Archive for April, 2008

Support The Global Online Freedom Act

Monday, April 28th, 2008

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA

April 28, 2008

Ask your Representative to support H.R. 275, the Global Online Freedom Act.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=331

Dear Supporter,

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sending an email.

Support online freedom of speech by asking your Representative to support H.R. 275, the Global Online Freedom Act. http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=331

In April 2004, the Chinese journalist Shi Tao used his Yahoo! email account to send a message to a U.S.-based pro-democracy website. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities.” Disturbingly, Yahoo! provided information to the government for his prosecution.

Enough is enough. Companies like Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft have sacrificed international human rights standards, and their own corporate missions, in pursuit of new and lucrative markets. Act now to end the censorship of the internet, ask your Representative to support H.R. 275, the Global Online Freedom Act.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=331

Now, as the Olympics approach, it is more important than ever that the U.S. demonstrate leadership in ensuring U.S. companies are not a party to such repressive tactics as those perpetrated by the Chinese Government. The Beijing Olympics have been branded by the Chinese the “High Tech Olympics”. Despite this, access to and use of the Internet remains highly restricted, with websites being shut down in the lead up to the Olympics.

Ask your Representative to support H.R. 275, the Global Online Freedom Act of 2007, which would prevent U.S. companies from carrying out or facilitating the suppression of online speech in repressive countries.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=331

MEXICO
Help Put Human Rights at the Core of US-Mexican Relations!

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=333

GUATEMALA
This May take action for Justice in Guatemala. Find events in your area.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=335

USA
The Right to Return for Katrina Survivors Take Action

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.php?id=336

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Amnesty in the News (Prison – Fashion – Design)

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Prisoner designs enter fashion world

* Story Highlights
* Prison inmates design clothes for new shop in German capital
* Portion of profits go to prisoner rights organizations
* Clothes include tag include prisoner’s name and sentence
* Products include design by inmate on death row in Texas, U.S.

By CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen

A new company in Germany is trying to break into the fashion business selling stylish clothes designed and produced by prison inmates.

The company Haeftling, which in English means inmate, has just opened its first store in Berlin. “We want to have basic, durable, timeless, beautiful clothes,” said Stephan Bohle, one of the company founders.

Many of the clothes, cooking aprons and even stainless steel food trays offered in the Berlin store were either designed or manufactured in jails, but not just German ones.

One design shows a female comic figure that was drawn by a man sitting on death row in Texas.

Bohle said part of the proceeds from sales go to organizations that support prisoners’ rights and better conditions for inmates, like Amnesty International.

But in some cases, money goes directly to the inmates that designed certain pieces. “In the case of the female cartoon figure, this man was almost granted a stay from execution because of the design he did for us but in the end unfortunately the appeals court ruled against him,” Bohle said

The clothes offered at the Haeftling shop also tell the story of the inmates that designed individual pieces. A small text inside the item lays out the prisoners story, including the name, where he is in jail and how long the term will be.

Some of the clothes are manufactured at a corrections facility in Halle, near Leipzig, in Eastern Germany.

Prisoners sew cooking aprons in a jail workshop for several hours a day. “It’s wonderful, at least it takes your mind off jail for a little while,” says Mario Hildebrand, who is serving a 20 month term in Halle.

“We can really identify with this label,” he said. “We are the prisoners and without us this label would not be possible, so we do take some pride in making these clothes.”

However, Mario said he would not wear the clothes himself: “Look, I am a prisoner, and I’m really not proud of it. It isn’t something I want to be parading around.”

But others seem to be catching the fever. Bohle said the company wants to start selling in the United States.

“We’ve had people from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles ask about Haeftling,” he said in an interview in the flagship store in Berlin.

Bohle said he hopes socially responsible clothes will also make for a good business for the company.

Find this article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/17/germany.prison/index.html

© 2008 Cable News Network

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Amnesty in the News (China & Executions)

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

Amnesty in the News (China & Executions)

Date: Apr 14, 2008 10:50 PM

CNN.com

Report: China led world executions in 2007

* Story Highlights
* China’s executions in 2007 less than half of 2006 level, AI says
* AI says China alters way of handling death penalty cases; fears number may rise
* Iran had second-highest level of executions in 2007, group says
* United States recorded fifth-highest number of executions, Amnesty reports

LONDON, England (AP) — China reduced the number of executions it carried out last year but still executed more people than any other country in the world, Amnesty International said Tuesday in its annual report on the death penalty worldwide.

Iran remains the country with the second-highest number of executions, with 377 killings that included a man stoned for adultery, the human rights group said.

The number of American executions fell to its lowest level in about 15 years, putting it fifth in the world with 42, Amnesty officials said.
Amnesty analysts said that early in 2007 China reformed the way capital cases are handled, leading to a substantial reduction in executions. They said at least 470 people were put to death, from 1010 in 2006. But they cautioned that the actual number is undoubtedly higher, and warned that any drop may be temporary.
Piers Bannister, a death penalty researcher at Amnesty, said the group fears that the slowdown is only a “logjam” that will lead to a rise in executions once a review by China’s top court of all capital cases is concluded.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing did not respond to requests for comment on the findings in the Amnesty report. The ministry has said in the past that Amnesty is “biased and hostile toward China.”

More than 60 offenses in China are punishable by the death penalty, including drug trafficking and embezzlement, Bannister said.

Amnesty reported that three countries — Iran, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia — put people under the age of 18 to death, the youngest a 13-year-old executed in Iran in April.
Amnesty’s report cited research by other groups claiming the number of people put to death in China was much higher, with some research indicating that as many as 6,000 people may have been executed in 2007. Death penalty figures are treated as a state secret in China.
In all, at least 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries, and as many as 27,500 people are estimated to be on death row, Amnesty said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/14/amnesty.executions.ap/index.html

© 2008 Cable News Network

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