5 Amnesty International USA Group 48 3.16 1 DEMOCRATICNewsletter REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Urgent Action - Caroline Keyzor Two Year Prison Term For Six Lucha Activists 3 SAUDI ARABIA: Urgent Stock.Xchng Action - Poet Resentenced To Prison And Flogging 5 CHINA: Urgent Action - Tibetan Writer Imprisoned After Unfair Trial 7 IRAN : Urgent Action - Tortured Filmmaker And Musicians Face Jail DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Urgent Action - 9 URGENT ACTION - Two Year Prison Term For Six Lucha Activists Convicted Blogger Appeals Rebecca Kavugho, Serge Sivyavugha, case were delivered by the prosecutor Sentence Justin Kambale Mutsongo, Melka and the defense teams. They remain Kamundu, John Anipenda and Ghislain detained at Muzenze prison in Goma. 10 URGENT ACTION: Two Muhiwa (m,f) Their lawyers intend to appeal this deci- Lucha Activists And One sion within 10 days. Six members of the Lutte pour le Youth Denied Bail Changement (LUCHA) youth move- In the early morning of February 16th, ment have been sentenced to two years authorities forced their way into a AIUSA-Group 48 in prison on charges of “attempting to house where the six LUCHA activists http://aipdx.org incite disobedience”. The six were ar- had spent the night preparing messages 503-227-1878 rested on February 16th in Goma, hours for the general strike, called for by the Next Meeting: before a general strike held in protest opposition and civil society. The general Friday March 11th against delays in organizing the 2016 strike was in protest against attempts to First Unitarian Church general elections in Democratic Repub- delay preparations for the 2016 general 1011 SW 12th Ave lic of Congo. elections, which would extend Presi- 7:00pm informal gathering dent Kabila’s rule beyond the timeframe 7:30pm meeting starts Rebecca Kavugho, Serge Sivyavugha, outlined in the Constitution of the Justin Kambale Mutsongo, Melka Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kamundu, John Anipenda and Ghislain NewsLetter Designed Muhiwa were sentenced to two years Amnesty International believes the six By Michelle Whitlock in prison on February 24th immedi- activists have been convicted solely for MichelleWhitlock.com ately after closing arguments in their peacefully exercising their rights to» AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2016 Pg 2 freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and considers Suite 725 them to be prisoners of conscience. Washington, DC 20036 Tel: 202 234 7690 Action Please write immediately in French or your own language: Fax: 202 234 2609 ◌ Calling on the DRC authorities to drop all charges against Email: [email protected] the six LUCHA activists in Goma and to immediately and Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our unconditionally release them; impact! EITHER send a short email to [email protected] with ◌ Urging them to ensure that the six LUCHA activists are not “UA 37/16” in the subject line, and include in the body of the subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while in deten- email the number of letters and/or emails you sent, OR fill tion. out this "https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X59XS23"short online form to let us know how you took action. Appeals To PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE APRIL 11th 2016 TO: Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Minister of Justice Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date. Monsieur Alexis Tambwe Mwamba Ministry of Justice Additional Information 228 Avenue de Lemera The DRC’s Constitution limits a presidential mandate to two BP 3137 consecutive five years terms. Tensions have increased as the Kinshasa – Gombe incumbent President Kabila is prevented by the Constitution DRC to seek another term after he was declared the winner of two consecutive elections in 2006 and 2011. Email: [email protected] Salutation: Honourable Minister President Kabila has never declared his intention to stay in power beyond the Constitution’s limit of terms. However, Minister of Interior and Security there have been several attempts by the ruling majority to Professor Evariste Boshab change the Constitution to allow him to stay in office or ex- Ministry of Interior and Security tend his rule beyond the timeframe fixed by the Constitution. Avenue Roi Baudoin Kinshasa – Gombe LUCHA is a youth movement that was created in Goma, east- DRC ern DRC in 2012. It is a community based organization the Email: [email protected] holds sit-ins, demonstration and other actions to campaign for human rights and on social issues. LUCHA has been vocal Salutation: Honourable Minister in campaigning calling for the authorities to observe electoral Copies To deadlines in the Constitution, and for the president to respect Prime Minister term limits as enshrined in the Constitution.» His Excellency Augustin Matata Ponyo Office of the Prime Minister Postage Rates 5 Avenue Roi Baudoin Kinshasa – Gombe Within the United States DRC $0.35 - Postcards Email: [email protected] $0.49 - Letters and Cards up to 1 oz. Ambassador François Balumuene, To all international destinations $1.20 - Postcards Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo $1.20 - Airmail Letters and Cards up to 1 oz. 1100 Connecticut Avenue, NW AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2016 Pg 3 The government has accused LUCHA fo being criminal least 19 people connected to LUCHA are currently in jail. movement, set up with the aim of disturbing public order. At SAUDI ARABIA: Urgent Action - Poet Resentenced To Prison And Flogging Ashraf Fayadh (m) General Court found the poet’s repentance in relation to the charge of apostasy to be satisfactory. The Court of Ap- peal, however, recommended that he should nevertheless be sentenced for apostasy and sent the case back to the General Court, which in turn sentenced him to death for apostasy on November 17th, 2015. Ashraf Fayadh was denied access to a lawyer throughout his detention and first instance trial, in clear violation of both international and national law. Griszka Niewiadomski Stock.Xchng Action Please write immediately in English, Arabic or your own Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh has had his death language: sentence overturned by a court in Saudi Arabia. He has been ◌ Calling on the authorities to release Ashraf Fayadh imme- re-sentenced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes. He is a diately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience, prisoner of conscience. held solely for peacefully exercising his human right to free- dom of expression; Ashraf Fayadh’s death sentence was commuted by the General Court in Abha, southwest Saudi Arabia, on February 2nd. He ◌ Urging them to ensure that Ashraf Fayadh’s conviction is has been re-sentenced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes. quashed; According to his lawyer, the Court has also ordered Ashraf ◌ Urging them to immediately establish an official mora- Fayadh to publicly announce his repentance in official Saudi torium on all executions as a first step towards total aboli- Arabian media. The same court initially sentenced him to four tion, and abolish flogging and all other cruel, inhuman and years in prison and 800 lashes on the same charges, before degrading punishments. sentencing him to death upon the recommendation of an ap- peal court. His lawyer has stated that he will appeal the latest Appeals To sentence. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE MARCH 15th 2016 TO: King and Prime Minister The 35-year-old Palestinian poet and artist, born and resid- His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud ing in Saudi Arabia, was first arrested on August 6th, 2013 The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques following a complaint by a Saudi Arabian citizen alleging that Office of His Majesty the King the poet was promoting atheism and spreading blasphemous Royal Court, Riyadh ideas among young people. He was released the next day, but rearrested on January 1st, 2014 and charged with apostasy Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to his supposed questioning of religion and spreading Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) atheist thought via his poetry. He was also charged with +966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying) violating Article 6 of the country’s Anti-Cyber Crime Law by Twitter: @KingSalman taking and storing photos of women on his phone. Salutation: Your Majesty Ashraf Fayadh was sentenced by the General Court in Abha Minister of Justice on April 30th, 2014 to four years in prison and 800 lashes for His Excellency Dr Walid bin Mohammed bin Saleh the charges relating to images of women on his phone. The Al-Samaani» AIUSA group 48 Newsletter March 2016 Pg 4 Ministry of Justice of their retrial before the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC, University Street, the counter-terrorism court). Only two members remain at PO Box 7775, Riyadh 11137 liberty, pending the outcome of their ongoing trials in front Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of the same Court. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, Dr Mohammad Fax: +966 11 401 1741 / 402 031 al-Qahtani, Dr Suliaman al-Rashudi, Dr Abdulkareem al- Salutation: Your Excellency Khoder, Dr Abdulrahman al-Hamid, and Fowzan al-Harbi, are currently serving prison sentences for up to 15 years, to Copies To be followed by a travel ban of equal duration, for their peace- President, Human Rights Commission ful activism. Abdulaziz al-Shubaili and Issa al-Hamid are still Bandar Mohammed ‘Abdullah al-Aiban free pending the outcome of their trials. Saleh al-Ashwan has Human Rights Commission been detained since April 2012 without any charge or trial. In PO Box 58889, Riyadh 11515 March 2013 the court also ordered the disbanding of ACPRA, King Fahd Road confiscation of its property and the closure of its social media Building No. 3, Riyadh accounts. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Other peaceful activists persecuted by the authorities include Fax: +966 11 418 5101 human rights defenders Waleed Abu al-Khair and Fadhel al-Manasif (see "https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ Ambassador Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir, mde23/1546/2015/en/" https://www.amnesty.org/en/docu- Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia ments/mde23/1546/2015/en/ and "https://www.amnesty.org/ 601 New Hampshire Ave.