UPCOMING
EVENTS
Thursday,
January 25, 7:30 PM. Monthly
Meeting 1052 E.
Del Mar. Avenue, Top Floor.
Special focus this meeting: report
on last year.
Tuesday, February
13 7:30 PM. Letter-writing
Meeting at the Athenaeum. Corner of California & Hill in the
basement recreation area. An
informal meeting, a great place for first-timers to ask
questions!
Sunday,
February 18, 7:30 PM. Rights
Readers Human Rights Book
Discussion Group at Borders Books on
S. Lake Avenue. This month we discuss Ocean of Words, a collection of short stories by Ha Jin. Details
inside.
Coordinator’s
CORNER
Dear group --
Happy new year! I
hope everyone had a great holiday, and we're all well-rested, full of energy
and resolve for the important work in the months to come! (Right?)
If I may suggest a resolution for the new year: Please put extra
effort into taking action on behalf of our group's Prisoner of Conscience,
Tibetan monk Ngawang Pekar (see
the suggested action inside). Last
week I was talking with someone who had interviewed a number of Tibetans in
exile, many of whom had suffered lengthy prison terms in China for peacefully
expressing their beliefs. When I
mentioned our group, he told me how he had heard from the Tibetans, over and
over, how much difference it makes when a prisoner is adopted by Amnesty
International. Everyone in the
prison knows (one way or another) which prisoners are Amnesty prisoners, and the guards are always especially
careful with them, because the authorities are very aware that the outside
world is paying attention. It was
encouraging to hear (once again) about
the kind of effect our actions can have, especially when it's so hard to get
direct news about our prisoner. So
please,
make a point of taking action to free Ngawang Pekar this
year. Thanks to group members Robert Adams and
Joyce Wolf are coordinating our work on his behalf!
Our first monthly meeting of the year will be on Thursday evening,
January 25 (see the calendar for
details). Group member Martha Ter
Maat, who is coordinating Amnesty's work in California to abolish the death
penalty, will report on the remarkable "Committing to Conscience"
conference she participated in last month, and discuss our group's tactics in the new year. Please join us for this important
meeting! And I also look forward
to seeing you in our book discussion groups, letter-writing meetings, and
special events this month and the coming year.
Cheers,
Larry Romans
310-452-2089
Group Coordinator ljr@ljr.net
LETTER COUNT
We’re
reviving an old Amnesty tradition and keeping a running count of our letters,
postcards and e-mails.
Prisoner of Conscience (Ngawang Pekar):
Death Penalty: &nb
sp;
3
Just Earth: &nb
sp;
1
Holiday Card Action
42
Urgent Actions: &nb
sp;
11
Total: &nb
sp;
57
Want to add your letters to the total? Get in touch with lucas.kamp@jpl.nasa.gov
RIGHTS READERS
Human Rights Book
Discussion Group
Borders Books &
Music
475 South Lake Avenue,
Pasadena
Sunday, February 18, 7:30
PM
|
|
Ocean of
Words: Stories
|
The
place is the chilly border between Russia and China. The time is the early
1970s when the two giants were poised on the brink of war. And the characters
in this thrilling collection of stories are Chinese soldiers who must
constantly scrutinize the enemy even as they themselves are watched for signs
of the fatal disease of bourgeois liberalism. In Ocean of Words, the Chinese
writer Ha Jin explores the predicament of these simple, barely literate men
with breathtaking concision and humanity. From amorous telegraphers to a
pugnacious militiaman, from an inscrutable Russian prisoner to an effeminate
but enthusiastic recruit, Ha Jin's characters possess a depth and liveliness
that suggest Isaac Babel's Cossacks and Tim O'Brien's GIs. Ocean of Words is a
triumphant volume, poignant, hilarious, and harrowing.
"A
compelling collection of stories, powerful in their unity of theme and rich in
their diversity of styles."--New York Times Book Review
"Extraordinary...[These
stories are} shot through with wit and offer glimpses of human motivation that
defy retelling...Read them all."--Boston Globe
"An
exceptional new talent, capable of wringing rich surprises out of austere
materials."—Portland Oregonian
1997
Hemingway/PEN Award winner
Ha
Jin won the 22nd annual Hemingway/PEN Award for first fiction for
Ocean of Words,
his extraordinary debut collection of short stories. Writing in The Boston
Globe, National Book Award winner James Carroll said, "Ha Jin conjures the
exotic particularities of life in China, yet we recognize his characters
intimately. The 'otherness' of this most foreign nation falls away as one
vividly drawn human after another takes flesh on the page. Ha Jin's compassion
for his own people can spark American compassion. In this way, literature
trumps stereotype every time, which is the only political function of
art." –
GOVERNMENT ACTION
NETWORK
Clinton signs the International
Criminal Court Treaty!
Last month we asked you to write President Clinton regarding
the ICC. It worked! Thanks to all of you who put the
pressure on!
Acting at the last moment before the December 31st deadline,
President Clinton signed the International Criminal Court Treaty, making the
United States a party to the world's first permanent international court
charged with prosecuting the gravest possible crimes under international law:
genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
In the weeks leading up to the deadline, Amnesty activists sent
thousands of letters, faxes, and emails to the White House urging the U.S. to
join the 135 other signatories. Following the December 31st deadline, a nation
must simultaneously sign and ratify the treaty in order to be a party to the
court. The ICC will be established when 60 countries have ratified the treaty;
so far 27 have done so.
The idea of a permanent international criminal court was first
raised following World War II. Since then, although the international community
has created international and regional systems of human rights protection,
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes have been perpetrated against
millions of people. Shamefully, only a handful of those responsible have been
brought to justice by national courts.
Critics of the ICC maintain that the court will subject American
citizens to politically motivated prosecutions. Senator Jesse Helms, R-N.C.,
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has pledged to vigorously
oppose the treaty when it appears before the Senate for ratification. Amnesty
International maintains that in fact the treaty contains numerous safeguards to
prevent politically motivated prosecutions.
JUST EARTH
NETWORK
Get to Know the Right to Know
Campaign
The
increasing power of companies and the removal or weakening of international
regulations in this age of globalization have led to calls for greater
corporate transparency. For more than a year, Amnesty International USA,
through its Human Rights and the Environment Program, has been working with a
broad coalition of human, environmental and labor rights groups to develop and
promote "International Right to Know" principles in the United
States. The goal is to push these principles as a legislative action in the US
Congress.
The
global trend towards economic deregulation and privatization of functions
traditionally performed by states has increased the power of corporations
relative to the state. Many corporations generate revenues in excess of the
gross domestic products of several countries. In some cases, multinational
corporations are in stronger negotiating positions than their host countries.
Many countries in the global South write laws and trade agreements designed to
attract foreign investments often at the expense of human rights and the
environment.
The
notion of a Right to Know arose from our firm conviction that globalization
should not undermine international human rights, labor and environmental
protection standards. The international right to know principles build on
existing domestic right to know laws and will require US-based multinational
corporations to disclose information on the human rights, labor and
environmental consequences of their business operations abroad to affected
local communities and the US government. These will include
information on:
-
human rights
practices,
-
toxic releases and
environmental impact,
-
labor practices and
conditions
A
Right to Know law will address this growing imbalance by providing affected
local communities abroad access to important information they need to defend
their basic human rights, protect their communities and their environment. Here
is how such an initiative would work with some of our key environmental
defender cases:
Chad/Cameroon. An
international consortium led by US-based ExxonMobil began work is now
developing the Doba oil fields and building a pipeline from Doba to
Cameroon’s Atlantic coast. A Right to Know law would require that
ExxonMobil publicly disclose existing security arrangements with state police,
military forces, local militia groups or private firms that have been hired to
protect operations in the project region.
Nigeria. For
years, multinational oil companies like Royal/Dutch Shell operated in the Niger
Delta region with little regard for the environment or the well being of people
in the area. A Right to Know law would require Chevron to publicly disclose its
security procedures and interactions with Nigerian security
forces.
Myanmar
(Burma). Human rights violations committed by Myanmar’s
(formerly known as Burma) government, The State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), are widespread and well documented. A Right to Know law would require
corporations to disclose any security arrangements they have with the Burmese
military regime and any knowledge they have about the use of forced labor on
their projects.
Look
for more information and action on Right to Know legislation in future
newsletters.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST
TORTURE
Boy Tortured in
Bangladesh
"He had a pair of pliers in his hand. He pressed it hard and
crushed my thumb."
Bangladesh police allegedly tortured a nine-year-old boy by
binding him with rope, hanging him up from a high bar and crushing his thumb
with pliers. They thought he had stolen a mobile telephone. Firoz, now aged 10,
took months to recover from his physical injuries and is still receiving
psychiatric treatment for the trauma he suffered.
Although the Firoz case was taken up by human rights activists,
and highlighted both by the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims
and the local press, the government has so far failed to conduct an
investigation, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Firoz and his father, a rickshaw puller, were helping a family to
move in July 1999, when the phone was missing. While Firoz's father was away
transporting household items, the family accused the boy of stealing the phone;
he denied the allegations. According to Firoz, the family were about to let him
go when their 25-year-old son took him to the toilet area of the house and
began beating him.
"He kept slapping me on the face and punching me on the
shoulder, and then he got hold of a stick and was just about to hit me on my
head. I thought he was going to kill me so I began to scream. Then a neighbour,
who knew my father, came to the house with his wife and told the man to stop
beating me, so he let go of me."
Upon his return, the father protested about the beating and took
Firoz home with him. That night, at around 3am, the police came to the house
and arrested Firoz. He said they began to beat him in the house.
"They first slapped me on the face, and then pulled my arms
down to my sides and tied a rope very tightly over my arms and stomach. It hurt
and I could not breathe properly. They kept asking me where the mobile was and
when I told them I had not seen it, they slapped and beat me."
Firoz was then taken to Mohammadpur Thana Police Station in Dhaka.
He was told to squat on the floor. A policeman brought over his chair and sat
down facing Firoz.
"He lifted his foot and placed his boot on my left knee and
began to press it down as hard as he could. My knee was so badly injured that I
could not move it. They left me in the cell until the morning. They then came
and hung me from a bar. They pulled me up and held my shoulders against the bar
and rolled my arms over the bar and left me in that hung position for many
hours."
The next day the policeman returned to the cell.
"He had a pair of pliers in his hand. He kept asking where
the mobile was. I told him I had not seen it. He then told me to bring my thumb
forward. He got hold of my thumb and placed it between the pliers. He pressed
it hard and crushed my thumb. I do not remember what happened
next."
Firoz's family were not allowed to see him while he was being
detained. Eventually, his father managed to get a letter from a local
politician requesting the officer-in-charge of the police station to release
Firoz. His father was made to sign a blank piece of paper with his thumb print
because he cannot read or write. Firoz's family have decided not to file a case
against the police for fear of further recriminations.
Action:
Please write letters calling on the
government to:
§
ensure that
the allegations of torture made by Firoz are thoroughly and impartially
investigated
§
ensure that
anyone found responsible for the alleged acts of torture is promptly brought to
justice and if the allegations are
substantiated, compensate Firoz for the torture to which he was
subjected
§
ensure that
police officers and all staff who deal with children within the justice system
receive training on international standards, children's rights and the
principles of child development
§
ensure that
any detained child is brought before a judicial authority without delay and
given immediate access to relatives, legal counsel and medical
assistance
Appeals to:
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka
Bangladesh
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Mr Nurul Huda
Inspector-General of Police
Police Headquarters
Fulbaria
Dhaka
Bangladesh
Salutation: Dear Sir
PRISONER OF
CONSCIENCE
Ngawang Pekar, Tibetan Monk
We are continuing our efforts on behalf of Group 22's adopted POC
(Prisoner of Conscience), Ngawang Pekar. He is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who has
been imprisoned since his arrest in 1989 for participating in a peaceful
demonstration in Lhasa.
Although we have no current news of Ngawang, there is one item of
good news from Tibet: Gyaltsen Choezom, a Tibetan nun and POC adopted by AI
Group 133 in Massachusetts, was released in October from Drapchi Prison.
(Drapchi is also where Ngawang is being held.)
Group 133 began to campaign for Gyaltsen's release in 1991 and has
worked very hard for nearly a decade. During that time, they delivered over
50000 items (letters, postcards, petitions, etc.) to the Chinese Consulate;
they participated in demonstrations in the Boston area and at the United
Nations; they lobbied U.S. officials from President Clinton on down, and they
publicized Gyaltsen's case in many imaginative ways. We can draw inspiration
from Group 133's dedication and creativity. Visit
http://www.amnesty133.org/ai/gc.html for the full story. Their page concludes
with a line from a song recorded by Gyaltsen Choezom and her fellow nuns:
"I sing a song of torment from Drapchi Prison...Today, though I've been
put in prison, my spirit will never be discouraged."
So let's not be discouraged, but keep those cards and letters
coming. We are learning from our current book group selection how important
letter-writing can be. The new year brings a whole new cast of characters in
the U.S. government that we should write to and make aware of Ngawang's case.
While we wait for them to find their offices and settle in, let's write to
China's new Minister of Justice, ZHANG Fusen (he replaces GAO Changli, who was
removed from office last November allegedly for health reasons). Here is a
sample letter that you can copy or use as a guide:
ZHANG Fusen
Sifabu
Xiaguangli
Beijingshi 100016
People's Republic of China
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you about a prisoner being held in Tibet
Autonomous Region Prison No. 1. The prisoner's name is NGAWANG
PEKAR.
Ngawang Pekar, a Tibetan monk, was arrested in 1989 for
participating in a peaceful demonstration in the city of Lasashi and sentenced
to 8 years in prison. Later his sentence was increased by an additional 6
years. Amnesty International
considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, and I am concerned that he has
been imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of his universally recognized
right to freedom of expression. I am further deeply concerned about reports
that he has been beaten and denied access to medical
care.
I respectfully request that you do everything possible to see that
Ngawang Pekar's case is reviewed with consideration of the international laws
to which China is signatory. I also ask that Ngawang Pekar be allowed access to
independent non-governmental organizations so that his state of
health may be determined.
Thank you very much for taking the time to consider this important
matter.
Sincerely,
(YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS)
It's 80 cents now for overseas postage, 70 cents for an
aerogram. As always, if by any
chance you should receive a reply, please notify Group 22.
DEATH PENALTY ACTION
Tennessee: Philip
Workman to be executed despite evidence of innocence
Philip Workman is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on 31
January 2001, despite the emergence of new evidence since his trial that
severely undermines confidence in the original verdict.
Philip Workman was convicted of the murder of a police officer,
Lieutenant Ronald Oliver, during a robbery of a Memphis restaurant in 1981. Lt
Oliver and two other officers were first to arrive at the scene. As Workman - who has never denied the
robbery - fled, shots were fired and Lt Oliver was killed by a single bullet.
At the trial, the two police officers testified that they had not fired, but
admitted that they had not seen Workman shoot Oliver. An alleged eyewitness, Harold Davis, said that he had seen
Workman shoot the officer. The
defence lawyer conducted no forensic or ballistics analysis and did
not investigate
Harold Davis.
Since the trial, however, Harold Davis has retracted his
testimony, saying he lied under police coercion. An eyewitness has come forward to say that at least one of
the other officers fired his gun. Ballistics experts have stated that the fatal
bullet could not have come from Workman's weapon, raising the possibility that
Lt Oliver was killed by a shot fired by one of the other
officers.
Five jurors from the original trial have signed affidavits that
they would not have voted for a first-degree murder conviction, let alone the
death sentence, if they had been presented with this evidence. Two state Supreme Court judges have
suggested that clemency is merited in Workman's case.
In September 2000, the federal US Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit split 7-7 on whether to grant a hearing into the new evidence. Workman
had needed one more vote. Workman's lawyers are appealing to the US Supreme
Court to stop the execution and consider the case.
In 2000, Lt Oliver's daughter and the daughter of Philip Workman
united at a press conference to appeal for the execution not to go
ahead.
The former District Attorney of Shelby County, the office which
prosecuted Philip Workman, has come forward to oppose the execution because of
the post-conviction evidence. Now
a lawyer in private practice, John Pierotti is working for free as lead counsel
on the clemency bid.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
A previous execution date for Philip Ray Workman was stayed on 4 April
2000, less than 48 hours before he was due to be executed. (UA 12/00 issued 19
January 2000 and updates.)
The United Nations Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the
Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty state: 'Capital punishment may be
imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and
convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the
facts.' This is clearly a case where execution would violate this
standard.
More than 90 people have been released from US death rows since
1973 after they were found to be innocent of the crime which put them
there. In January 2000, the
Governor of Illinios imposed a moratorium on executions in his state because of
its 'shameful' record of wrongful convictions.
In June last year, Governor Glendening of Maryland commuted the
death sentence of Eugene Colvin-El shortly before he was due to be executed,
because of residual doubts about his guilt. The Governor said: 'It is not appropriate to proceed with an
execution when there is any level of uncertainty, as the death penalty is final
and irreversible'.
In Tennessee, the governor has absolute power of clemency. The parole board makes a
recommendation, but the governor does not have to follow
it.
ACTION: Please send e-mail / letters words:
§
expressing
sympathy for the family, friends and colleagues of Lieutenant Ronald Oliver,
and stating that you do not condone violent crime;
§
expressing
deep concern that Philip Ray Workman is facing execution on the basis
of perjured
testimony from the only alleged eyewitness to the
shooting;
§
noting that
ballistics experts have stated that the fatal bullet could not have come from
Philip Workman's gun;
§
noting that
five jurors have said that they would not have voted to convict Philip Workman
of first-degree murder, let alone vote for a death sentence, if they had known
then what they know now;
§
noting the
widespread national concern about the potential for errors in capital cases,
and noting Governor Glendening's statement in the Colvin-El case last
year;
§
calling for
clemency for Philip Workman.
APPEALS TO: (Note: appeals to the Board should arrive before 25
January, when Philip Workman's clemency hearing will be
held).
Charles Trauhber
Chair, Tennessee Board of Probation and
Parole
Parkway Towers, Suite 1300
404 James Roberson Parkway
Nashville TN 37243-0850
Fax: 1 615 532 8581 or 741 5337
Salutation: Dear Mr Chairman
The Honourable Don Sundquist
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243-0001
Fax: 1 615
532 9711
E-mail:
dsundquist@mail.state.tn.us
Salutation:
Dear Governor
Editor's Last
Word:
Read us on line:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aigp22
Martha Ter Maat, 626-281-4039 /
mtermaat@hsc.usc.edu
