SYRIA: Hundreds Await Medical Evacuation - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, Jan. 8, 2018.

29 of the 558 patients awaiting medical evacuation in besieged Eastern Ghouta have been evacuated and transferred to hospitals in Damascus for treatment. 529 more patients still require urgent medical treatment.

On 27 December 2017, the Syrian government approved the medical evacuation of 29 critical cases from Eastern Ghouta.  This evacuation was completed on Friday 29 December 2017 with 17 children, six women, and six men transferred to hospitals in Damascus, where they are being treated for serious injuries or medical conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and kidney failure. 

According to medical personnel in Eastern Ghouta, 14 people have died while awaiting medical evacuation. The medical evacuation of 572 people with severe injuries and chronic diseases has been pending approval from the Syrian government since July 2017. Medical personnel corroborated news about the evacuation being agreed after negotiations that led to the release of individuals held by the armed opposition. These 29 cases were at the top of the list of patients awaiting medical evacuations due to the urgency of the cases.

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EGYPT: Government Critics Jailed - PETITION

Amnesty International, USA, January 6, 2018.

We the undersigned appeal to you on behalf of well-known, secular social media activists Islam al-Refaei, and  journalists Hossam el-Swefy and Ahmed Abdel Aziz.

Islam al-Rafaei has been criticized for his posts that challenge religious and cultural norms in Egypt.   On 16 November plain clothes, security agents lured Islam to a meeting on the pretext of discussing a website he allegedly designed.   He was detained for 15 days and charged with “joining a banned group”. On 13 December, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered renewal of his detention for another 15 days.  His family and friends only became aware of his whereabouts after a lawyer reported that he saw him being questioned by the state security prosecutor in Abdeen police station.

Hossam el-Swefy and Ahmed Abdel Aziz were arrested during a peaceful demonstration in downtown Cairo on 7 December 2017.  The prosecutor decided to combine the cases of Hossam el-Swefy, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, and Islam al-Refaei.  He also added four more individuals to their case. The four other individuals were arrested on two separate occasions.

We appeal to you for:

    **Immediate and unconditional release of Islam al-Refaei, Hossam el-Swefy and Ahmed Abdel Aziz, as they are imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression or peaceful assembly;
    **Assurance that, all the men have all their due process rights upheld, including access to legal representation and the right to challenge the lawfulness of their detention; and
    **Ceasing the practice of prolonged and arbitrary pre-trial detention. 

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Sent to: Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek, Office of the Public Prosecutor, Dar al-Qada al-Ali, Down Town
Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt, Fax: +20225774716
Copies to:  Ambassador Yasser Reda, Embassy of Egypt, 3521 International Ct NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: 202 895 5400, Fax: 202 244 4319 OR 202 244 5131,  Email: embassy@egyptembassy.net

Stop Action date 31 Jan 2018

CAMBODIA: Environmental Activists Jailed - PETITION

 Amnesty International, USA, January 6, 2018.

Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy were arrested on 11 September 2017 while filming two large vessels they suspected of illegally carrying silica sand for export.  Cambodian customs data show only 28,900 tonnes of sand sent to Taiwan between 2010 and 2016, Taiwan registered receiving 1.7 million tonnes in the same period, an alleged 30 million USD discrepancy between Cambodia’s customs records on exports and Taiwan’s customs records of imports.   At the time of their arrest, Hun Vannak and Doem Ku were affilated with the environmental protection NGO, ‘Mother Nature Cambodia’.  

Both were questioned without their lawyer, and both were charged by the Investigating Judge with “incitement to commit a felony” and “violation of privacy (recording of a person’s image)”, for allegedly filming on “private property”.  Amnesty International does not consider these to be criminal offences. Both could face up to three years in prison if convicted. A hearing date has yet to be set.  Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy are currently in pre-trial detention in Prek Svay prison. Both were denied bail.

We the undersigned call on you to:

• Immediately and unconditionally release Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy, and all other prisoners of conscience, detained and charged solely for their peaceful activism; and
• Put an end to harassment of all human rights defenders for their peaceful activism and exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

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Sent to: Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, 75 Norodom Blvd, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Fax: +855 23 426 585

Copies to:  H.E. Ambassador Chum Bunrong, Royal Embassy of Cambodia, 4530 16th St NW, Washington DC 20011, Phone: 1 202 726 7742 I Fax: 1 202 726 8381, Email: camemb.usa@mfa.gov.kh

Stop Action date 02 Feb. 2018

EGYPT: Government Critics Arrested - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, Jan. 6, 2018

On 16 November, security agents in plain clothes arrested Egyptian social media figure Islam al-Refaei. The Egyptian authorities ordered him to be detained on the trumped-up charge of “belonging to a banned group”. 

The prosecution originally ordered his detention for 15 days pending an investigation into the charge of him “joining a banned group”...According to Islam al-Refaei’s lawyers, the detention order relied only on information from the National Security Agency. On 13 December, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered the renewal of Islam al-Refaei’s detention for another 15 days. Islam al-Refaei is...has previously drawn criticism for his posts that challenge religious and cultural norms in Egypt. 

On 7 December, security forces arrested two journalists, Hossam el-Swefy and Ahmed Abdel Aziz. Both were arrested during a peaceful demonstration in front of the premises of the Journalists’ Syndicate. The prosecutor has decided to pursue the case against the two journalists and that against Islam al-Refaei’s as one case and added four more individuals to it. The four other individuals were arrested on two separate occasions.

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IRAN: Stop Ruthless Crackdown of Peaceful Protest - PRESS RELEASE

Amnesty International, January 4, 2018.

Iranian authorities must ensure the right to peaceful protest, investigate reports that security forces have unlawfully used firearms against unarmed protesters and protect hundreds of detainees from torture and other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said today amid concerns that the crackdown against demonstrations that have spread across Iran in the past week is intensifying.

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CHINA: Gao Zhisheng Missing Since August - EMAIL ACTION

Amnesty International, Australia, Jan. 4, 2018.

Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been missing since August 2017. His family hasn’t been told where he is or the state of his health. He is at high risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Gao Zhisheng is one of the most respected human rights lawyers in China. He represents human rights activists and works on other politically sensitive cases.

Over the years he has been subjected to enforced disappearance, torture, illegal house arrest and detention.

His friends say that since Gao Zhisheng’s latest disappearance, at least three of his supporters have been detained, seven summoned and two given verbal warnings by police. It is believed the authorities are attempting to silence critics and conceal any information about Gao Zhisheng.

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CAMBODIA: Environmental Activists Jailed - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, Dec. 24 2017

On 11 September, at 10:45am, two environmental activists, Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy were arrested on a speedboat by police, while filming two large sand-bearing vessels anchored off the coast of Prek Khsach in Koh Kong province. They suspected the vessels were illegally carrying Cambodia’s much-desired natural resource, silica sand, for the purpose of export. Both activists were charged by the Investigating Judge with “incitement to commit a felony” and “violation of privacy (recording of a person’s image)” under Articles 495 and 302 of the Criminal Code, respectively, for allegedly filming on “private property”. Amnesty International does not consider these to be criminal offences. I

At the time of their arrest both activists were still affiliated with prominent environmental protection NGO, ‘Mother Nature Cambodia’ (MNC). Hun Vannak’s and Doem Kundy’s arrest occurred two days after MNC had published a video online, exposing illegal exports of Cambodia’s valuable silica sand by companies linked to the Cambodian Government. MNC accused the Cambodian government of complicity in illegal trade of Cambodia’s natural resource by turning a blind eye to fraud and tax evasion allegedly committed by sand-dredging companies.

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