<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;URL=http://web.amnesty.org/web/wire.nsf/February2002/Europe_Roma">

The Wire

February 2002

Final text for the February issue of the Wire

AI Index: NWS 21/001/2002

Anti-Roma racism in Europe

Karol Sendrei died on 6 July 2001 in Revùca police station, Slovakia, after being beaten while tied to a radiator. He and his two sons had been arrested the previous day after making a complaint against another police officer. Karol Sendrei was a member of the Romani community. A senior Slovak official investigating Karol Sendrei's death said he had asked to be tied to the radiator.

Across Europe, Roma face discrimination. In most countries they are economically deprived and socially marginalized. In many they are abused by the police. Low levels of literacy and qualifications, combined with discrimination in employment, leave the vast majority of Roma unemployed. The resultant poverty leads some Roma into crime, mainly theft. This is used by politicians and the media to stir up even more prejudice against them.

Women and children form a disproportionate number of the victims. Romani youngsters are widely assumed to be inherently criminal; Romani women are often caught up in violent and punitive raids by police on Romani communities.

Discrimination is most intense in central and southeast European countries where open racial hatred and violence against Roma have emerged in recent years.

In Hungary, there is a pattern of racially biassed policing in Budapest and other towns. Roma who file complaints or publicize their treatment risk further abuse. On 9 February 2001, around 80 police officers raided a funeral wake in the Romani settlement in Bag and reportedly assaulted the mourners and other people in the vicinity indiscriminately. The raid was apparently organized to arrest László Vidák, who had accused four police officers of torturing him in October 1999. The four were due to stand trial in April 2001, and one of the accused officers took part in the February raid, during which László Vidák was so badly beaten that he needed four days' hospital treatment. When the trial took place in April, the four officers were convicted of intimidation and assault, but sentenced only to suspended sentences or a fine.

In Romania, although there has been a decrease in racist violence since the mid-1990s, Roma are still vulnerable to attack by police and public. In May 2000 a Bucharest police officer shot a young Romani man in the head at point blank range after reportedly beating him and knocking his head against a wall. Miraculously, Mugurel Soare survived, but he has lost the power of speech. Witnesses were allegedly detained and intimidated by other police officers.

While the treatment of Roma in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia appears to have improved since the election of a new government in 2000, they still face inadequate police protection from attacks by ''skinheads''.

The situation of Roma in Kosovo remains precarious because of inter-ethnic tensions and violent attacks. Fears for their security restrict their right to freedom of movement, making access to food, work, schooling and healthcare difficult. Large numbers of Roma from Kosovo remain displaced in Serbia or Montenegro; those who remain in Kosovo fear violent attacks from sections of the ethnic Albanian population who regarded them as Serb ''collaborators'' during the war in 1999.

In Greece, some Roma have been assigned to isolated settlements in what a Council of Europe expert described as ''institutionalized apartheid''. They are frequently harassed by police during police raids in search of drugs and arms. In October 2001 a police officer shot and killed an unarmed Rom, Marinos Christopoulos, in Zefyri, Attica, after he failed to stop for a police patrol. The police officer was arrested and charged with murder, but was released on bail five days later, and returned to service.

In the Czech Republic, Roma have been violently assaulted by gangs of ''skinheads'' and other extremist groups. The police often fail to intervene or to investigate incidents seriously. Where prosecutions have taken place, the courts have tended to convict perpetrators only for minor offences.

Despite this pattern of persecution, immigration officials from the UK have taken extraordinary, and discriminatory, measures to prevent Czech Roma from seeking asylum in the UK. Based at Prague airport, they have prevented Roma from boarding flights, even though Czech citizens do not need a visa to travel to the UK.

Caption: Relatives of Anastazia Baláñova's with her blood-stained nightdress. Three men broke into her home in Žilina, Slovakia, in August 2000 and beat Anastazia and her daughters with baseball bats. Anastazia died three days later and two of the children were injured.

Dissent bludgeoned in Zimbabwe

The situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate as the presidential elections draw nearer. Robert Mugabe's government is determined to remain in power by any means, including harassment, arbitrary arrests, assaults and killings of anyone who stands in its way.

The current pattern of severe human rights violations is part of a political campaign to suppress opposition and secure a victory for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party in the presidential elections.

In the month of November 2001 alone, it is estimated that there were six political killings and 115 cases of torture. Since that time, AI has continued to receive daily reports of assaults and torture.

The independence of the judiciary is being systematically eroded and the independent press is being intimidated by arbitrary arrests of journalists and attempts to suppress the circulation of their newspapers. The government has introduced draconian new laws which punish non-violent civil disobedience, criticism of the President, and disturbing the peace with prison sentences and which criminalize journalism not authorized by the state.

An AI delegation recently visited the country and met victims of torture, human rights activists, farmers and farm workers, as well as members of the ZANU-PF party, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police Force and army.

In one of the most disturbing cases, Augustus Chacha, an MDC youth activist who wanted to meet the AI delegation, was found dead in a reservoir in Gonye village near the town of Mberengwa. No one has been charged in relation to his killing, which his family believes was politically motivated.

The Zimbabwean government is using informal but state-sponsored militia as proxy forces to displace farm workers and to assault suspected members of the opposition. ''War veterans'' and ZANU-PF supporters, allegedly coordinated by the Central Intelligence Organisation, abducted a man in the Chimanimani area in northeastern Zimbabwe. They beat him and a friend unconscious with whips, fists and electrical cords. They urinated on their victims' faces and threw sand in their eyes, while questioning them about their activities in the MDC. Finally, the torturers placed their victims on the road, in front of the tyres of a truck and threatened to run them over if they did not swear allegiance to ZANU-PF.

Whether elections in 2002 are free and fair will be measured by the extent to which the Zimbabwean government provides an atmosphere in which all people, including opposition candidates and supporters, are free to express their political beliefs, peacefully assemble and campaign without fear of violence.

Caption: The burned out remains of the Bulawayo office of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change now bears the party's defiant graffitti.

Returned communities in Colombia under threat

Many communities in the conflict-riven northwestern departments of Antioquia and Chocó have taken a stand against forced displacement by returning to their lands. They have demanded that both sides in Colombia's internal conflict remain outside their land and respect their right not to be drawn into the conflict.

However, the army and their paramilitary allies, as well as armed opposition forces, have reacted violently to these efforts. They consider any attempt by civilians to distance themselves from the conflict as support for the enemy. As a result these returned communities have been under constant attack. The UN has repeatedly called for decisive action to confront and dismantle paramilitary groups and to protect civilian communities, yet with only weeks remaining before the UN Commission on Human Rights meets, the Colombian government has failed to take any decisive action. This failure leaves these communities exposed to danger.

Since March 1997, more than 65 members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó have been murdered. Most were killed by army-backed paramilitaries who accused the victims of being guerrilla collaborators, others by opposition forces. Despite advance warnings from the international community that further paramilitary incursions were imminent, three armed men, believed to be members of a paramilitary group, entered the community on 15 December 2001 and killed one of the inhabitants.

On 28 December 2001, two leaders of the Peace Community of San Francisco de Asís in Chocó department were reportedly killed by members of the armed opposition Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). During the preceding months the community had suffered violent raids by army-backed paramilitaries. On 12 September 2001, four people were killed when about 170 men who reportedly identified themselves as members of a paramilitary group (the AUC) raided Puerto Lleras y Pueblo Nuevo. Paramilitaries have ordered the communities to abandon their lands, but despite the threats of further extrajudicial executions and "disappearances", the people of the community are determined to stay.

The returned Afro-Colombian communities of the Cacarica River Basin continue to denounce the presence of paramilitary groups close to their lands despite the heavy military presence in the region. AI continues to receive reports of paramilitary operations carried out in coordination with Colombian security forces.

Following paramilitary incursions into Dabeiba, Antioquia department, on 25 December 2001, close to 100 armed men claiming to be members of a paramilitary group reportedly invaded the nearby returned Community of Life and Work La Balsita. The paramilitaries have reportedly remained there, raising fears for the safety of the civilian population.

The peace process initiated by President Pastrana in 1998 with the FARC is at a critical stage. Should the peace process end, it is feared that the conflict will intensify and that civilian communities in conflict zones, including the returned displaced communities, will be at even greater risk of human rights abuses.

Caption: A group of children at the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia

Major powers silent on Afghan arms

When AI campaigners challenged the US, Russian and western European governments to reveal their military assistance to United Front (Northern Alliance) forces in Afghanistan, they met a wall of silence.

On 12 October 2001, AI called for a halt to unconditional transfers of arms and expertise to all the warring parties in Afghanistan. AI was concerned that the Russian government had announced massive further deliveries of arms to the United Front, while members of the US Congress proposed legislation that would provide direct US government military assistance to the United Front and other ''eligible Afghan resistance organizations''. Then the European Union lifted its arms embargo on the United Front. Unusually, AI has had no response to its letters to these governments.

AI also called for an immediate moratorium on the use of cluster bombs, a call supported by several other NGOs and endorsed by the European Parliament. It reached the international agenda in December 2001 when it was officially discussed at the Second Review Conference of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Hundreds of cluster bombs have been dropped by US forces in Afghanistan. They release numerous bomblets over a wide area, at least 5 per cent of which do not explode upon impact. They become in effect anti-personnel mines which pose a continuing danger to the local population.

Peace in Afghanistan is threatened by the vast quantities of small arms circulating in the country. This was one of the subjects of an international conference in November 2001 – Small Arms and the Humanitarian Community: Developing a Strategy for Action – organized in Kenya by the Humanitarian Coalition on Small Arms. AI, a member of the coalition, sent 15 delegates from different AI sections. About 100 participants from more than 60 NGOs participated to explore ideas for a global campaign on small arms. The resulting Nairobi Framework for Action on Small Arms is in two parts: a campaign to stop the flow of arms to human rights abusers; and initiatives to help communities become safe from armed violence.For further information, contact ssauro@amnesty.org

Caption: Northern alliance fighters display their weapons as they sit in a truck in northern Afghanistan

Opinion

Following the attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001, many governments introduced or are planning new laws to protect their populations from similar acts. The measures are wide-ranging and include banning so-called ''terrorist'' organizations and stopping funds being transferred to them; monitoring private communications; establishing special legal rules and courts for trying suspected ''terrorists''; and preventing people suspected of involvement in ''terrorism'' from applying for or being granted refugee status.

International human rights standards not only entitle states to protect the public from violent acts such as those committed on 11 September, but oblige them to do so. However, measures to promote public safety must be implemented within the framework of all human rights that states must uphold. As recently stated by UN independent human rights experts:

''Public policies must strike a fair balance between on the one hand the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all and on the other hand legitimate concerns over national and international security. The fight against terrorism must not result in violations of human rights, as guaranteed under international law.''

Along with these UN experts, AI is concerned that some measures being introduced in the so-called ''war on terrorism'' may violate or unduly infringe upon basic human rights. The rights at risk include those relating to freedom of expression and association, liberty, privacy, fair trial, and the right to seek and enjoy asylum.

The definitions of ''terrorism'' in the security legislation of many countries are excessively vague and broad. This can lead to the criminalization of peaceful activities which are entirely unrelated to politically motivated violence.

Some of the laws and proposals examined by AI use imprecise or undefined terms that create uncertainty about what conduct they prohibit; were so widely drawn that they infringe unduly upon rights such as freedom of expression and association.

Both the US Congress and the UK Parliament have recently legislated to permit indefinite detention without trial of ''suspected terrorists''. In both countries, the law will apply only to non-nationals who cannot be deported. The systems of detention are in effect shadow criminal justice systems: people may be certified by government officials as threats to national security (tantamount to being convicted by the executive) and may be detained for years, as if they had been sentenced. These ''shadow'' detention systems lack the safeguards of the ordinary criminal justice systems. Decisions on detention may be made on the basis of secret evidence and anonymous witnesses, thereby denying people facing extremely serious allegations and consequences the right to defend themselves effectively.

AI's concerns about the risks to human rights of measures introduced during periods of internal and international threats to public safety are not imaginary or exaggerated.

The organization has monitored the use of security legislation measures in all regions of the world for more than 40 years. When there has been a ''war'' against political opponents of whatever kind, human rights have often been violated, including the right not to be tortured and the right to life. Those affected are not only those people who use and support violence but often also many other people who are innocent of any illegal activityor simply wish to exercise their right to express opinions with which the government disagrees.

New UK law erodes basic human rights

The United Kingdom (UK) government rushed through new security legislation in December 2001 which opens the door to human rights violations.

The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act allows non-nationals to be detained without charge or trial for an indefinite period of time, if the Home Secretary (a senior government minister) believes the person is a national security risk and a suspected ''international terrorist'', and cannot be deported. This belief is likely to be based on secret evidence. The only body which can review the executive decision is the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. However, this Commission can hold hearings in secret, can exclude the detainee and their lawyer from parts of the hearings, and can base its decision on secret evidence.

AI opposed these provisions because they will create a ''shadow'' criminal justice system without

the essential safeguards of the formal system.

The UK Home Secretary has stated that the authorities cannot imprison suspected ''terrorists'' by prosecuting them for crimes because of ''the strict rules on the admissibility of evidence in the criminal justice system of the United Kingdom and the high standard of proof required''. It is imperative to recall that the rules of evidence and standard of proof in the criminal justice system have been prescribed in order to reduce the risk of innocent individuals being convicted and punished.

In order to allow legislation for indefinite detention without charge or trial, the UK derogated from (suspended) Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under the Convention, faced with an emergency which ''threatens the life of the nation'', a state may limit or suspend some human rights guarantees. Such limitations must be strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. They may only last for the duration of the emergency, should not conflict with other obligations under international law, and should not be discriminatory.

AI is disturbed by the UK's derogation from this provision under the European Convention on Human Rights. Doubts about the necessity of derogation are reinforced by the Home Secretary's statement in October 2001 that ''there is no immediate intelligence pointing to a specific threat to the UK''. The UK is the only European Union government that has derogated from its human rights treaty obligations and it must not be allowed to undermine the European human rights framework.

Under the new legislation, asylum-seekers who have been labelled as ''suspected international terrorists'' will be denied the right to have the merits of their claim individually assessed.

On 19 December, a few days after the Act was passed, immigration officials and police officers carried out a number of arrests. AI will be monitoring developments in these cases.

Worldwide appeals

Egypt

Persecution of men accused of being gay leads to torture, imprisonment

A group of men was sentenced to prison terms of between one and five years for allegedly being gay by an exceptional court in Cairo, which denies defendants the right to appeal. AI considers 22 of the 23 men sentenced to be prisoners of conscience.

Some of the detainees reported that they were tortured. One of them told AI:

''The real beatings started in the police station. They beat us with their hands and legs and with a cane and a thick stick. Then they made us strip down to our underwear and the insults and humiliation continued.''

Most of the detainees were held in police stations, where they said they were beaten and subjected to falaka, beatings with a stick on the soles of the feet. Despite appeals from AI and others the authorities failed to investigate the torture allegations.

Convictions were mainly based on evidence which aimed to establish that the men had had sexual relations with other men. The accused were forced to undergo medical examinations, which amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, to determine whether they had engaged in anal sex. Other convictions were based solely on confessions.

The detainees were only given access to their lawyers and relatives some ten days after their arrest. Family members say that they were not officially informed of their relative's arrest. Some say that they only learnt that their relatives had been arrested through the media.

This case is an example of how gays in Egypt suffer discrimination, persecution and violence simply for being who they are.

Please write, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of these 22 prisoners of conscience detained solely on the grounds of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.

Send appeals to: His Excellency, President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, 'Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt. Fax: + 202 390 1998.

Caption: A group of Egyptian men accused of being gay face long terms of imprisonment after a trial which failed to meet international standards of fairness

Namibia

More than 300 people tortured in detention

More than 300 people were tortured during their arrest in 1999 and subsequent detention by police in Namibia. They were accused of involvement in an attack on several government targets by an armed political group, the Caprivi Liberation Army, in August 1999. More than 130 of them, subsequently released without charge, have filed complaints of torture. Their cases are still pending. Three police officers named by many detainees as perpetrators of torture remain on duty.

One of those tortured was Oscar Luphalezwi, a former senior policeman with more than 24 years' experience. He has more than 50 scars on his neck and back from thesjamboks(whips) that were used to beat him following his arrest in August 1999.

Of those arrested, 128 are facing charges of high treason. The Namibian government claims it does not have enough resources to provide legal aid to the defendants. Senior officials deny that the state is responsible for providing legal aid to the suspects, arguing that while the Constitution guarantees the right to a fair trial and to legal representation, it does not guarantee the right to be provided with legal aid by the state. In December 2001 the High Court ordered the government to provide free legal aid to the detainees, who have exhausted their financial means to pay for lawyers, but the government has now challenged that decision.

Please write, calling on the government to bring an end to torture and ill-treatment by the security forces; initiate independent and thorough investigations into the alleged torture and bring to justice all those responsible. Ask the government to uphold their obligations under domestic and international law to provide legal assistance to the 128 accused.

Send appeals to: The Hon Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, Minister for Justice, Ministry of Justice, Private Bag 13248 Windhoek, Republic of Namibia. Fax: + 264 61 221 615.

Caption: Oscar Luphalezwi

Indonesia

Papua independence leader unlawfully killed

Theys H. Eluay, a leading independence activist in Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) was abducted and killed on 10 November 2001 as he and his driver were returning home from a reception hosted by the army's Special Forces Command (Kopassus) at their military base in Jayapura. His body was found the following morning in Koya, near the border with Papua New Guinea. An autopsy found that he had been suffocated. It remains unclear who was responsible for his death.

Theys Eluay's driver, Aristoteles Masoka, is still missing. He called Theys Eluay's family the same evening to tell them they had been stopped by ''non-Papuans'', but the phone line was cut before he could relay any further details. There are grave concerns for his safety.

Repeated denials by the military of involvement in the killing have been strongly contested by local human rights groups. At the time of writing, a police investigation had not resulted in the identification of suspects. In the meantime, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called for the establishment of a national inquiry team.

Theys Eluay was Chair of the Papuan Presidium Council (PPC), a local body created to lead civilian support for Papuan independence. Many PPC members have been subjected to human rights violations. Five have been imprisoned as prisoners of conscience. At the time of his death, Theys Eluay and four other prominent PPC members, were on trial for their activities with the PPC.

Please write, calling on the authorities to initiate a full, credible and independent investigation into the abduction and unlawful killing of Theys Eluay, to locate and guarantee the safety of Aristoteles Masoka, and to provide protection for all other witnesses connected with this case.

Send appeals to: Megawati Sukarnoputri, President of the Republic of Indonesia, Istana Merdeka, Jakarta 10110, Indonesia. Fax: +62 21 345 2685/526 8726/380 5511/345 7782.

News in brief

Child Soldiers: the Optional Protocol comes into force this month

On 12 November 2001 New Zealand became the tenth state party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Protocol will now come into force on 12 February 2002.

10th anniversary of Peace Accords in El Salvador

16 January marks the 10th anniversary of the Peace Accords in El Salvador which ended an 11-year civil war. The Accords, between the government and the armed opposition group Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, have seen both advances and setbacks. AI continues to be concerned about the failure to bring to justice those guilty of human rights violations during the 11-year civil war.

Turkey rejects AI's application to register

In November 2001AI's application to register a branch of an international organization was rejected by the Council of Ministers in Turkey. AI members in Turkey are currently appealing against this decision to the Supreme Administrative Court. By refusing to allow a local structure of AI to be established in Turkey the government has failed to demonstrate committment to international and domestic human rights.

Death penalty news

President Musharraf of Pakistan commuted the death sentences of around 100 young offenders to imprisonment in December 2001.

Irene Khan, AI's Secretary General, raised the plight of the young offenders with the President during her visit to Pakistan and asked that their death sentences be

commuted. This important action reinforces the worldwide trend to abolish the death penalty in practice or in law.

YOUR APPEALS MAKE A DIFFERENCE: updates 2001

Many of the people featured in Worldwide Appeals were released in 2001. Please keep sending appeals for those who still need them.

''Early morning, on Monday 19 November, my Syrian friend, Sahar, who is a close friend to Akram al-Bunni and a refugee in Norway, called me and broke the wonderful news about the release of Akram and his friends, who all have spent up to 15 years under terrible conditions in Tadmur and Sednaya prisons.

''I called Damascus and heard his voice for the first time. It was a very touching moment for both of us. Akram expressed both happiness and gratitude.

''He was very, very happy to be with his family again. I also spoke to his daughter Bisan,19, who was only four years old when her father was arrested Her voice was full of joy.

''Now his most important concern was for the friends who stayed behind in the prison. He wanted to thank all Amnesty members and friends for their efforts to have the Syrian prisoners of conscience released.

''As anticipated and expected, Akram had not received any of the colorful postcards our Amnesty group sent him every week. But some people in the system have at least seen them!''

A member of Group 18, AI Norway

Tanzanian prisoners of conscience Juma Duni Haji (pictured) and Machano Khamis Ali, (May 2001), were released in October 2001 after a court in Zanzibar dropped the charges against them.The two leading members of the main opposition party had been arrested in February and charged with murdering a police officer during a demonstration at which they were not present.The releases follow the signing on 10 October of a political accord between the ruling party and the main opposition party in which it was agreed that the cases against hundreds of people who had been charged with illegally participating in the February demonstration, or with murder, would be dropped.

In Brunei Darussalam, prisoners of conscience Yunus Murang, (pictured) Freddie Chong and Malai Taufick, (July 2001), were released in October 2001 after being held without charge or trial for nine months under the Internal Security Act. They were all linked to a Christian evangelical church and had been accused of seeking to convert ''by deception'' members of the country's majority Muslim community. They were released after making a statement regretting their ''past involvement in subversive activities'', taking an oath of allegiance to the Sultan and pledging not to repeat their alleged wrongdoings. They had been held incommunicado and subjected to intense pressure.

Armenian conscientious objectors to military service – Rafik Tonoian (pictured) and Karen Yegoian – were released before having served all of their sentences. Rafik Tonoian was released at the end of May 2001; Karen Yegoian was released under the provision of an amnesty in July 2001, possibly as a result of international pressure. Apparently the Armenian authorities received more than 1000 appeals on behalf of Rafik Tonoian and Karen Yegoian. It seems that these were mainly generated by the appealwhich was published in the June 2001 issue of AI's The Wire.

Two Togolese prisoners of conscience (September 2001) were released in October 2001. Lucien Messan (pictured), editor of the weekly newspaper Le Combat du Peuple, and Harry Olympio, an opposition leader, were released after President Eyadéma granted them pardon by decree. Both had been imprisoned as part of a pattern of repression and human rights violations in the build-up to elections due in October 2001 but postponed till March 2002. Opposition leader Yaowi Agboyibo remains in prison after a trial which appeared to be aimed at stopping him running in the elections.

Also recently released

Cuba: José Orlando González Bridón was given ''conditional release'' on 22 November 2001

Morocco: Following a royal pardon on 7 November 2001, the Moroccan authorities released Brahim Laghzal, Cheikh Khaya and Laarbi Massoudi. The three Sahrawi prisoners of conscience were sentenced to four years' imprisonment after a trial in 2000 on charges of ''threatening state security'' in connection with alleged links with the Polisario Front, a movement which calls for an independent state in Western Sahara.

Guinea: Opposition leader Alpha Condé was released in May. After nearly two and a half years in prison he was granted a presidential pardon. ''Thanks to the support of AI members, I never felt alone.'' Alpha Condé, Guinea.

Uzbekistan: Ismail Adylov was released from prison in July, apparently following a presidential amnesty. AI heard the news from Mikhail Ardzinov chair of the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan. He said that Ismail Adylov and his family expressed their deeply felt gratitude to all those who campaigned tirelessly for his release.

Israel: Ghassan Muhammad 'Attamleh, an Israeli Arab detained without charge or trial apparently in connection with his political activity, was released in June. ''AI's groups played a major role in my release and I am thankful to them.'' Ghassan Muhammad 'Attamleh, Israel.

Angola: João Zaba was conditionally released from prison in September after serving just over six months of his sentence. He is a former employee of the World Bank and was serving a nine-month prison sentence for publishing an article on the Internet supporting independence for Cabinda, an Angolan enclave.

Burundi: Valérie Bukuru was unconditionally released in May 2001.

Turkmenistan: Shagildy Atakov was released in January 2002 after serving over three years of a four year sentence in extremely harsh conditions.

Please keep sending appeals

Despite some good news in 2001, the people listed below have seen very little change to their situation. Please continue to work on their behalf.

Indonesia (March 2001) No one has yet been bought to justice in relation to the case of Ernita binti Wahab, Idris Yusuf, Bakhitar Usman (RATA volunteers) and Rusli. A police investigation resulted in the detention of eight suspects, four civilian and four military. The civilians escaped in March 2001 and have not yet been recaptured. The other suspects have not yet been charged. Please appeal for those involved in the killings to be brought to trial without delay in a civilian court that meets international fair trial standards.

Mauritania (August 2001) On 12 December the Mauritanian court rejected an appeal on behalf of Chbih Ould Cheikh Malaïnine and upheld his earlier prison sentence of five years for ''conspiracy to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism''.

Guyana (April 2001) On 27 November 2001, a coroner's inquest jury returned a unanimous verdict that the Guyana police should be held criminally responsible for the death of Mohammed Shafeek. The Director of Public Prosecutions must now make a ruling as to whether criminal charges will follow. AI remains concerned about reports of continuing police intimidation of witnesses, and about the failure to take effective measures to guarantee the safety of witnesses. Since the death of Shafeek, there have been several other suspicious deaths in custody.

Viet Nam (September 2001) On 19 October, Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment, plus five years' probation on release, after a trial lasting only half a day. He was convicted under vaguely worded national security legislation used to criminalize peaceful dissent. Having previously spent 10 years in prison, he faces another long prison term for the peaceful expression of his political and religious beliefs.

USA (July 2001) Napoleon Beazley was granted a stay of execution less than four hours before he was due to die on 15 August 2001. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the emergency reprieve following an appeal raising various issues, including his age (17) at the time of the murder. Beazley is one of 31 juvenile offenders awaiting execution in Texas.

Philippines (December 2000) Lenido Lumanog, Rameses de Jesus, Joel de Jesus, Cesar Fortuna and Augusto Santos remain on death row. No charges have been filed against the police officers accused of torturing them. After receiving 23,000 letters the Department of Justice set up an investigation panel, but later decided it should not investigate the torture allegations.

Russian Federation (August 2001) Olga Kitova, an investigative journalist and member of the Belgorod regional parliament, was sentenced in December to a conditional (suspended) sentence of two-and-a-half years.

Mexico (February 2001) In November 2001 Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera were released on humanitarian grounds, but their convictions were not quashed nor those responsible for their arbitrary detention and torture brought to justice. General Gallardo remains in detention.

Angel Quintero and Claudia Patricia Monsalve, Colombia, January

Zeynep Avci, Turkey, January

Wang Wanxing, China, February

Manal Wahid Mana'i, Egypt, February

Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez Hernández, Guatemala, March

Eliane Bukuru, Constance Singirankabo, Fitina Barumbanzi, Sabine Ndayisimbiye and Jeanette Ndayisenga, Burundi, April

Fatma Tokmak,Turkey, May

Mustapha Adib, Morocco, May

Thich Thien Minh, Viet Nam, June

Dr Said bin Zu'air, Saudi Arabia, June

Dmitry Zavadsky, Belarus, July 2001

Sheikh 'Ali bin 'Ali al-Ghanim, Saudi Arabia, July

15 Prisoners of Conscience including Muhammad Badi'a 'Abd al-Magid, Ahmad Ibrahim Ahmad al-Halawani and Sa'd Zaghlul al-'Ashmawi Muhammad Sabir al-'Ashmawi, Egypt, September

Rose Samba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, September

5,000 Iraqis held at Rafha Camp, Saudi Arabia, September

Mohammad Tavassoli, Iran, October

Richard Williams, Jamaica, October

Nikolay Ganiyev, Maksim Strakhov and Nigmatullo Fayzullayev, Uzbekistan, November

Frans Yanggup, Daud Diwitauw, Domi Kum and Yosias Beanal, Papua Indonesia, November

Lukman, Azhari Iskandar and Tarmizi, Aceh, Indonesia, November

Nanasi Kisala, Democratic Republic of the Congo, November

Joe Ward, USA, November

Eleven shepherds, Turkey, December

Win Htein, Myanmar, December

Thomas Miller-El, USA, December