Prisoner of Conscience: U Win Tin, Myanmar (Burma)
U Win Tin was arrested in July of 1989 in Yangon, along with hundreds
of other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the
main opposition party. The NLD won the general elections in May 1990
with 60% of the valid popular vote, but was never allowed to assume
political power.
He was sequentially sentenced to twenty years imprisonment: three
years of hard labor for harboring a criminal (a friend whose friend had
an illegal abortion); then, ten years for various political offenses; and, subsequently, seven years for writing a letter to the UN about poor prison conditions and torture. For writing this letter, he endured two months special punishment: confined with four other prisoners in an 8’ by 10’ “military dog” cell, no bed or blankets and a concrete floor. Later, he was transferred to solitary confinement.
Specifically, U Win Tin was charged with guiding and influencing Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, founder of the NLD; being a “leftist” politician who urged the NLD to adopt civil disobedience tactics against martial law; organizing subversive movements; writing and publishing pamphlets to incite treason; and in prison, publishing anti-government propaganda, hiding radios and writing poetry.
Amnesty International accuses the junta of imprisoning U Win Tin solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association and, for promoting human rights. AI believes that his trials failed to meet international standards. AI claims the junta has used vaguely-worded security legislation to criminalize his peaceful political activities and opinions and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
For nearly five years, Group 11 members have been advocating for the release of this elderly 75-year old journalist, who has been in Insein Prison since July of 1989 and is now in very poor health. We have distributed petitions and flyers on his behalf, prepared and circulated individual letters, contacted organizations and journalist, and cooperated with other Amnesty International groups working to free prisoners in Myanmar (Burma).
Sign a petition or download letters to release U Win Tin: Click here
to sign a petition or download letters to release U Win Tin.
Take further action on Myanmar (Burma): Click here to see more information and take further action on Myanmar (Burma).
Prisoners of Conscience: Akbar Mohammadi and Ahmad Batebi, Iran
In July 1999 two university students, Akbar Mohammadi and Ahmad Batebi, were arrested in Teheran for joining a demonstration against the closing of a newspaper by the Iranian government. This peaceful protest, which was forcefully suppressed, sparked further demonstrations and widespread arrests in other cities. The two students were originally sentenced to death, which was later commuted to 15 years in prison. Both have been tortured in prison and are known to be in poor health.
The immediate aim of our work is to free the two prisoners and to call attention to harsh prison conditions. The long-term objective is to end the use of torture and the abuse of prisoners and to assure that Iran respects international standards for treating prisoners. To these ends, we have sent over 2,000 postcards to the Iranian authorities calling for the release of the prisoners and an end to torture. We have written to the Iranian press about the case and brought it to the attention of the Iranian media in the U.S. We are also planning to present our concerns directly to the Iranian representatives in the U.S.
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 at dcbell70@yahoo.com.
Download letters and find links to other groups dedicated to bringing more attention and support to the Darfuri people:
Click here to download the letters and to see a list of other groups dedicated to bringing more attention to the crisis in Darfur.
International Criminal Court
Group 11 is an advocate for the International Criminal Court (ICC), as is Amnesty International. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force on July 1, 2002, and has been signed by 139 countries and ratified by 97. Although the treaty was signed by the United States on December 11, 2000, a communication of May 6, 2002 from the Government of the United States to the Secretary General of the United Nations stated that the United States does not intend to become a party to the Treaty and has no legal obligations arising from signing it. The United States also has requested states to sign bilateral immunity agreements immunizing U. S. nationals accused of crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC. Such bilateral agreements have been signed by 34 states and ratified by 14, but 45 states have refused to sign the agreements. The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes constituting genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crime committed since July 1, 2002.
Group 11 members have written numerous letters to their legislators in Washington over the last few years urging ratification of the International Criminal Court, objecting to the bilateral agreements, urging utilization of the ICC and United Nations tribunals to deal with any such crimes, past and continuing, in Iraq and objecting to the unilateral actions of the United States in Iraq which lack United Nations endorsement and participation.
Download a letter to send to your New York Senator or Representative supporting the ICC: Click here to download a letter to promote greater involvement by the International Criminal Court and the United Nations in deterring human rights violation and the grave consequences to civilians throughout the world.
China Regional Action Network
The China Regional Action Network (CHIRAN) takes immediate action on human rights abuses in China. It acts on behalf of Chinese citizens who have been imprisoned, tortured, or 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 religion, using the Internet, and advocating the interests of ethnic minorities. In many instances those accused of these acts have been 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.
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. 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.
