Newsletter

Amnesty International USA Group 48

3.15
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1 CHINA: Urgent Action Husband And Brother Of

Activist Detained

3 INDONESIA: Urgent Action

- At Least Ten Facing Imminent Execution
5 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Urgent Action - Protect Libyan Men Still In
Detention
7 RUSSIAN FEDERATION:
Urgent Action -
Detention
Of Tatar Activist Extended
CHINA: Urgent Action - Husband And Brother Of
Activist Detained
AIUSA-Group 48
http://aipdx.org
503-227-1878
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By Michelle Whitlock
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Su Changlan (f), Chen Dequan (m), Su Shangwei (m), Chen Qitang (m)

The husband and brother of detained

womens rights activist Su Changlan

have themselves been criminally detained in China. They were held after
submitting an application for permission to visit her on 12 February, during
which her brother held a sign declaring
her innocence.
On February 12th, Chen Dequan and
Su Shangwei, the husband and brother
of detained activist Su Changlan, went
with her lawyer to Foshan City Public
Security Bureau, Guangdong province,
to submit an application for permission
to visit Su Changlan. While outside the
bureau, Su Shangwei held a placard
reading Su Changlan is innocent. He

was summoned for investigation by

Nanhai Public Security Office on February 14th at 2am, and Chen Dequan
was detained later the same day. Their
family received formal notices of their
detention stating that they were held in
Chancheng District Detention Centre
on suspicion of picking quarrels and
provoking troubles.
Su Changlan was taken away from her
home by police on October 27th, 2014,
and has been formally arrested for
inciting subversion of state power, a
charge which could lead to life imprisonment. It is believed the charges
against her are as a result of posts she
made online in support of the pro-de-

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 2

mocracy protests in Hong Kong. Su Changlans lawyers have

made several requests to visit her since her detention, but
they have all been rejected.
Su Changlans friend, Chen Qitang (also known as Tian Li),
who had been providing legal assistance and petitioned for
her release, was detained on November 25th and formally
arrested on December 31st for inciting subversion of state
power. He has been detained in Nanhai District Detention
Centre and has not had access to his lawyers.
Action

Please write immediately in Chinese, English or your own

language:
Calling on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Su Changlan, Chen Dequan, Su Shangwei and
Chen Qitang:
Urging the authorities to ensure that pending their release,
they all have regular, unrestricted access to their lawyers and
families as well as any medical attention they may require,
and are protected from torture and other ill-treatment.
Appeals To

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE APRIL 7th 2015 TO:

Director
Jiang Kaixin
Foshan City Public Security Bureau
No. 8 Lingnan Dadaobei, Shanchengqu
Foshan City, 528000
Guangdong Province
Peoples Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Director
Director
Chancheng District Detention Centre
Dawuganglu, Chanchengqu
Foshan City 528031
Guangdong Province
Peoples Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Director

Additional Information

Su Changlan is a well-known activist in southern China, who

has been detained several times previously due to her peaceful activities defending womens rights, on issues including

family planning and domestic violence. The current charges

against her are believed to be as a result of posts she made
online in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong
Kong. She was questioned by police in Nanhai, Foshan, central Guangdong province, on two occasions in September in
2014, and according to friends the police warned her not to
continue posting material about the protests. However, after
making further comments about the protests on social media,
she was taken away from her home by police on October
27th. It was not confirmed where she was being held until her
family received a notice of the charges against her on December 3rd, which stated that she is detained at Nanhai District
Detention Centre.
Su Changlans husband Chen Dequan was detained along
with Chen Qitang onNovember 25th. Chen Dequan was held
for 11 hours before being released, during which he had his
thighs tied to a restraint chair. He also had his bank cards,
mobile phone and keys to his home confiscated.
Approximately 100 people were detained in mainland China
after the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong began in
September 2014, for activities such as expressing their support on social media, shaving their heads in solidarity with
the demonstrators, or planning to travel to Hong Kong to
join the protests. At least twenty-seven remained in detention
as of February 24th. Among others, several poets and artists from Songzhuang, an artist community in Beijing, were
detained for showing their support for the protests. This was
part of a wider attempt by the Chinese authorities to silence
any discussion or display of support for the events in Hong
Kong. The popular photo-sharing platform Instagram was
blocked, government censors attempted to remove all positive
mentions of the pro-democracy protests online, while forcing
newspapers and TV stations to only use the state-sponsored
narrative of the protests.
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AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 3

INDONESIA: Urgent Action - At Least Ten Facing Imminent Execution

Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran, Raheem Agbaje Salami, Martin Anderson, Zainal Abidin, Rodrigo
Gularte, four other individuals (m/f)

Calling on the authorities to immediately halt plans to carry

out any executions;
Reminding them that international safeguards clearly state
that no execution must be carried out while appeals are
Roger Kirby Stock.Xchng
pending, and that the death penalty should not be imposed or
implemented against people with mental disabilities;
t least 10 individuals are at imminent risk of execution in
Indonesia. Three death row prisoners were transferred by the Urging them to establish a moratorium on all executions
with a view to abolishing the death penalty and to commute
authorities to Nusakambangan Island today, the location of
all death sentences to terms of imprisonment;
the scheduled executions.
Pointing out that there is no convincing evidence that
The Indonesian authorities moved three death row prisonthe death penalty deters crime more effectively than other
ers to Nusakambangan Island in Central Java province on
punishments and that the decision to resume executions has
the morning of March 4th, where they are scheduled to be
executed. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (both Aus- set Indonesia against the global trend towards abolition of the
tralian) were transferred there from Kerobokan prison in Bali, death penalty and the countrys own progress in this area.
while Raheem Agbaje Salami (Nigerian) was transferred from Appeals To
Madiun prison in East Java province. The authorities have not PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE APRIL 15th 2015 TO:
yet provided the 72 hours notice of imminent execution to
President of the Republic of Indonesia
the prisoners or their representatives, as required by law.
H. E. Joko Widodo
Istana Merdeka
Although a final list of those facing executions has yet to be
Jakarta
Pusat 10110
announced, others reportedly facing imminent executions
Indonesia
include Zainal Abidin (Indonesian), Martin Anderson alias
Fax:
011 62 21 386 4816 /+62 21 344 2233
Belo (Ghanaian), Rodrigo Gularte (Brazilian) and four other
Email: dumas@setneg.go.id
individuals. All 10 were sentenced to death for drug traffickTwitter:
jokowi_do2
ing, an offense that does not meet the threshold of the most
serious crimes for which the death penalty may be imposed Salutation: Dear President

under international law. Indonesian President Joko Widodo

rejected their clemency applications in December 2014 and
January 2015.

Minister of Law and Human Rights

Yasona H. Laoly
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav No. 4-5
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan
The lawyers for Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran and Ra12950, Indonesia
heem Agbaje Salami are currently appealing the rejection of
their clemency application by the President in the administra- Fax: 011 62 215 253095
Email: rohumas@kemenkumham.go.id
tive courts. At least two of the 10 individuals have filed a judicial review of their case before the Supreme Court. Rodrigo Twitter: Humas_Kumham
Gularte has been diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia Salutation: Dear Minister
and bipolar disorder with psychotic characteristics, an illness Copies To
which has deteriorated while he has been on death row. The
Minister of Foreign Affairs
authorities are reportedly still assessing his medical condition. Retno Marsudi
Jl. Pejambon No.6.
Action
Jakarta Pusat, 10110
Please write immediately in English or your own language:
Indonesia

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 4

Fax: 011 62 21 3857316

Email: kontak-kami@kemlu.go.id
H.E. Ambassador Budi Bowoleksono,
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
2020 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 775 5365
Phone: 1 202 775 5200
Email: ikuhn@embassyofindonesia.org
or http://www.embassyofindonesia.org/contactform/contactform.php

death by the Tangerang District Court in February 2005

for smuggling six kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia at
the Cengkareng airport, Banten province. According to his
lawyer, a psychiatrist from a local state hospital has diagnosed
him with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with
psychotic characteristics. It was recommended Ricardo Gularte be admitted to a mental health facility. International law
and standards on the use of capital punishment clearly state
that the death penalty should not be imposed or carried out
on people with mental or intellectual disabilities. This applies
whether the disability was relevant at the time of their alleged
commission of the crime or developed after the person was
sentenced to death.

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our
impact! Send a short email to uan@aiusa.org with UA 305/14 Death sentences in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad.
in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the
The prisoner has the choice of standing or sitting and whether
number of letters and/or emails you sent
to have their eyes covered, by a blindfold or hood. Firing
squads are made up of 12 people, three of whose rifles are
Additional Information
loaded with live ammunition, while the other nine rifles are
Further information on those facing executions
Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, Australian nation- loaded with blanks. The squad fires from a distance of between five and 10 meters.
als, were sentenced to death by the Denpasar District Court
in February 2006 for attempting to traffic more than 8 kiloAmnesty International believes that the death penalty is the
grams of heroin to Australia in 2005.
ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and a vi Martin Anderson, alias Belo, a Ghanaian national, was sen- olation of the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Dectenced to death by the South Jakarta District Court in June
laration of Human Rights. Article 6(6) of the International
2004 after being convicted of possessing 50 grams of heroin in Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which InJakarta in November 2003.
donesia is a State Party, provides that Nothing in this article
shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital
Zainal Abidin, an Indonesian national, was initially sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Palembang District
AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information
Court in September 2001 for smuggling 58.7 kilograms of
Prisoners Cases
Group Coordinator
marijuana. He was later sentenced to death by the Palembang
Jane
Kristof
Joanne
Lau
High Court in December 2001.
kristofj@pdx.edu
jlau@aipdx.org
Raheem Agbaje Salami, a Nigerian national, was initially
Megan Harrington
Treasurer
sentenced to life imprisonment by the Surabaya District
megan.harrington
Tena Hoke
Court in April 1999 for smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin
@gmail.com
tena.hoke@gmail.com
into Indonesia at the Juanda airport, East Java province in
Concert Tabling
Newsletter Editor
September 1998. In May 2006 he was sentenced to death
Will Ware
Dan Webb
by the Supreme Court and was not able to appeal against
ww_ware@yahoo.com
write_to_dan@yahoo.com
his death sentence to a higher court, a right guaranteed by
Central Africa/
Darfur (Sudan)
Safeguard No.6 of the UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection
OR State Death
Marty Fromer
Penalty Abolition
martyfromer@gmail.com
of the rights of those facing the death penalty, approved by
Terrie
Rodello
Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of May 25th
Indonesia
tarodello@igc.org
Max White
1984.
maxw33@comcast.net
Rodrigo Gularte, a Brazilian national, was sentenced to

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 5

punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant. The that the death sentence shall not be carried out on pregnant
Human Rights Committee, the expert body overseeing the
women, or on new mothers, or on persons who have become
implementation of the ICCPR, has stated that Article 6 refers insane.
generally to abolition [of the death penalty] in terms which
strongly suggest... that abolition is desirable. The Committee Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases
concludes that all measures of abolition should be considered without exception and supports calls, included in five resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly since 2007, for
as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life.
the establishment of a moratorium on executions with a view
The UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of
to abolishing the death penalty. As of today, 140 countries
those facing the death penalty, approved by Economic and
have abolished the death penalty in law or practice; out of 41
Social Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984, clearly
countries in the Asia-Pacific region, 17 have abolished the
state that Capital punishment shall not be carried out pend- death penalty for all crimes, 10 are abolitionist in practice
ing any appeal or other recourse procedure or other proceed- and one Fiji uses the death penalty only for exceptional
ing relating to pardon or commutation of the sentence and
military crimes.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Urgent Action - Protect Libyan Men Still In Detention
Kamal Eldarat, Mohammed Eldarat, Salim el-Aradi, Mohammed al-Fighi, al-Sadiq al-Kikli, Mahmoud
bin Gharbiya (m)
Greeeker Stock.Xchng

Kamal Eldarat was summoned for questioning at Dubais

Bur Dubai police station on August 26th, 2014 after which

about 20 officers in six police vehicles returned him to his
house, which they searched, and then detained him. His son
Mohammed Eldarat was detained the following day. His family have sought the assistance of the US embassy.
Salim el-Aradi was arrested at a hotel on August 29th, 2014
at around 2am. The officers who arrested him did not give
a reason for his arrest. Salim el-Aradis brother, Mohamed
el-Aradi, had been summoned to a police station the previous day: police questioned him for several hours and then
took him back to his house, which they searched until around
midnight and then detained him. The two brothers had lived
in the UAE for around 20 years.
Four of the 10 detained Libyan men were released without
charge on December 27th 2014 from the United Arab Emir-

ates (UAE) and deported to Turkey. Six others, including dual

nationals, are still detained and may be at risk of torture or
other ill-treatment.

Four of the 10 Libyan men detained in the UAE are now

known to have been released without charge. Mohamed
el-Aradi, al-Bashir al-Shabah, al-Tahir al-Qulfat and Raf at
Hadagha were released without charge on December 27th
2014 and deported to Turkey. The four men had been held in
unknown locations where they were given no access to their
families or any legal assistance. Amnesty International understands that the men were tortured and otherwise ill-treated.
Some of the 10 Libyan men had lived in the UAE for over two
decades. They were arrested separately between August and
September 2014. The six still detained are: dual US-Libyan
nationals Kamal Eldarat and his son Mohammed Eldarat;
dual Canadian-Libyan national Salim el-Aradi; Mohammed
al-Fighi; al-Sadiq al-Kikli and Mahmoud bin Gharbiya. Their
whereabouts and whether they have been charged are unknown. Kamal Eldarat, 53, may be in urgent need of medical
care, as he has had spinal surgery four times and his health is
poor.
The UAEs State Security body has arrested dozens of foreign
nationals in recent years. Many have been victims of enforced
disappearance and held in solitary confinement in secret

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 6

locations. The authorities often refuse to acknowledge their

detention or disclose any information to their families, such
as the reasons and legal basis for their imprisonment and
where they are held, and also deny them access to legal counsel. Detainees held in such conditions are often tortured and
otherwise ill-treated. Such practices breach the UAEs own
laws, as well as international human rights standards.
Action

Please write immediately in English, Arabic or your own

language:
Calling on the UAE authorities to disclose the whereabouts
of the six detained men (naming them) and to reveal why
they have been detained;
Urging them to ensure that the men are either promptly
charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence
or else released;
Urging them to ensure that the men are protected from
torture and other ill-treatment, and are given prompt access
to their families, lawyers of their choosing and any medical
attention they may require.
Appeals To

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE APRIL 17th 2015 TO:

Vice-President and Prime Minister
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum
Prime Ministers Office
P.O. Box: 212000 Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Fax: 011 971 4 330 4044
Email: info@primeminister.ae
http://uaepm.ae/English/Pages/ContactUs.aspx
Twitter: @HHShkMoh
Salutation: Your Highness
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Crown Prince Court
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud Street,
P.O. Box: 124
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates

Fax: 011 971 2 668 6622

Twitter: @MBZNews
Salutation: Your Highness
Copies To

President
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Corniche Road
Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 280
United Arab Emirates
Fax: 011 971 2 622 2228
Oregon Death Penalty:
Brown to extend death penalty
moratorium
by Terrie Rodello, AIUSA Oregon State
Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator
In an article posted on OregonLive on 2/26/2015
by reporter Jeff Mapes, Governor Kate Brown says
she opposes death penalty but refuses to rule out
executions on her watch. She also said that she will
maintain the moratorium on executions that Gov.
Kitzhaber put in place.
Action Request
Amnesty International and other death penalty
abolition groups praise her for maintaining the
moratorium and calling for a wider discussion on the
death penalty.
encouragement to Governor Brown for continuing
the moratorium on executions and encourage her to
support repeal of the death penalty.
Appeals To
Governor Kate Brown
State Capitol Rm 160
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301
Share Opinion Online
http://www.oregon.gov/gov/Pages/Contact.aspx

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 7

Email: ihtimam@mopa.ae
Salutation: Your Highness

Phone: 1 202 243 2400

Email: info@uaeembassy-usa.org

Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba,

Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
3522 International Court NW Suite #400,
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 243 2432

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our
impact! EITHER send a short email to
uan@aiusa.org
with
UA 236/14 in the subject line, and include in the body of the
email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. Thank
you for taking action!

RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Urgent Action -Detention Of Tatar Activist Extended

Rafis Kashapov (m)

Anita Berghoef Stock.Xchng

Rafis Kashapov was detained at his home by ten armed men

in civilian clothing on December 28th 2014. He was taken

to the pre-trial detention facility (SIZO) No.1 in Kazan, the
capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, where he has been held
since. After his detention, the family received a notification
from the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan
stating that a criminal case had been opened against him for
alleged instigation of hatred or hostility and the abasement
of human dignity (Article 282(1) of the Criminal Code).
The Investigative Committee later specified that the criminal
charges against him related to four posts on his personal page
on VKontakte (a popular Russian social media). In these
posts, Rafis Kashapov harshly criticized President Vladimir
Putin and the Russian government for their policies towards
Ukraine and denounced persecution of ethnic Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea.

During the court hearing on February 26th, the detention of

Rafis Kashapov, Director of the Naberezhnye Chelny branch
of the NGO Tatar Public Center, in the Republic of Tatarstan,
was extended until April 27th. Additionally, his lawyer and
family were informed that in December 2014 Rafis Kashapov
had also been charged under Article 280(2) of the Criminal
Code (public calls to extremism using mass media).
Action

Please write immediately in Russian or your own language:

Immediately and unconditionally release Rafis Kashapov,
stressing that he has been detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression;
Pending his release, ensure that he is given an immediate
access to adequate medical care, in accordance with the international rules on the treatment of prisoners;
Respect the right to freedom of expression of all individuals
in the Russian Federation
Appeals To

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE APRIL 15th 2015 TO:

Head of Investigation Directorate
Investigative Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan
On January 19th, Rafis Kashapov went on hunger strike
Pavel Nikolaev
(which he has since ended) in protest against his arrest and
Ulitsa Bolshaya Krasnaya, 39
unlawful prosecution. A member of the local Public MoniKazan 420015
toring Commission (an independent mechanism providing
Republic of Tatarstan
prison visits) who had seen him in SIZO told Amnesty InRussian Federation
ternational that the activist was suffering from a pre-existing E-mail: orgotdel_16@mail.ru
medical condition and complained of being subjected to pres- Fax: 011 7 843 221 7405
sure by a number of law enforcement officials. According to
Rafis Kashapovs wife, although he is not currently on hunger Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian
Federation
strike, his health keeps deteriorating.

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015 Pg 8

Additional Information

Aleksandr Bastrykin
Tekhnicheskii Pereulok, d.2
Moscow 105005
Russian Federation
Fax: 011 7 499 265 9077
Salutation: Dear Chairman
Copies To

This is not the first time Rafis Kashapov has been reprimanded for his writings. In a previous trial in 2009, in which he
was found guilty under the same Article 282 of the Criminal
Code for his writings, he was not imprisoned but was given a
conditional sentence.

Kazan, pre-trial detention facility No.1

Fax: 011 7 843 231 7326
Salutation: Dear Head of the Investigation
Directorate
Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak,
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Ave. NW,
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email: embassy@russianembassy.org

Rafis Kashapovs critical posts in social media fall within

the scope of the right to freedom of expression and do not
amount to advocacy of hatred according to international
human rights law, including the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, to which Russia is a party. Moreover, even if his statements could be considered defamatory,
defamation should not be a criminal offense.

Amnesty International has documented repeated recent

instances in which Russian activists were harassed by the
authorities, arrested and in some cases criminally prosecuted
for expressing solidarity with Ukraine and opposing Russian occupation and annexation of Crimea (for instance,
see UA 254/14 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/
Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our EUR46/049/2014/en, UA 64/14 http://www.amnesty.org/en/
impact! Send a short email to
uan@aiusa.org
with UA 12/15 library/info/EUR46/022/2014/en and the report Russian
Federation: A right, not a crime: violations of the right to
in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the
freedom of assembly in Russia, http://www.amnesty.org/en/
number of letters and/or emails you sent. Thank you for tak- library/info/EUR46/028/2014/en
).
ing action!

Postage

AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2015