reform. I am particularly worried that those arrested could face torture or ill-treatment while in detention.
Zeinab Peyqambarzadeh, an activist involved in the “One Million Signatures” campaign calling for reform of discriminatory legislation regarding women, was arrested on 8 May for her participation in a peaceful protest on 4 March 2007. Five other women active in the “Million Signatures Campaign” had been arrested on 2 April 2007 and Ehteram Shadfar was arrested on 10 June 2007 while collecting signatures. Three were released after one day in detention, but Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh and Nahid Keshavarz were taken to Evin Prison and were released on bail on 15 April 2007. They were reportedly accused of “acting against state security through propaganda against the system”.
Two women who had been prosecuted for their participation in a peaceful demonstration on 12 June 2006 calling for equal rights for women were sentenced to prison terms on 18 April 2007. Fariba Davoudi Mohajer was sentenced to four years, three of which were suspended, and Sussan Tahmasebi was sentenced to two years, eighteen months of which were suspended. The two are currently free pending an appeal of their sentences. Also on 18 April, Behareh Hedayat, a university student, was tried, without the presence of her lawyer, on charges of “acting against state security”, “participating in an illegal demonstration on 12 June 2006” and “disturbing public order”. Earlier, on 11 April, Azadeh Forghani, a university student, was given a two-year suspended sentence in connection with the same demonstration. Several days later, she was summoned to court where she was questioned and informed that she was facing new charges in connection with a peaceful gathering on 4 March 2007 held to protest against the prosecution of five other activists in connection with the demonstration in June 2006.
The right to engage in peaceful activism is enshrined in a number of international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. I urge your government to cease arresting and detaining those who participate in non-violent protests and human rights activism. I also call on you to release those currently held in detention for their peaceful activism and to reverse the sentences of Fariba Davoudi Mohajer, Sussan Tahmasebi and Azadeh Forgani.
Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
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