Another Setback for Gay Rights in the US

The NY Senate has voted down a bill that would have legalised gay marriage. Read on here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/nyregion/03marriage.html?_r=1&hp

Indigenous Teacher in Danger after Violent Eviction in Brazil

UA 306/09, AMR 19/020/2009. (PDF here, html (web) page here.)

A Brazilian Indigenous teacher, Mr Rolindo Vera, has been missing since October 30. He and other indigenous people were violently evicted from land they had occupied in accordance with their clam as it being their ancestral land. The body of another male teacher who was taken away at the same event was found in a nearby river showing signs of torture. Mr Vera's life is in grave danger, but the federal police of Brazil has already abandoned their serach for him.

Please write immediately, and before 25 December, to

• demand that the Federal Police, working with their counterparts in Paraguay, resume their search, doing everything in their power to find Rolindo Vera;
• call on the authorities to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into the violent eviction of around 25 people from farmlands near the border town of Paranhos and the subsequent death of Genivaldo Vera, and to bring those responsible to justice;
• urge the authorities to fulfill their obligations under the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Brazilian constitution by demarcating lands to be returned to Indigenous communities.

Please send appeals to:

Federal Minister of Justice
Exmo. Sr. Tarso Genro
Esplanada dos Ministérios,
Bloco "T"
70712-902 - Brasília/DF Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3322 6817/ 3224 3398
(Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister)

Federal Human Rights Secretary
Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos
Exmo. Secretário Especial
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi Esplanada dos Ministérios-
Bloco "T" - 4º andar, 70064-900 -Brasília/DF Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3226 7980
(Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Secretário)

Please send copies to:

Conselho Indigenista Missionário,
(CIMI – local NGO)
CIMI Regional Mato Grosso do Sul
Av. Afonso Pena, 1557 Sala 208 Bl.B
79002-070 Campo Grande/MS, Brasil
Email: cimims@terra.com.br

Please also send copies to the Brazilian mission abroad which is closest to you.

My letter is below:

Federal Minister of Justice
Exmo. Sr. Tarso Genro
Esplanada dos Ministérios,
Bloco "T"
70712-902 - Brasília/DF Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3322 6817/ 3224 3398

Ole Koksvik
Philosophy, RSSS
The Australian National University ACT 0200
AUSTRALIA 20/11/2009


RE: ROLINDO VERA

Dear Minister,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian Permanent Resident, a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University.

It has come to my attention that Mr Rolindo Vera, a teacher and member of the Guarani Kaiowa Indigenous group, went missing on 30 October this year. This followed a violent eviction carried out by armed men in Mato Groso do Sul, near Paraguay. Since the body of another teacher, Genivaldo Vera, who also went missing during the eviction, was later found showing signs of torture, I consider Mr Rolindo Vera to be in extremely grave danger.

It is extremely disconcerting to learn that the Federal Police has already called off their search for Mr Vera.

I demand that the federal police immediately resume their search, and that, collaborating with their counterparts in Paraguay, do absolutely everything in their power to find Rolindo Vera immediately.

I call on you to immediately launch a thorough investigation into the violent eviction of around 25 people from farmlands near the border town of Paranhos and the subsequent death of Genivaldo Vera, and to bring those responsible to justice.

I urge you to fulfill your obligations under the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Brazilian constitution by demarcating lands to be returned to Indigenous communities. Do not delay this process any futher.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.

Your sincerely,

Ole Koksvik

Update on Young Man Facing Execution in Singapore

I just received the below update via email, relating to the previous post here about the Malaysian man Yong Vui Kong, who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Singapore in January 2009.

The president is likely to consider his clemency in the next week, so please send any appeals immediately.

You may also find this blog post interesting. It is about the justification for the death penalty in general in Singapore, and also about this particular case. I don't agree with it all, but it is well enough written and worth a read.

Dear friends,

On 3 November we issued a UA on Singapore (ASA 36/004/2009), on behalf of Malaysian national Yong Vui Kong, who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Singapore in January 2009. We have since found out that Singapore's President is likely to be considering his clemency petition within the next week, so please advise participants to send appeals as soon as possible. As there is no change to the Recommended Actions and the UA was only issued on Tuesday, we feel that this information can be communicated in an email to coordinators rather than a UA follow-up.

We have also recently received a translated copy of a letter of apology written by Yong's brother, addressed to President S. R. Nathan and the people of Singapore, dated 23 June 2009, pleading for a pardon for Yong Vui Kong. With his permission, here are some excerpts from the letter:

“I hereby tender my sincere apology to all the people of Singapore regarding my brother’s wrongdoing. I sincerely hope that all of you will give him a chance to live by pardoning him of his death sentence and commute it into a life sentence so that, as a first offender, he could have an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. He is a remorseful youth now….

10-year old Vui Kong was unable to continue with his education…. Initially he became a kitchen help and he fell into bad company. Vui Kong was used by the so-clled “Big Brother” to be a runner to collect bad debts…. Vui Kong himself did not consume drugs, but from collecting bad debts, he was slowly tasked to delivering gifts. The young Vui Kong obeyed the instructions of “Big Brother” who said that delivering a little bit of drugs would not lead to death. Vui Kong fell into the trap of the drug trafficking syndicate.

His mother who suffers from depression does not know anything of his arrest…. My family and I conceal the truth from her as we are worried that she would not be able to take such a blow.

Although the chances of escaping death are very slim, I hope that all of you would give him a new lease of life and hope that Vui Kong would have an opportunity to live again and under the yellow ribbon scheme, he would be able to learn a skill in prison and make some contributions to society in the future.“

Disclaimer

It should be unnecessary to say, but I think it is not.

The views expressed on this blog are those of the authors of the letters alone. In the case of posts other than responses to Amnesty's requests for urgent actions, they usually reflect the views of Ole Koksvik, and not necessarily of the other authors.

In particular, the views are not those of the Australian National University, nor has the university condoned or in any other way supported the contents. In the cases where the university is mentioned in the letters, this is just because it is a convenient way for the authors to receive mail.

The views expressed in this blog are also not those of Amnesty International Australia, nor of any other chapter of that organisation.

Any questions or complaints should be directed to Ole Koksvik, whose contact details are here.

Young Man Facing Execution in Singapore

ASA 36/004/2009 (Html here, .rtf file here.)

Yong Vui Kong was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in January 2009. He had exhausted his appeals by October, and can now escape execution only if the president grants clemency.

Read more by clicking one of the links above.

Please send appeals immediately,

• Urging the president to grant clemency to Yong Vui Kong and commute his death sentence;
• Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking cases, the court had no discretion to sentence Yong Vui Kong to an alternative punishment;
• Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.

Please send appeals immediately, and before December 15, to:

His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
Singapore 0922
Fax: +65 6735 3135 (My fax went through on the first attempt.) Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg
(Salutation: Your Excellency)

Please send copies to:

Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
Singapore 318994
Fax: +65 6319 8282 (My fax went through on the first attempt.) Email: stonline@sph.com.sg

Please also send a copy to the Singaporean foreign mission closest to you.

My letter below:

His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
Singapore 0922
Fax: +65 6735 3135

Ole Koksvik
Philosophy, RSSS
The Australian National University ACT 0200
AUSTRALIA 06/11/2009

RE: MR YONG VUI KONG

Your Excellency,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian Permanent Resident, a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University.

It has come to my attention that Mr Yong Vui Kong, who was arrested in 2007 at the age of 19 and who was sentenced to death in January 2009, has now exhausted his appeals, save pardon by the President.

I am writing to urge you to grant clemency to Yong Vui Kong and to commute his death sentence.

I am deeply concerned that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking cases, the court had no discretion to sentence Yong Vui Kong to an alternative punishment.

I call on you to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhuman punishment, and it is a gross violation of a person's right to life, as embodied in the UDHR.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.


Your sincerely,

Ole Koksvik

Female Journalist Under Threat in Sri Lanka

ASA 37/021/2009

Journalist and media rights activist, Dileesha Abeysundera is in danger after a gang of unidentified people threatened her and tried to forcefully gain access to her property in Sri Lanka on 28 September.

Dileesha Abeysundera is an award winning journalist for the newspaper Irundia, known for highly critical coverage of the Sri Lankan government, and the Deputy Secretary of the Free Media Movement and Secretary of the National Forum for Journalists in Sri Lanka. She believes the gang threatened her because of her work campaigning for media rights. She had organised and attended a meeting on 28 September, calling for the abolition of what she has publically stated as the ‘draconian provisions in the Press Council Act.’

In Sri Lanka, at least 14 media workers have been killed since 2006. White vans, which were present in this case, have been used in many abductions and enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka particularly since 2006, when state agents and paramilitary groups allied to the government stepped up attacks on critics of the government.

Please send appeals immediately, calling on the Sri Lankan authorities to:

• ensure the safety of Dileesha Abeysundera;
• investigate the intimidation of Dileesha Abeysundera and attacks on other Sri Lankan journalists and media workers;
• abolish or reform legislations that are being used to suppress the right to freedom of expression and put an end to the climate of impunity that has allowed a long campaign, by state agents and paramilitary groups, of intimidation and violence against independent journalists in Sri Lanka

Please send appeals immediately, and before November 18, to:

His Excellency the President
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 11 2446657
(Salutation: Your Excellency)

Inspector General of Police
Jayantha Wickramaratne
Sri Lanka Police Headquarters
101/1 Kew Road, Colombo 2
Sri Lanka
Fax: + 94 11 244 6174
(Salutation: Dear Inspector General)

Please send copies to the chapter of Sri Lankan foreign mission closest to you.

Rachael's letter below:

Rachael Brown
[personal address omitted]


His Excellency the President
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2446657

RE: Threats to female journalist, Dileesha Abeysundera

Your Excellency the President,

My name is Rachael Brown. I am an Australian citizen, and a PhD Candidate at the
Australian National University.

I am writing concerning a threat to both the human rights of journalists and the right to
freedom of expression in your country, bought to my attention by Amnesty International. In
particular, I am calling upon you to act to ensure the safety of Dileesha Abeysundera, award
winning journalist for the Sri Lankan newspaper, Irundia (part of The Leader Group).

Ms Abeysundera and other Sri Lankan journalists and media workers have reported being
threatened and intimidated as a consequence of their work promoting freedom of expression,
I urge you to investigate these matters and bring those responsible to justice.

I also call for you to abolish or reform legislations that are being used to suppress the right to freedom of expression and put an end to the climate of impunity that has allowed a long campaign, by state agents and paramilitary groups, of intimidation and violence against independent journalists in Sri Lanka.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns, I trust you will act upon them in due
course.

Yours sincerely,

Rachael Brown

A Juvenile Offender Executed in Iran, Another at Risk

MDE 13/105/2009 (html here, text file (.rtf) here)

The Iranian male Behnoud Shojaee, aged 21, was executed in Evin prison, Tehran, on 11 October, for a murder he was found guilty of committing committed when he was 17. He had no legal representation at his initial trial.

Safar Angooti was convicted of murder when he was 17, and he was sentenced to death. The authorities have told his lawyer that he will be executed on 21 October, but he may be executed on 19 October.

Executions of those under 18 at the time of their offence is strictly prohibited under international law.

Please send appeals immediately, and before the 19th of October (possible day of the execution), to:

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/81/Default.aspx
First starred box: your given name;
second starred box: your family name;
third: your email address
(Salutation: Your Excellency)

Head of Tehran Judiciary
Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue,
Corner of Ally 17, No 152,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
(Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei)

Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: fsharafi@bia-judiciary.ir or int_aff@judiciary.ir (Both these failed permanently for me.)

Also send copies to the Iranian foreign mission closest to you.

My letter below:

Head of Tehran Judiciary
Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue,
Corner of Ally 17, No 152,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir


Ole Koksvik
Philosophy, RSSS
The Australian National University ACT 0200
AUSTRALIA

RE: The execution of Behnoud Shojaee and the planned execution of Safar Angooti

Dear Mr Avaei,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian Permanent Resident, a
PhD Candidate at the Australian National University.

I am writing to condemn the execution of Behnoud Shojaee. His execution is a gross
violation of international law as he was under 18 at the time of the crime he had been
sentenced for.

I would also urge the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the execution of Safar Angooti so that his case can be reviewed urgently with a view to overturning his death sentence.

I would respectfully remind the Iranian authorities that Iran is a state party to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.

Yours sincerely,

Ole Koksvik