Individuals at Risk Newsletter

Covering action updates from January Through March, 2009

RELEASES

IRAN: Jamila Nabgan (female). Jamila Nabgan is now free on bail and is no longer being detained for 14 hours a day by the Ministry of Intelligence. She had been arrested at her family home in Shush, Khuzestan province, on October 19, and was released five days later on the condition that she report every morning to the detention facility in Ahvaz where she would be detained from 8am until 10pm. Jamila Nabgan's brother is an advocate for the rights of the Arab minority in Iran. (Urgent Action 286/08)

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Bernardin Mbandi (male). Bernardin Mbandi, a 70-year-old retired civil servant, was released from Agence Nationale de Renseignements (ANR), National Intelligence Agency detention on March 14, 2009. He held an influential post during the government of President Mobutu, who was in power from 1965-1997. Bernardin Mbandi was arrested on January 22, 2009 at his home in the capital city of Kinshasa. He suffers from asthma and was being held incommunicado, both reasons for increased concern for his welfare. He is now, however, undergoing medical checks. His family has thanked Amnesty International members for the appeals that were sent on his behalf. (Urgent Action 55/09)

BRAZIL: Katia Camargo (female) and her children. After receiving a series of threats, Katia Camargo and her children entered a witness protection program on January 5, 2009. Katia Camargo had been threatened by people linked to the killers of her husband, investigative journalist Luiz Carlos Barbon. The journalist, who had reported on official corruption, was murdered in May 2007. The protection of the Camargo family was ordered by São Paulo?s Human Rights Prosecutor. It is unusual for the Prosecutor to act so rapidly on such a case. It is notable that the prosecutor's office acted with impressive speeding this case, due in part to Amnesty International's intervention. (Urgent Action 306/08)

USA (Ohio): Jeffrey Hill (male). Ohio Governor Ted Strickland granted clemency to Jeffrey Hill on February 12, 2009. He had been due to be executed on March 3 after being sentenced to death in 1992 for the murder of his mother, Emma Hill, in 1991. The state parole board made a unanimous recommendation that Hill be granted clemency on February 6, citing a number of reasons for their decision. (Urgent Action 30/09)

BANGLADESH: Rang Lai Mro (male). Indigenous community leader Rang Lai Mro was released on bail on January 8, 2009 on the orders of the Bangladesh High Court. Mro had been detained since February 22, 2008, and charged with possessing a pistol without a license. After his arrest, Mro was tortured in army custody. His health deteriorated and his release finally allows him to receive necessary medical care. (Urgent Action 276/08)

CANADA: Dean Walcott (male). US Marine Dean Walcott has been allowed to stay in Canada while the country's Federal Court decides whether or not to review his case. Walcott fled to Canada in 2006 for his conscientious objection to the war in Iraq. He applied for protection as a refugee on the grounds that he risked being subjected to non-judicial punishment if returned to his unit in the US as well as being court-martialed and imprisoned. (Urgent Action 22/09)

IRAN: Kobra N., Soghra Mola'i, Fatemah (all female). Kobra N. has had her sentence of stoning commuted to 100 lashes two years after she had submitted a letter explaining the details of her case and asking for an amnesty. Soghra Mola'i was cleared of the charge of adultery after a reinvestigation of her case that ended in November 2007. Fatemah is believed to have had her sentence of stoning from 2005 overturned after a retrial. (Urgent Action 257/06)

BURUNDI: Alexis Sinduhije (male). Prisoner of conscience Alexis Sinduhije was released on March 11, 2009, and the charges against him were dropped on the orders of the High Court. He is the president of the political opposition group Movement for Security and Democracy (MSD) and was arrested during an MSD party meeting held on November 3, 2008. He was charged with showing "contempt for the Head of State." (Urgent Action 318/08)

USA: Ali al-Marri (male). Qatari national and US resident Ali al-Marri was held in indefinite US military detention for more than five and a half years, but has finally been charged for trial in federal court and has been transferred to civilian custody. He was arrested in Illinois in 2001, but his trial never took place because President Bush designated him as an "enemy combatant" in 2003 and he was sent to military custody. During his first 16 months in military detention, he was held incommunicado and allegedly subjected to torture or ill-treatment. (Urgent Action 48/09).

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Pépé Nginamau Malaba (male). Trade unionist Pépé Nginamau Malaba was transferred to Kinshasa's central prison on February 17, 2009 after nearly one month in illegal incommunicado detention. On February 19 he appeared before a Kinshasa magistrates court, accompanied by his lawyer, where he was remanded on charges of falsifying documents. He now has access to legal representation, family visits, and basic medical care. Amnesty International believes that he is no longer at risk of torture or ill-treatment, but will continue to monitor his case closely. Urgent Action appeals appear to have been decisive in securing his release from incommunicado detention. (Urgent Action 38/09).