Amnesty International Group 22 Pasadena/Caltech Volume VI Number 4, April 1998

• Coordinator's Musings
• Upcoming Events
• California Execution Alert - Horace Kelley
• Government Action Network - HRIA
• Martha's Web Tips
• Refugee Monitor Team Action
• Prisoner of Conscience Ngawang Pekar
• Amnesty Basics
• Editor's Last Word

Coordinator's Musings

Saskia Abrait has been busy with Amnesty activities (in between marrying her Austrian Caltech postdoc student boyfriend). She set up a display at the Pasadena Library (in front of the Children's Library section) on the UDHR 50. Check it out! The display will be up through the end of April. Saskia also arranged for us to table at Pasadena City College's Students for Progressive Equality event last week. Thanks to her, Advoquita Stude, and Olga-Nitaina-Uhuru Russi Roman for tabling. We obtained a lot of signatures on petitions and several names of people interested in being on the group's mailing list. Let's hope this garners us some new members and helps set up a new partnership with PCC.

Turn out at the March monthly meeting at our new, permanent location (at the Graduate Student Council office on the top floor of 1052 E. Del Mar) was great. Welcome to Adrienne Urbina and Emily Brodsky who attended for the first time. Adrienne works for NBC's Dateline and Emily is a grad student at Caltech in the geology department.

Plans for tabling at Caltech's Earth Day celebration are on schedule - there will be tables set up on the Olive Walk between 11:30 am and 2 pm on Friday, April 24th. Please join us if you can!

The execution of Horace Kelly was postponed pending the outcome of his sanity hearing. See web tips and article in the newsletter for more information or call the Death Penalty Hotline: 213-673-3693 for updates. Vigils will be scheduled at All Saint's around this or any other executions coming up in California later this year.

We'll be tabling outside the Body Shop at Santa Anita mall in May. The Body Shop is publicizing information on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and has agreed to let Amnesty groups table at all of its stores in May. More details will be provided at the next monthly meeting on April 23rd.

Jim Smith had everyone at the monthly meeting sign a letter to James Rogan asking him to support the UDHR 50 and to schedule a meeting with our group soon. A date has been set and Jim will be getting a planning group together to discuss our presentation very soon. Jim mentioned that Rogan's web site has a picture of him shaking hands with the Dalai Lama I hope this means that he will be willing to support officially adopting our POC Ngawang Pekar!

I won't be able to attend the next monthly meeting as I'll be in Washington, D.C. visiting friends and playing tourist. I'll miss seeing all of you but I'm sure Martha Ter Maat will do a great job of filling in for me. Have a great April and I'll see you in May!

Revae Moran Group Coordinator

818-249-1419 revae@ix.netcom.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

• THURSDAY, April 23, 7:30 PM
  Monthly Meeting at 1052 E. Del Mar (between Catalina & Wilson) - top floor. Meeting highlights: Visit with Congressman Rogan's field rep and the Horace Kelly execution.

• FRIDAY, April 24, 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM
  Earth Day Tabling on the Olive Walk at Caltech.

• TUESDAY, May 12, 7:30 PM
  Letter-writing Meeting in the Athenaeum basement.

• SATURDAY, May 16
  Tabling at the Body Shop, Santa Anita mall. Contact Revae to help out!

• Horace Kelly Vigil
  We are still waiting to reschedule this vigil pending the outcome of the sanity hearing. All Saints Church (132 N. Euclid) has graciously agreed to host a vigil the evening prior to each California execution. The event will run approximately 8:00-10:00 PM with some variation depending on other scheduled events at the church. We will do our best to get the word out via e-mail, website and the Death Penalty Hotline 213-673-3693. When in doubt, contact Martha Ter Maat at 626-281-4039. Assistance is always welcome at these events. Let Martha know if you would like to help.

CALIFORNIA EXECUTION ALERT

This information comes from "The Catalyst," a monthly bulletin about the death penalty put out by Death Penalty Focus of California. You can receive their bulletins via e-mail or fax by contacting voxpop@igc.org or call 415-243-0143.

The Horace Kelly case currently lurching its way through Marin County courts clearly shows why two international bodies recently declared the United States a virtual outlaw nation for its continued use of the death penalty. United Nations human rights investigator Bacre Waly Ndiaye, based upon on-the-scene investigations in the U.S. in 1997, concluded last week that the death penalty here is so tainted by arbitrariness, racism, economic discrimination and political expediency that the U.S. is operating outside the boundaries of international law. Ndiaye, an independent legal expert hired by the UN Commission on Human Rights to investigate the death penalty worldwide, called for an immediate moratorium on capital punishment.

"Race, ethnic origin and economic status appear to be key determinants of who will and who will not receive a sentence of death [in the United States]." - UN Commission on Human Rights

Just days ago, despite pleas for a postponement by the government of Paraguay and the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Paraguayan national Angel Francisco Breard was killed by the state of Virginia for a murder he committed in 1992. Virginia admitted that it had violated an international treaty by not informing Breard of his right to legal assistance from Paraguayan consular officials, but executed Breard anyway.

A SANITY TRIAL FOR THE DEATH PENALTY. For the first time since 1951, the state of California must determine the sanity of a condemned man who, while declared sane at the time of his trial, now clearly is not. Numerous psychiatric examinations of Horace Kelly have concluded that he is unable to understand his current legal position and is unable to make rational choices with respect to current court proceedings. Initiated by the warden of San Quentin, Kelly's "sanity trial" is necessary because California law and the U.S. Supreme Court agree that executing insane prisoners is illegal, reflecting the common law tradition which demands that a defendant be aware of the penalty's existence and purpose.

UNCHARTED GROUND. Almost as soon as proceedings in the Kelly case began, defense and prosecution attorneys began arguing whether the procedure constituted a "trial" or a "hearing." "The whole process is on uncharted ground," one reporter concluded. Despite the gravity of the proceedings, the judge ruled that the defendant may not appear in his own defense, and there can be no appeal from the jury's decision. He also declared that the case could be decided by a 9-3 count - not the unanimous decision 12-0 decision traditionally required in a criminal trial. No wonder the UN's Ndiaye, a former senior official of Amnesty International, concluded that "the imposition of death sentences in the United States continues to be marked by arbitrariness."

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Write or call Governor Pete Wilson (State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814; Ph: 916-445-2841); Fax: 916-445-4633; Pete.Wilson@ca.gov). Tell him to stop the execution of the mentally impaired - and abolish the death penalty. Ask him to commute Horace Kelly's sentence to life in prison without parole.

For updates please call the Death Penalty Focus hotline at 213-673-3693. See also "Web Tips" for this month.

GOVERNMENT ACTION NETWORK

April 15, 1998 - Congress is considering a bill called The Human Rights Information Act to release (declassify) U.S. intelligence files about human rights violations in Guatemala and Honduras. It would support truth and reconciliation, may help families learn the fate of loved ones, and will strengthen the rule of law. The National Security Council and your Congress person must exhume the truth!

Internal conflicts in Guatemala and Honduras left thousands dead or "disappeared" as the security forces pursued a "dirty war." Because these countries' military or intelligence agencies have not released useful information, the U.S. is potentially an invaluable source. U.S. officials and intelligence services were active in both countries, documenting and meticulously reporting on events.

The Human Rights Information Act orders U.S. foreign policy and intelligence agencies to release records in 150 days and ensures a review of any delay in the release of documents. The bill also has safeguards to prevent the release of information that would endanger U.S. agents or threaten U.S. national security.

The Human Rights Information Act was introduced in both houses of Congress. Please write your Representative and Senators to ask them to co-sponsor it (bill numbers - H.R. 2635 in House and S. 1220 in Senate).

There will be a hearing by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee on May 11 and the Administration will be invited to testify. It is important that the Administration be supportive of the Act by the time of the hearing. Please write Sandy Berger, President Clinton's National Security Adviser, and ask him to issue a statement of support in time for the hearing (You can also ask your Congresspeople to attend or send someone to the hearing.)

Talking Points:

• The Human Rights Information Act will establish the truth; promote national healing, reconciliation, and justice; and help family members and friends come to closure over the fate of their loved ones.

• If the U.S. has information that could help families learn what happened to their loved ones, how could we justify remaining silent?

• The Act is carefully crafted to release relevant information without harming U.S. security in any way. It was modeled on legislation already used successfully to release classified documents about the JFK assassination.

• Unless the U.S. has something to hide, why not declassify? The people of these countries want the information released. How can we deny them information about what happened to them?

WRITE OR E-MAIL:

PHONE: Capitol Switchboard (202) 225-3121

Sandy Berger
National Security Advisor
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington DC 20500
(202) 456-9481

Martha's Web Tips for April

AI Southern California Death Penalty Page
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aigp22/scal/death/

Those of us trying to follow the progress of the Horace Kelly sanity hearing have been frustrated at the initial lack of media interest in this ground-breaking case. Fortunately, Kelly's attorney has provided a web site with extensive documentation about Kelly's psychiatric problems and history of abuse. In addition, this site can be reached via a page at the AI Southern California website which will list local death penalty activities and useful abolition links for AI members. The recent LA Weekly article on Horace Kelly can be accessed at both sites.

UN Special Rappateur's Report on the U.S. Death Penalty
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu4/chrrep/98chr68a3.htm

A recent issue of the L.A. Times headlined the report of the United Nations Special Rappateur's report on the death penalty in the U.S. You can read his findings at the UN High Commission for Human Rights web site.

Human Rights Information Act
http://www.amnesty-usa.org/truthnow/

Here is an AI resource for more information and action opportunities on the Human Rights Information Act, an important bill now being considered by Congress. See the Government Action Network action on this subject elsewhere in this newsletter.

Refugee Monitor Team Action

This is the fifth in a series of actions related to conditions AI monitors have found within the INS detention system, which we feel affect the ability of asylum seekers to file or pursue their claims.

The INS detention facility on Terminal Island in the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor area holds a diverse population of undocumented persons. Unlike detention facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border which hold primarily Spanish-speaking persons, the Terminal Island prison/court complex (officially, the San Pedro Processing Center) literally takes in people from all over the world. As a result, the number of languages spoken by detainees if large. On any given day languages such as Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Fhuchinese, Swahili, Urdu, Russian, Farsi, Serbo-Croatian and Portugese (among others) may be heard inside the jail pods of Terminal Island.

Among the people speaking these languages are refugees seeking asylum in the U.S.

The INS is supposed to provide language interpretation services in the following circumstances for undocumented persons whom they have arrested including asylum seekers (who enjoy no special status in detention):

• During initial interviews with INS officers at the airport or harbor port of entry.

• If allowed to apply for asylum, during the interview with an Asylum Officer. (Nondetained asylum seekers must provide their own interpreter at their own expense.)

• During any hearing in the Immigration Court.

• During medical emergencies.

The form in which interpretation services are provided to detainees by the INS is most commonly through AT&T Language Services whereby the INS calls AT&T which has interpreters on duty or on call 24 hours a day. The AT&T interpreter then performs the service for the parties over the phone.

As one can see, except for medical emergencies, INTERPRETATION IS ONLY PROVIDED WHEN THE INS OR IMMIGRATION COURT HAS OFFICIAL BUSINESS THEY WANT TO CONDUCT.

Persons detained in jail by the INS have legitimate needs for language interpretation outside of official meetings and hearings. If an asylum seekers speaks only Tagalog and there are no Tagalog/English speakers among the other detainees in his/her pod, how does he/she ask about available legal services? How does this person explain to a guard that he/she cannot stand up for more than a short time due to spinal injuries incurred while undergoing torture? How does one even begin to ask how to make a phone call, or, indeed, ask IF they can make a phone call? They cannot. For refugees whose lives will be placed in danger if deported, these are not matters of mere inconvenience.

The fortunate few asylum seekers who are represented by legal counsel may find interpreters privately with their lawyer's help. These are a very small minority, however.

ACTION REQUEST

Write a courteous letter to the District Director citing the conditions above as being inimical to the interests of legitimate refugees detained in the INS system who are trying to obtain asylum.

• State that the current state of affairs is neither adequate nor fair and that the INS should reexamine its policy regarding language services provided to asylum seekers.

• State that especially if the INS finds that it cannot substantially improve the state of communications for and with asylum seekers, it should review its policy of detaining asylum seekers in the first place.

• State that if the District Director feels these issues are beyond the scope of his authority, that he forward your letter to the appropriate official.

Write to:	Mr. Richard Rogers Director - District 16 Immigration and Naturalization Service 300 N. Los Angeles Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
Copy to:	Doris Meisner Commissioner Immigration and Naturalization Service 425 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20536

Please send copies of any replies to Veronica Kon, 1217 1/2 S. Alfred St., Los Angeles, CA 90035. You may send letters on this action any time before 6-1-98.

PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE - China/Tibet

Be aware that AI takes no position on Tibet's claim of independence from China or China's claim to Tibet, so please refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region in your letters to Chinese officials. This month let's write a letter to the prison governor. Who knows maybe one of our letters might make its way somehow to Pekar himself!!

Jianyuzhang (prison governor)
Xizang Zizhiqu Di Yi Jianyu
(Tibet Autonomous Region Prison No. 1)
Lasashi 850003 (Lhasa 850003)
Xizang Zizhiqu (Tibet Autonomous Region)
People's Republic of China

Dear Jianyuzhang:

I am writing to you regarding NGAWANG PEKAR, a monk who was arrested in August 1989 and sentenced to 8 years in prison for his peaceful participation in a demonstration, and whose sentence was recently increased by 6 years. He is being held in your prison in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

NGAWANG PEKAR was arrested for the peaceful expression of his beliefs, and is considered a prisoner of conscience. As such, he must be immediately and unconditionally released.

In addition, I am concerned over the extension of his sentence by 6 years, including 3 months in an iron cell, for keeping a list of prisoners being held in Drapchi prison, and by reports that he has been receiving inadequate medical care during his imprisonment. These are serious allegations, and I ask that you look into this matter immediately.

A reply with any information on NGAWANG PEKAR's legal status or physical condition would be most appreciated.

Respectfully and sincerely,

(For postage, use a 60-cent airmail stamp.)
For more information see the web site: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aigp22/ngawang/

AMNESTY BASICS

Amnesty International uses a broad interpretation of the term "political prisoner" so as to cover all cases with a significant political element. The offense itself may be of a clearly political nature, such as belonging to a banned political party. In other cases, however, a person may be charged with an ordinary crime, but the context in which it is said to have been committed is political, such as a political demonstration. Or it is possible that the accused person may have committed a criminal offence, but for political motives. In other cases, the authorities may be holding a prisoner for political reasons, even though the individual is said to be suspected of a criminal offence. False criminal charges may be brought against political activists (the charges could be currency offences. for example), when the real reason is to punish them for their political activities- or to deter others from opposing the government.

It is important to bear in mind that Amnesty International applies this broad interpretation in assessing political trials and the cases of political prisoners. Apparent contradictions between Amnesty International and governments do arise because each uses such terms in its own way. Some governments say they hold no political prisoners, only criminals or criminal suspects, because all its prisoners are charged or convicted under the normal criminal law. Amnesty International, however, may still speak of "political imprisonment" or "political trials" in such a country if the cases have a political element of any of the sorts described above.

It is important to note that Amnesty International does not oppose political imprisonment as such or ask for the release of all political prisoners. Amnesty International needs to establish whether there is a political element in a particular case solely for the purpose of determining whether it falls within the scope of the organization's concern about fair and prompt trials for political prisoners.

The specific category "prisoner of conscience" is distinguished form thegeneral one "political prisoner" in the following important respects. Prisoners of conscience are precisely defined by Amnesty International's Statute as those held "by reason of their political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs or by reason of their ethnic origin, sex, colour or language". The category "prisoner of conscience" do not include those whose imprisonment may reasonably attributed to their having used or advocated violence.

A crucial difference to bear in mind is that whereas in the case of all political prisoners Amnesty International seeks fair and prompt trials, it is only in the cases of prisoners of conscience that Amnesty International says that the individuals should not be in prison at all and asks for their release.

Editor's Last Word:

Martha Ter Maat, 626-281-4039
mtermaat@hsc.usc.edu

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