axelson@dasys1.UUCP (Kevin Axelson) (10/15/87)
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL THROUGH TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Synopsis: AI invites you to inform us of your interest in receiving our
news and action alerts electronically. We attach a response form and a
sample action alert with an explanatory introduction.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people acting on the
conviction that governments must not deny individuals their basic human
rights. We work for the release of prisoners of conscience -- men,
women, and children imprisoned for their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic
origin, language, or religion, provided they have neither used nor
advocated violence; for fair and prompt trials for all political
prisoners; and for an end to torture and executions in all cases.
We would like to offer you, the user of electronic communications, a
chance to participate in our "Urgent Action Network" -- people who write
to intervene in particularly urgent cases of human rights abuse. Over
10,000 persons in the US alone belong to the UAN through the US Mail.
Now you can act in an even more timely manner through the power of your
modem and PC.
This invitation is being distributed over major electronic networks in
the USA. We are making arrangements for posting or email distribution
on a number of systems. If you are interested in having access to our
electronic news and actions, please fill out the form below, and email
or write to us. We will be delighted to hear from you! We will inform
all respondents about our network as it is established.
How you can help us build our network:
If you are aware of forums on public or institutional telecommunications
systems which might be interested in hosting our information, please
describe this below. We do not want to bother networks with multiple
postings of this invitation, so please, instead of reposting this item,
tell us about the opportunity, so we can coordinate permission from the
system and make a single announcement. Thanks!
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RESPONSE FORM
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION NETWORK ONLINE
Return to either:
US Mail: AIUSA National Office, Attn: K. Axelson,
322 8th Ave, NYC, NY 10001
or Compuserve: 76414,447
or Usenet: {sun!hoptoad,cmcl2!phri}!dasys1!axelson
or Peacenet: Amnesty
Your Name:
US Mail Address (vital, to inform you of online opportunities):
Telephone (in case we would like to ask your advice):
System and date on which you received this invitation:
Preferred systems/forum and Email addresses for receiving AI actions
(system/forum; system, path (if any), ID):
How often would you prefer to receive action alerts electronically?
____ twice a month ____ twice a week
Would you be willing to pay a subscription fee if our access to you
would require it (for example, MCI Mail)?
____ Yes ____ No
Please indicate your interest in receiving the following by US Mail:
AI Membership Information: ____
Urgent Action Reference Materials: ----
Are there any opportunities you would suggest we investigate for further
distribution of our online actions? May we contact you if we could use
further information?
END OF RESPONSE FORM. THANKS!
=====
*** Welcome to Amnesty International`s Urgent Action Network! ***
The Urgent Action Program offers people the chance to help prisoners
who are under the threat of torture, death, or other extreme ill-
treatment. Amnesty International`s researchers, in the organization`s
London headquarters, receive information daily about prisoners of
conscience who are in some sort of life-endangering situation. This
information is then developed into a brief fact sheet called an Urgent
Action appeal (UA) which includes:
1) specific information about a prisoner`s situation;
2) a paragraph or two of relevant background information;
3) a clarification of AI`s concerns;
4) specific recommendations to help the writer respond
effectively;
5) addresses of government officials who may be helpful in
stopping the torture or other abuse;
-----------------------------------------
We encourage you to use your computer
a) to send an immediate telex, telegram, or international mailgram
through a telex service (i.e., Western Union`s Easy Link) to
one or more of the listed government officials
b) as a word processor to help send letters through the postal
system;
Your appeals should be polite and to the point, no more than a page in
length. It is more effective for you to focus your concern on the
prisoner or prisoners mentioned in the UA and not make general
statements about the country or government concerned. Please write
your appeals in a personal or professional capacity, using, where
appropriate, your company or group`s name. Always include a return
mailing address so the official can respond to your appeal.
Many thanks for your interest in the UA program. UA participants
receive many responses from released prisoners of conscience who write
to thank us for helping him or her. In July, 1987, Bridgett in
Oklahoma wrote to a government official in Paraguay about a prisoner
of conscience in isolation there. In August she received a letter
from the prisoner who had been shown the letter.
(partial quote)
"It`s not easy to explain how I felt this morning when I was handed
your letter. I can`t tell you how I feel now, ten hours later, but of
one thing I`m sure: its good to know I`m not fighting alone and I
thank you and thank the Lord for as long as there`re persons like you,
this crazy world will have hope and people like me will have a chance
to have justice done."
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URGENT ACTION, ACTIVE UNTIL OCTOBER 21, 1987
UA 242/87 Fear of Torture/`Disappearances` 9 September 1987
Peru: Fermin Yucra Kiwe, 25
Nestor Aman Quispe, 28
Ricardo Aman Quispe, 21
Mardonio Quispe Romero, 18
Anselmo Medina Jorge, 20
Marcelino Medina Jorge, 18
Teodoro Naupa Quispe
Manuel Quispe Rivera, 24
Felipe Sicha Medina, 22
Pompeyo Taype Romero, 35
Amnesty International has received reports of the detention by army
troops of three groups of people in or around the peasant community
of Santa Rosa, in the province of La Mar, Ayacucho Department.
At 6AM on 28 August 1987 a group of soldiers arrived at the peasant
community of Huanchi, near Santa Rosa, and forced the community
members to line up together. The soldiers then selected and took
away the first seven men named above. Their whereabouts remain
unknown.
According to the community members the soldiers were from 3 different
army units (destacamientos) - Machente, Trivolini and Pichari.
However, the nearest military base to Huanchi is a navy installation.
When relatives enquired at the navy base the authorities claimed to
know nothing about the detentions. Amnesty International is
seriously concerned for their physical safety. The peasant community
has denounced the detentions to the public prosecutor (fiscal) of
Ayacucho.
Manuel Quispe Rivera and Felipe Sicha Medina were reportedly detained
at their homes in San Pedro, near Santa Rosa in the early morning of
2 September 1987 by a nine-member army unit. It is not clear whether
these detentions have been acknowledged, but their whereabouts remain
unknown and there is serious concern that they may `disappear` or be
subjected to torture or extra-judicial execution. Manuel Quispe
Rivera is the president of the San Pedro Administrative Council,
Consejo de Administracion. The detentions have been denounced to the
public prosecutor of Ayacucho.
Pompeyo Taype Romero was detained at 4AM on 23 August at his home in
Santa Rosa by members of the Los Linces army unit. (According to
reports this is a new counter-insurgency military unit.) Since then
his whereabouts remain unkown and Amnesty International fears he may
be subjected to torture or `disappearance`.
According to local reports the guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso has
been active around the Santa Rosa area during the last few months.
Members of surrounding peasant communities have approached the navy
base there to report the presence of the guerrillas, but navy
officials are reported to have refused their requests for help as
they `do not wish to be accused of human rights violations`. Amnesty
has received recent reports of human rights abuses, including torture
and `disappearance` in the province of La Mar and has appealed to the
Peruvian authorities to halt such abuses. Peasant community members
and their representatives have frequently been the victims of
torture, `disappearance` and extrajudicial executions.
Recommended action: telegrams/telexes/airmail letters:
- expressing concern at the possible `disappearance` after detention
of the above-named following their detention by members of the army:
- urging that they be brought before a competent court and charged
with a recognizably criminal offence or released immediately.
- asking that they be humanely treated and granted access to their
families or lawyer while in detention.
Appeals to: -Salutations-
Presidente Alan Garcia -Your Excellency-
Presidente de la Republica del Peru
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza de Armas
Lima, Peru (Telegrams: Presidente Garcia, Lima, Peru)
(Telexes: 20167 PE PALACIO)
General Jorge Flores Torres -Your Excellency-
Ministro de Guerra
Ministerio de Guerra
Avenida Boulevard
Lima, Peru (Telegrams: Ministro Guerra, Lima, Peru)
(telexes: 25438 CONGREGI)
Dr Hugo Denegri Cornejo -Your Honor-
Senor Fiscal General de la Nacion
Fiscalia General de la Nacion
Edificio Torre de Lima, 7 Piso
Centro Civico
Lima, Peru (Attorney General)
(Telegrams: Fiscal General, Denegri Cornejo, Fiscalia General,
Lima, Peru)
Copies to:
Senores
CONADEH
Av. Horacio Urteaga 704
Jesus Maria
Lima, Peru (human rights organization)
Ambassador Cesar G Atala
Embassy of Peru
1700 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20036
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AI Urgent Action
office (303-440-0913) between 9 AM and 6 PM if sending appeals
after 21 October 1987.bako@acf3.NYU.EDU (John Bako) (10/16/87)
[This article is taken from the Usenet group `news.groups'] I've registered a NO vote with mike@turing.unm.edu and would like to present my thoughts to the group. Firstly, I do believe that Amnesty International serves an important function in society and does make a difference. Their work is important. What I have a problem with is the nature of the network's involvement. Is it really in the network's best interest to carry into a host country news that may be considered seditious. What is to stop a government, that violates its citizens civil rights, from simply turning off the news feed. I've never seen a breakdown of funding sources for the network, but I'd be very surprise if a large portion isn't from the government sector. My point is that Amnesty International should be be able to find a better way to distribute urgent news. I understand the network with its international scope would seem the ideal solution. But it is just that scope that may cause articles to show up in a country run by an unfriendly government with negative results for the net. Wouldn't a mailing list be the best way to go with this???? John Bako
khayo@cs.ucla.edu (Erazm J. Behr) (10/18/87)
John Bako writes: > Is it really [not] in the network's best interest to carry into a host country > news that may be considered seditious. Are you joking? If calling for a release of people who are kept in jail or psychiatric hospitals for years because they spoke their minds is considered "seditious" then you may as well expect that the only purpose of that country's participation in the networks is to spread their own propaganda outside their borders. In that case if the sooner they shut themselves off, the better. > What is to stop a government, that violates its citizens civil rights, > from simply turning off the news feed. Nothing really, except maybe some public opinion pressure... Am I dreaming? > My point is that Amnesty International should be be able to find a better way > to distribute urgent news. I understand the network with its international > scope would seem the ideal solution. But it is just that scope that may > cause articles to show up in a country run by an unfriendly government with > negative results for the net. My point is that this very kind of thinking and self-censorship is one of the things that sustain those regimes; if they feel threatened by our postings and if one of them decides to pull a plug, we will all know about it and that many more people will have a first-hand experience of this nature (which provides a little more incentive to DO something than just reading a digested capsule in Time Magazine). I believe that in the long run we'll be doing the people of that country a much bigger disservice by tailoring our postings so as not to offend Messrs Ortega, Stoessner or Ceaucescu in any way. The worst enemy of real democracy and the strongest ally of authoritarianism is a seemingly viable pretense of freedom (hey, look, we even let our people read postings from the USA!!! <<only because there's nothing dangerous for us in them>>.) > Wouldn't a mailing list be the best way to go with this???? Now you're being naive: do you think that UNIX is *that* secure? A gov't which worries about "seditious" postings would definitely monitor the flow of mail - the difference being that the recipients could read public postings at least for some time, while the subscribers to a mailing list would already be out of their jobs and possibly sitting in a cooler. I would strongly object to the (ab)use of the NET by a *political* organization pursuing its own ends for someone else's money; however, AI is not *political* per se (i.e. it represents the Helsinki Charter signed by most of the countries) and not a particular political ideology (i.e. it's just as likely to act in defense of a Communist jailed in Peru as in that of a Cuban dissident - given similar circumstances and reason for their imprisonment.) By the way, I'm not in any way associated with AI - I just respect their impartiality very much. Eric