Protestors demonstrate in Tucson Arizona against laws criminalizing humanitarian health workers. © AFPHumanitarian Aid is Not a Crime
Background on Prosecution of Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz
More than 3000 people have died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border since 1994. A majority of these deaths occur in the Arizona desert where scorching conditions reportedly claimed more than 270 lives in 2005. Many of these individuals died as a result of exposure to extreme temperatures, such as the record high temperatures that were reached during the summer of 2005.
That summer, Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz volunteered in Arizona with the group "No More Deaths", a network of individuals and organizations set up primarily to prevent deaths of migrants.
On July 9, 2005 Daniel and Shanti were transporting three migrants reported to have been suffering from extreme thirst and hunger, resulting from persistent vomiting. The migrants had also developed severe, crippling blisters during their long walks in the desert which, if left untreated, could prevent a person from walking, a frequent cause of death in the desert. Daniel and Shanti were driving the three men to get treatment by volunteer medical professionals in Tucson when they were stopped by the United States Border Patrol and arrested.
Daniel and Shanti were charged with committing two felonies under federal law: transporting illegal aliens and conspiring to do so. On October 3, 2006 they will go to trial in federal court for their "crime" of helping their fellow human beings, and face up to 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
Amnesty International recognizes the sovereign right of states to control their borders, and does not condone contravening the law. However, no policy of border control can be at the expense of the United States’ international human rights obligations.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned that Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz face punishment, possibly involving a prison term, solely for providing humanitarian aid to individuals in need of urgent assistance. Given the high death rate among undocumented migrants crossing the Arizona desert, Daniel and Shanti were acting directly to protect and preserve life, a basic human right to which everyone is entitled.
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