Holiday Card Action 2008 Each year during the winter holidays, Amnesty International asks friends and members to send messages of support to prisoners and human rights defenders around the world. Holidays can mean little to those who fear they've been forgotten by the world. A simple greeting card, however, can bring renewed hope. The prisoners and human rights defenders featured here need your support. Please let them know they are not forgotten.
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ALGERIA (c) AI
Louisa Saker Louisa Saker has not seen or heard from her husband, Salah Saker, since May 1994, when he was arrested without a warrant at their home in the city of Constantine. In a landmark decision, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled in 2006 that the Algerian authorities must launch a full investigation into the fate of Salah Saker and bring those responsible for his enforced disappearance to justice. Despite this, judicial authorities in Constantine dismissed Louisa Saker's complaint.Learn more »
AZERBAIJAN Ruslan Bessonov, (c) Private
Ruslan, Maksim and Dmitri Three teenagers--Ruslan Bessonov, Maksim Genashilkin and Dmitri Pavlov--have been detained since March 2005, charged with murdering another teenager. All three boys allege they were tortured and ill-treated to force them to sign confessions. Following an unfair trial, a court sentenced the three teenagers in June 2007 to 10years' imprisonment in a strict regime prison. Some observers believe the boys may have been targeted because of their Russian ethnicity.Learn more »
CHINA (c) Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan
Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan Hu Jia has been repeatedly harassed and detained by authorities on account of his human rights activism. He and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, regularly reported on human rights abuses taking place in China and provided news of human rights defenders imprisoned or harassed by police. After months under house arrest, Hu Jia was detained in December 2007, shortly after the birth of his daughter. Zeng Jinyan and her daughter remain under house arrest.Learn more »
ERITREA (c) Emad Nasry
Patriarch Antonios Patriarch Antonios, the 80-year-old leader of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, has been held under house arrest since January 2006. Patriarch Antonios (known to Eritreans as "Abune" Antonios) had resisted government interference in religious affairs and had protested the imprisonment of three Orthodox priests. Amnesty International considers Abune Antonios to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful expression of his right to freedom of expression and freedom of religion.Learn more »
GUATEMALA (c) Private
Fredy Peccerelli Fredy Peccerelli and his colleagues have been threatened, followed, watched, and shot at because of their work to combat impunity. Mr. Peccerelli heads the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, which carries out forensic investigations and exhumations of mass graves dating from the time of Guatemala's internal armed conflict. The uncovering of mass graves is a key contribution to the pursuit of truth, justice and reparation for the relatives and the survivors of the armed conflict.Learn more »
INDONESIA Filep Karma (c) ELSHAM
Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage On December 1, 2004, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage took part in a ceremony in Papua province in eastern Indonesia, during which the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, was raised. In response, police advanced on the crowd, firing weapons and beating people with batons. Police arrested Filep Karma at the site of the ceremony. A group of about 20 people were later arrested at the police station when they went to protest Karma's arrest. This group was subsequently released, except for Yusak Pakage who remained in detention.Learn more »
MEXICO Barbara Italia Mendez (c) Private
The Women of Atenco During protests by members of a local farmers organization in the town of San Salvador Atenco in May 2006, federal and local police arrested more than 45 women without explanation. At least 26 of the women reported being physically and sexually assaulted by the police. More than two and a half years later, no police officials have been prosecuted for the physical and sexual violence endured by the women. The women, however, continue to press for justice.Learn more »
RWANDA François-Xavier Byuma (c) Private
François-Xavier Byuma François-Xavier Byuma, President of Turengere Abana , an organization that investigates violations of children's rights, was sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment following an unfair trial. His organization published a report in May 2007 investigating claims that a 17-year-old girl had been raped by a judge in March of that year. The judge was detained for three days, but then released. In late May 2007, this same judge presided over François-Xavier Byuma's trial.Learn more »
SRI LANKA Vettivel (c) Pradeep Dilrukshana
Vettivel and Valarmathi Jasikaran Vettivel Jasikaran, a Sri Lankan writer and publisher, and his wife, Valarmathi Jasikaran, have been arbitrarily detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police in Colombo since March 6, 2008. They were brought before a Magistrates' Court on June 30, at which time their detention was extended for another three months. Vettivel and Valarmathi Jasikaran have now been in TID custody for four months, well past this 90-day limit, and have yet to be charged with a crime.Learn more »
TURKMENISTAN Amanklychev (c) Catherine Berthillier, Galaxie Presse
Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadzhiev, members of the human rights organization Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation (THF), are prisoners of conscience who were jailed solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression. Turkmen authorities charged them in August 2006 in a trial that lasted less than 2 hours. Amnesty International believes they have been jailed on fabricated charges to stop their human rights activism.Learn more »
USA (c) Private
Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini remains detained in Guantánamo despite being cleared for release over two years ago. Odaini was detained in March 2002 along with several other Yemeni nationals, and sent to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In June 2005, he was deemed suitable for release from Guantánamo, yet he continues to be unjustly detained. He has not been interrogated for nearly two years and the reason for his continued detention is unclear.Learn more »
ZIMBABWE (c) Private
Woment of Zimbabwe Arise Zimbabwe police have repeatedly arrested activists from the human rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) for organizing peaceful demonstrations to protest the worsening social, economic and human rights situation in the country. Authorities have harassed and ill-treated WOZA members in an effort to intimidate them into ceasing their protests.Learn more »
