URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
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20 August 2004
Further Information on UA 209/04 issued 24 June 2004 and
re-issued 12 July 2004; 5 August 2004
Death penalty/fear of imminent execution/legal concern
INDONESIA
Meirika Franola, alias Ola (f), aged 34, Indonesian national
Rani Maharani (f), aged 29, Indonesian national
Dany Maharwan (m), aged 32, Indonesian national
Saelow Prasert (m), aged 62, Thai national
Namsong Sirilak (f), aged 32, Thai national
Samuel Iwuchekwu Okoye (m), aged 34, Nigerian national
Hansen Anthony Nwaolisa (m), aged 37, Nigerian national
Indra Bahadur Tamang (gender unknown), aged 24, Nepali national
Muhammad Abdul Hafez (m), aged 36, Pakistani national
Namaona Denis (gender unknown), aged 39, Malawian national
Thai nationals Saelow Prasert and Namsong Sirilak are to be
executed by 18 September 2004, according to an announcement
by the Attorney General's Office.
They were sentenced to death for drug-trafficking in 1994,
together with Indian national Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey, who
was executed on 5 August. He was the first person to be
executed in Indonesia since 2001.
Saelow Prasert and Namsong Siriliak's appeals for clemency
were rejected in July 2004. As in the case of Ayodhya Prasad
Chabey, Amnesty International believes that their trials may not
have been fair because they did not have access to legal
representation before their trial or to interpreters during the
police investigation stage.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unreservedly in
all cases. Every death sentence is an affront to human dignity,
every execution a symptom of a culture of violence, rather than
a solution to it. Today, 118 countries are abolitionist in law
or practice. At least 66 people are believed to be on death row
in Indonesia. Before the executions carried out in 2001, there
had been no executions in Indonesia for six years.
The risk of error in applying the death penalty is inescapable, yet
it is irrevocable. The Indonesian Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) noted in 2001 that ''Aside from being
internationally recognized as a human rights violation in itself...
the death penalty administered by a corrupt judiciary is
extremely dangerous.'' Following his visit to Indonesia in July
2002, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers expressed concern regarding corruption within the
judiciary.
Amnesty International recognizes the need to address serious
crime all over the world, including the trade in illicit drugs.
However, the organization is convinced that the death penalty
will not provide a solution. There is no clear evidence that the
death penalty acts as a more effective deterrent against crime
than other forms of punishment.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive
as quickly as possible:
- expressing deep concern about the renewal of executions in
Indonesia;
- urging the authorities to review the trials of Saelow Praesart
and Namsong Sirilak, and order a retrial if irregularities are
found;
- calling on President Megawati Sukarnoputri to commute the
death sentence of Saelow Praesart and Namsong Sirilak and the
seven other people named above;
- expressing concern at the possibility of judicial error in the
Indonesian criminal justice system, which increases the risk of
the innocent being executed;
APPEALS TO: (fax numbers may be difficult to get through
to. Please keep trying)
President:
President Megawati Sukarnoputri
President RI
Istana Merdeka
Jakarta 10110
Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 345 2685/ 526 8726 /345 7782
Salutation: Dear President
Attorney General:
Muhammad Abdul Rachman
Jaksa Agung
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No.1
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selantan 12130
Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 725 0213
Salutation: Dear Attorney General
COPIES TO:
Chairman, Komnas HAM:
Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia
Jl Latuharhary No. 4B
Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 392 5227
Salutation: Dear Chairman
The Ambassador
The Royal Thai Embassy
Jalan Imam Bonjol 74
Jakarta Pusat 10310
Indonesia
Fax: 011 62 21 310 7469/390 4055
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador Soemadi Djoko M. Brotodiningrat
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
2020 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036
Fax: 1 202 775 5365
Email: [email protected]
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado
office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time,
weekdays only, if sending appeals after September 18, 2004.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots
movement that promotes and defends human
rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept
intact, including contact information and stop
action date (if applicable). Thank you for your
help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
20 August 2004
Further Information on UA 318/03 issued 5 November 2003
''Disappearance'' / fear for safety /forcible return New
concern: fear of execution/unfair trial
IRAN: Hojjat Zamani (m), aged 28
Hojjat Zamani, from the Elam region of south western Iran, was
reportedly forced to return to Iran from Turkey in November
2003. He is said to be held in Section 209 of Tehran's Evin
prison. Amnesty International is concerned that he is now facing
execution following a trial in Tehran.
According to media reports, Hojjat Zamani was accused of
aiding the banned opposition group, Peoples' Mojahedin of Iran
(PMOI), in placing a bomb outside an unspecified Revolutionary
Court in May or June 1998. The explosion reportedly killed three
and injured 22 people. He was reportedly arrested in a square in
Tehran in 2000. According to a PMOI statement, he was
severely tortured in detention without his case ever coming to
trial.
Around August 2003, Hojjat Zamani escaped his detention and
fled to Turkey. He was reportedly arrested by the Turkish
authorities who were acting in cooperation with Iran's
intelligence services. In response to queries made by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the
Istanbul branch of the Insan Hakalari Dernegi, Human Rights
Association, the relevant Turkish authorities denied that Hojjat
Zamani was ever detained in Turkey.
On 17 July 2004, Hojjat Zamani was reportedly tried at Branch
six of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, allegedly for aiding the
PMOI in planting the bomb. According to unconfirmed reports
Hojjat Zamani has been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment
and four death sentences. He was reported to have had a lawyer
- possibly an appointed lawyer, though Amnesty International is
concerned at unconfirmed reports that judicial officials did not
cooperate with him, denying Hojjat Zamani the right to effective
counsel.
Cases where the death penalty is a possibility are required to
have additional safeguards that ensure that the trial is fair. These
include the right to effective counsel and the right to seek pardon
and commutation. As a death penalty case, Hojjat Zamani's
sentence must be referred to the Supreme Court for its
consideration under Iranian Law
Two of Hojjat Zamani's brothers were executed in Iran in 2001.
Reports indicate that these two executions contributed to the
medical condition that culminated in the death of Hojjat
Zamani's father.
Massoud Moqtadari, who was detained at the same time as
Hojjat Zamani but subsequently released, is no longer at risk in
Turkey.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International unconditionally oppose the death penalty,
which it believes is the most extreme form of torture: it is a
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and a violation of the
right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party. The Iraq-
based PMOI is an armed opposition group opposed to the
government of Iran. It is a banned organization in a wide range
of countries. Amnesty International continues to receive reports
of human rights violations carried out by the PMOI against its
own members. However, Amnesty International opposes the
forced return to Iran of all those who may face human rights
violations
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive
as quickly as possible:
- recognizing the rights and responsibilities of states to bring to
justice those suspected of criminal offences;
- stating your unconditional opposition to the death penalty
irrespective of the crime for which it is imposed, as the ultimate
violation of the right to life;
- pointing out that the death penalty constitutes cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment amounting to torture and as such
violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party;
- urging the authorities to commute the death sentence against
Hojjat Zamani with a view to identifying an alternative
punishment in line with the reported wishes of the Head of the
Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi.
APPEALS TO: (Please note that email servers in Iran are
unreliable. If your message bounces for any reason, please
resend it)
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 649 5880 / 21 774 2228 (ask fax to
be forwarded to Ayatollah Khamenei)
Email: [email protected]; (on the subject line
write: For the attention of the office of His
Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei,
Qom)
Salutation: Your Excellency
President:
His Excellency, Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad
Khatami
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 649 5880
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] (This is the Public
Relations Office. Please ask for your message
to be forwarded to the Head of the Judiciary)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs:
His Excellency Kamal Kharrazi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Your Excellency
Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country. Instead,
please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado
office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time,
weekdays only, if sending appeals after October 2, 2004.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
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