China Regional Action Network (ChiRAN)
The China Regional Action Network takes immediate action on human rights abuses in China. It acts on behalf of Chinese citizens who have been imprisoned, tortured and even executed for peacefully exercising their civil and political rights. Among the actions repressed by the government that the CHIRAN has responded to are: organizing workers and protesting working conditions, seeking proper health care, supporting the Falun Gong movement, using the internet and advocating the interests of ethnic minorities. In many instances those accused of these acts were unfairly tried, harshly detained and imprisoned, and tortured.
Each month, members of Group 11 who belong to the CHIRAN receive a notice describing human rights abuses against specific individuals. The notice outlines the points to be emphasized in letters to officials in China and who should receive them. All members of Group 11 who are active in the CHIRAN are expected to write at least one personal letter on the monthly case.
In several cases, responses have been received from the families of the individuals for whom we have written or from government authorities, proof that our letters have an effect. Click here to read a typical CHIRAN case.
Darfur
As many as 300,000 people are believed to have lost their lives since the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, erupted in February 2003. Over 2 million civilians have been displaced by the conflict. Systematic human rights abuses have occurred by all parties involved in the conflict, but primarily by the Sudanese government and government-backed Janjawid militia. These gross human rights abuses including systematic and wide-scale ethnic-cleansing, murder, rape, torture, and enslavement. For more information on Amnesty's work there and actions we can take to bring an end to the atrocities and bring justice through international tribunals, please visit: www.amnestyusa.org/countries/sudan/index.do.
Through a panel series and letters, Group 11 is working to bring more attention to the violence being committed against women and girls in Darfur, and how sexual violence in particular is used as a weapon of war. Group 11 is also calling on the U.S. government to allocate more funding for the African Union mission and place Darfur more at the center of its foreign policy.
Return to this site regularly for updates on Darfur and Sudan and further actions you can take. If you would like more information on Darfur, on the panel series, or to become involved in the Amnesty Darfur campaign, please contact Denise Bell.
Click here to download letters and to see a list of other groups dedicated to bringing more attention to the crisis in Darfur.
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established by the Treaty of Rome July 1, 2002 to prosecute for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Treaty has been ratified by 108 states, but not the major states of the United States of America, China, Russia and India. Jurisdiction is limited to prosecution of nations of ratifying states or crimes committed on the territory of a ratifying state or by reference from the United Nations Security Council. At present, the Court has ongoing investigations or arrest warrants relating to Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Darfur.
Group 11 members have sent numerous letters to their representatives urging ratification of the Treaty of Rome by the United States and extension of the jurisdiction of the Court to and greater involvement of the United Nations in countries in which grave violations of the human rights sought to be protected by the Court are occurring and greater support by the United States for these objectives. Click here to view a sample letter to your New York Senator or Representative.
International Violence Against Women Act
One of every three women worldwide will be physically or sexually abused during her lifetime with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. This type of violence ranges from rape to domestic violence and acid burnings to dowry deaths and so-called honor killings. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, a public health epidemic and a barrier to solving global challenges like desperate poverty, HIV/AIDS and conflict. Violence and abuse devastates the lives of millions of women, knows no national or cultural barriers, and most importantly, must be stopped.
The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) gives the U.S. government an opportunity to take leadership in establishing an overall and integrated approach in combating violence against women and girls internationally. The time is now to support this comprehensive vision to address the problem of violence against women.
Act Now. Contact your Federal representatives and ask their support for the I-VAWA. Click here to view a sample letter.
Krasivskyj Book Project
Group 11 is hoping to publish a book about a Prisoner of Conscience case that members of the group worked on from 1976 to 1987. The case concerned Zenovij Krasivskyj, a well known Ukrainian poet, Ukrainian political activist for his nation's independence, dissident, and member of the Helsinki group, who spent more than half of his life in psychiatric prisons, forced labor, and internal exile in Siberia. Iris Akahoshi, a member of our group, was the principal correspondent with Krasivskyj; and, according to Krasivskyj, saved his life. Their correspondence was published in Ukrainian by a Ukrainian Amnesty International group, and we have decided to publish a book in English, including the correspondence, samples of Krasivskyj’s poetry, and material relating to the experiences of Group 11 members who were active in the group during the duration of the case. A Ukrainian publisher will publish the book in English.
We hope that the book will have wide appeal, attesting to the resilience of the human spirit, as well as documenting human rights abuses that occurred in the Soviet Union. Finally, the book will serve as a record of the value of the traditional way that Amnesty International members work – by writing letters on a one-to-one basis
Myanmar: Individuals at Risk/Prisoners of Conscience
NYC Myanmar (Burma) Action Team
This team is made up of members of AIUSA local groups 11 and 9/280 in New York City all working for the release of Myanmarese Individuals at Risk (IARs, formerly known as Prisoners of Conscience), who are often sentenced to extremely long jail terms.
The team has developed the Informed Travel Project to reach out to people considering traveling to Myanmar, and to U.S.-based travel and tour operators and organizations sponsoring travel there. The website associated with this project encourages travelers to become as fully informed as possible about Myanmar and urges travel professionals to provide clients with realistic information about the overall situation in the country, including human rights. It provides useful information and resources; it does not advocate for or against travel to Myanmar. The website also allows visitors to download letters on behalf of current IAR cases. Please visit: myanmartravelinfo.org
Troy Davis: Death Row Inmate,
Georgia, USA
Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia; a murder he maintains he did not commit. There was no physical evidence against him and the weapon used was never found. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even at the time of the trial. Since then, all but two of the state’s non-police witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis. One of the two witnesses who has not recanted is Sylvester “Red” Coles, a principal alternative suspect, against whom there is new evidence which implicates him as the gunman. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Coles.
On October 24, 2008, three days before Troy Davis’s scheduled execution, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay. The court is considering Troy Davis’s request for a second federal habeas petition. On December 9, 2008, oral arguments were presented before the court in Atlanta. The stay is still in effect (March 10, 2009) and will be until the 11th Circuit Court makes a decision about the case. That may take months.
Should the Court decide in favor of Troy Davis, he could then ask for an evidentiary hearing from the U.S. District Court. This would allow witnesses to be heard and examined in a court of law, which is what Troy Davis has sought all along. If the Court denies the petition, then it is expected that the district attorney will seek a judge to issue a death warrant very quickly.
Click here to download a sample fax or letter to Georgia Governor George Perdue urging him to commute Troy Davis’s sentence, and to see other suggested actions.
Fwazi al-Odah: Guantanamo detainee
Please visit the Guantanamo page to learn more about actions to take on behalf of Fwazi al-Odah, a Kuwaiti detainee held without charge since 2002 whose case has been taken on by Group 11, as well as information on AIUSA's campaign to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
Mansour Ossanlu, Iranian prisoner of conscience
Mansour Ossanlu, leader of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Syndica Sherkat-e Vahed), has sought to obtain better working conditions and the end to discriminatory laws and practices that curtail worker’s rights.
Mr. Ossanlu was first detained from December 2005 through August 2006, followed by a shorter detention during November and December 2006. He was arrested again on July 10, 2007 and was held in the notorious Evin Prison at which prisoners are known to sometimes be subjected to torture. After trial and conviction for “acts against national security” and “propagating against the regime” his five-year sentence was upheld on appeal. He is currently being held in the maximum security criminal’s ward of the Rajayi Shahr Prison.
Amnesty International considers Mansour Ossanlu a prisoner of conscience who is being detained on vaguely worded charges in order to halt his efforts to build strong trade unions capable of defending the human rights of workers. Group 11 is working to win his immediate and unconditional release. Learn more and take action.
