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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon
- From: tofutti@barkley.Berkeley.EDU (Caryn R Graves)
- Subject: FREEDOM WRITERS APPEALS - SEPT. 1992
- Message-ID: <1992Aug28.195328.25413@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
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- Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:53:28 GMT
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-
-
-
- ***"Freedom Writers Network Appeal Cases - Sept. 1992"***
-
- Each month, Amnesty International's Freedom Writers Network
- focuses on three different cases of victims of human rights
- abuse. Some may be prisoners of conscience -- people
- imprisoned solely for their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic
- origins, language, or religion, who have not used or
- advocated violence. Others may have been denied a fair and
- prompt trial, while others may have been tortured or
- "disappeared," or may be facing execution. All are of great
- concern to Amnesty International. Personal letters from
- caring people can bring about a prisoner's release, secure
- vital information, launch an investigation, or even save a
- life. Your letters can make a tremendous difference in the
- fate of these individuals.
- Below are copies of the three sample letters published
- in this months' Freedom Writers bulletin. Please direct
- your correspondence to the address at the top of each letter
- and send a copy to the embassy address at the bottom (where
- applicable). You may copy the sample letters directly onto
- your stationery or compose your own letters, using the
- samples as guides. For the greatest impact, letters should
- be polite in tone and mailed within the month. U.S. airmail
- postage is 50 cents for a one-page letter.
- NOTE: While you are free to depart from the text given
- in the sample letters when writing your own personal
- appeals, no one may in any way alter the on-line material as
- presented originally by Amnesty International.
- Amnesty International is a worldwide movement working
- impartially for the release of prisoners of conscience, fair
- and prompt trials for all political prisoners, and an end to
- torture, "disappearances," and executions. It is funded by
- donations from its 1.1 million members and supporters
- throughout the world. If you are interested in joining
- Amnesty International USA, please write to: Amnesty
- International, 322 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10001.
-
-
- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-
-
- Monsieur Pierre Joxe
- Ministre de la Defense nationale
- Ministere de la Defense nationale
- 14 rue Saint Dominique
- 75008 Paris
- FRANCE
-
-
- Monsieur le Ministre,
- A serious matter has recently come to my attention. I
- would like to express my concern over the imprisonment of
- Jean-Francois Lefort, a 21-year-old from Arbonne in the
- Basque region of southwest France, who was arrested near the
- village of Larressore on May 4, 1992, following his refusal
- to report for compulsory military service. He was then
- apparently escorted to a military barracks in Poitiers where
- he refused to put on a military uniform or to perform in any
- military service. The next day, he was transferred to a
- civilian prison, and was subsequently sentenced to 13
- months' imprisonment for insubordination. Jean-Francois
- Lefort reportedly bases his total objection to both military
- and alternative civilian services on his beliefs that the
- French political authorities and army are forces of
- occupation in the Basque region.
- The human rights organization Amnesty International
- believes that individuals who claim conscientious objection
- should be permitted an alternative to armed service that is
- not imposed as punishment for their objection. I understand
- that under French law, the length of service for those
- choosing alternative civilian service remains twice that of
- ordinary military service. This contravenes several
- international standards which hold that the length of
- alternative civilian service shall not be of a punitive
- nature. I therefore urge the immediate and unconditional
- release of Jean-Francois Lefort.
-
- Sincerely,
-
-
-
- copy to:
- His Excellency Jacques Andreani
- Embassy of France
- 4101 Reservoir Road, N.W.
- Washington, D.C. 20007
-
-
- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-
-
- H.E. The Life President
- Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda
- Life President of the Republic of Malawi
- Office of the President and Cabinet
- Private Bag 388
- Lilongwe 3
- MALAWI
-
- Your Excellency,
- I was concerned to hear of the arrest of Chakufwa
- Chihana, a political activist and secretary general of the
- Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council. He
- originally was arrested on April 6, 1992, and detained
- without charge for over three months. In July, he was
- released in compliance with a High Court ruling granting him
- bail, and charged before a magistrates' court in Zomba on
- three counts of possessing or importing seditious
- publications, including a copy of a letter from several
- Roman Catholic bishops criticizing the government's human
- rights record and one-party political system. While
- fulfilling his bail condition of reporting to the police
- weekly, he was re-arrested. I understand that he currently
- is being detained at Mikuyu Prison.
- The independent human rights organization Amnesty
- International considers Chakufwa Chihana to be a prisoner
- of conscience, detained solely for his non-violent political
- beliefs and activities. I concur with their assessment, and
- urge that you look into this matter and see that he is
- immediately and unconditionally released.
-
- Most respectfully,
-
-
-
-
- copy to:
- His Excellency Robert B. Mbaya
- Embassy of Malawi
- 2408 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
- Washington, D.C. 20008
-
-
- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
-
-
- Sr. Carlos Andres Perez
- Presidente de la Republica
- Palacio Miraflores
- Caracas
- VENEZUELA
-
- Dear President Perez,
- I am writing to you to express my concern about an
- incident which took place in Valencia on February 4, 1992.
- According to reports received by Amnesty International,
- state police intercepted a bus carrying civilians and
- members of the military. Witnesses reported that after the
- military surrendered and threw down their weapons, the
- police boarded the bus and reportedly shot Columba Guadalupe
- Rivas, a student, in the head as she lay on the floor of the
- bus. Her friend, Ivonne Sequera, was taken off the bus,
- beaten, and taken to the police station of Navas Espinola.
- She was released on February 6 without having been charged
- with any crime.
- I am especially concerned that the investigation of
- this incident, like other similar ones in the past, has been
- transferred from a civilian court in Valencia to military
- jurisdiction. Amnesty International has repeatedly
- expressed its concern about the military court's failure to
- properly investigate complaints of human rights violations;
- little or no progress has been made in the investigations of
- arbitrary killings carried out by the military during the
- period of suspended constitutional guarantees in 1989.
- Although I appreciate the difficulties faced by the
- security forces in connection with the killings that
- morning, I urge a prompt, full, and impartial investigation
- into the death of Columba Guadalupe Rivas and the detention
- of Ivonne Sequera be carried out. I also ask that you
- ensure that the security forces in Venezuela abide by the
- United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement
- Officials.
-
- Sincerely yours,
-
-
-
-
- copy to:
- His Excellency Simon Alberto Consalvi
- Embassy of the Republic of Venezuela
- 1099 30th Street, N.W.
- Washington, D.C. 20007
-
-
-