Monday, March 28, 2022

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - Statement About Iranian Parliament - NEWS

Amnesty International, March 18, 2022.

Today, Amnesty International, along with 54 other human rights and civil society organizations, issued a joint statement expressing alarm at the Iranian parliament’s move to ratify the general outlines of the draconian "Regulatory System for Cyberspace Services Bill." 


If passed, the Bill will violate an array of human rights of people in Iran.  We urge the Iranian authorities to immediately withdraw the Bill in its entirety. We further call on the international community, along with states engaged in dialogue with Iranian authorities, to ensure that the promotion and protection of human rights in Iran is prioritized, including by urging Iran’s parliament to rescind the Bill as a matter of urgency. 


The joint statement is attached and is available on the Amnesty International website at the following link:  https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/5361/2022/en/

 

Today, Amnesty International also issued a joint oral statement to the 49th Session of the UN Human Rights Council with ARTICLE 19. The joint oral statement is attached to this email and is available on the Amnesty International website at the following link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/5359/2022/en/

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

EGYPT: Women at Risk for Lengthy Prison Terms - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, US 3-22-2022.

Egyptian women social media influencers Hanin Hossam and Mawada el-Adham have been arbitrarily detained since Cairo’s Criminal Court convicted them for inciting “indecent” content, human trafficking, and other bogus charges, in June 2021 and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms. 


Mawada el-Adham’s appeal against her ruling is pending. Hanin Hossam is currently being retried, as provided by Egyptian law for those convicted in their absence.They must be immediately released, as they are being punished solely for peacefully exercising their human rights. 


CLICK HERE to TAKE ACTION 

Thursday, March 17, 2022

UNITED KINGDOM: Iranian Prisoners Released - GOOD NEWS

Amnesty International USA, 3-16-2022.

This is the incredible news that we have been hoping for - every day since Nazanin was arrested in 2016. 

 

Both Nazanin & Anoosheh are now flying back from Tehran and are due to arrive home in the UK tonight - where their families will be waiting for them. 

 

They should never have been detained in the first place and their release can’t come a moment too soon. 

 

During years of tireless campaigning, we and the families have had our hopes dashed for their release many times. We are enormously relieved that this terrible ordeal is almost over and we hope to see Nazanin & Anoosheh reunited with their families as soon as possible. 

 

We will continue to call for the full and unconditional release of British nationals Morad Tahbaz and Mehran Raoof who are still being held in Iran.


CLICK HERE to LEARN MORE

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

MOROCCO: Ethnic Uyghur at Risk of Extraction to China - Urgent Action

Amnesty International, USA, 3-15-2022

Idris Hasan, an ethnic Uyghur living in Turkey, was arrested in July 2021 in Morocco on the basis of an Interpol red notice, which has since been cancelled

The Chinese government reportedly considers him a “terrorist”, which Chinese law defines in an overly broad and vague manner, because of the work he had previously done for Uyghur organizations. 

On December 15, 2021, the Moroccan Court of Cassation ruled in favour of Idris Hasan’s extradition. Idris Hasan remains in detention and at high risk of being extradited to China where he will face a real risk of arbitrary detention and torture. The Moroccan authorities must immediately cancel his extradition. 

CLICK HERE to TAKE ACTION

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

This IWD, speak up for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

 

Today, March 8, marks International Women’s Day (IWD), a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Women, girls, and people who can become pregnant are powerful leaders and changemakers, and today we celebrate all those working toward the goals of gender equality and social equity for all people.

Without access to full-spectrum sexual and reproductive healthcare, which includes abortion care and contraception, people who can become pregnant cannot exercise their human right to bodily autonomy and will never be able to reach these ideals. Recent decisions in Colombia and France to expand abortion care are excellent steps in the right direction, since it is well known that accessible, legal abortion care improves patient safety and decreases pregnancy-related deaths.

Here in the United States, where a pregnant person lives, as well as their socioeconomic status, can severely limit their access to safe and legal sexual and reproductive healthcare. Many unnecessary restrictions on abortion care have been enacted across the country, all with the ultimate goal of banning abortion care entirely. These restrictions and bans are already making abortion almost inaccessible in multiple states, including Texas, leading to surges of patients seeking care in neighboring states and causing prolonged delays for this time-sensitive care.

This IWD, we encourage you to speak out in support of access to safe, legal abortion care across our country. With these resources, it’s easy to learn more, get organized, and take a stand!

  • Take 30 seconds and sign this petition telling the USA to protect the right to access abortion.
  • Check out this brand-new abortion toolkit from AIUSA – it was made with activists like YOU in mind and includes tons of resources and tips for designing a campaign plan and taking action.

Monday, March 7, 2022

Brave Women of Iran - March 8 International Women's Day



 

Today is International Women’s Day and a number of courageous women in Iran are behind bars merely for exercising their internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and association.

Zeynab Jalalian, Iranian Kurdish activist, aged 40, who is serving a life sentence following a grossly unfair trial, is being deliberately prevented from receiving specialized medical care despite her deteriorating health, including lung damage and respiratory problems as a result of having contracted Covid-19 in June 2020. 

Narges Mohammadi is a distinguished and passionate defender of human rights. She was vicepresident of the Center for Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) which reported on violations of human rights in Iran provided pro-bono legal representation to political prisoners and support to their families before it was forcibly closed by the Iranian authorities in December 2008. 

Niloufar Bayani is a wildlife conservationist and a prisoner of conscience, sentenced to prison solely for her peaceful scientific and conservation activities, such as research on Iran’s endangered wildlife. She is one of eight scientists who were convicted and sentenced to prison terms, ranging between four to ten years, on baseless charges of “cooperating with hostile states against the Islamic Republic. 

Saba Kordafshari is Women’s rights defender, aged 24, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for campaigning against Iran’s discriminatory and abusive forced veiling laws and other peaceful human rights activism. In August 2019 a Revolutionary Court sentenced her to 24 years in prison for “inciting and facilitating corruption and prostitution” through promoting “unveiling,” “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security,” and “spreading propaganda against the system.” 

Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer and women’s rights defender, who has represented a woman sentenced to a long prison term for protesting forced veiling, has been sentenced to a total of 38 1/2 years in prison following two grossly unfair trials in 2016 and 2018, on spurious national security-related charges including “forming a group with the purpose of disrupting national security,” “spreading propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security.” 

Maryam Akbari-Monfared is a political prisoner who was exiled from Evin Prison, where she has served more than 11 years of her 15-year sentence, 110 miles east to the central prison in Semnan, an extremely inaccessible location for her children.

 Golrokh Iraee Ebrahimi, a civil rights activist, was transferred from Gharchak Prison to the central prison in Amol, Mazandaran province in northern Iran, far from her parents. 

Other cases include (but not limited to): Yasaman Ariyani and her mother Monireh Arabshahi, who were exiled from Evin Prison to Kachuei Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, and political prisoner and Samaneh Norouz-Moradi, who was transferred to the central prison in Roudsar, northern Iran


Wednesday, March 2, 2022

PAKISTAN: Abdul Hafeez Deported to Pakistan - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, US, 3-1-2022.


Abdul Hafeez, 37, who ran an appliance installation and servicing company in Dubai, was apprehended by Emirati authorities outside his home on January 27, 2022, and subsequently detained. Just eight days later, Abdul was forcibly deported back to Pakistan. 


Emirati police did not give his family any information about his arrest, and only asked for his passport. Since then, they remain in the dark about his whereabouts, the charges against him or what legal recourse they have, if any. Abdul’s family believes he is in extreme danger in Pakistan, which is why he immigrated to the UAE in 2012 following deadly attacks against other family members in the past. 


Pakistani authorities must reveal Abdul Hafeez’s whereabouts, allow him regular contact with his family and lawyer, and guarantee his rights to fair trial and due process of law.  

CLICK HERE to TAKE ACTION