Wire13 nov dec_web

fo r p e o p L e pa s sion at e abo u t h u m a n r i g h t s
November/december 2013
voLUme 43 ISSUe 006

Let’s Light up the worLd’s
darkest corners
join write for rights 2013

inside
this wire
a tinY ViLLage with a big Voice

coVer storY

In a small Palestinian village, people are risking their lives to
protest peacefully against the Israeli occupation. page 4

Join the world’s biggest
human rights event this
December, and help
change people’s lives!
You’ll meet them all in
this special issue of
WIRE. Find out how
Write for Rights works on
page 6.

a LifeLine to the worLd
Birtukan Mideksa from Ethiopia was featured in Write for Rights
2009. This year, she hopes the power of letter writing can help
release her good friend, journalist Eskinder Nega. page 8

‘You can go to jaiL for a word or an idea’
Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni was shocked when Jabeur
Mejri was given seven years in prison for posting his views online.

page 10

tortured at random

Cover image: Students in
Poland lighting lanterns
with “stamp” images of
people featured in
Write for Rights 2012.
© Amnesty International

Why was Miriam López kidnapped on the school run by men in
balaclavas, tortured and detained for months? We take a look at
the reality of torture in Mexico. page 14

‘neVer forget bopha!’
Defending her community landed Cambodian activist Yorm
Bopha in prison. Her husband and son are hoping the
international spotlight could help her get released. page 16

Hakan Yaman’s life changed forever in June, when the police
brutally attacked him. page 19

the high price of teLLing hard truths
Bahraini politician Ebrahim Sharif is one of 13 opposition leaders
jailed after the country’s 2011 uprising. We spoke to his wife,
Farida Ghulam. page 20

out in the open
When he tried to set up a gay rights organization, Ihar Tsikhanyuk
was beaten up by the police. He told WIRE how he deals with
growing homophobia in Belarus. page 24

aLso in wire

Why Dr Tun Aung in Myanmar needs your help (page 11). And
a photo story about three Russian men who symbolize President
Putin’s crackdown on peaceful political protest (page 12).
Find out how Bimbo Osobe and other people evicted from Badia
East in Lagos, Nigeria, are fighting back (page 18), and how
threats and intimidation can’t stop human rights defenders in
Honduras. (page 22).

getting wire

wire is available online at
livewire.amnesty.org
You can subscribe to receive six printed
copies of wire for £16/us$25/€19 a year
(or £25/us$38/€29 for institutions).
amnesty international sections and
structures can buy discounted copies.
email wire.subscribe@amnesty.org
or call +44 (0)20 7413 5814/5507.
to join amnesty international visit
www.amnesty.org/en/join

first published in 2013 by
amnesty international publications
www.amnesty.org
© amnesty international Ltd
index: nws 21/006/2013
issn: 1472-443X
printed by banbury Litho, banbury,
united kingdom, on 100gsm cocoon
preprint 100% recycled paper.
all rights reserved. no part of this
publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the prior
permission of the publishers.
wire, editorial studio, amnesty
international, international
secretariat, peter benenson house,
1 easton street, London wc1X 0dw,
united kingdom


caught up in the geZi park protests

weLcome to wire noVember/december
these “lights of hope” lanterns were lit in tokyo, japan during write for rights − the world's
biggest human rights event − in 2011. each one was made by someone who felt passionately
about an injustice done to somebody else. each candle was lit by a person who wanted to make a
difference. each flame threw light on distinctive “stamp” images: of people in prison just for
speaking their minds, who had been killed or disappeared, who deserve justice.
thousands of people came together worldwide, in community centres, cafés, churches, schools,
streets, offices, town squares. together, we sent almost 2 million messages, asking the powers
that be to open cell doors, tell the truth, do justice. and we gave hope to people who have
suffered human rights abuses, simply by showing that we care, and that we want to help.
this december, we'll do it all again. read the powerful stories of the people and communities
featured in write for rights 2013 in this special issue of wire. find out how this huge global
event works, and how you can join in. and spend a few minutes lighting a small flame and taking
action for somebody else. together, we'll be lighting up the world.
read wire online and our LiVewire blog at livewire.amnesty.org

The

Agenda

News about Amnesty International’s work and campaigns

new ambassadors of
conscience


©

Pakistani schoolgirl and education
rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai,
and American singer and activist Harry
Belafonte, received Amnesty
International’s highest honour – the
Ambassador of Conscience Award – in
September. Malala Yousafzai said: “I
hope that by working together we will
one day realise our dream of education
for every child.” Harry Belafonte called
Amnesty “our moral compass” and
said he was especially honoured to
share the award with Malala: “a true
hero of our time”. The award was
inspired by the poem From the
Republic of Conscience, written for
Amnesty International by the late Irish
poet, Seamus Heaney.

A woman and child from Paga Hill in Papua New Guinea, 2013.
They live in the ruins of one of 20 houses destroyed by the
police while community leaders were in court challenging the
eviction notice, in May 2012. Police officers attacked residents
with sticks, metal bars, machetes and automatic rifles. Those
residents who were brave enough to return are now living in
makeshift shelters under constant threat of another eviction.
Amnesty will launch a briefing and campaigning action to end
forced evictions in Papua New Guinea in early 2014.

the fight goes on

do not read this

Diana Nyakowa from the Deep Sea
slum in Nairobi, Kenya, said it felt great
to be featured on the cover of WIRE
September/October. The fight against
forced evictions in the city goes on:
“We don't eat, we don't sleep – we just
don't know when the bulldozers will
come. We are worried because our
Governor [Kidero] says he's going to
clean Nairobi. And we know what he
means: The slums are the dirtiest
houses in this city and he wants the
investors here, not us," she told us.

During a short, experimental campaign
in August, a clandestine network of
Freedom Agents intercepted and
subverted repressive authority
messages. Armed with camera phones,
they created imaginative advertisements
promoting freedom of expression. Why?
Because small acts of defiance start
conversations. Conversations lead to
action, and actions lead to change.
Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist and activist,
loved this small, but radical art project
and retweeted it several times.

visit amnesty.org/en/endforcedevictions

Find out more at Ifoundtheletter.org/secretvideo
and facebook.com/ifoundtheletter

2
wire [ noV/dec 2013 ]

25,000 signatures for chiLe join 16 daYs of actiVism
for women and girLs
Just before the 40th anniversary of the
Chile coup in September, during an
event at the Presidential Palace, La
Moneda, Amnesty activists handed the
Chilean authorities a petition signed by
more than 25,000 activists in countries
including Spain, Germany, the UK,
Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Italy and
Japan. Together, we called for an end
to impunity for the gross human rights
violations committed during Pinochet’s
military regime. Many thanks to
everyone who signed – your support
remains crucial for victims of torture
and disappearances, and their relatives.

Violence against women is a human
rights violation. We highlight this in our
annual 16 Days of Activism campaign,
which will run from 25 November to 10
December 2013. Through letters,
petitions and other actions we’ll call for
perpetrators to be held accountable for
gender-based violence during past or
current armed conflicts in Bangladesh,
the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Egypt, Venezuela and Syria.

Get involved in promoting real security for
women and girls: amnesty.org/en/womensrights/16-days

agenda

Up front
How many more? Syria’s
refugees top 2 million

An amazing 47,545 people from 181
countries (see some of them below)
signed our #TellTheTruth petition,
which called on Sri Lanka's authorities
to come clean about human rights
abuses. Dr Manoharan, whose son
was killed by security forces in 2006,
handed the signatures over to a Sri
Lankan UN delegation in September.
Sri Lanka is hosting a high profile
government meeting in November.
Please sign our petition asking
Commonwealth leaders not to approve
Sri Lanka’s crimes by appointing the
country as its new Chair.


sri Lanka: our campaign
continues

“The tragic situation in
Syria underlines the
horrific human cost of
the reckless global arms
trade. The Arms Trade
Treaty is the opportunity
to prevent such human
suffering in the future.”
Amnesty's Secretary General, Salil
Shetty, on the historic occasion of the
world's largest arms exporter – the USA –
signing the Arms Trade Treaty, one of
113 countries to do so by October 2013.


© VLad Sokhin

visit bit.ly/SriLankacrimes

good news from iran:
nasrin sotoudeh reLeased
On 18 September, human rights lawyer
and prisoner of conscience Nasrin
Sotoudeh was released from Tehran’s
Evin Prison, where she was serving a
six-year sentence. She had spent a
long period in solitary confinement,
and was weakened by several hunger
strikes. She thanked everyone who
had taken action for her release: “I
have been aware of all your efforts
on my behalf and I want to thank you
and all your colleagues for your work,”
she said.

Letters
Want your
views and
comments to
appear in
The Agenda?
Write to us at
thewire@
amnesty.org

Charlotte Phillips,
Amnesty’s Researcher on
Refugees’ and Migrants’
Rights, recently visited
a camp for thousands of
Syrian refugees.

I

t is difficult not to feel
overwhelmed by the scale and
brutality of the conflict in Syria.
Massive displacement and deep suffering continue to affect
countless people.
The situation escalated after videos emerged in August
2013 showing scores of civilians apparently killed by chemical
weapons in towns outside Damascus.
Then the UN announced that the number of refugees
from Syria had officially reached 2 million, a tragic milestone.
At least 1 million are children, many under the age of 11.
I recently visited Za’atri refugee camp in neighbouring
Jordan, now the second-largest refugee camp in the world,
hosting over 120,000 refugees from Syria. Many have
survived torture, are seriously injured or sick, are elderly or
have disabilities.
At Amnesty’s headquarters in London, we receive almost
daily phone calls and emails from individuals and families,
many of them in Syria’s neighbouring countries. People are
asking for help and for their rights to be protected. They want
to start their lives again – and many believe they can only do
this in another safe country.
The UN and organizations working on the ground have
appealed to the international community for funding. Because
despite some significant donations, essential services such as
food, education, a reliable water supply and shelter, are still
seriously underfunded.
At the launch of the largest humanitarian appeal in its
history, the UN said around US$3 billion is currently needed
to support refugees from Syria in the region. But this is not
enough. Donor governments should also be prepared to take
the most vulnerable refugees out of the region and allow them
to settle safely in their countries.
With no political solution in sight, the very least we could
do is allow those who have escaped with their lives to live in
safety and dignity.
If your country could and should do more, please call on
your government to increase their support for Syria’s refugees.

read charlotte’s original blog post at bit.ly/syria-2million

3

© Haim Schwarczenberg

occupied paLestinian territories

a tinY ViLLage

with a big Voice
turned up in clown outfits, masks and superhero
every friday, people in a small
easily
palestinian village risk their lives costumes. They could have beenpicnic. mistaken for
a group heading out on a family
to protest peacefully against
picnic
israeli settlers’ theft of their land no this is no picnic. The people of Nabi Saleh are
But
and water. wire spent a day with protesting against the theft of their lands, the loss
source and
the Israeli military
the courageous men, women and of their waterOn the other against the fence waits
occupation.
side of
children of nabi saleh.
the Israeli army.

I

t is noon on a Friday in the West Bank, and the
summer sun is burning strong. The small village of
Nabi Saleh, tucked away on a small hill north-west
of the capital, Ramallah, stirs to life with the call for
prayer from the village mosque.
As the prayers end, people gather in the shade
of a nearby tree. This Friday, as on any other Friday
since 2009, Nabi Saleh's men, women and children
prepare to march towards the village's water spring.
The girls are wearing colourful dresses and are
wrapped in Palestinian flags. In the past, people have

The spring has been out of the villagers’ reach
since 2008. It was taken over by the nearby illegal
Israeli settlement of Halamish, explains Saleh Hijazi,
Amnesty’s Campaigner on Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.
“The spring was once used by the villagers for
farming,” he says. “Now it’s a tourist site, open only
to settlers.” Saleh points out the settlement's rows
of white buildings on the next hill. “Halamish has
been encroaching on lands belonging to Nabi Saleh,
and another Palestinian village called Deir Nidham,
for years.”

Saleh also points out the nearby Israeli army
base, and the army jeeps parked by the spring and
at the entrance to Nabi Saleh.

three broken cameras
The demonstrators leave the tree’s protective shade
and begin marching down the road, chanting slogans
and holding placards. Saleh, who has been visiting
this place for years, explains: “The soldiers are waiting
with tear gas launchers and stun grenades. They start
using them, usually aiming directly at people and their
houses, as soon as the protesters reach a certain point.”
“If the demonstration carries on after that, the
army starts using rubber-coated metal bullets and,
in some cases live ammunition, against peaceful
demonstrators.”
“The army sometimes also sprays villagers’
houses with canons of 'skunk' water, which leaves a
bad, lingering smell. They also spray it inside people's
homes and on bystanders.”
Along the road, the villagers march alongside
activists who have come from around the world to

> > > 4 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >take action> > amnestY.org/indiViduaLs-at-risk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > onLine > > > > > > > >

occupied paLestinian territories

From left to right: Young and old gather for the weekly
demonstration after Friday prayers in Nabi Saleh, a
small Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank.
Since 2009, Israeli forces have killed two protesters
and injured hundreds of villagers, including children.

© Tamimi Press

© Haim Schwarczenberg

Israeli security forces regularly respond to peaceful
demonstrations in Nabi Saleh with tear gas, rubbercoated metal bullets, and sometimes live ammunition.
The illegal Israeli settlement that is encroaching on the
villagers’ land can be seen in the background.

show their solidarity and support. Bilal Tamimi,
his children at his side and a camera over his
shoulder, smiles and welcomes them to Nabi Saleh.
His camera has captured the villagers’ struggle for
years, like Emad Burnat did for the Oscar-nominated
documentary Five Broken Cameras, about Bil’in,
another Palestinian village.

“We need to tell the Israeli authorities:
enough. You are no longer facing a tiny
village on small hill. You now have the entire
Amnesty movement to reckon with.”
Bilal records the villagers’ persistence, their
defiance, and the tragedies that have befallen their
people. So far, he has three broken cameras. At least
one was hit by a rubber-coated metal bullet.

Young LiVes Lost
Since the demonstrations started in 2009, the village
has lost two of its young people. Mustafa Tamimi,
28, was the first, killed in December 2011.
“That day, the army was using excessive force
and some people responded by throwing rocks at the
army jeeps as they were leaving,” says Saleh. “Then
a soldier in the last jeep to leave opened his door and
launched a tear gas grenade directly at Mustafa's
face from a close distance.” Mustafa died in hospital
two days later.
As the demonstration continues down the hill,
Saleh points to the spot where Rushdi Tamimi, 31, was
shot by live ammunition in November 2012. He too
died in hospital days later. “We have also seen hundreds
of injuries caused by rubber-coated metal bullets, to
people’s upper body and face, including children.”

Twelve-year old Ahd holds on to her mother, Nariman
Tamimi, as Israeli soldiers detain her, August 2012.
Nariman – who is featured in our Write for Rights stamp
image (left) – is one of hundreds detained since the
villagers’ Friday protests began in 2009.

Rushdi was the brother-in-law of Bassem Tamimi,
another leader of the struggle, who was previously
jailed by Israel for taking part in the demonstrations.
Today, Bassem tells a young journalist about the
importance of demonstrating peacefully. Bassem is
at the demonstration with his children, but his wife,
Nariman Tamimi, a prominent activist, is not.

against the military occupation in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories, that they are not alone.
“We need to tell the Israeli authorities: enough.
You are no longer facing a tiny village on small hill.
You now have the entire Amnesty movement to
reckon with.”

men and women, shouLder to
shouLder

Many thanks to Amnesty International Israel for their
help with making this article possible.

Nariman – pictured on stamp image above, left – has
been forced to stay at home because she the Israeli
authorities have put her under house arrest. Instead,
she welcomes a constant stream of activists and wellwishers with small cups of strong black coffee.
“Nariman and other women in Nabi Saleh are
the forefront of this struggle,” explains Saleh. “Here,
women and men stand shoulder to shoulder, in the
face of constant harassment by the army.”
Back at the demonstration, the children stay
under a tree, chanting and singing through a
megaphone as the others continue down the hill
towards the army. Soon the army launches tear gas
grenades and white clouds of smoke cover the
hillsides.

come together and saY ‘enough’
“It is very important that we show solidarity with the
brave human rights defenders of Nabi Saleh,” says
Saleh. “We need to come together and tell the Israeli
authorities to stop harassing them.
“We need to insist that they stop using excessive
force against demonstrators. And hold soldiers
accountable for the deaths, injuries, and damage of
property they are causing.
“Our voices, solidarity and actions will show all
the villages holding regular peaceful demonstrations

write a Letter - heLp protect
them
Please join Write for Rights 2013 by sending
a solidarity letter or a card to:
Naji Tamimi, Popular resistance committee,
Nabi Saleh, birzeit/ramallah, Palestine.
You can also leave the villagers a message on their
Facebook page: bit.ly/nabi-saleh
Urge Israel’s minister of defence to stop security forces
using excessive and unnecessary force against
demonstrators in Nabi Saleh, and to ensure that those
responsible for killings and injuries in the village are
brought to justice.
write to: moshe Ya’alon, minister of defence, ministry of
defence, 37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv 61909, Israel.
fax: +972 3 691 6940
email: minister@mod.gov.il

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >foLLow @amnestYonLine on > > and tweet using #write4rights> > > > > > > > > > > > > > 5 > > >
> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

write for rights 2013

© AF Rodrigues/Amnesty International



join the world’s biggest human rights event!
every year, around human rights
day on 10 december, hundreds
of thousands of people around
the world send a message to
someone they’ve never met.

I

t’s a classic Amnesty technique: 52 years of
human rights work show that words really do have
the power to change lives.
Last year, activists in at least 77 countries took a
record-breaking 1.9 million actions during our annual
letter-writing event. Millions more have taken part since
Write for Rights became a global Amnesty event in
2002.
The event itself is as varied, creative, inspired and
truly global as our entire movement of over 3 million
people.
In anything from short bursts of tweeting during
a hectic day to 24-hour marathon writing sessions,

people take time out to express their solidarity with
12 people and communities whose human rights
have been abused.
They also write to the authorities. A government
might brush aside a single message. But thousands
of voices calling for change are much harder to ignore.
From Iceland to India, Barbados to Burkina Faso,
people send thousands of letters, tweets, faxes and
SMS messages, and sign petitions for human rights.
Many get together to hold vigils, and make
lanterns that light up the iconic stamp images
featuring each of the 12 people and communities.
This year, amazing events are being planned
across the globe – concerts, light projections, 24-hour
writing sessions, Facebook and Twitter actions and
much more.
Join us! Your words have the power to change
lives. As Chiou Ho-shun, who has been on death
row in Taiwan since 1989, put it: “Love flows across
the world, and friends from all over the world have
brought me incredible strength. Words cannot
express the gratitude I have towards everyone.
Thank you!”



© Amnesty International/ERNEST


© Michael Sawyer

‘LoVe fLows across
8. amnesty receives updates
showing that people’s actions
are making a difference.

7. change happens, hope grows: prisoners
might get better conditions, or be released.
people know that others worldwide are taking
their injustice personally.

6. messages start
arriving at government
offices, in prison cells,
family homes…

5. people worldwide write letters,
tweets, emails, faxes, sms messages
and sign petitions.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

the worLd’
write a Letter - change a Life

contact your nearest Amnesty ofﬁce to ﬁnd out more and
get involved. find it at amnesty.org/join/en
Take part online at www.amnesty.org/individuals-at-risk
Follow @amnestyonline on Twitter and tweet using
#write4rights

1. amnesty identifies people and communities
at risk of human rights abuses worldwide,
who need solidarity and justice.

write for rights 2013

does Write for Rights
reaLLY change LiVes?
Here are some of
the messages we’ve
received from people
previously featured
in Write for Rights.

“i have been covered
with an avalanche of
letters and postcards.
over new Year i kept reading
the hundreds of letters and postcards. i can
sincerely say i haven’t missed out a single one
of them. it was an indescribable new Year.”
Ales bialiatski, a prisoner of conscience in belarus

“it is this kind of support that
is helping us live on.”
chief baribor Koottee from bodo, Nigeria, a
community devastated by a 2008 oil spill

Write for Rights:
how it works

2. we pick 12 cases where
global activism can make a
huge difference, right now.

3. we share them with
amnesty offices worldwide.

“thanks for keeping
juan present, for
making him known in
the entire world. i
would like to thank
all the people who
took time and
shared my pain.”
Ana montilla, wife of human
rights activist Juan Almonte Herrera, who
“disappeared” in 2009 in the dominican republic.

4. activists organize amazing events and actions
for some or all 12 people and communities
around human rights day on 10 december.

Photographs, clockwise from top left: Write for Rights events held in France, South Korea, Burkina Faso,
Morocco, Mongolia, Brazil, Canada, Austria and Thailand.

"these letters gave me hope that
someone in this world feels for
me and my husband, who has
been detained for seven years
without charge or trial."
Tahani, wife of Sudanese national Hamad alNeyl Abu Kassawy, one of thousands detained
in Saudi Arabia as part of the “war on terror”.

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

ethiopia

© AP Photo/Samson Haileyesus

a LifeLine
to the worLd

birtukan mideksa spent years
in an ethiopian prison, and was
featured in write for rights 2009
as a prisoner of conscience.
she told wire what international
support meant to her, and how
the power of letter writing can be
harnessed again this year to help
her good friend, eskinder nega.

B

irtukan Mideksa speaks to us from her
desk in Boston, USA, amid the bustle of
student life. A Harvard fellow, she is taking an
MA in Public Administration at Kennedy School and
is a thriving academic.
It’s a far cry from the Ethiopian prison cell she
occupied only a few years ago – a place her friend,
Eskinder Nega, knows only too well. He is currently
serving an 18-year sentence because of his
journalism.
In fact, the two were detained together between
2005 and 2007, alongside Eskinder’s wife Serkalem.
All three were declared prisoners of conscience.
They have also featured in Amnesty’s Write for Rights
campaign – Serkalem in 2006, Birtukan in 2009,
and this year, Eskinder, because he’s in prison again.
“I was incarcerated twice. The first time, for
18 months, the second, 21 months,” recalls Birtukan.
“Look at how many times Eskinder has been
imprisoned over the past 10 years – eight times.

His wife, Serkalem, was also incarcerated. This is
a story of thousands and millions of government
opponents in Ethiopia. If you look at the pattern,
it’s getting worse.”

the toughest time in prison
In 2005, Birtukan was leader of Ethiopia’s main
opposition party, Unity for Democracy and Justice.
Her party contested the elections that year, but lost
under questionable circumstances. When she and
her supporters peacefully protested against the
legitimacy of the election results, thousands were
arrested. Birtukan, Eskinder, Serkalem and over
100 journalists, opposition leaders and others were
put on trial.
“The whole time was very difficult, especially for
Serkalem,” says Birtukan, who shared a cell with her
at one point. “She was pregnant and she had to live
with 70 to 80 prisoners in a very unclean cell. The
smell was terrible.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

ethiopia

Far left: Birtukan Mideksa (centre) is greeted by
hundreds of supporters shortly after being released
from prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6 October 2010.
Birtukan was featured in Amnesty’s global Write for
Rights campaign in December 2009.
Below: A rare photograph of Eskinder Nega with his
wife, Serkalem Fasil, and their baby son Nafkot, taken
in 2007.

“When she finally had her baby, that was one of
the times I really felt low. She went to the hospital
and… came back alone. She had to leave the little
one with her mum. My daughter was with my mum –
she was eight months old. So we consoled each
other. Our major difficulties came because of our
responsibilities as mothers, and our attachment to our
children. That was really the toughest time in prison.”

Birtukan was given a life sentence, but was eventually
pardoned and released after nearly 18 months in
detention. Her freedom, however, was short-lived.
After speaking publicly in Sweden in November 2008
about the process that had led to her release,
she was re-arrested in Ethiopia on 28 December
2008. Her pardon was revoked and her life sentence
re-imposed.
Amnesty issued Urgent Actions on her behalf
and promoted her case in Write for Rights 2009.
For Birtukan, who was kept in solitary confinement
for long periods, this collective effort was a lifeline.
“In 2009, only my mum and my daughter were
allowed to visit me,” says Birtukan. “I was really
cut off from the whole world. I didn’t have any
access to the media. We were not allowed to talk
about Amnesty International’s initiatives, but my
mum mentioned to me that Amnesty people
were trying to advocate for me. That was like a
silver lining. It gave me hope. It connected me
to the real world.”
Birtukan was finally freed in October 2010.
“The pressure you guys were exerting on the
Ethiopian government was very instrumental in
securing my release,” says Birtukan.
She hopes it will be possible to do this again,
this time for Eskinder.

sustained optimism
In 2012, Eskinder was jailed for “terrorism” after
giving speeches and writing articles criticizing the
government and supporting free speech. To Birtukan,
his struggle is almost heroic.
“Eskinder is one of the most virtuous people I
know in my country,” she says. “He really believes
in the good in all of us. It’s vivid in his personal life
and in his activism. The love he has for his country,

© Private

siLVer Lining

his dedication to seeing people living a dignified life –
it’s really huge.
“He didn’t start his activism with just criticizing
the government. He always gave them the benefit of
the doubt. He was relentlessly committed to
expressing his views, his ideas.”

“My mum mentioned to me that Amnesty
people were trying to advocate for me. That
was like a silver lining. It gave me hope. It
connected me to the real world.”
That commitment triggered a campaign of
harassment, including threats, a ban on the
newspaper Eskinder ran with Serkalem, and repeated
imprisonment. In 2005, when all three were jailed,
Eskinder was thrown into solitary confinement for
months on end. “That didn’t make him a hateful
person,” observes Birtukan. “Still, he sustained his
optimism and strong belief in his cause.”

indispensibLe support
With its network of supporters worldwide, Amnesty’s
potential to secure Eskinder’s freedom is significant,
notes Birtukan. “The support we get as political
prisoners is indispensible.”

But, she adds, “We shouldn’t forget the people
back home – they would love to support us – but the
suppression is huge. People can’t express that kind
of protest against our imprisonment in an organized
way.” This makes Amnesty’s support all the more
crucial, she says.
It also lends legitimacy to the struggle. “Some
people say fighting for rights and democracy in
Africa is futile,” explains Birtukan. “Some people
even try to focus on the economic performance of a
country. But we mustn’t trade off our human rights
for monetary benefit.
“The things you are working on – they validate
and reassert those aspirations and those rights we
have as human beings as inviolable, no matter what.
It has huge significance in terms of the moral support
you generate for activists like Eskinder and myself.”

write a Letter - change his Life
Urge Prime minister Hailemariam desalegn to
immediately and unconditionally release eskinder Nega.
write to (start your letter: dear Prime minister):
P.o. box 1031, Addis Ababa, ethiopia.
email: mojmo@ethionet.et

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

tunisia

‘You can go to jaiL
for a word or an idea’
when jabeur mejri, a tunisian blogger, expressed views online that were deemed offensive to islam, it
cost him his freedom. he was jailed in 2012 for over seven years for “attacking sacred values through
actions or words” and “undermining public morals”. Lina ben mhenni is the author of the blog A Tunisian
Girl. she told wire about her shock at jabeur’s sentence, and the risks tunisians run by expressing their
views freely.

“J

abeur’s conviction and sentence was a
big shock. It is incredible. People are
talking about the success of the democratic
transition in Tunisia, but can we talk about democracy
at all in a country where someone is sent to jail with
such a heavy sentence just for expressing his beliefs?
“Before the departure of [former President] Ben
Ali, bloggers faced censorship, and maybe arrest
and jail. Then we witnessed a few months of
revolutionary euphoria, during which Tunisians
could express themselves freely [after the first
uprising in the Middle East and North Africa in
January 2011]. But it didn’t last.
“Today there is no official censorship − people
can express themselves freely − but they have to be
ready to pay the price. It can start with online and
newspaper defamation [smear] campaigns, verbal
and physical harassment on the street, or online and
real life threats. It can go on to trials, arrests, jail and
end with death threats and death.”

© REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

© REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi


Above: Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni works on her
computer at a cafe in Tunis, 2011. Her blog, A Tunisian
Girl, is written in Arabic, English, and French. She has
received several international prizes, including the
Deutsche Welle International Blog Award and El
Mundo’s International Journalism Prize, for her work.

Jabeur is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned only for
exercising his human right to free expression. Please
send him a letter or card.
write to: Jabeur meJrI, Prison civile de mahdia,
route de chiba 5100, mahdia, Tunisia.
Jabeur’s only hope at this stage is a presidential pardon
from President moncef marzouki – who is himself a
former prisoner of conscience. Please urge him to release
Jabeur mejri immediately and unconditionally.
write to (start your letter: Your excellency): President
moncef marzouki, Palais Présidentiel, Tunis, Tunisia.
fax: + 216 71 744 721
email: boc@pm.gov.tn

opinion triaLs
“You can go to jail for a word or an idea. ‘Opinion
trials’ have become part of our daily lives: Jabeur is
our first opinion prisoner. Rappers Weld el 15 and
Clay BBJ were sentenced to a year and nine months
in jail for a song. Another young man was given a
two month suspended jail sentence for listening to
a rap song.

“I feel like I have lost my own freedom
while trying to fight for my country and my
people’s freedom. If we don't react to
what is happening, every subject will soon
become taboo.”
“As in many other countries, Tunisia’s taboo
topics are religion and politics. You can’t criticize the
government in general or the Islamists in particular.
“I feel threatened, just for blogging and criticizing
the government and the awful, regressing situation in
Tunisia. I’m on an assassination list and under police
protection. I feel like I have lost my own freedom
while trying to fight for my country and my people’s
freedom. If we don't react to what is happening, every
subject will soon become taboo.”

steaLing peopLe’s right to be
different
“The authorities gave Jabeur his sentence to
intimidate other people, to prevent people from
expressing themselves, to steal their right to
be different. They wanted to announce that in
order to live in Tunisia, we have to abide by their
rules and their beliefs.
“Our freedom of expression is in real danger.
I am afraid that we are losing the unique fruits of
the revolution: the disappearance of fear and our

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

mYanmar

keep up the
pressure
on mYanmar
our southeast asia campaigner explains how a passion for myanmar
led her to become an amnesty activist, and why dr tun aung needs
your help.
Losing hope
Jabeur Mejri’s sister, Ines, recently told us how he
is doing in prison:
“We see Jabeur (pictured above) every
Thursday and take him food and other things. The
last time we saw him his words really affected us.
He is losing hope, and feels very tired and worried.
He requested a pardon before Eid [in August
2013], but nothing has happened since. We’re very
worried about him.
“Before he was in a very crowded cell and
found it very difficult. He was on the verge of
breaking down, so they agreed to change his cell.
He’s now in a room with about seven or eight
people and he’s much better.
“But he still has trouble sleeping, because
he’s thinking too much about what happened to
him and about his future. We’re continuing to
campaign for him and we’re grateful for everyone’s
help in trying to get him a presidential pardon.”

freedom of speech. We have to keep on fighting to
protect and preserve this right.
“We have to stop the attacks on freedom of
speech, and reform our justice system. Judges
should refuse to work according to orders dictated
by political leaders or parties. We mustn’t be afraid
of intimidation.
“I want to tell all Tunisians: We have to unite to
say no to censorship and opinion trials.”

read Lina’s blog at http://atunisiangirl.blogspot.co.uk

I

’ve had a strong interest in civil and political rights
since I was a teenager in Ireland. My father was
a lifelong member of Amnesty, so I was always
aware of the organization. At university, I focused on
the underlying causes of communal tensions between
Indian and Burman communities in Rangoon in the
1930s for my postgraduate research. I’ve also been
there. It was a combination of these factors that led
me to work on Myanmar for Amnesty International.
The political situation in Myanmar has become
quite fluid in recent years. According to the
government, over 28,000 prisoners have been
released in amnesties since it came to power in
March 2011. These included hundreds of prisoners
of conscience, but hundreds of others have been
arrested or continue to be detained for exercising
their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful
assembly and association.
Amnesty activists can play a major role in keeping
the pressure on Myanmar’s government to stop such
abuses. In Write for Rights 2010, members in 33
countries took more than 45,000 actions calling for
the release of peaceful political activist Su Su Nway.
I’m certain that that’s one reason why she was included
in the new government’s first major prisoner amnesty.
I’m hoping we can do this again this year for Dr
Tun Aung (pictured on the “stamp” image above),
whose case I first heard about a few weeks after his
arrest in June 2012.
He is, by all accounts, a family man – a father
and grandfather – who actively promoted tolerance
among the ethnic and religious groups in Rakhine
state. The local authorities considered him an ally
who could help smooth intercommunity relations if
tensions arose.
On a Friday afternoon in June, the authorities
asked Dr Tun Aung to calm a crowd of men outside
a mosque in Maungdaw, western Myanmar. The men
were angry about the massacre of 10 Muslims one

week earlier by a mob of Buddhists who were seeking
revenge for the alleged rape and murder of a
Buddhist woman.

“Dr Tun Aung did his best to restore calm,
but the crowd wouldn’t listen. He was
arrested several days later and is serving
a 17-year prison sentence.”
Dr Tun Aung did his best to restore calm, but the
crowd wouldn’t listen. He was arrested several days
later and is serving a 17-year prison sentence after
being convicted of multiple criminal offences,
including inciting a riot. Aged 66, he has a tumour on
his pituitary gland and needs medical care.
It’s really important for us to make Dr Tun Aung’s
case visible to a wide audience – which is why he is
a Write for Rights 2013 appeal case. That way, he
will remain in the minds of Myanmar officials when
they are deciding on their next prisoner amnesty – as
happened with Su Su Nway.
Dr Tun Aung should be released immediately so
that he can return to being a family man, a
community leader and a doctor. I firmly believe that
Amnesty members around the world will play a vital
role in securing his freedom.

write to (start your letter: Your excellency) President
Thein Sein, urging him to release dr Tun Aung
immediately and unconditionally.
address: President’s ofﬁce, Nay Pyi Taw, myanmar.
email: president-ofﬁce.gov.mm/contact

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

© REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov

russia

free 3!
the boLotnaYa
three men arrested in moscow’s
bolotnaya square have come to symbolize
president putin’s recent crackdown on
peaceful political protest.

T

ens of thousands of protesters took to
Moscow’s streets the day before Vladimir
Putin’s third inauguration as Russia’s
President, on 6 May 2012.
They planned to walk through the city centre to
an opposition rally at Bolotnaya Square, near the
Kremlin. The local authorities had given the go-ahead
to both the march and the meeting.
At the last minute, the police blocked one of
two agreed entrances to the square, creating a
bottleneck. As protesters approached the police
line, pressure and tension grew. The protesters
finally pushed through the police line and clashes
broke out.

Hundreds of people were arrested across
Moscow on that day, and 13 are currently standing
trial. Among them are Vladimir Akimenkov, Artiom
Saviolov and Mikhail Kosenko. The men didn’t know
each other before, but their stories have since
followed a similar path.
Released on 7 May, they were rearrested in June
and have been detained ever since. All three were
charged with participating in “mass riots”. Artiom
Saviolov and Mikhail Kosenko were also accused of
violence against police officers.
Amnesty considers all three to be prisoners of
conscience. Read their stories here, and help us get
them released.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

russia

Artiom Saviolov (below) was detained immediately
after the first police line was breached. He claims that
he was pushed through it, and video footage seems to
corroborate this.
He is charged with using force to prevent a police
officer from detaining another protester, and shouting
“down with the police state”. He firmly denies both
accusations, saying that he actively tried to avoid any
contact with the police. As he has a serious speech
impediment, it is difficult for him to speak, let alone
shout slogans.
Artiom doesn’t belong to any political party or
group. He simply came to Bolotnaya Square, along
with thousands of others, to participate in an
authorised protest against Russia’s controversial
presidential election results.

Far left: Russian riot police clash with protesters
during the Bolotnaya Square protest in central Moscow,
6 May 2012

© Dmitry Borko

© Dmitry Borko

Mikhail Kosenko (left) says he was in the front row of
protesters when a police officer was violently attacked
and fell on him. Mikhail then pushed the police
officer away, without using violence. This is consistent
with video footage. The authorities still accuse him of
beating and kicking the officer, who later said that he
had never seen Mikhail before.
Mikhail is mentally ill and very vulnerable. His
condition is thought to have worsened drastically, and
he isn’t receiving the medication he needs. He was
recently denied permission to attend his mother’s
funeral.
In October, a Moscow court ordered Mikhail to
recieve forcible psychiatric treatment, even though
he was successfully treated as an outpatient for a
decade. He could be deprived of his freedom
indefinitely. He doesn’t belong to any political party
or group and has never been accused of violence in
the past.

write a Letter - change their
LiVes
Please send bright, beautiful cards separately to vladimir
Gheorgievich Akimenkov, Artiom victorovich Saviolov and
mikhail Aleksandrovich Kosenko (translate your message
into russian using translate.google.com).
send it to: Pre-trial detention facility, SIZo-2 “butyrka”,
ul. Novoslobodskaya, 45, moscow,
127055, russian Federation.
or email post.rosuznik@gmail.com specifying who it is for.

© Dmitry Borko

© Aleksandr Baroshin

Urge the General Prosecutor to release the three men,
and grant other bolotnaya prisoners fair trials.
write to: Yurii Yakovlevich chaika, General Prosecutor
of the russian Federation, General Prosecutor’s ofﬁce, ul.
b. dmitrovka, d.15a, 125993 moscow GSP-3, russian
Federation.

Vladimir Akimenkov (left and above) is an activist with the opposition Left Front movement. He was arrested
minutes after protesters breached the police line. He thinks he was detained because he is well-known to the
police as a political activist. Video footage clearly shows that he stayed in front of the police line, without
breaching it and without using violence.
The only evidence against him seems to be a police officer’s allegation that Vladimir threw a flag pole that
hit another officer. This initially vague testimony changed substantially six months later, becoming much more
detailed than the original version.
Vladimir had a serious eye condition before he was arrested, which has since deteriorated. His lawyer and
family are deeply concerned about his prison conditions, and are afraid that he might soon go blind.

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

meXico

tortured
at random
miriam López was kidnapped on the school run by men in
balaclavas, tortured and detained for months. how could this
happen? wire looks at the reality of torture in mexico.

I

t took time for Miriam Isaura López Vargas to piece
together what had happened to her. The 30-yearold mother of four had just dropped three of her
children off at school in Ensenada, a city in northern
Mexico, on 2 February 2011. Suddenly, two men
wearing balaclavas appeared, forced her into a white
van and took her away.
“I didn’t know who they were, and when I asked
them they put a gun to my head and told me to shut
up or they would blow my head off,” she later said.
The men turned out to be soldiers in plain clothes.
They took Miriam to a military barracks in a nearby
city, Tijuana. She described what came next as the
worst seven days of her life.
“They tortured me: they repeatedly put wet cloths
over my face and poured water over it so I couldn’t
breathe,” she told us. “They gave me electric shocks.”
Deeply traumatized, she later found the courage
to tell her partner that soldiers had also repeatedly
raped her.
The soldiers were trying to force Miriam to
“confess” to trafficking drugs through a military
checkpoint. Miriam maintains her innocence, and
that she was simply making her usual journey to visit
her mother 45 kilometres away.
After a week of torture, Miriam was taken to a
detention centre in Mexico City. She spent 80 days
there before being charged with drug-related
offences and transferred to a prison in Ensenada.
She was finally released on 2 September 2011, after
her case was thrown out of court because of a lack
of evidence.

using torture to fight crime
Torture remains the police’s method of choice for
investigating crimes across Mexico.
People are often tortured and otherwise ill-treated
to make them sign statements that falsely implicate
them – or others – in a crime. These are then used
as evidence to prosecute somebody. The authorities
tend to turn a blind eye, because torture identifies
supposed “criminals” and suggests that the police
are fighting crime effectively.

“I try to live normally, but I’m always
scared – for me, for my family – that
something is going to happen to them.”
This leaves many innocent people behind bars,
criminals on the streets, victims of crime without
access to real justice, and the general population at
risk of more crime and violence.
Prosecutors used Miriam’s testimony to
implicate others, not just Miriam, in drug-related
offences. They just needed someone to fill a gap
in the evidence they required to bring charges.

miriam is one of thousands
A few years ago, Mexico started combating
drug cartels and organized crime, using tens
of thousands of soldiers and marines to lead
operations. Since then, complaints of torture and
ill-treatment by the military and police have

increased. This has left Mexicans at much higher
risk of being tortured at random.
Ordinary people like Miriam, with few means and
limited access to independent legal help, are
particularly vulnerable.
Allegations of torture and other ill-treatment alone
rose by 500% between 2006-2012, according to the
National Human Rights Commission. It is also
investigating around 2,400 disappearances in which
public officials are implicated.

faiLed bY the sYstem
Successive Mexican governments have repeatedly
said they will prevent and punish torture. But they
have so far failed to fully investigate any allegations,
and have brought virtually no one to justice. The
authorities, including judges, are also failing in their
legal obligation to prevent testimony tainted by torture
being used as evidence during trials.
Miriam was examined by National Human Rights
Commission staff in 2012. They confirmed that her
account was consistent with having been tortured,

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

© Comité de Derechos Humanos de Nuevo Laredo
© Agencia Reforma

meXico

including sexual violence. But the Federal Attorney
General’s Office still requested another examination
performed by its own forensic officials.
This was only carried out in May 2013, even
though Miriam filed her complaint for torture in
December 2011. By the time WIRE went to print,
Miriam and her lawyer still hadn’t been informed of
the examination results.

teLL miriam that she is not aLone
15 December 2013 will mark two years since Miriam
filed her complaint with the Federal Attorney
General’s Office for the human rights violations she
suffered.
The investigation has hardly moved since. Despite
compelling medical evidence, and Miriam identifying
some of the perpetrators, no one has been officially
questioned.
Most torture victims in Mexico are too scared to
complain. Many women who have been sexually
assaulted fear being stigmatized if they speak out.
Miriam decided to come forward because she is

determined to get justice, and to protect others from
suffering what she went through.
She needs your support. Her home in Ensenada,
Baja California state, is 2,000 km from the capital,
Mexico City, where her case is being processed. She
is in regular touch with her lawyer, a national NGO
that supports her, and with Amnesty. But keeping up
her fight is a constant challenge.
“I try to live normally,” she told us, “but I’m
always scared – for me, for my family – that something
is going to happen to them”. To protect her family,
Miriam has asked us not to publish any images
identifying her.
Please let Miriam know what she is not alone.
It is very important to her that thousands of people
are supporting her campaign for justice.

Above: A common sight on Mexico’s streets: Soldiers on
patrol in Nuevo Laredo, a city on the Rio Grande river in
Tamaulipas state, Mexico, January 2012.
Above right: Miriam Lōpez.

write a Letter - support her
campaign
Please ‘like’ miriam’s Facebook page and leave her a
solidarity message along with your name and country:
bit.ly/miriamlopez
Please also ask mexico’s Federal Attorney General to
complete a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the
torture of miriam López in 2011, to make the results of the
investigation public and bring those responsible to justice.
write to (start your letter: estimado Señor Procurador):
Jesús murillo Karam,
Federal Attorney General,
Procuraduría General de la república,
Paseo de la reforma 211-213, col. cuauhtémoc,
c.P. 06500, mexico city, mexico.
email: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >


‘neVer
forget
bopha!’
mother, businesswoman, wife, activist – Yorm bopha is all of these.
but most of all, say her husband and 10-year-old son, she’s missed.

‘A

ll I can think about is my mum,” says Lous
Lyhour. “I want her to come out quickly, to
come home.”
It’s a simple enough plea, from a little boy who
badly misses his mum. But Lyhour’s mum isn’t at the
shops or at work. She’s in prison, serving a three-year
sentence on trumped-up charges.
Yorm Bopha was the lynchpin of her family and
a leader of community resistance against forced
evictions in central Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak Lake,
before her arrest and detention in September 2012.
Her vocal defence of 13 other women activists from
the community, who had themselves been
imprisoned following a peaceful protest in May 2012,
caught the attention of the Cambodian authorities
who threatened and harassed her throughout that
campaign.
Bopha had been standing up for her community
since 2010, joining a largely women-led movement
against the mass evictions taking place around
Boeung Kak Lake. “Her activism was inspiring,”
says Lous Sakhorn, Bopha’s husband. “I supported
her and I was proud. Her activism became part of
our lives.”
But Sakhorn was keenly aware of the dangers
she courted as a result. “I was worried for her. I said:
‘Be careful; don’t put yourself out there too much.’
She said, ‘I want the microphone, to speak, not just
merge into the crowds!’ I was worried of course, but
I supported her. We all felt hurt that our land had
been taken.”


cambodia

20,000 eVicted
Trouble began for Boeung Kak Lake’s residents in
2007, when the land was leased to a company for
development. Since then, around 20,000 people
have been forced out of their homes. They weren’t
consulted about the development plans. In fact,
the first they heard about the plans was on the
television news.
In August 2008, the company began pumping
sand into the lake. Homes were destroyed as water
from the lake flooded the area. Many families refused
to leave and a resistance movement grew. By
February 2012, the lake had disappeared under
mounds of sand. The authorities harassed and
threatened residents, trying to make them accept
poor compensation or relocate to a place far from
work, with no basic services.
The remaining families kept protesting,
demanding their right to keep their homes. In August
2011, they thought they’d made a breakthrough.
Cambodia’s Prime Minister allocated 12.44 hectares
of land in Boeung Kak Lake for more than 900 local
families. But the local authority excluded some
families, and some of those who did receive land titles
still don’t actually have their land. And so the protests
continued, as did the arrests.

protecting her communitY
Eventually, Bopha’s activism caught up with her. In
September 2012, she and Sakhorn were arrested,
accused of planning an assault on two men
suspected of theft. Despite no evidence connecting
them to the attack, they were convicted that
December. Sakhorn received a suspended sentence;
Bopha was jailed.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

© Jenny Holligan

cambodia

Top left to right: Lous Sakhorn, Bopha’s husband, holds
a poster with her picture.

“I feel such injustice for Bopha. She is a
woman who tried to protect her family’s
and other’s land – her community. She
was thinking about the next generation.”
The emotional toll has been equally debilitating.
“My mum’s imprisonment has really affected my
studies,” says Lyhour, who was nine when Bopha was
arrested.
“He just doesn’t want to go to school,” adds
Sakhorn. “He wants to join protests for his mum. I can’t
reject this – it comes from his pain, and I understand.”
Sakhorn’s pain is palpable, too. “We were very
happy, the three of us together. We used to go around
together in front of the royal palace, to the pagoda,
just around town. I have very happy memories of that.
But since she’s been in prison, it’s like the warmth
has gone. It’s like we’ve lost part of our body – our
right arm.”


“I feel such injustice for Bopha,” says Sakhorn.
“She is a woman who tried to protect her family’s and
other’s land – her community. She was thinking
about the next generation. We’ve lost faith in our
country, and in the law. The law is about the wishes
of the powerful people.”
The court required the family to pay heavy
compensation to the two men, leaving Sakhorn and
Lyhour financially vulnerable. As Sakhorn points out,
Bopha was the breadwinner. “She is in charge of the
family,” he says. “She took care of business, selling
cloth.” Sakhorn, who suffers from high blood
pressure, is too ill to work.

the worLd must know
Yorm Bopha is currently held at the Prison Judiciaire
on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the capital. Sakhorn
and Lyhour are allowed to visit her twice a week. “She
is okay,” says Sakhorn, “but being in prison is not
easy. She shares a small cell with seven others.”
Her detention there is perhaps made easier by
the knowledge that her community is working for her
release. “The people of Boeung Kak Lake never forget
Bopha!” says Sakhorn. “They’re marching. They’re
submitting petitions to the National Assembly, the City
Hall, the government, and different foreign embassies
as well as the World Bank.”
And what does Amnesty’s support for Bopha
mean to Sakhorn and Lyhour? “I feel very glad,” says
Sakhorn. “It brings us hope that my wife can be
released. It would mean us finding justice for people
in Cambodia. It shows us that justice could exist.”

Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Residents
here are at risk of being kicked out of their homes to
make room for corporate development projects. Many
have been living here for over 20 years and have
nowhere else to go. When the company developing the
lake started filling it with sand, many homes were
flooded and people were forced to leave. The lake is
now completely gone.
Yorm Bopha (far right) and other activists hold lotus
flowers as they demand the release of 13 human rights
defenders from Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh. This
largely women-led movement is protesting against mass
forced evictions of their community.
Left: ‘All I can think about is my mum’: A recent
picture of Bopha’s son, Lous Lyhour. He was nine years
old when she was arrested in 2012.

write a Letter - change her Life
write to the minister of Justice (start your letter: Your
excellency). Urge him to release Yorm bopha immediately
and unconditionally.
address: minister of Justice, ministry of Justice, No 240
Sothearos blvd, Phnom Penh, cambodia.
email: moj@cambodia.gov.kh

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

nigeria

from Victim to
human rights actiVist
“many people have been rendered homeless, many children have
been unable to go to school, many mothers can no longer cater for
their families and many fathers are helpless to provide for them.
that is why i have resolved that with the last drop of my blood i will
stand up for my right and that of others.”

I

t would be easy to forgive Bimbo Osobe if she had
given up and felt she couldn’t go on. She was
among thousands who watched helplessly as their
homes and shops were demolished during a stateauthorized forced eviction in Badia East, Lagos,
Nigeria, on 23 February 2013.
When Amnesty first spoke with her in May, she
was sleeping out in the open under a net and
recovering from malaria. Her livelihood gone, she was
completely dependent on friends or well-wishers for
food and clothing.
She sent her children away to live with relatives,
wanting to spare them the hardship and stress she
was going through.
But Bimbo (pictured on the stamp image above,
right) doesn’t want to be a victim – she wants justice.
And when we met her again in August she had
already begun to transform her own and her
community’s situation through her activism.
Thanks to a sympathetic resident, Bimbo found
a place to live in a part of Badia East that escaped
the bulldozers. She is helping other residents find
adequate alternative housing and get compensation.

She is still separated from her children, but manages
to send them schoolbooks bought with money she
receives from supporters.
At Amnesty’s August launch of a report on Badia
East, Bimbo led the community in singing solidarity
and motivational songs. She also acted as interpreter
during a housing rights workshop, and spoke
passionately to community members.
At a round table discussion about the right to
adequate housing in Lagos state, Bimbo urged the
authorities to resettle and compensate people affected.
Amnesty is campaigning to end forced evictions
in Badia East, and for all those affected to receive
compensation and other protection. But the
community remains at risk: the state government
has indicated that it intends to demolish the whole
community in two further mass evictions.
International solidarity will go a long way in
helping the people of Badia East to continue their
fight for adequate housing. Bimbo said: “We thank
Amnesty International for supporting us after the
demolition, and we want you to continue to support
us and help to fight for our right.”



bimbo osobe

She and the other activists plan to display any
solidarity cards they receive in the Better Life
Community Centre where they meet.

Left: Bimbo Osobe speaks at the launch of Amnesty’s
report If you love your life, move out! about the forced
eviction that destroyed her community. Lagos, Nigeria,
August 2013.
Right: Badia East residents attend the launch of
Amnesty’s new report.

LiVes
Please send letters, photos or cards with messages of
support to:
badia east Technical committee,
c/o Social and economic rights Action center (SerAc),
Plot 758, chief Thomas Adeboye drive,
omole Phase 2, Isheri, Lagos state, Nigeria.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >


© Private

© Private

turkeY

caught up in the
geZi park protests
hakan Yaman’s life changed
forever when police officers
attacked him during the june
2013 protests in istanbul, turkey.

L

ate in the evening on 3 June, Hakan Yaman
was on his way home from his job as a minibus
driver in Istanbul, Turkey. The atmosphere in
the city was tense, after a weekend of huge protests
that were met with widespread police violence.
On 30 May, police had used tear gas, beaten
protesters and burned down their tents in Gezi Park
in the city centre. People had been demonstrating
against the threatened destruction of one of Istanbul’s
few remaining green spaces.
Their cause, and the authorities’ abusive
response, touched a nerve. Tens of thousands of
protesters poured out onto the streets across Turkey
in the following days. The authorities responded with
yet more tear gas, violence and arrests.
Hakan, 37, was on his way home to his wife and
two children when he passed a demonstration against
the previous days’ police violence. Moments later, he
was brutally attacked by police officers.
“First I was sprayed by water cannon,” he later
told Amnesty. “Then I was hit in the stomach with a
tear gas canister and fell. Around five police officers
came over and began hitting me repeatedly on the
head. One of them put a hard object into my eye and
gouged my eye out.

“I heard one of them say ‘this one is finished, let’s
completely finish him off’. They dragged me about 10
to 20 meters and threw me onto a fire. They left and I
dragged myself out of the fire. I was taken to the
hospital by some of the protesters.”
Hakan completely lost one eye, and 80% of his
eyesight in the other. His cheekbone, forehead and
chin were broken, his skull was fractured, and he had
second degree burns on his back. “They thought I
was a protester and they tried to kill me,” he told us.
What happened to Hakan was unusually brutal,
but it was far from an isolated case of police violence.
According to The Turkish Medical Association, by
10 July, more than 8,000 injuries during
demonstrations had been reported. Strong evidence
also links three people’s deaths to police violence.

For the first few weeks, their youngest
daughter was so shocked she didn’t speak to
her dad at all. “Now she doesn’t leave his
side,” Nihal says. “She constantly hugs her
dad and kisses him.”
Amnesty is calling on the Turkish authorities to
prevent unnecessary violence against demonstrators
or other members of the public. We are also calling
for all allegations of ill-treatment during the Gezi Park
protests to be effectively investigated, with those
responsible being brought to justice.
Hakan’s life was changed forever by the attack.
He has made a criminal complaint on the grounds of
attempted murder. By the time WIRE went to print,
the prosecutors had interviewed three riot police
officers who denied any involvement.

Hakan can never drive a minibus again. “Our
children have been really badly affected,” his wife,
Nihal, told us. For the first few weeks, their youngest
daughter was so shocked she didn’t speak to her dad
at all. “Now she doesn’t leave his side,” Nihal says.
“She constantly hugs her dad and kisses him.”

Above, from left: Hakan Yaman before he was beaten by
police, with his wife Nihal, and after the attack.

write a Letter - caLL for justice
Please support Hakan by sending him a letter or
postcard, possibly with a picture of a racing car as he is
a big Formula 1 fan.
write to: Hakan Yaman, c/o ruhat Sena danışman,
Uluslararası Af Örgütü Türkiye Şubesi, Kamer Hatun
mahallesi, Hamalbaşı cad. No:22 dükkan:2 daire:2-3-4,
34435 beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey.
Urge the minister of Justice to ensure an effective,
independent and impartial investigation to identify and
prosecute those responsible for the attack on Hakan
Yaman on 3 June 2013.
write to (start your letter: dear minister):
mr. Sadullah ergin, ministry of Justice, Adalet bakanlığı,
06659 Ankara, Turkey.
fax: +90 (0312) 419 33 70.
email: ozelkalem@adalet.gov.tr

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

bahrain

the high
price of
teLLing
hard
truths

soon after the popular uprising
began in bahrain in 2011,
13 opposition leaders were
arrested. their ‘crime’ was
expressing their opinions
peacefully: calling for democracy,
an end to corruption, opposing
the monarchy.
after an unfair trial the men were
sentenced to between five years
and life in prison. some say they
were tortured, and all are
prisoners of conscience. farida
ghulam, wife of imprisoned
opposition leader ebrahim sharif,
told wire their story.

please tell us a little about yourself, ebrahim what happened when they were detained?
and his connection with the other prisoners Ebrahim was arrested on 17 March 2011 [all 13 men
Ebrahim is a prominent political figure – he’s been
the Secretary General of Bahrain’s secular National
Democratic Action Society (NDAS) – the Wa’ad party
– since 2007. I’ve been married to him for 28 years.
I’ve been a women’s rights activist since I was 17 and
have been president of Bahrain’s first women’s rights
organization. I’m currently the head of the NDAS’
Women’s Bureau and work as an evaluation specialist
in Bahrain’s Ministry of Education.
Ebrahim (pictured on the “stamp” image above,
right, with ‘Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja) is an outspoken
person who became a threat to the government. If
you are in the opposition and telling hard truths that
people are afraid to speak about – like stolen lands
and secret budgets – you become a target.
He and the others come from different schools
of thought, but are all part of the opposition. After
14 February 2011 [when Bahrain’s popular uprising
began], people gathered at the Pearl Roundabout [in
the capital, Manama], where Ebrahim and the others
were giving speeches every night. The government
wanted to put them all in one basket and accused
them of trying to topple the regime.

were arrested between that day and 9 April 2011].
Around 30-40 guards came at 2am and kept ringing
the bell. One pointed his gun at Ebrahim’s head.
Ebrahim was very calm – saying he didn’t have to
use the gun, and that he would go with them
voluntarily. They took him, and when I asked where
I could contact him they laughed at me. It was a very
tough moment.
That night, Ebrahim and others were stripped
naked and put in solitary confinement. A team
of torturers beat them for around an hour, three
times a day. They threw cold water on Ebrahim’s
mattress and turned the air conditioning up high
so he couldn’t sleep. After two months the torture
stopped because of international attention. The
men now suffer from pain, illnesses and the
aftermath of torture, and most have not been given
any medical treatment.

what happened during and after their trials?
They went through trials for 21 months with no
means of defending themselves. Some were
sentenced to life [Hassan Mshaima’, ‘Abdelwahab

> > onLine > > > > > > > >


bahrain

© Al Jazeera English

how has their imprisonment affected you
and the other families?

Hussain, ‘Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Dr ‘Abdel-Jalil alSingace, Mohammad Habib al-Miqdad, Abdel-Jalil
al-Miqdad and Sa’eed Mirza al-Nuri], others to 15
years [Mohammad Hassan Jawwad, Mohammad ‘Ali
Ridha Isma’il, Abdullah al-Mahroos and ‘Abdul-Hadi
‘Abdullah Hassan al-Mukhodher]. My husband and
another man [Salah ‘Abdullah Hubail Al-Khawaja] got
five years. It was astonishing and strange when a
civilian appeal court said in April 2012 that what
happened in the military court was wrong, that they
should be free. But the public prosecutor said
nothing would change.

“International activism has a tremendous
effect on Bahraini activists, knowing that
somebody is telling their story.”
It was devastating, especially for those who were
sentenced to life. But because this is a political
situation and the government is taking revenge
against masses of people, it makes your problem
seem a little bit smaller. You have to be strong for
your family and other people.

I have become more outspoken – all the families take
any opportunity to speak on the men’s behalf. I’ve
had many hate letters and messages on Twitter –
people sending me a picture of a hang rope, saying
that I am a traitor. I was dismissed from my job for
three months and interrogated. But it’s worth it,
because this is a just case.
The regime here is trying to control every outlet
for the opposition, including on national TV, and most
magazines. But now everyone uses Twitter very
successfully to convey their messages. If your
account is big, the Ministries of the Interior or Justice
sometimes reply, using degrading language, saying
that we are lying. But we are simply telling the truth.

what does it mean to the 13 men to be
featured in write for rights 2013?
I have to thank Amnesty for all its efforts – it really
affects the men’s spirit by reminding them that they are
not forgotten. All these people writing for their cause –
it’s a big thing! International activism has a tremendous
effect on Bahraini activists, knowing that somebody is
telling their story. In our country there has been a total
plan to block the opposition, spread lies and distort
the story. It’s very important for us– it gives us more
confidence and strength to continue. It makes us
happy that there are people who appreciate basic
rights, stand by their principles and use their time
and effort to help us. It’s a beautiful solidarity feeling.

what are your hopes for bahrain’s future?
We have a road map for a better future called the
Manama Document. We want a society with equality
for all, where all Bahrainis can get a job if they are
competent, instead of having discrimination against
Shi'a and opposition party members.

We continue to hope that international pressure
will make the Bahraini government admit that the
uprising resulted from long unresolved political issues
that continue to be ignored and silenced, instead of
trying to control everything. You can’t lie all the time.

Above: Farida Ghulam (front, centre) and Amnesty
staff hold images of Bahraini prisoners of conscience,
International Secretariat, London, February 2013. The
text on the poster Farida is holding says “solidarity and
defiance” in Arabic.
Above left: Two men stand on top of a car holding
a flag saying “peace” in Arabic and English during
a peaceful protest rally at the Pearl Roundabout in
Bahrain, 19 February 2011.

LiVes
Please send the 13 men’s families a solidarity letter or a
card via: bahrain Team, Amnesty International,
1 easton Street, London Wc1X 0dW, UK.
call on the King of bahrain to release of the 13 jailed
opposition activists immediately and unconditionally;
to order an investigation into their torture allegations
and hold those responsible to account.
write to (start your letter: Your majesty):
Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa, office of His majesty
the King, P.o. box 555, rifa’a Palace, manama, bahrain.
fax: +973 1766 4587 (keep trying)
email: geneva.mission@mofa.gov.bh

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

honduras

‘theY can’t
cLip our
wings’

for over 30 years, a group of human rights defenders in honduras
has been a beacon of hope for people whose rights have been
violated.

E

bed Yanez, 15, left his house in Tegucigalpa
late at night on 26 May 2012, without telling his
parents. Riding his father’s motorbike without
a licence, he went to meet a girl. But going out at
night in the Honduran capital is dangerous. Ebed
never came home.
The next day, his worried parents looked for him
everywhere, until they found his dead body at the
morgue. He had been shot.
Wilfredo Yanez, Ebed’s father, wanted justice for
his son. He followed leads and collected evidence,
putting himself at great risk. A few days later, Wilfredo
discovered that soldiers had shot Ebed after he failed
to stop at an army checkpoint.
Wilfredo complained to the Public Prosecutor, but
he didn’t hold out much hope that they would help
him. After the 2009 military coup, Honduras’ state
institutions became even weaker than before. And the
already worrying human rights situation worsened.
According to UN statistics, Honduras has the
world’s highest murder rate, and only 20% of all
criminal cases are investigated. It is one of the
poorest countries in the Americas, with 60% of the
population living in poverty.
The police are notoriously corrupt, and often linked
to organized crime. As the drug trafficking cartels
expand their reach, the authorities have responded by
putting more soldiers on the streets.
So like most victims of human rights violations in
Honduras, Wilfredo also approached the Committee
of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in
Honduras (COFADEH) for help.

no strangers to danger
Standing up for human rights in Honduras is
dangerous. Journalists, lawyers, trade unionists,
Indigenous and peasant farmer leaders have been
killed because of their work to defend human rights.
COFADEH’s activists have received text messages
threatening them with sexual violence and been
physically attacked. Their offices have been broken

into many times. But none of this has stopped them
promoting and defending human rights in Honduras
for over 30 years.
The organization was founded in 1982 by the
relatives of political activists, students and trade union
leaders who were “disappeared” by the security
forces during a previous military government.

“People feel moved when they look at the
doves, now more than ever, it’s important to
keep the solidarity campaign going.”
Since then, it has continued to collect testimony
from victims, protecting people at risk and supporting
people who, like Wilfredo, are searching for justice.

shot on a fishing trip
Visiting COFADEH’s office in central Tegucigalpa is a
memorable experience. People wait patiently to tell
their stories to their lawyers, hoping that they can
help. Many have travelled far to get here.
Many victims of human rights abuses we spoke to
said that they didn’t report crimes to the authorities
because they don’t trust them and are scared. They
prefer to file a complaint with COFADEH, who then
pass it on to the prosecutors.
When Amnesty last visited the organization in
May 2013, we met Wilmer Sabillón, a young man. A
few weeks before, he had been shot by a navy officer
during a fishing trip. Wilmer didn’t get proper medical
help and is still recovering.
Wilmer was very relieved to have found
COFADEH. Within hours, it had arranged for Wilmer
be examined by a forensic doctor. It also filed a
complaint with Honduras’ Human Rights Prosecutor,
and got the case moving through the legal system.
Throughout the day, a COFADEH representative
stayed by Wilmer and his family’s side. And in
August, a navy officer was officially charged with
Wilmer’s attempted murder.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

honduras

© COFADEH

Left: Keeping their memory alive: Photographs of
people who “disappeared” during Honduras’ military
government hang on the walls of COFADEH’s ofﬁce
in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Right: This handmade banner featuring doves was a
gift from Amnesty UK to mark COFADEH’s 30th
anniversary in November 2012.

keeping the memorY aLiVe
Wilmer is just one of many people COFADEH has
represented. It has become the victims’ voice, and
the place to go for people who want justice.
Passing on historical memory is also fundamental
for its activists. They don’t want the state’s
responsibility for around 200 disappearances in the
1980s to be forgotten.
Honduras has a very young population, and many
are at risk of joining gangs. Under COFADEH’s wings,
a national youth activist network has grown.
In workshops and seminars, seasoned human
rights defenders now teach young people how to
recognize and document violations. They encourage
them to participate in their local communities, and to
promote values such as equality and solidarity.
Bertha Oliva, COFADEH’s founding member and
general co-ordinator, told us that young people are
the organization’s strength.


hope and internationaL support
International solidarity is just as important. In the
main hall of COFADEH’s offices hangs a red banner
with doves – their logo – sewn on it. It’s a gift from
Amnesty members in the UK, celebrating the
organization’s 30th anniversary last year (see above).
“People feel moved when they look at the doves,”
Bertha told us. “Now more than ever, it’s important to
keep the solidarity campaign going, and demand that
the Honduran state respects human rights defenders’
work. They can try and clip our wings, but they won't
be able to”.
COFADEH are still supporting Wilfredo’s fight to
get justice for Ebed. One soldier is currently detained
and facing criminal charges.
As Honduras goes to the polls to elect a new
president in November, the importance of their
human rights work – and the risks they face – will
grow. Please write a letter on their behalf – your words
can help support and protect the members of
COFADEH.

what is a human rights defender?
n Human rights defenders (HRDs) are
concerned for other people’s rights, as well as their
own. They are defined by what they do and what
they stand for and their actions are always peaceful.
n HRDs are committed to realising the promise
of justice, human rights and freedoms for all, even
when the issues involved are controversial.
n People’s right to defend human rights is
recognized and protected in international human
rights law.
n The UN Declaration on HRDs was adopted by
the UN General Assembly in 1998.
n States have an obligation to protect HRDs.

write a Letter - heLp protect
them
Please send a card or letter – ideally, with a picture of a
dove − to coFAdeH, expressing your support for their work.
write to: comité de Familiares de detenidos
desaparecidos en Honduras (coFAdeH)
barrio La Plazuela, Avenida cervantes, casa No. 1301,
Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Urge Honduras’ new president, who will be elected in
November 2013, to publicly endorse human rights
defenders’ important and legitimate work, pledge to
support them, and condemn all attacks against them.
write to (start your letter: dear President elect):
President elect of Honduras, c/o central America Team,
Amnesty International, 1 easton Street, London,
Wc1X 0dW, UK.

Find out more at bit.ly/coFAdeH

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

© Private

© Sergey

Yagelo

out in
the open
ihar tsikhanyuk is an openly gay man
from belarus who works as a drag artist.
when he tried to set up a gay rights
organization, the police beat him up.
when he complained, they threatened
to kill him.

All other photographs © Private

ihar wants justice for what happened,
and the freedom to be himself without
worrying about the consequences. he
shared his story with wire.

‘whiLe theY get readY, i wiLL die’

“W

hen I see injustice, I start to fight it. I was
raised like that – injustice equals horror
for me. I went to a clothes shop in Minsk
[the capital of Belarus] in August, holding hands
with a boy. The manager kicked me out and they
swore at us. I came back the next day and
complained, and they apologized and said it
wouldn’t happen again. I managed to convince
them that they were wrong. That’s what standing up
for your rights is. I didn’t steal anything and I didn’t
kill anyone, I was just holding hands with my
boyfriend.
“A boy and a girl can hold hands, so why can’t
we? I don’t care what they think. I can’t sit and wait
until they are ready. While they get ready, I will die.
There’s only one life and we should live it as best
we can.”

being gaY in beLarus

Left and above right: The many faces of Ihar
Tsikhanyuk, who works as a drag artist.

“The media here portrays gays and lesbians as sick
and crazy people, fools and savages. The President
says our country isn’t ready to accept people like us,
and that he isn’t ashamed of that. People see the
President’s attitude and think the same.

> > onLine > > > > > > > >

beLarus

“I was having hospital treatment for a stomach
ulcer at the time. The police came to the hospital and
dragged me to their car. They asked what I had been
doing in Minsk with other gays. I refused to talk to
them, so they started to punch my head and chest.
They told me not to go to Minsk anymore and to not
get involved with the organization.”

‘eVerYone is equaL in the repubLic of
beLarus’

“There’s only one life and we should live
it as best we can.”

“I am an openly gay man. I’m not embarrassed
and I don’t hide it – I try to show that it’s normal. I
dress like a woman when I perform as a drag artist in
clubs. But it’s very difficult. You have to be prepared
for negative situations all the time, attacks by young
people, relatives, the political authorities.
“It’s normal for gay people in Belarus to hide their
lives. If they’ve been beaten up or fired, they don’t
know how to complain to the authorities. Many of my
friends turn to me and ask for help.
“The LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex] community here used to be very united.
But government policy has become very homophobic
recently – gay clubs have been shut down, it’s
impossible to organize events, meetings, parties – so
people have started to lose touch with each other.”

kicked out of church
“I am an Orthodox Christian. I used to like going to
a monastery in Hrodna [in north-western Belarus]
and knew an abbess there. Then I went to gay pride
in Moscow in 2009, I gave a lot of interviews. The
next time I went to Hrodna, the abbess kicked me
out of church during the service in front of the whole
parish. She pointed at me and said that ‘this boy,

Ihar, he's gay, he likes men’. She told the congregation
to spit at people like me, and to expel me if I
came again, because I spoiled the reputation of
the church.
“My mum is very conservative and religious, so
when she saw me hugging and kissing a boy in my
room one day she was shocked. She didn’t talk to me
for about a month, and then she said she would take
me to see a priest to confess, because I had a demon
sitting inside me.
“Then I finished school and left home, and it
calmed down. Nowadays she supports me, and even
asks about my personal life and tells me to be careful
with my health.”

dragged from hospitaL
“We tried to set up Lambda, a human rights
organization that protects LGBTI people, in
December 2012. The government started to fight
us after we applied to the Ministry of Justice with
enough signatures to register it [as required by law].
The police called the founding members in for
questioning, asking why we had signed the
application and pressurized us to write letters
denouncing it.

After the attack, my family became scared of
being attacked. I told them I’d protect them. Some of
my friends expressed support and understanding, but
others said I shouldn’t complain or I’d have more
problems and could be killed.
“I wrote a complaint, and when I told the police
officers they said: ‘Boy, aren’t you worried that you’ll
end up with nine grams [a bullet] in your forehead?’.
I couldn’t believe that they’d openly say that to me.
“I still feel humiliated and empty, because there’s
nothing I can do. We don’t have enough ways to
fight, or good enough legislation to protect LGBTI
people in Belarus.
“It will mean a lot for us to get support from
Amnesty’s Write for Rights campaign. LGBTI people
will feel braver and more hopeful. It will show that
everyone is equal in the Republic of Belarus.”

write a Letter - stand with him
Support Ihar by sending a letter or a card to:
Ihar Tsikhanyuk, c/o belarus Team,
Amnesty International, 1 easton Street,
London Wc1X 0dW, United Kingdom.
call on belarus’ General Prosecutor to investigate police
ofﬁcers’ ill-treatment and threats against Ihar
Tsikhanyuk at the october district police station in
Hrodna in February 2013, and to bring those responsible
to justice.
write to (start your letter: dear General Prosecutor):
Alyaksandr Koniuk, Generalnaya Prokuratura,
ul. Internatsionalnaya 22,
220030 minsk, belarus.
email: info@prokuratura.gov.by
fax: +375 17 226 42 52 (please say “fax” if someone
answers)

> > > > > > twitter > > > > > > >

‘historY saYs, don’t hope
on this side of the graVe.
but then, once in a Lifetime
the Longed-for tidaL waVe
of justice can rise up,
and hope and historY rhYme.’
from ‘the cure at troY’ bY
seamus heaneY (1939-2013)
irish poet, actiVist and friend
of amnestY internationaL

Wire13 nov dec_web

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