"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history,
whether man shall be allowed
to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." --
Thomas Jefferson
Waking up this morning was like waking
up to a new era. That’s because many of us remember a
time when activities were segregated by race, whether
going to the movies or riding a bus. And then yesterday, the
biggest racial barrier in American politics was
annihilated. By record margins, America elected Barack
Obama the first African-American president of the United
States.
Hope overcame fear. Ordinary citizens mobilized to
change the future. This is the heart of Amnesty
International. Since 1961, we’ve held out hope for those
enduring injustice, when all hope was lost. And through
the power of your collective actions, hundreds of
thousands now enjoy greater freedom and a safer, more
just world.
A record 131 million people cast their vote and
exercised one of the most fundamental of human rights.
But as Barack Obama said last night,
"This victory alone is not the change we seek--it is
only the chance for us to make that change. And that
cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It
cannot happen without you."
We have a great opportunity. The world faces
overwhelming human rights crises. But with your help, we
can turn this country’s policies on human rights back in
the direction of alleviating, and not contributing, to
these crises.
President-elect Obama has promised to restore the rule
of law, to repair America’s damaged perception in the
world, to close Guantánamo, and to renounce torture.
These promises bring hope. In the coming days, we
will need you to help make those promises a reality.
Today,
October
14,
2008...the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
declined
to
hear
Troy
Anthony
Davis'
appeal.
His
fate
is
back
in
the
hands
of
Georgia
authorities
who
may
seek
a
new
execution date
at
any
time.
The
Supreme
Court's
decision
to
deny
Troy
Davis'
petition
means
that
no
court
of
law
will
ever
hold
a
hearing
on
the
witnesses
who
have
recanted
their
trial
testimony
in
sworn
affidavits.
Doubts
about
his
guilt
raised
by
these
multiple
witness
recantations
will
never
be
resolved.
An
execution
under
such
a
cloud
of
doubt
would
undermine
public
confidence
in
the
state's
criminal
justice
system
and
would
be a
grave
miscarriage
of
justice.
The
state
of
Georgia
can
still
do
the
responsible
thing
and
prevent
the
execution
of
Troy
Davis:
Urge your friends and family to go to amnestyusa.org/troydavis or text TROY to 90999 to add their voices to the over 200,000 that have already taken action on this case.
In
Saudi
Arabia right
now,
at
least
three
juvenile
offenders
face
imminent
execution,
while
another
may
be
sentenced
to
death
in
the
near
future.
Two
more
child
offenders
have
been
sentenced
to
flogging.
Sultan
Bin
Sulayman
Bin
Muslim
al-Muwallad,
‘Issa
bin
Muhammad
‘Umar
Muhammad
(a
Chadian
national),
and
Rizana
Nafeek
(a
Sri
Lankan
national)
all
have
been
sentenced
to
death
for
crimes
committed
at
17
years
of
age.
Sultan
Kohail
(a
Canadian
national)
is
awaiting
retrial
at
which
he
may
be
sentenced
to
death,
despite
still
being
just
17
years
old.
Bilal
Bin
Muslih
Bin
Jabir
al-Muwallad
and
Ahmad
Hamid
Muhammad
Sabir
(another
Chadian
national),
have
been
sentenced
to
“severe
flogging”
and
imprisonment,
despite
being
13
and
15
at
the
time
of
their
crimes.
The
execution
and
flogging
of
child
offenders
is a
violation
of
Saudi
Arabia's
obligations
under
the
UN
Convention
on
the
Rights
of
the
Child,
to
which
the
Kingdom
is a
state
party.
Floggings
also
violate
Saudi
Arabia’s
commitments
under
the
UN
Convention
Against
Torture.
Help stop executions and floggings in Saudi Arabia
In
Solidarity,
Sue
Gunawardena
Vaughn
Director,
Death
Penalty
Abolition
Campaign
Amnesty
International
USA
On August 5, Texas plans to execute a
foreign national in violation of an international treaty that
protects travelers overseas.
Halt the execution of José Medellín!
Don't let Texas
undermine your rights under international law!
When you travel abroad, if you
happen to get in trouble you have the right to contact your Embassy
or Consulate. And thanks to an important treaty, the Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations, anyone who arrests you is
required to inform you of that right.
When José Medellín, a Mexican national, was arrested in Texas, no
one informed him of that right. He is scheduled to be executed on
August 5.
In 2004, the World Court ruled that prisoners like José Medellín
must be provided with an adequate review to determine if their cases
were jeopardized by the denial of their consular notification
rights. No such review has taken place in Medellin's case.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Michael
Mukasey have called on Texas to make such a review happen, and both
the U.S. Supreme Court and even Texas officials have acknowledged
that the World Court ruling is "an international law obligation."
There is also now a bill in Congress that would address the problem,
but it won't pass before José Medellín's August 5 execution date.
Urge Texas authorities to honor U.S. international obligations
and halt the execution of José Medellín.
Executing José Medellín without the required review would raise
serious questions about U.S. commitment to the Vienna Convention,
and might even compromise the rights of U.S. citizens traveling
abroad.
Please act to stop this execution today!
In Solidarity,
Sue Gunawardena Vaughn
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA
We have seen only a sliver of the abuses on TV, which include
locking down cities to prevent public protests, denying journalists
access to Tibet, the beating and torture of peaceful protesters who
ask for the most basic human rights, and so on. These activities
betray the fundamental Olympic spirit of respect for human dignity,
and should be strongly condemned.
Bring accountability to the "war on terror"!
"It enrages me when contractors hired by the U.S.
government and military reportedly torture detainees and
shoot at civilians in Iraq and nothing is done to
investigate and hold the responsible people and
companies accountable."
Resources Online
The Program to Abolish the Death Penalty updates the information
below on a regular basis.
Death
Penalty News Get the latest news from
AIUSA's Death Penalty Blog.
» Read the blog
Copyright 2006-2008 Amnesty International USA / 5 Penn Plaza New
York, NY 10001 / Tel: 212.807.8400
"The spread of evil is the symptom of a
vacuum. whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the
moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be
no compromise on basic principles."
Ayn Rand
Activism
Issues
Sincerely,
