 |
Amnesty International Group 15 - Concord Area (MA) |
|
|
|
|
Group 15 Campaigns The following are some of the Campaigns which members of Group 15 are currently engaged in both individually and collectively as a group. Prisoners of Conscience and Individuals At
Risk
|
|
Tran Quoc Hien
Born c. 1965. Married, with a 12-year-old son.Tran Quoc Hien, the director of a legal consultancy in Ho Chi Minh city, provided advice to farmers whose land had been confiscated by the authorities. He was selected as the spokesperson for the UWFO in January 2007. Two days later, on January 12, he was arrested. On May 4, it was reported in official media that he would be brought to trial on May 15 in the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court, charged under Article 88 (conduction propaganda against the state) and Article 89 (disrupting security) of the penal code. Allegations against Tran Quoc Hien included that he “joined reactionary organizations through the Internet” and that “under the guise of helping members of the public lodge petitions,” he and others incited demonstrations and posted “distorted” articles on the Internet. He was also charged with being a member of an internet-based pro-democracy movement, Bloc 8406, formed on 8 April 2006. On that date activists launched a manifesto calling for peaceful political change and respect for human rights. Amnesty International believes that Tran Quoc Hien was arrested for his activities related to the UWFO, as well as his support of Bloc 8406. At the trial on May 15, Tran Quoc Hien was sentenced to three years imprisonment under Article 88, two years under Article 89, and two years of house arrest on release. He is currently believed to be detained at Prison Z30A, Phan Trai 2, Xa Xuan Loc, Dong Nai Province. In 2009, Tran Quoc Hien was one of a small number of political prisoners in Z30A prison camp who participated in a hunger strike to protest harsh conditions of detention. |
Doan Van Dien:
Born c. 1954. Mennonite pastor, previously arrested for religious activities. Doan Van Dien was arrested on November 15, 2006. That day he had given an interview to US-based Radio Free Asia, expressing concerns about the arrest of his sons, also UWFO members. He was accused of collecting complaints about land use and sending them to overseas websites and journalists, and distributing anti-government leaflets ahead of the APEC summit. Doan Van Dien was tried on December 10, 2007 at Dong Nai Provincial People’s Court and sentenced to four and a half years’ imprisonment for “abusing democracy and freedom rights.” His appeal was rejected on February 28, 2008. Doan Van Dien is being held in B5 Prison, Dong Nai Province.
|
Doan Huy Chuong:
Born 1985. Son of Doan Van Dien. Previously detained in 2006 for UWFO activity. Doan Huy Chuong worked at a seafood company in Quang Nam Province before moving to Ho Chi Minh City, where he led several strikes. In November 2006 he was arrested and charged with “distorting the facts” in interviews with international media, including Radio Free Asia. He had claimed that the Vietnamese government committed labor rights violations and arrested peaceful protesters. He served 18 months in prison for “abusing democratic freedoms.” He suffered mental and physical abuse in prison. Doan Huy Chuong was arrested again in February 2010 for helping to organize a strike by around 10,000 workers at the My Phong shoe factory in Tra Vinh Province, distributing leaflets, and being in contact with the overseas Committee to Protect Vietnamese Workers. Shortly before the ASEAN summit in Ha Noi beginning October 28, 2010, Doan Huy Chuong was convicted of “disrupting security” under Article 89 of the penal code, and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was sentenced alongside Do Thi Minh Hanh and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, two other labor organizers. Doan Huy Chuong is currently being held incommunicado. Amnesty International is concerned that he and other jailed UWFO members are at risk of being subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment while in prison.
|
|
|
Violence Against Women
Women face human rights injustices, in addition to gender-based discrimination. Women and children account for most casualties of war and make up most of the world's refugees, displaced and poor populations. Living free from violence is a human right. Yet millions of women and girls around the world encounter rape, domestic abuse, mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence. Too often no one is held accountable for these crimes. With your help, we can urge governments to hold perpetrators responsible and put an end to this cycle of violence against women. Learn more....
Counter Terrorism with Justice
The " war on terror " does not justify violations
of international human rights law. Amnesty International's Counter Terror
With Justice Campaign works to stop torture and ill-treatment; close
Guantanamo the right way--with detainees either tried fairly in U.S. federal
courts or released; end illegal detentions at Bagram and other U.S. facilities;
stop rendition; and ensure that human rights abuses are investigated and
prosecuted. Additionally, Group 15 in its Guantanamo Project
has worked for the release of the Uighurs detainees in Guantanamo.
Learn more...
Immigrant Detention
Immigration
is growing and increasingly visible. Immigrants and their families carry all
their human rights
with them when they
move. But undocumented immigrants often live in the shadows and at heightened
risk of human rights violations.
Amnesty International calls for immigrants to be treated with full respect for
their human rights and human dignity. Amnesty International is calling on the
Department of Homeland Security to make U.S. immigration detention standards
enforceable, and to use alternatives to detention in a meaningful way. If the
government chooses to detain an immigrant, that person must be held in
conditions that meet both domestic and international standards, and before a
person is detained, all available alternatives to detention must be considered
in each individual case
Learn more...
LGBT Human Rights
Amnesty International believes that all people,
regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be able to
enjoy the full range of human rights, without exception. However, every day,
across the globe, sexual orientation or gender identity leads to abuse in the
form of discrimination, violence, imprisonment, torture, or even execution.
Persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity can take a
variety of forms and these contravene the basic tenets of international human
rights law. By highlighting instances of abuse against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender (LGBT) individuals, Amnesty's activists work to protect members
of the LGBT community whilst striving to achieve decriminalization and marriage
equality.
Learn more....
|
Send mail to
webmaster@group15.org with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
