AI Win 05 p. 20-24
11/02/2005
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ACTION ALERT The following actions give you an opportunity to get directly involved with Amnesty International's ongoing work. Please write appeals on these cases within a month of receiving this magazine. All letters should be courteous and accurately specify the facts of each case. Under no circumstances should you write to any prisoner mentioned. For our most current actions and to sign up for email action alerts, visit the Online Action Center. You can make a difference. takeaction.amnestyusa.org »GLOBAL
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AI
urhabazi Namegabe was reading to a group of children in a hostel in the Walungu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, when uniformed soldiers swaggered in and demanded money. A Kalashnikov pointed in the face was not unusual in a country where a decade-long war has killed more than 3 million people, but this time the soldiers were distracted. They walked around in a daze, recalls Namegabe, gently touching the hundreds of colorful postcards and festive envelopes spread around the room—a display of supportive correspondence from Amnesty International members. They started reading the letters, testing their broken English, and ordered Namegabe to read a few aloud. “Who wrote these letters?” they asked him, “And why?” For Namegabe, director of a group that helps former child soldiers, it was the perfect opportunity to talk about the group’s work. The children participating in the reading revealed to the uniformed men that they were former child soldiers and described how Namegabe’s group had helped them. At the end of the impromptu workshop, the soldiers promised to bring in more child soldiers for demobilization and social rehabilitation. The letters and postcards, close to one thousand, are messages of hope from Amnesty members to those struggling through dark times. Namegabe says the messages are precious to the children and that it gives them great joy that others around the world care. “Thanks, thanks, thanks, mingi, very much,” says Namegabe in an emotional letter to Amnesty International. “Aksanti saana (many thanks) to men, women and the youth of AI for advancing the cause of human rights across the entire world!”
Free Papuan Protestors
F
or the simple act of raising a flag, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage could be locked away in prison for years to come. Karma, a former civil servant in his mid-40s, and Pakage, a 26-year-old student, joined some 200 protestors in a peaceful commemoration of Papuan Independence Day on Dec. 1, 2004. The protestors raised the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, as hundreds more bystanders watched along the edge of the fields outside Abepura in Papua province. Indonesian police immediately advanced upon the crowd, fired shots that injured at least four and pummeled people with batons. The police arrested Karma at the scene, Filep Karma on trial.
as well as 20 people who went to the police station to protest his arrest. Authorities eventually released all but one— Pakage, who is now imprisoned with Karma. The court sentenced Karma to 15 years and Pakage to 10 years on charges of treason. While Amnesty International does not take a position on the political status of any province in Indonesia, AI believes the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate independence. Karma and Pakage are among some 75 people Indonesian authorities have arrested since 1998 for participating in pro-Papuan independence activities. The political climate in Papua province is such that simply attending a meeting at which people discuss the political status of Papua is dangerous. amnestyusa.org/3507
ACT
ACT » You can send a message of hope through Amnesty’s Holiday Card Action. Find the latest featured cases on amnestyusa.org/action/holiday, and send general caring messages of goodwill. Do not mention Amnesty International or use Amnesty cards. Please send a copy of any reply you may receive to the National Casework Office/Amnesty International USA/730 Peachtree Street, N.E., Suite 1060/ Atlanta, GA 30308. casework@aiusa.org
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»INDONESIA
ELSHAM
Holiday Card Action: Send a Simple Message of Hope
winter 2005
» Send politely worded letters to the President of
Indonesia, urging him to bring about the immediate and unconditional release of Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage. Appeals to: Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono/President of Indonesia/care of Ambassador Soemadi D.M. Brotodiningrat/Embassy of Indonesia/2020 Massachusetts Avenue N.W./Washington, DC 20036.
