128 People Facing Imminent Execution in Iraq

MDE 14/009/2009

Amnesty has been informed by the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council informed that Iraq’s Presidential Council has ratified the death sentences of 128 people, all of whom now face imminent execution. No details are known about the identities of these people.

You can write to President Jalal Talabani; Vice-Presidents Tariq al-Hashimi and ‘Adil ‘Abdul Mahdi, with copies to Prime Minister Nuri Kamil al-Maliki; the Minister of Foreign Affairs; Hoshyar Zebari, the Minister of Human Rights; Wajdan Mikhail Salam and the Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Ghanim Taha A AL-SHIBLI. Send all letters care of the embassy, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, 48 Culgoa Circuit, O'Malley ACT 2606, and ask them to forward them to their addressees with urgency.

My letter is below:

His Excellency Mr Ghanim Taha A AL-SHIBLI                    

Ambassador                                                                              

Embassy of the Republic of Iraq                                                                                                  

48 Culgoa Circuit                                                                                                                              

O’Malley  ACT  2606                                                         

Ole Koksvik

Philosophy, RSSS

The Australian National University

Canberra ACT 2600

AUSTRALIA

Monday, 16 March 2009

Your Excellency,

RE: FEAR OF IMMINENT EXECUTION

I am a student at the Australian National University, an Norwegian citizen, an Australian Permanent Resident, and a member of Amnesty International. I am writing to express my concern that 128 people are facing imminent execution in your country, the death sentences of which were ratified by Iraq’s Presidential Council earlier this month. 

I strongly urge the authorities in your country to commute these 128 death sentences along with all the death sentences pending in Iraq.

I also call on Iraqi authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on executions in your country.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and hear my concerns.

Yours sincerely,

Ole Koksvik

Detainees at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, the Bahamas

It has been a long time since my last post, I really wish that was different. Hopefully I'll manage to post more regularly from now on.

AMR 14/001/2009

Amnesty International fears for the safety of detainees at a detention centre in Nassau, the Bahamas. The Carmichael Road Detention Centre houses foreign nationals alleged by the authorities to have breached immigration laws, including asylum-seekers, some of whom are believed to be children.

A number of recent reports indicate that detainees are severely beaten and otherwise mistreated. Read the full brief from AI.

Please write to

• Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Honourable Brent Symonette via fax Fax: +1 242 356-5990, 328-8212 or 326-2123 
  
• Minister of National Security, The Honourable Tommy Turnquest, via Fax: Fax: +1 242 356 6087 or 356 7444
• Minister of State for Immigration, The Honourable Branville McCartney, via Fax: Fax: +1 242 326 0977
• Send copies to: The Tribune Newspaper, via Fax: + 1 242 328 2398.

(Follow the link above to obtain mail addresses.)

My letter is below.

The Honourable Brent Symonette

Ministry of Foregin Affairs

Goodman’s Bay Corporate Centre

West Bay Street

P.O. Box N 3746

Nassau, The Bahamas

FAX: +1 242 356 5990, 328-8212, 326-2123

Ole Koksvik

Philosophy, RSSS

The Australian National University

Canberra, ACT 2600

AUSTRALIA 16/03/2009

DETAINEES AT THE CARMICHAEL ROAD DETENTION CENTRE

Dear Deputy Prime Minister,

My name is Ole Koksvik, I am a Norwegian citizen, a permanent resident of Australia, a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. I am a member of Amnesty International.

I am writing to express my grave concern at reports that people being held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre have been beaten and ill-treated.

I call on you to ensure that the detainees who have been ill-treated are given immediate medical treatment.

I request that you initiate an immediate, thorough and independent investigation into the allegation of ill-treatment, and that you ensure that those found responsible are brought to justice.

I call on you, furthermore, to ensure that independent monitors are allowed access to the detention facility, including that of human rights organisations.

I urge that you unsure that no asylum-seeker be returned without access to a fair and effective refugee determination procedure, which should include the right to appeal to an independent tribunal, and which should include, also, access to effective legal assistance, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and access to interpreters.

Finally, I urge you to use the detention of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers only as a measure of last resort. Please ensure that alternatives to detention are available and accessible, both in law and in practice, and without discrimination.

Thank you for considering these concerns.

Sincerely,

Ole Koksvik

Obama to Close Guantanamo and Overseas Prisons with A Year

Excellent news:

President Obama is expected to sign executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year, government officials said.

From the New York Times here.

Congratulations, President Obama!

As many, I have great hopes pinned on the new U.S. administration.

AI is asking us to email the new president, urging him to close Guantanamo, issue an executive order to ban torture, and bring about an independent review on U.S. interrogation and detention practices. You can email Obama on AI's site here, or via president at whitehouse.gov.

My email is below.

Congratulations President Obama.

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, and a PhD student in philosophy at the Australian National University.

As many people around the world, I have high hopes to your administration. I have listened to your speeches, and I have believed that you are sincere. For me, that is rare. I believe you can bring to an end the previous US administration's seven-year assault on human rights in the 'war on terror'. I was heartened by your rejection of the choice between safety and ideals, and I took this as a reaffirmation of your conviction that human rights must not be sacrificed, for any reason.

As a member of Amnesty International I am calling on you to demonstrate your commitment to justice by announcing a timeline to close Guantanamo Bay, issuing an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment as defined under international law, and by ensuring an independent inquiry into the US's detention and interrogation practices in its "war on terror".

These are three key steps on Amnesty International's checklist for your first 100 days in office.

You can counter terror with justice. We are counting on you.

Thank you for considering our message.

Sincerely yours,

Ole Koksvik

Closure of Guantanamo

AI Australia is asking that we email the US president-elect Mr Barack Obama, and call on him to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Read more here.

Australian citizens and residents can email the embassy, on usrsaustralia at state.gov. Others could either email their local embassy (find the details here), or use the contact form here.

My email is below.

Dear President-elect Obama,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, and a PhD student at the Australian National University.

You have inspired and brought hope to millions around the world. A hope shared by many is that you will reverse the atrocious trend manifested under the Bush administration, of human and civil rights being subjected to summary approval or rejection by the executive power of the US.

Human rights may not be set aside when convenience or dire circumstance seems to demand it. They are inviolable. Using torture to defend what we hold dear destroys it instead.

You can bring to an end the previous administration's seven-year assault on human rights in the 'war on terror'.

I call on you to demonstrate your commitment to justice by:

* Announcing the timeline to close Guantanamo
* Issuing an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment as defined under international law
* Ensuring that an independent inquiry into the USA's detention and interrogation practices in its "war on terror" is set up
* Ensuring that an immediate review of Bush’s “signing statements” is carried out, and that commitment to separation of powers is reaffirmed and strengthened


You can counter terror with justice. We are counting on you.


Sincerely

Ole Koksvik

Mr Zuhair, Guantanamo Detainee on Hunger Strike

AMR 51/156/2008

This regards Mr Ahmed Zuhair. He has been on a hunger strike since mid-2005, and has been force fed since August that year. There is a significant concern for his health, according to his lawyer he has lost 1/4 of his body weight, and does now appear skeletal. He vomits often.

Despite not resisting treatment, he is being force fed in a restraint chair, a process which causes him very great pain. Mr Zuhair alleges that this process is being used as collective punishment.

Read the brief from AI for further details.

Please send appeals to the President of the USA, Mr Bush, on president at whitehouse.gov, and to the secretary of defence, Mr Gates, via fax +1 703 571 8951 or regular mail: US Secretary of Defence, 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington DC 20301, USA. My letter to the president is below.

As always, send copies to your local embassy.

Dear Mr President,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, and a PhD student at the Australian National University. I am writing to express my grave concern about the health of Guantánamo detainee Ahmed Zuhair.

It has come to my attention that Mr Zuhair is being force fed in a restraint chair, a process which is causing him very significant pain. There are indications that this practice is used as a form of collective punishment, and it is clear that the practice is unnecessary in the case of Mr Zuhair, who is not resisting the treatment. I therefore call for the immediate cessation of this method of feeding Mr Zuhair.

I welcome Judge Emmett Sullivan's order for an independent medical examination of Ahmed Zuhair, and I call on you to ensure that this examination is carried immediately, and that Mr Zuhair receives all necessary medical treatment. The treatment must always be carried out by medical personnel and in a gentle and humane fashion. It must never be carried out by guards, and never in a manner that produces suffering.

I also call for the immediate release of Mr Zuhair, unless he is immediately charged with recognizably criminal offences for trial in ordinary US federal court.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and for considering my concerns.

Sincerely,


Ole Koksvik

Gaza

AI in Australia are asking people to write to the Australian Foregin Minister Stephen Smith, urging him to do his utmost to influence the UN to put pressure on Israel and Hamas to obtain an immediate seize fire. Please go here to follow AI's request, or email him at stephen.smith.mp at aph.gov.au.

My letter is below.

Dear Minister,

I am writing to express my grave concern at the escalating conflict in the Gaza strip and Southern Israel.

I urge Australia to take all available measures to encourage the UN Security Council and the international community take firm and decisive action to halt the violence.

The Security Council has a key responsibility to help ensure that the parties to the conflict respect international human rights and humanitarian law. It is imperative that the Council urgently adopt a strong resolution condemning attacks against civilians by both Israel and Hamas and demanding that such attacks cease immediately.

Israel is the strongest party in this conflict, that much is obvious. Particular pressure must be put on Israel to end the completely disproportionate use of violence.

Israel's president Shimon Peres said that Hamas needs a "serious lesson" and that they are now getting it. It is, however, the innocent civilians on Gaza that are paying the price of this supposed lesson. That is unacceptable. Israel must seize the attacks that are killing civilians on a massive scale and in brutal ways.

The Security Council should also urge Israel to lift restrictions on the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza - medicines, food, fuel and other necessities urgently required to alleviate civilian suffering - and to allow humanitarian and human rights workers and journalists unfettered access to Gaza.

Humanitarian workers and journalists have been barred from Gaza by the Israeli military since early November. Their presence is urgently required to independently assess humanitarian needs and report on the situation on the ground, including abuses of international law. Their exclusion is absolutely unacceptable, and Israel must be forced to let them in.

The Security Council should also consider the deployment of international monitors. Civilians on both sides continue to pay a heavy price, which might be alleviated if international monitors were to be deployed. Their functions should include verifying compliance with international law by both Israel and the Palestinian administration in Gaza.

Sincerely

Ole Koksvik