Newly released today, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI) has produced this short film about Israel’s ill-treatment of Palestinian children during their arrest, transfer and detention. Alone: Palestinian Children in the Israeli Military Detention System contains images of children who found the courage to talk about the appalling treatment.

For example, 14-year-old Ala tells how he was handcuffed and blindfolded during his arrest. “They [Israeli soldiers] put me in the jeep and transferred me to Etzion interrogation center. The interrogator told me to say goodbye to my friend Muhannad, because he was going to throw me from the third floor. No one was there to protect me. No one was with me. I was alone.”
Since 2000, around 7,500 Palestinian children from the occupied Palestinian territories have been detained, interrogated and imprisoned within the Israeli military law system. The film also presents basic information and the impact of their arrest and detention on families.

When 13-year-old Muhannad talks about his arrest, the look in his eyes is heart breaking. His father saw how Israeli soldiers treated his son, “It was as if they were coming to arrest a combatant or an armed fugitive.”

Interrogations are set up to terrorize
In 75 precent of the cases documented by DCI, child detainees suffered some form of physical violence during arrest, transfer and interrogation.

The suffering starts the moment a child is arrested and continues throughout interrogation and court sessions, explains DCI lawyer Iyad Misk. Children are often physically, verbally abused, insulted by soldiers during transport in the jeep. The abuse continues during the interrogation.

Children are also often enticed with offers of immediate release in exchange for confessions. However, what normally happens is just the opposite. Once a child confesses, he is sent to prison and his file is sent to the court. Interrogations are set up to terrorize, says Misk.

Nader Abu Amsha of the East Jerusalem YMCA Rehabilitation Programme says that the purpose of the raids, arrests and interrogations is more than getting information. It is to break the will and spirit of a generation. The purpose is to break the children and make them live in fear and confusion so they become an inactive, unproductive generation.

DCI’s latest film is an excellent tool to inform a wide audience about the ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system. The film can watched on YouTube, or copies of the DVD can be ordered from DCI-Palestine.

First published in the Electronic Intifada.

AUTHOR: Adri Nieuwhof
URL: http://www.samora.org
E-MAIL: a.nieuwhof [at] samora.org

According to reports from sources in Iran, the scheduled executions have been postponed until Saturday morning. The source that contacted IHR underlined that the sentences have not been stopped but only postponed for another two or three days.

It is believed that media attention on the case, both from inside and outside Iran, may be a main reason why the executions were not carried out today.

None of the prisoners have been in contact with their families since yesterday.

According to sources from Iran, Majid Sedighi, the brother of one of the prisoners, was arrested last night by Iranian Intelligence forces, allegedly for giving interviews to the international media, such as VOA and BBC.

In a comment on the postponement of the executions, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: “We urge the international community to do whatever they can to stop these executions. We have two days to save these people.”

IHR published names of five of the 10 prisoners scheduled for execution today:

• Saeed Sedighi, 31 years old (picture)
• Abbas Namaki, 39 years old, father of two children
• Hamid Rabiei, 31 years old
• Mohammad Ali Rabiei, 55 years old, father of Hamid
• Ali Darvish, 44 years old

IHR has also received information about a sixth prisoner whose name will not be published.

The prisoners were issued death sentences for drug-related charges.

IHR has received reports indicating that several of the prisoners have been subjected to torture and forced confessions.

Earlier this week, IHR urged the UN and any country which has diplomatic ties with Iran to use all their channels to stop these executions.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

A human rights group, Justice for Iran has published the names of five of the prisoners:

• Saeed Sedighi, 31 years old (picture)
• Abbas Namaki, 39 years old, father of two children
• Hamid Rabiei, 31 years old
• Mohammad Ali Rabiei, 55 years old, father of Hamid)
• Ali Darvish, 44 years old
• All the prisoners are allegedly convicted of drug-related charges.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the scheduled executions, which are to take place one day after the World Day against the Death Penalty. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson for IHR, urged the international community to react. He said: “We ask the UN and all countries with diplomatic ties with Iran to do use all their channels to stop these executions”.

Earlier today, IHR together with four other NGOs published an open letter to the UN and authorities of several countries that have been cooperating with Iran to fight drug trafficking to halt all aid to Iran, until the Iranian authorities have abolished the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

The full text of the letter calling for the moratorium can be read below or downloaded here. The Farsi version of the letter can be read HERE.

According to reports from human rights groups that document executions in Iran from both official and unofficial sources, roughly 650 executions were carried out in 2010 and 676 in 2011. So far, in 2012, at least 330 individuals have been executed. Of these executions, it is estimated that more than 70% are of individuals sentenced to death under the Islamic Republic’s Anti-Narcotics Law, which mandates the death penalty for a wide range of drug-related offenses.

The letter—which is jointly signed by Justice for Iran, Iran Human Rights, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Arseh Sevom and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)—addresses its concerns to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and country donors including Norway, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ireland and Japan which provide funding to the Islamic Republic’s anti-drug trafficking programs.

Shadi Sadr, Executive Director of London-based Justice for Iran, says:

“Our research shows how thousands of people, including women who are the single-income providers for their children, have been sentenced to death without minimum standards of due process whilst Iranian judges and other authorities that bear responsibility in these severe violations of human rights enjoy absolute impunity.”

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson for Iran Human Rights—a Norwegian-based group that focuses on documenting executions in Iran—maintains that

“the fact that Iranian authorities execute several hundred people every year on drug-related charges, and then proudly announce these executions, shows that the nature of international collaboration in combating the trafficking of illegal drugs through Iran may be sending the wrong signals to the Iranian authorities. Any aid provided to Iran to fight drug trafficking must be contingent on whether the Iranian authorities are willing to abolish the death penalty for drug-related charges.”

Gissou Nia, Executive Director of the US-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, further notes that

“though largely cosmetic, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s recent amendments to its Islamic Penal Code that purport to abolish stoning for adultery and juvenile executions demonstrate that the IRI does care about international perceptions of its execution laws. In contrast, the IRI has only made mandatory execution laws for drug-related offenses even harsher in recent years. The international community must send a strong message, not only through words but through a cut-off of funding to Iran’s anti-drug trafficking programs, that the high numbers of executions in Iran is unacceptable.”

While human rights groups have raised concerns to the Iranian government about the mandatory death sentencing for drug-related offenses, the Iranian authorities have failed to respond to this criticism in any meaningful fashion. The letter calls on UNODC and donor countries to stop funding the Islamic Republic’s anti-drug trafficking programs until the Islamic Republic ceases its application of the death penalty to those convicted of drug-related offenses.

Letter:

To: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Governments of Norway, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ireland & Japan
Cc: Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran, United Nations Human Rights Council, European Union

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly oppose the continuing use of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are concerned that the Islamic Republic’s radical policies, which allegedly aim to eradicate drug-trafficking and result in the execution of several hundred prisoners every year, are supported in part by international funding.

Of the countries that continue to apply the death penalty in their domestic jurisdictions, the Islamic Republic leads in number of executions per capita. Many of these executions are conducted in secret and go unreported by official sources.

According to reports from human rights groups that document executions in Iran from both official and unofficial sources, roughly 650 executions were carried out in 2010 and 670 in 2011. At the time of the publication of this statement, at least 329 individuals have been executed in 2012. Of these executions, it is estimated that more than 70% are for drug-related offenses.

Pursuant to Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a State Party, countries that have not abolished the death penalty may only sentence someone to death for the “most serious crimes”. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the ICCPR by its State parties, has found on numerous occasions that drug-related offenses do not meet the criterion of “most serious crimes.”

Nonetheless, Iranian authorities have been unabashed in their application of the death penalty to individuals convicted of drug-related offenses. In June 2011, Mahmoud Zoghi, the prosecutor of Mashhad, said: “Considering the number of cases we have had, these many hangings are proportionally adequate. Foreign media is exaggerating the issue for no reason.”

The Islamic Republic’s Anti-Narcotics Law mandates the death penalty in cases of possession or trafficking of more than a specified amount of various drugs. The range of offenses punishable by death was broadened with a series of amendments to the Anti-Narcotics Law that came into force in January 2011. The amended law mandates the death penalty for a wider range of illegal drugs—including the possession or trafficking of more than 30 grams of methamphetamine.

According to reports from human rights groups, many of those executed are arrested on spurious charges of alleged drug trafficking, are interrogated without a lawyer present, have confessions extracted under torture admitted as evidence against them in court, are convicted without legal counsel or the ability to review the evidence against them and sentenced to death without a right of appeal.

Too often, the targets of these sweeping anti-drug laws are the most vulnerable members of Iranian society. Poor and marginalized groups, including ethnic minorities and foreign nationals who have been historically discriminated against by the Iranian government, are targeted by the Islamic Republic’s drug laws, as are single mothers who, with no other means to support their children, engage in drug trafficking to feed their children.

In addition to the cruel and inhumane treatment of those sentenced to death under these anti-drug laws, the imposition of the mandatory death penalty for these offenses has a deleterious effect on Iranian society as a whole. Executions carried out at large public gatherings, often with young children in attendance, have the effect of normalizing the use of the death penalty and state-sanctioned violence in Iranian society.

Also, while Iranian officials maintain that execution of drug traffickers is effective in combating the abuse and sale of drugs, there is no clear evidence to support this. Many of those executed are not at the top of the drug sale chain and drug use in Iran is on the rise. Recent statistics on opiate abuse place Iran second in the world in the percentage of the population using opiates, exceeded only by Afghanistan. The rate of addiction to high-potency heroin is also on the rise, especially among the youth.

While human rights groups have raised concerns to the Iranian government about the mandatory death sentencing for drug-related offenses, the Iranian authorities have failed to respond to this criticism in any meaningful fashion. At the same time, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and country donors including Norway, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ireland and Japan provide funding to the Islamic Republic for its anti-drug trafficking programs.

While we appreciate that country donors are trying to stop the flow of drugs into Europe and North America, the efforts of these Western governments should not result in human rights abuses in Iran and similarly situated countries. With no reason to believe it will be penalized by an international community that in fact funds these efforts, the Islamic Republic has continued its ongoing campaign of executing individuals for drug-related offenses with virtual impunity. Efforts by human rights defenders and others to request information through official channels about the nature of UNODC’s support to the Islamic Republic have been met with vague or otherwise unresponsive answers.

In light of the reasons enumerated above, we, the undersigned, set forth the following demands to the international community, including UNODC, states that donate or have donated in the past to UNODC, or other international government organizations engaged in anti-drug trafficking initiatives with the Islamic Republic:

• Immediately halt the provision of any monetary funds, services or other resources to the Iranian authorities for anti-drug trafficking purposes until such time the Iranian government renounces its policy of executing individuals for drug-related offenses.
• Demand that until the Iranian government renounces the policy of execution for drug-related offenses, funds only be used for treatment and other anti-drug initiatives unrelated to law enforcement.
• Impose strict transparency guidelines on any funding intended for treatment and other anti-drug initiatives unrelated to law enforcement, with strict guidelines on amounts and a detailed reporting of its specific use.

Signed on this 10th day of October 2012 (International Day against the Death Penalty) by:

• Arseh Sevom
• Iran Human Rights
• Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
• Justice for Iran
• Together against the Death Penalty/ Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

President Bashar al-Assad, Office of the President, Damascus Syria

Mr. President:

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defenders.

Khalil Matouk is a prominent human rights lawyer who provides legal assistance to victims of human rights abuses in Syria, including to fellow human rights defenders. Khalil Matouk, who is a member of the Syrian Bar Association, is also the executive director of the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies and Research.

Moreover, the human rights defender is suffering from a serious lung disease and he is in need of constant medical care due to his precarious condition. Just a few days before his arrest he had been abroad to receive treatment for his health problems.

I abhor the arrest and detention of Khalil Matouk and expresses concern for his physical and psychological integrity. I believe that Khalil Matouk’s arrest and detention are solely motivated by his advocacy for human rights in Syria and his essential role in providing legal assistance to victims of human rights abuses in Syria.

I urge the authorities in the Syria to:

1. Immediately disclose the whereabouts of Khalil Matouk, and release him immediately and unconditionally, as it is believed that his arrest and detention are solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful human rights work;

2. Ensure that the treatment of Khalil Matouk, while in detention, adheres to all those conditions set out in the ‘Basic Principles for Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/111 of 14 December 1990′, and grant him immediate and unfettered access to his family and legal representatives as well as to the necessary medical treatment;

3. Guarantee under all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Syria are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including arbitrary arrest.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

The official website of the Iranian judiciary in Fars Province, reported that two of the prisoners were hanged publicly in different squares of Shiraz, while the three others were hanged inside Adelabad prison.

According to the report the prisoners were identified as “A. P.” convicted of carrying 185 kilograms of heroin and 72 kilograms of crack, “A. K.” convicted of participation in selling 39 kilos and 800 grams of opium and carrying 9 kilos and 960 grams of opium, “M. A.” convicted og carrying 4 kilograms of heroin, “A. S.” convicted og keeping and selling 29 kilograms of Marijuana and more than 14 kilograms of opium, and “A. Z.” convicted of keeping 2 kilograms of heroin.

Age and gender of the prisoners was not specified in the report.

According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report on the death penalty in 2011, more than 80% of those executed in Iran were charged with drug-related crimes, while only 9% of them were identified by their full names.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

President Hu Jintao, The State Council General Office, People’s Republic of China

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defenders.

On 30 September 2012 Shanghai-based human rights defender Ms Mao Hengfeng was detained while petitioning in Beijing. She was apprehended by non-uniformed men and forcibly sent back to Shanghai, where she is being held on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”. Mao Hengfeng is a veteran rights defender and petitioner who has spent periods of time in re-education through labour, prison, psychiatric hospitals and under house arrest as a result of her activism.

According to her husband, Mr Wu Xuewei, at approximately 2pm on 30 September, Mao Hengfeng observed that she was under surveillance by two plainclothes men as she waited for a bus at a Beijing bus station. Shortly thereafter, Wu Xuewei told Chinese Human Rights Defenders that he had lost contact with his wife and repeated attempts to contact her by mobile phone were unsuccessful. Previous to this, Mao Hengfeng had been in regular contact with her family to assure them of her well-being, and four days earlier had noticed that she was being followed. On 2 October Wu Xuewei reportedly received the criminal detention notice concerning his wife which informed him that she is being detained on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”.

Wu Xuewei believes the charges against Mao Hengfeng relate to activities carried out by her in January 2012 to commemorate the death of a petitioner who died in a black jail in 2008. It is further believed that she is only now being targeted in an effort to ensure that she will not be in Beijing at the time of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party, which will convene on 8 November 2012. This event will see the changeover of power at the top of the Communist Party. In advance of this, human rights defenders are being arbitrarily subjected to increased restrictions including detention, house arrest and forced travel.

Mao Hengfeng is a long-term human rights defender who has a history of drawing attention to forced abortions and forced evictions. Following earlier stints in jail and psychiatric hospitals because of her activities, she was sentenced to 18 months re-education through labour in March 2010 for “disturbing public order”. This charge related to a protest she held outside a courthouse in support of fellow human rights defender and Nobel laureate Mr Liu Xiaobo when he was being sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on 25 December 2009. Mao Hengfeng has been repeatedly subjected to abuse while in detention.

I believe that the detention of Mao Hengfeng is directly related to her work in defence of human rights. Given her previous history of abuse while in detention, I am seriously concerned for her physical and psychological integrity.

I urge the authorities in China to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release Mao Hengfeng as I believe that she is being held solely as a result of her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;

2. Immediately take all necessary measure to guarantee the physical and psychological safety and integrity of Mao Hengfeng while in detention;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in China are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

President Islam Karimov, Office of the President, Uzbekistan

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defender.

On 27 September 2012, human rights defender Ms Gulshan Karaeva was arrested in her home in Qarshi and taken to a local police station where she was informed of charges brought against her. Gulshan Karaeva is Chairperson of the Kashkadarya regional branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). She was released on the same day after four hours’ detention at the police station.

Gulshan Karaeva was told at the police station that she had been charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: article 139, “Slander”, and article 140, “Insult”. These charges are based on allegations by two women who Gulshan Karaeva suspects of working for the National Security Service (SNB). These two women attacked members of the human rights defender’s family on 19 July 2012, and later have accused Gulshan Karaeva of calling them prostitutes, although the human rights defender denies ever having made such statements. Gulshan Karaeva was detained for four hours at the police station, after which she was released.

Gulshan Karaeva has previously been the subject of threats and intimidation. On 19 May 2012, two women attacked the human rights defender in a local shop, beating her on the head. The attackers attempted to take her outside of the shop but she managed to seek help and the two women were removed from the shop. That same day, unknown persons sprayed the gate and walls of the human rights defender’s home and that of her neighbour, with explicit and abusive graffiti. These incidents are believed to be related to Gulshan Karaeva’s public statement issued on 5 May 2012, in which she declared that she had refused a proposal of cooperation put to her by the SNB.

On 7 July 2011, Gulshan Karaeva’s dog was poisoned. In addition to this, she received threatening phone calls from unknown individuals. The following day, she was attacked by Mr Arif Pardayev, a resident of Kashkadarya region, who was travelling in the same taxi as the human rights defender from Tashkent to Qarshi.

In light of the previous threats, physical attacks and intimidation directed at Gulshan Karaeva, I express serious concern for her security, and her physical and psychological integrity as well as that of her children, one of whom is disabled. I view these charges as part of an ongoing campaign of threats and intimidation against Gulshan Karaeva, as a result of her legitimate and peaceful human rights work in Uzbekistan.

I call upon the authorities of Uzbekistan to:

1. Immediately drop all charges against Gulshan Karaeva as it is believed that they are solely motivated by her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Gulshan Karaeva, as well as that of her family members;

3. Take measures to ensure that all human rights defenders in Uzbekistan, while carrying out their legitimate work in the defence of human rights, are able to operate without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions and reprisals, including judicial harassment.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

H.E. Mrs. Alice Thomas Samaan, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, United Kingdom

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defenders.

I am writing to express my concern and request your intervention in the following case.

On 2 October 2012, six medical professionals and human rights defenders were arrested after their homes were subjected to early morning raids in Bahrain. This followed the decision on 1 October 2012 of the Bahrain Court of Cassation in Manama to uphold the sentences imposed upon nine medical professionals in spite of unfair trials and the use of torture.

The six arrested are Dr. Ali Al Ekri (sentenced to five years); Mr. Ibrahim Al Demistani (three years); Dr. Ghassan Dhaif (one year); Dr. Saeed Al Samahiji (one year); Dr. Mahmoud Asghar (six months); and Ms. Dheya Ibrahim Abu Idris (two months). They were convicted on unsubstantiated charges including promoting the change of the political regime by force, instigating sectarian hatred and illegal detention of persons.

The doctors were detained, tortured and prosecuted together with a group of over 40 medics in 2011 because they provided emergency medical attention to injured demonstrators and because they spoke out about the injuries they had seen. The torture of the doctors and the unfair trials they faced before military courts was documented in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). Following domestic and international protests they were released pending an appeal before civil courts. The appeal process again failed to meet international fair trial standards but did lead to reduced sentences and some acquittals. It is the revised sentences against nine of the medics which were upheld by the Court of Cassation on 1 October.

I strongly condemn the decision to uphold and implement these sentences and express concern at the ongoing harassment of medical professionals in Bahrain. I believe that they have been sentenced and imprisoned solely as a result of their legitimate and peaceful medical and human rights work.

I urge the authorities in Bahrain to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release all the medical professionals and overturn all their convictions, as it is believed that their sentencing and imprisonment are solely motivated by their peaceful and legitimate medical and human rights work;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of all the medical professionals and their families;

3. Cease targeting all medical professionals and human rights defenders in Bahrain and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

Yacine Zaid

H.E. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President; Minister of National Defence, Algiers

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes,Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defenders.

On the morning of 1 October 2012, human rights defender Mr Yacine Zaid was arrested and brutally beaten by three policemen in Ouargla.

At the time of his arrest, he was travelling on a bus with Mr. Aibek Abdelmalek, a member of the Comité National pour la Défense des Droits des Chômeurs – CNDDC (National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Unemployed). At approximately 09:30 AM, three policemen in civilian attire forced them to disembark the bus and they proceeded to insult, interrogate and beat Mr Yacine Zaid, all whilst he was handcuffed. He was then placed in a white Nissan 4×4 and taken to an unknown location.

Mr Yacine Zaid is President of the Laghouat section of the Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme – LADDH (Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights) and a participant in the 2011 Front Line Defenders Dublin Platform.

I believe that the arbitrary arrest and beating of Mr Yacine Zaid were directly related to his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. Yacine Zaid’s human rights work included a peaceful sit-down protest in front of the Court of Sidi Mohamed in Algiers last April calling for the release of fellow human rights defender Mr Abdelkader Kherba, who has also been the subject of appeals.

I urge the authorities in Algeria to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release Yacine Zaid, as it is believed that his arrest and detention are solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate human rights work;

2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the arrest and beating of human rights defender Yacine Zaid, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

3. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Yacine Zaid;

4. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Algeria and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com