Group 48 Newsletter - February 2011

Amnesty International USA Group 48

Newsletter02.11

In This Issue . . .1 RWANDA: Reveal

whereabouts of disappeared businessman

2 RWANDA: Urge Government to Reveal Whereabouts of Disappeared Businessman

3 CHINA: Urgent Action - Enforced Disappearance

5 SUDAN: Urgent Action - Risk of torture or ill-treatment, at least 20 protestors

8 Egypt must investigate activists' detention

AIUSA-Group 48http://aipdx.org 503-227-1878Next Meeting: Friday February 11thFirst Unitarian Church1011 SW 12th Ave7:00pm informal gathering 7:30pm meeting starts

NewsLetter Designed By Michelle Whitlock MichelleWhitlock.com

RWANDA: Reveal whereabouts of disappeared businessmanJanuary 27, 2011

The Rwandan government should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza, not seen since his enforced disappearance in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, on 26 March 2010, Amnesty International said today. Amnesty International believes that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza is detained in military custody in Rwanda. The organization is calling on the Rwan-dan authorities to promptly charge or release him.

Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza, a dual citizen of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was living in Gisenyi and working as a businessman and on the Ecumenical Programme for Peace, Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation (PAREC) demobilisation programme in the DRC at the time of

his enforced disappearance. He was the leader of an armed opposition group, the Front patriotique congolais, in east-ern DRC in the late 1990’s. The group disbanded and later reformed before being integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC).

Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was last seen on 26 March 2010 around 6am when he dropped a family member at Nyabugogo Bus Station in Kigali. On that morning, he was driving a silver grey Toyota Vista registration num-ber RAA 060Y. He never reached his brother’s home in Kigali, as planned. Family members tried to contact him by telephone later that morning. At first, he did not answer and by mid-morning, his phone was switched-off.

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Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza’s family reported him missing to the Rwandan National Security Service (NSS) on 27 March 2010, but have not received further news from the NSS about his whereabouts. On 7 May 2010, Robert Ndengeye Uray-eneza made a phone call saying that he was detained at an unknown location in Rwanda. No-one has heard from him since.

In October 2010, Amnesty International received credible information suggesting that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was detained in Rwandan military custody.

The Rwandan Ministry of Defence did not respond to a letter from Amnesty International requesting information on Rob-ert Ndengeye Urayeneza’s whereabouts in November 2010. In October 2010, two months after a written request for infor-mation, the Rwandan police confirmed that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was not in police custody. They suggested that Amnesty International instead direct enquiries to the Minis-try of Defence.

Amnesty International calls on the Rwandan authorities to: ◌ Immediately reveal the fate or whereabouts of Robert

Ndengeye Urayeneza.

◌ Promptly charge Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza with a rec-ognizable criminal offence and transfer him from military to civilian custody or release him.

◌ If charged, grant Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza with all the legal safeguards available under Rwandan law, including the right of regular access to a lawyer and a prompt and fair trial which meets international standards.

◌ Immediately release or else reveal the whereabouts and charge any other individuals subjected to incommunicado

detention or enforced disappearance.

◌ Bring any individuals subjected to incommunicado deten-tion promptly before a court to review the legality of their detention.

◌ Bring to justice all those responsible for ordering or car-rying out enforced disappearances, regardless of rank, in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards.

Background Enforced disappearances, abductions and incommunicado detention, rare in Rwanda in recent years, increased in 2010, as the Rwandan authorities investigated a spate of grenade attacks before the presidential elections.

Amnesty International received information of three other persons who disappeared in March and May 2010 in Rwanda. All were former supporters of Laurent Nkunda, the former head of the armed opposition group, the National Council for the Defence of the People (CNDP), operating in North Kivu, eastern DRC. For example, Sheikh Iddy Abbasi, a former sup-porter of Nkunda, has not been seen since his disappearance outside his home in Gisenyi in March 2010.

Lieutenant-Colonel Rugigana Ngabo, the brother of the for-mer Rwandan army chief, Kayumba Nyamwasa, was held in incommunicado detention without access to a lawyer, family or independent medical care from August 2010 to January 2011. The Rwandan authorities are investigating allegations that Ngabo may have threatened state security. Following a habeas corpus request by Ngabo’s family addressed to the East African Court of Justice in November 2010, the Rwandan authorities are believed to have produced Ngabo in the past week before a military court in Kigali.

RWANDA: Urge Government to Reveal Whereabouts of Disappeared BusinessmanDear fellow activists, The news release below explains our concern over the disap-pearance of Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza, not seen since his enforced disappearance in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, on 26 March 2010.

In October 2010, Amnesty International received credible information suggesting that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was detained in Rwandan military custody.

Please write a letter, like the sample below, requesting action on his behalf from the Rwandan government. Please also send a copy to the Rwandan ambassador in the United States.President Paul Kagame Presidence de la Republique BP 15 Kigali Rwanda»


Dear President Kagame, I am writing about the case of Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza, whom Amnesty International believes is detained in military custody in Rwanda. He has been missing since March 2010. The conditions of his disappearance would seem to indicate that he was apprehended, but requests for information con-cerning his case have not been heeded.

We are requesting that the Rwandan government immediately reveal the fate or whereabouts of Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza.

If he is suspected of having committed a crime, please promptly charge Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza with a recog-nizable criminal offence and transfer him from military to ci-vilian custody or release him. If he is charged, we request that the Rwandan authorities grant Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza with all the legal safeguards available under Rwandan law, including the right of regular access to a lawyer and a prompt and fair trial which meets international standards.

As other individuals were apparently also apprehended, and have disappeared, since last March, we are requesting you im-

mediately release or else reveal the whereabouts and charge any other individuals subjected to incommunicado detention or enforced disappearance. We also request you bring any individuals subjected to incommunicado detention promptly before a court to review the legality of their detention.

Disappearances are an abrogation of each individual’s human rights. We request you bring to justice all those responsible for ordering or carrying out enforced disappearances, regard-less of rank, in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards. Sincerely,

Copy to His Excellency James Kimonyo Ambassador to United State for Rwanda Rwanda Embassy 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW Washington, DC 20009-2502 Phone: (202) 232-2882 Email: [email protected]

CHINA: Urgent Action – Enforced DisappearanceHada (m) human rights activist, Xinna (f), Uiles (m)

were detained prior to his expected release date. His other relatives, including his sister-in-law Naraa and his uncle Haschuluu, who were waiting to be reunited with him upon his release, did not receive any information about him on the day.

On 11 December 2010, Naraa received a CD that contained five photos showing Hada having a dinner with Xinna and Uiles. The photos were dated 10 December 2010. Naraa told the Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) that she believed that based on the clothes seen on Xinna and Uiles, the photos were recent. The same photos had also been anonymously posted on Chinese overseas dis-sident website Boxun.com.

On 13 December 2010, Haschuluu received an SMS pur-portedly from Hada urging him not to worry and claiming that both he and Uiles had been released. Haschuluu never received a response to his reply to the sender.

On 14 December 2010, an official from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau visited Naraa

Hada, a human rights activist from Inner Mongolia, his wife Xinna and their son Uiles have been detained in northern China and their fate and current whereabouts are unknown. Amnesty International fears they may be subjected to en-forced disappearance.

Hada was due to be released from prison on 10 December 2010, on completion of his 15-year prison sentence for “split-tism” and “espionage”. His wife Xinna and their son Uiles »

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and told her that the Public Security Bureau had delivered the photos to Naraa. They also told her that Hada and his family were “enjoying a family re-union” in a “five star luxury hotel” and that they needed “a bit [of time] to plan their next step”. The official did not tell her the hotel name, its location or how long “a bit” was likely to be.

Since the detention of Xinna and Uiles, Naraa and Haschuluu have been the only sources of information about the situation of Hada and his family, but it appears that their channels for communication have been cut, as all phone calls to them have gone unanswered since at least 18 December 2010.

Background Hada was detained on 11 December 1995. The Hohhot Intermediate People’s Court found him guilty of “splittism” and “espionage” following an unfair trial and sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment on 11 November 1996. Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience and campaigned for his immediate and unconditional release.

Hada was held in Chifeng Prison in Ulaanhad (in Chinese: Chifeng) Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 2004, an inmate who was released from Chifeng Prison reported that Hada was routinely abused there, subjected to disciplinary punishments ranging from solitary confinement to being chained onto a metal “shackle board” in prison (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/004/2005/en)

Before his detention, Hada was the general manager of the Mongolian Academic Bookshop in Hohhot. His imprison-ment was related to his involvement in an organization called the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance (SMDA), which aimed to promote human rights, Mongolian culture and “a high degree of autonomy for China’s minority nation-alities, as guaranteed in [China’s] Constitution”.

In 2002, Uiles (Hada’s son, born in 1984) was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for his alleged involvement in a rob-bery. Whilst in prison, he was said to have been pressured to cut ties to his parents.

Xinna, Hada’s wife, was detained on 4 December 2010 at the family-run bookstore. The police informed Uiles that she was being held at the Inner Mongolia No. 1 Detention Centre in Hohhot, the regional capital (in Chinese: Huhehaote). The police also raided the bookstore warehouse and detained

Uiles. Uiles was released on the same day shortly before mid-night and told the SMHRIC that the police had pressured him to agree to not to disseminate any information about himself or his family over the phone or on the internet; to sever his relationship with his parents, and; not to carry out any sepa-ratist activities like his father had done.

Uiles was detained again in the morning of 5 December 2010. Naraa, Hada’s sister-in-law, later received a notice from the Public Security authorities stating that Xinna was held on suspicion of running an illegal business and that Uiles was suspected of being involved in dealing drugs.

In November 2010, the authorities placed writer and activ-ist Huuchinhuu under illegal house arrest. She had been planning a party for Hada upon his release. Another Inner Mongolian activist, Arslan, who also had been planning a gathering to celebrate Hada’s anticipated release from prison is also under house arrest.

Group CoordinatorJoanne [email protected]

Concert TablingWill [email protected]

Newsletter EditorDan [email protected]

TreasurerTena [email protected]

Legislative CoordinatorDan Johnson503-310-4540 [email protected]

Indonesia RANMax [email protected]

Central Africa RANTerrie Rodello503-246-6836 [email protected]

OR State Death Penalty Abolition CoordinatorTerrie Rodello503-246-6836 [email protected]

Central America RANMarylou Noble503-245-6923marylou_noble@ yahoo.com

Prisoners' Cases & DarfurJane [email protected] [email protected]

AIUSA Group 48 Contact Information

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Action Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

◌ Urging the authorities to immediately clarify the current status and whereabouts of Hada, Xinna and Uiles;

◌ Urging the authorities to immediately and uncondition-ally release Hada, who has been imprisoned as a prisoner of conscience since 1995;

◌ Urging the authorities to release Xinna and Uiles if they are not to be charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense;

◌ Urging the authorities to ensure that as long as any of them remain in detention, they have access to family, legal repre-sentation of their choosing, and any medical care they may require.

Appeals To Director of the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional Depart-ment of Public Security ZHAO Liping Tingzhang Nei Menggu Zizhiqu Gong’anting 15 Haila’erdajie, Hohhot 010051 Nei Menggu Zizhiqu PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Fax: 011 86 471 6550102 Salutation: Dear Director

Chairman of the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional People’s Government BATE’ER Wulan Zhuxi

Nei Menggu Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu 1 Chilechuandajie, Hohhot 010098 Nei Menggu Zizhiqu, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Fax: 011 86 471 6944148 Salutation: Dear Chairman

Copies To Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China WU Aiying Buzhang Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Fax: 011 86 10 65292345 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Minister

Ambassador Zhang Yesui Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 3505 International Place NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 495-2138 Email: [email protected]

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending ap-peals after 18 February 2011.

SUDAN: Urgent Action – Risk of torture or ill-treatment, at least 20 protestorsOn 30 January, around 2,000 people gathered in Khartoum for a peaceful demonstration. More than 70 people were arrested, including a large number of people in the streets before they reached the demonstrations. The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and riot police reportedly began searching for demonstration organizers the night before. Armed riot police and the NISS reportedly used batons and teargas to break up the demonstrations. Many of those arrest-ed were injured. Reports suggest that a student demonstrator, Mohamed Abdelrahman, died in hospital on 31 January, after being injured as the police dispersed the demonstrators.

On 30 January, protests spread across North Africa to Sudan’s capital Khartoum. Following a crackdown by the se-curity service and police, more than 70 people were arrested, with 20 still held in detention. They are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

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The Sunday protests were followed by arrests on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when the protests spread outside Khartoum, and the NISS specifically targeted student move-ments and universities.

More than 25 detainees had been released by the evening of 31 January. Seven journalists who were held by the NISS for covering the demonstrations were also released. Many of the detainees were reportedly tortured and otherwise ill-treated in NISS detention. An unknown number of people are still being held in NISS custody. Louis Awil Weriak, Youssif Mubarak Sadiq Al Mahdi and his brother Salah Mubarak Sadiq Al Mahdi, Mohammed Kamal Ibrahim Ahmed and Mahmoud Kamal Ibrahim Ahmed are among those report-edly still detained by the NISS. Witnesses say that Louis Awil Weriak, a southern Sudanese, was tortured and is in a very poor physical condition. He remains in NISS detention. None of the detainees have so far had access to their families or lawyers, and no charges have been made against them up to date.

On 31 January, the NISS banned opposition newspaper Ajrass Al Hurriya from going to print, and stopped independent newspaper Al Sahafa, from distributing its daily edition. Al Midan, a newspaper affiliated to the Sudanese communist party, was also stopped from distributing its printed edition on Tuesday morning.

Background Protests throughout the Middle East and North Africa began in Tunisia several weeks ago and extended to a number of other capitals. Inspired by these protests, the demonstrators in Sudan were calling for democracy and asking for an im-provement in their socio-economic conditions.

The police and the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in Sudan often arrest and ill-treat peaceful demonstra-tors, particularly when they are asking for their rights to be upheld. Student movements and organizations are regularly targeted by the NISS. Journalists suffer from harassment and various restrictions to their freedom of expression. Newspa-pers also suffer from the occasionally renewed censorship on newspapers. Three journalists – who are considered prisoners of conscience - are presently in prison, serving prison terms in relation to their work.

Torture or other forms of ill-treatment of students, human rights activists and journalists by the NISS is often reported in Sudan. The 2010 National Security Act (2010 NSA), passed in December 2009, gives members of the NISS extensive powers of arrest and detention. Under the same Act, NISS agents are also provided with immunity from prosecution for any act committed in the course of their work. The 2010 NSA maintained powers and immunities provided under the previ-ous law, the 1999 National Security Forces Act. As a result of these laws, a culture of impunity has pervaded in Sudan and NISS members have been carrying out human rights viola-tions with impunity.

Action Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

◌ Calling on the authorities to reveal the identities and whereabouts of those detained and grant them immediate access to their families, lawyers and to any medical treatment they might require;

◌ Calling on the authorities to release all those detained or charge them with recognizably criminal offense;

◌ Calling on the authorities to promptly and effectively inves-tigate all allegations of torture and other serious human rights violations;

◌ Calling on the Sudanese government to immediately stop the harassment and intimidation of human rights activists

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and journalists in Sudan and to respect their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly;

◌ Calling for the 2010 National Security Act to be reformed to remove the excessive powers of the NISS, including powers of arrest and detention for four and a half months without judicial oversight.

Appeals To President HE Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir Office of the President People’s Palace PO Box 281 Khartoum, SUDAN Fax: 011 249 183 782 541 Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice Mr Mohammed Bushara Dousa Ministry of Justice, PO Box 302 Al Nil Avenue Khartoum, SUDAN Fax: 011 249 183 764 168 Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Interior Mr Ibrahim Mohamed Hamed Ministry of Interior PO Box 873 Khartoum, SUDAN

Copies To Charge d’Affaires Akec Khoc Aciew Khoc Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan 2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 667 2406 E-mail: [email protected]

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending ap-peals after 16 March 2011.

Tip of the Month: Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.

Former humanitarian aid worker, Carl Wilkens speaks in Portland

Wednesday, February 9 at 7:00 PM Portland First United Methodist Church 1838 SW Jefferson St, Portland OR Free admission (suggested donation $10) Organized by Oregon Holocaust Resource Center

As a humanitarian aid worker, Carl Wilkens moved his young family to Rwanda in the spring of 1990. When the genocide was launched in April 1994, Carl refused to leave, even when urged to do so by close friends, his church and the United States government. Thousands of expatriates evacuated and the United Nations pulled out most of its troops. Carl was the only American to remain in the country. Venturing out each day into streets crackling with mortars and gunfire, he worked his way through roadblocks of angry, bloodstained soldiers and civilians armed with machetes and assault rifles in order to bring food, water and medicine to groups of orphans trapped around the city. His actions saved the lives of hundreds.

Carl uses a storytelling format to talk about the genocide and the treacherous thinking that says we can solve a problem by excluding someone. He is the founder of World Outside My Shoes (http://worldoutsidemyshoes.org/). World Outside My Shoes is a non-profit educational and professional development organization committed to inspiring and equipping people to enter the world of “The Other”. “The Other” may be under our own roof or on the other side of the globe.

The collective effort to bring Carl Wilkens to Portland has already garnered many partners including: Oregon Holocaust resource Center; Never Again Coalition; Coalition Against Hate Crimes; Congregation Kol Shalom; Oregon Area Jewish Committee; Congregation Neveh Shalom; Africa New Life Ministries-Rwanda; Bikes To Rwanda; Amnesty International Group 48 and Portland First United Methodist Church.

For more information or if you have questions regarding the event, please contact the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center at 503 245-2733 or www.ohrconline.org.

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AIUSA group 48 Newsletter February 2011

Egypt must investigate activists' detention5 February 2011

colm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director.

"We remain very concerned about activists belonging to groups such as the 6 April Movement, the Youth of Justice and Liberty and the National Association for Change, who were detained in separate incidents on 3 February and whose whereabouts we are still trying to establish.

"The Egyptian authorities must now carry out an urgent inde-pendent investigation into why human rights activists moni-toring protests in Cairo were targeted in this way, and who gave the orders for it."

The international human rights activists, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch staff, were released on Friday. The Egyptian activists detained with them were released on Saturday.

Amnesty International has called for an investigation into the detention of some 35 human rights activists and journal-ists, including two Amnesty International staff members, who were freed after spending almost two days in military custody.

The Egyptian and international human rights activists, law-yers and journalists were arrested Thursday when military police raided the offices of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center.

"We welcome the news that these activists have been freed, but we are outraged that they were detained in the first place and by the manner in which they have been treated," said Mal-

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Group 48 Newsletter - February 2011