Ainda é tempo de salvar Troy Davis

Troy Davis passou mais de 20 anos no corredor da morte, na Geórgia, EUA, por um crime que sempre declarou que não cometeu.

O seu caso está ferido pela dúvida.

• Não existem evidências físicas que liguem Troy ao crime;

•  7 das 9 testemunhas alteraram ou retractaram o seu testemunho, com algumas delas invocando a existência de coação policial;

• Testemunhas identificaram um outro suspeito.

Mas apesar disso, Troy Davis tem agora marcada a data da sua execução: Quarta-feira, 21 de Setembro, às 19:00 EDT. (24:00 em Lisboa).

Nós acreditamos firmemente que ninguém deve enfrentar a pena de morte. A natureza irrevogável da execução é demasiado arriscada especialmente quando dúvidas subsistem – e existem tantas dúvidas sobre a culpabilidade de Troy.

A AI há mais de seis anos que luta para que Troy seja retirado do corredor da morte e com a ajuda e o apoio de milhares de pessoas em todo o mundo, ajudou Troy  a evitar três execuções programadas no passado. Precisamos da sua ajuda para fazer isso de novo. Não temos muito tempo.

 

Uma das maneiras de você poder fazer a diferença agora é enviar um e-mail ao Conselho Estadual de Indultos e Liberdade Condicional da Geórgia a pedir clemência.

É simples. Envie-lhes um e-mail agora através da AI UK 

Vai usar menos de dois minutos a preencher o formulário preparado pela AI UK - nome, apelido, e-mail  e a confirmar que é maior de 18 anos - e o seu pedido, educado e respeitoso, para que concedam a clemência a Troy, baseada nas dúvidas do caso, pode ser o que faltava para os convençer.

Outras acções estão disponíveis e visíveis quando visitar o site da AI UK, que pode usar nas suas redes sociais.

CONTAMOS CONSIGO!

16 de Setembro: Dia Internacional de Solidariedade com Troy Davis

Promovido pela Amnistia Internacional e outras organizações por todo o mundo.

Troy Davis passou mais de 20 anos no corredor da morte, na Geórgia, EUA, por um crime que sempre declarou que não cometeu.

O seu caso está ferido pela dúvida.

•  Não existem evidências físicas que liguem Troy ao crime;

• 7 das 9 testemunhas alteraram ou retractaram o seu testemunho, com algumas delas invocando a existência de coação policial;

• Testemunhas identificaram um outro suspeito.

Mas apesar disso, Troy Davis tem agora marcada a data da sua execução: Quarta-feira, 21 de Setembro, às 19:00 EDT. (24:00 em Lisboa).

Nós acreditamos firmemente que ninguém deve enfrentar a pena de morte. A natureza irrevogável da execução é demasiado arriscada especialmente quando dúvidas subsistem – e existem tantas dúvidas sobre a culpabilidade de Troy.

A AI há mais de seis anos que luta para que Troy seja retirado do corredor da morte, e com a ajuda e o apoio de milhares de pessoas em todo o mundo, ajudaram Troy  a evitar três execuções programadas no passado. Precisamos da sua ajuda para fazer isso de novo. Não temos muito tempo.

 

Uma das maneiras de você poder fazer a diferença agora é enviar um e-mail ao Conselho Estadual de Indultos e Liberdade Condicional da Geórgia a pedir clemência.

É simples. Envie-lhes um e-mail agora através da AI UK

Vai usar menos de dois minutos a preencher o formulário preparado pela AI UK - nome, apelido, e-mail  e a confirmar que é maior de 18 anos - e o seu pedido, educado e respeitoso, para que concedam a clemência a Troy, baseada nas dúvidas do caso pode ser o que os convença.

Outras acções estão disponíveis e visíveis quando visitar o site da AI UK.

CONTAMOS CONSIGO!

Clemência para Troy Davis

By Melanie Wilmoth In the wake of the announcement that Troy Davis' execution is scheduled for September 21, several US Congress members are seeking clemency for Mr. Davis. Fifty-one Congress members, all Democrats, have signed a letter addressed to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles stating that "considerable doubts as to Troy Davis' guilt remain." The evidence against Mr. Davis is questionable at best. As Congress members point out: "Several witnesses testified at the evidentiary hearing that they had been coerced into making statements implicating Troy Davis at trial. At the hearing, one witness testified for the first time that he saw another suspect in the case commit the crime. The credibility of various witnesses was challenged by the state of Georgia, and the judge in that case agreed. Many of these same witnesses, whose credibility is now questioned, were essential to obtaining Troy Davis' original conviction." Despite claims of coercion, questions about witness credibility, and 7 of 9 witnesses recanting their testimony, Troy Davis is still considered guilty and set to be executed. Congress members are not the only people speaking out against this injustice. Other world leaders, artists, and public figures have joined the fight as well. John Lewis, Hank Johnson, David Scott, Sanford Bishop seek clemency for Troy Davis By Jim Galloway, Political Insider The Georgia members of Congress have asked the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency for Troy Davis, who is scheduled to face execution next week the 1989 killing of off-duty Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Hank Johnson of Decatur, John Lewis and David Scott of Atlanta, and Sanford Bishop of Albany, all Democrats, put their signatures to the letter that can be read here. A total of four dozen members of Congress signed. Among the letter's points: "It is clear now that the doubts plaguing Davis's case can never be adequately addressed; the lack of hard scientific or relevant physical evidence has made it impossible to resolve with any degree of certainty. "Over the last four years, the inability of our courts to resolve these uncertainties has shaken public confidence in our judicial system, and an execution under such a cloud of doubt would do nothing but further undermine that confidence. Public faith in the integrity of justice in Georgia is at stake and it is for this reason that we urge you to grant clemency for Troy Davis." Many others have argued for a commutation of Davis's death sentence, including former President Jimmy Carter. Worth noting is the absence of a signature from one Georgia Democrat — John Barrow — on the letter mentioned above.

Síria: O receio cresce face ao aumento das mortes de activistas nas prisões

Amnesty International Press release
13 September 2011

Fears grow for Syrian activists as deaths in custody increase Amnesty International has urged the Syrian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of four activists arrested last week near Damascus after the dead body of their friend was returned to his family over the weekend.

The four, who include the brothers Yahya and Ma’an Shurbaji, have not been seen since they were detained in Daraya, a Damascus suburb, on 6 September at the same time as Ghayath Mattar, the dead activist. There are growing fears for their safety.

An Amnesty International report last month listed 88 deaths in custody since April, but seven others, including Ghayath Mattar, have died behind bars in recent weeks, bringing the total to 95.
“It is clear that these human rights activists from Daraya are in grave danger given the very suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of their friend and fellow activist Ghayath Mattar,” said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

“The spiralling total of detainee deaths together with the Syrian authorities’ failure to conduct any independent investigations points to a pattern of systematic, government-sanctioned abuse in which every detainee must be considered at serious risk,” said Philip Luther.

The official account given to Ghayath Mattar’s family by security officials is that he was “shot by armed gangs” although he is known to have been in detention since 6 September and video and other evidence suggests that he was tortured prior to his death. The 26-year-old had helped to lead peaceful protests in Daraya in which demonstrators responded to the security forces’ violence by carrying flowers.

Ghayath Mattar and Yahya Shurbaji were arrested by plain-clothes officers on 6 September after Yahya Shurbaji’s brother Ma’an called to say he had been injured when security forces raided his home. Sources have told Amnesty International that Ma’an Shurbaji was already in custody at the time, and was forced to make the call to lure his brother in for arrest.

Two other activists from Daraya, Mazen Zyadeh and Mohamed Tayseer Khoulani, were reportedly arrested at the same time as Ma’an Shurbaji. Air Force Intelligence confirmed Ghayath Mattar’s arrest on 6 September in a telephone call to his family days before his body was handed over to them.

“Yahya Shurbaji is at particular risk, given his active role in organizing peaceful protests since March. Syrian authorities must immediately reveal the detainees’ whereabouts and give them access to lawyers, their families and any needed medical assistance,” said Philip Luther.

Fears also continue to grow for six other activists from Daraya whose families have had no access to them since they were arrested in July and August. Like those detained on 6 September, they are believed to be held by Air Force Intelligence, one of several Syrian security agencies and the main one currently operating in Daraya.

According to a family friend, security forces surrounded the cemetery when Ghayath Mattar was buried to try and prevent the family from holding a public funeral, then used live fire against mourners, killing a 17-year-old boy and injuring four others.

Syrian authorities have not publicly said if any charges have been brought against the activists still in detention, but Amnesty International believes that they were detained for their involvement in pro-reform protests.

“If these men are being held solely on the basis of their peaceful human rights activism, we would consider them to be prisoners of conscience and they must be released without delay,” said Philip Luther. 

Nota: Título e destaques de minha responsabilidade 

Imagens de vídeo mostram presos egipcios mortos e aparentemente torturados

Amnesty International Press release
8 March 2011

Amnesty International has called for an urgent investigation by the Egyptian authorities after receiving video footage from inside a morgue showing the bodies of scores of prisoners, some of whom had apparently been tortured before being killed.

The three videos of dead prisoners from Al-Fayoum Prison were taken in the Zenhoum morgue in Cairo on 8 February 2011 by a man who went to the morgue after the family of another inmate told him that the dead body of his brother was there.

"These are distressing images that show a large number of inmates who appear to have been killed in horrific circumstances," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"The Egyptian authorities have a responsibility of care for all inmates of their prisons and must immediately investigate how these prisoners met their deaths and bring to justice anyone found responsible for carrying out unlawful killings, torture or other ill-treatment."

Malek Tamer found the name of his brother, Tamer Tawfiq Tamer, an inmate at Al-Fayoum, one of Egypt's large prisons, on a list of 68 male prisoners listed in the morgue’s register.

He said a large number of the bodies, which were all numbered with pieces of paper attached to their fronts, had wounds to areas including the head, mouth and eyes, suggesting they were tortured before their deaths.

Injuries included bullet wounds, burn marks, bruises and missing finger and toenails, Malek Tamer said.

He was accompanied by a friend, Mohamed Ibrahim Eldesouky, whose brother Reda Ibrahim Eldesouky, another Al-Fayoum inmate, whose dead body was also among those in the morgue.

The pair last saw the two prisoners alive in the morning of 30 January 2011, when they were in the custody of military staff with other prisoners on the Al-Fayoum – Cairo highway, south-west of Cairo, after they had left Al-Fayoum prison on 28 January.

Military staff told them they could enquire about their brothers at the Prison Authority in Cairo, under the Ministry of Interior, within two days, otherwise their place of detention would be announced within 10 days.

A week later, Mohamed Ibrahim Eldesouky went to the Zenhoum morgue after being told by unidentified men in plain clothes that his brother Reda's corpse was there.

Having discovered Tamer's name among those of 68 men on the morgue registry, he informed Malek Tamer, who then visited the morgue with his camera.

Tamer Tawfiq Tamer's death certificate said he had died at Al-Fayoum prison on 3 February from "suspicion of suffocation and an acute blood pressure drop".

Malek Tamer described his brother's body as being blue from his head to the lower chest, and said bruises and coagulated blood were clearly visible on his head, nose and eyes.

Reda Ibrahim Eldesouky's death certificate said he had also died on 3 February but gave no reason for his death, stating only: "Forensically examined and case under study".

Mohamed Ibrahim Eldesouky said he saw similar wounds on his brother’s body as well as burn marks.

The Egyptian authorities have not issued medical or forensic examination reports for either prisoner.

Malek Tamer and Mohamed Ibrahim Eldesouky have yet to receive any response from the office of Cairo’s Public Prosecutor after submitting the video footage and a complaint with support from the Egyptian Center for Development and Human Rights.

About 21,600 prisoners are reported to have been let out or to have escaped from Egypt's prisons in unclear circumstances after the Ministry of Interior, responsible for running prisons, quit office on 28 January following that Friday's "Day of Anger" protests.

More than half of them were re-arrested or later handed themselves in to the authorities. 

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HREA - www.hrea.org

Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and community-building through on-line technologies.