The Urgent Action Network


Sending an Appeal


What Is a Telex?
A telex is a message normally sent from one telex terminal to another via a direct call through a worldwide network that is similar to the telephone network, only it is for telex machines. It is an extremely quick and effective way to have a message sent into the government official's office. A telexed message relays a sense of urgency. For this reason it is desirable for A.I. (and prisoners, of course) to have at least a few telexes sent to each government official on each Urgent Action appeal. Many Urgent Actions will list a telex address for each official. A telex address consists of a three digit country code, a six or seven digit number and a letter code called the answerback. For example, the telex number for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan is:
970 22459 KHRJA SD.
A telex is shorter than a letter and usually longer than a telegram (since it is cheaper to transmit). It would look something like this:
September 26, 1995
TO: GENERAL SANI ABACHA
CHAIRMAN, PROVISIONAL RULING COUNCIL
STATE HOUSE
LAGOS, NIGERIA
FROM: SCOTT HARRISON
PO BOX 1270
NEDERLAND, COLORADO 80466
UNITED STATES
RE: DEATH IN DETENTION OF CLEMENT TUSIMA
AND PROLONGUED DETENTION OF OTHERS
I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE RECENT NEWS THAT 40 YEAR OLD
CLEMENT TUSIMA HAS DIED AFTER MONTHS OF SERIOUS ILLNESS
AND MEDICAL NEGLECT WHILE IN DETENTION.
THIS TRAGIC DEATH ONLY INCREASES MY FEAR THAT OTHER
SUPPORTERS OF THE MOVEMENT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF
THE OGONI PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DETAINED WITH HIM
MAY BE IN DANGER OF ILL-TREATMENT AND MAY BE
BEING HELD IN HEALTH-THREATENING CONDITIONS.
I AM SEEKING YOUR GUARANTEES THAT ALL POLITICAL
DETAINEES IN PORT HARCOURT PRISON AND IN PARTICULAR
THE SUPPORTERS OF MOSOP ARE SAFEGUARDED FROM ILL-TREATMENT,
HEALTH-THREATENING PRISON CONDITIONS AND ARE GRANTED
ACCESS TO MEDICAL CARE AND FAMILY VISITS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER.
Cost of a Telex
The charge for sending a telex is by the number of minutes it takes to transmit the entire telex. Each country has a specific cost per minute. Ask for a rate chart from your carrier (Western Union will not take telexes over the phone but its "Easy Link" service will accept computer messages as telexes.) It takes about one minute to transmit five lines of text at 50 Baud (that is what the telex network itself transmits at, which is different from the speed you may have used dropping off the telex via computer). The cost of the sample telex above would be about $15.00 transmitted by a telex machine at your business.
Transmitting a Telex
High-level government officials usually have telex terminals and private citizens do not, so traditionally, those who have not had access to telex terminals have not been able to get their message relayed by this method. Presently some telecommunications carriers and computer services have begun to offer alternative ways to send telexes, either by dictating them to the service or faxing your message to the Internet Service Provider.