Petition Tag - human rights

We believe that WikiLeaks (founded by Julian Assange) and those whistleblowers who declassify documents in a time of secret war should be welcomed as defenders of democracy, not demonized as criminals.

We support their First Amendment rights and welcome their continued disobedience in response to a long train of official deception.

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Omar Khadr is a 23 year old Canadian national who has been held in Guantanamo since he was captured 8 years ago, when he was only 15 years old. If his case goes to trial as scheduled, he will be the first child soldier to be tried since Nuremberg. His trial will also be the first military commission at Guantánamo Bay under the Obama administration.

Mr. Khadr has slammed the military commission as a “sham process” and has tried to fire his American military lawyers in protest, though has now agreed to allow them to represent him. Charges against him include having killed a US soldier with a grenade in Afghanistan when he was 15. The evidence against him is considered to be tenuous at best and most countries, and international legal norms and practice, are opposed to bringing child soldiers to trial.

A defence motion will be made before the commission starts to consider whether or not torture was used to obtain evidence in Omar's case. Omar rejected a plea deal that would see him released in 5 years if he admitted to killing the soldier and committing other war crimes at a pre-trial hearing earlier in the month. At an earlier hearing in this case, an interrogator admitted having threatened Mr. Khadr with gang rape and murder to make him comply and confess during interrogations.

It is time that the Obama administration stop violating Omar Khadr's rights and give him the justice he deserves.

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Pakistan a country in middle east has occupied a land named balochistan and calls it as province, the pakistani government, army and intelligence agencies has abducted the people of that land and uses the resources of that land illegally, kills, abducts, detains, oppresses the people of that land illegally and forcefully

So we (BALOCH) the people of that land want freedom and independence from the country named pakistan .

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We are all hearing all too often of Criminals being treated unbelievably well to avoid breaching their 'Human Rights'. There are countless instances where the victims are treated worse than the Criminals and the Criminals are being 'Let-off' with a minimal punishment (if any!).

See for instance:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-492144/Human-rights-merely-sweetner-rapists-murderers-violent-criminals.html

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Plane-Bomber-Wins-Human-Rights-Case/Article/200401412982015?lid=ARTICLE_12982015_Plane%20Bomber%20Wins%20Human%20Rights%20Case&lpos=searchresults

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Robel Negash is an Eritrean refugee who came to Scotland fleeing torture and persecution in his native country. Since arriving in Scotland, he has become an integral member of the Bellahouston Harriers and recently won the Glasgow Men's 10k. 

Recently, Robel was taken into custody without warning whilst attending a routine interview at the Home Office and has been incarcerated at Dungavel in Lanarkshire. We are told that he is to be deported to Milan.

He is a gifted long distance runner who could one day represent Scotland. Please help us stop his deportation!

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For generations, long before the 1967 war that led to the occupation of the West Bank, the Bedouins let their sheep graze on their land, in the north of the Jordan Valley. These shepherds are very poor. But they do not complain.

The difficulties for the inhabitants began in the 1970s, when the village was declared a closed Israeli military zone. Some years later the Jewish settlements of Ro’i and Beka’ot were founded in the east of their land. Since then, Israel has imposed harsh restrictions on building and movement there that apply to Palestinians, effectively pushing them to leave area.

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The Ontario Government is scrapping the Special Diet Allowance that MANY people depend on literally in order to survive. How many will have to get sick, sicker or maybe even die because the Ontario Government didn't want to adhere to an order of the Human Rights Commission that the Special Diet Allowance was AGAINST Human Rights and not enough for someone to eat properly.

Their response was to cut the program - putting the health of thousands and thousands of Ontarians in literal danger! At present, most of us cannot afford fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, milk or even supplements on an ongoing, consistent basis.

Therefore, we are asking the Ontario Government to reinstate the Special Diet Allowance and to increase the social assistance monthly rates to reflect the true cost of living, so that we may be able to buy the foods we need in order to achieve optimum health.

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The U.S. Government provides assistance to 47 countries in Africa and spends billions upon billions to support the overall goal of transformational diplomacy "to help build sustained and well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people".

If you go to page 8 on the Department of State and U.S.A.I.D.S. High Priority Performance you will find that "Democracy, Governance, and Human Rights" is one of their top goals. I believe that Gay Rights are Human Rights. How can we spend all that money in countries that don't recognize that simple truth?

A great percent of these children we are trying to feed, educate and protect will grow in an environment that compares them to dogs and pigs. And how about the men and women that are sentenced to jail time and hard labor for consenting sexual relations with someone of the same sex?

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I am a former resident of Australia all my family moved here in 1973, my father four brothers and sister are here in Australia and I lived here from 1973 to 1979 when my mum decided to take me to the UK without my fathers permission and told my father didn’t care and was brainwashed into believing these things, well it took me till I was 21 to track my father down and all my family here in Australia I came back to see them and to see my gran and pops who live here along with my aunties and cousins and other family members in 1989.

I returned to the UK and kept in touch with my family, during the following years I married in the uk and had a very troubled marriage being subjected to violence whilst having to bring up two children of my ex wife’s and stayed to look after my mum who is disabled and required lifts to and from the hospital and shops for her daily needs, she was in and out of hospital on a regular basis having strokes and having a leg she could not walk very far on, she is now in sheltered accommodation which is warden controlled, Who at the time was withholding information from me relating to my former residents visa, it was not until November 2006 that I came across my former residents visa which my mother had been hiding, whilst I was looking for some stuff for her while she was in hospital again, I was devastated to know she had hidden it from me as it was my way of returning to my family in Australia. I confronted her about this as it was important for me to have the chance to return home to Australia and be with my family and she knew this was what I had wanted to do for years, she new I had been on to immigration over the years and looked at returning to be with my family but she also new they were not helpful and would not tell me any information on my former visa status. this is where my troubles started, I contacted immigration in the uk and lodged my application for a return residents visa, meeting all the requirements on the website, close family ties and a genuine reason why I had not applied to return within the last 10 years as I did not know the visa existed and with my disabled mother to look after at that time.

I sent in all the required paper work only to be told I would be refused as they did not think I was going to live in Australia and I did not have a genuine commitment to stay. well I arrived in Sydney in January 2010 after tying up all my affairs in the Uk to lodge my application here which I did in person, in the interview with immigration my dad and step mum came and we explained everything to them, I was told I had a good case and it was favourable, I thought fantastic I can stay at last, well two weeks later I get a call saying we will not grant your residents return visa so advise you to withdraw your application as immigration do not believe I did not know my residents return visa existed, when I asked them how I was supposed to prove I did not know it existed they said sorry you cant prove it. I have now been and looked on the migration review tribunals website and see cases very similar to mine with less evidence and less family being approved and am now about to lodge my next application with all my evidence of family ties and reasons why I should stay. I cant believe that as all my family are here in Australia the fact I was raised here until I was 11, I have a job waiting for me and my family who are Australians born and raised here who want me here to be with my family, and I have to face immigration and be treated so badly, to the point of my case worker calling me in the uk when I lodged my application and shouting at me. I have considered my self Australian all my life all I want is the right to my family life and my residence that I had taken from me against my wishes.

I contacted The Priminister of Australia through his website back in 2007 explaining my case who then forwarded my letter to the head of immigration, the response I got was sorry immigration have strict guide lines to follow and that is the law, if this was the case then when I lodged my second application in Australia showing I am here with a genuine commitment to stay they then come up with a different excuse stating that they did not believe I did not know the visa existed. Seems they come up with anything they feel like to reject genuine people from being with their family. I have grown very close to my family here in Australia I love my family and want to stay to enjoy life with them my father is a quite man who says little but is upset at the fact of me having to return to the uk it would break his heart along with the rest of my family members, especially Jason, and his wife Jodie and my nieces Elizabeth and tiffany my brother martin and his wife Joanne and their little ones Clare and Liam and my brother Tim and my sister Daniel and her husband nick and children Sarah and jack. I love them all as they do me and we want the chance to be back together as a complete family. We have lost many years and now want the chance to spend the rest of our lives as one family not a family torn apart and in two different countries.

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In Kashmir since 1989 more than 70,000 casualties and 8,000 + documented enforced disappearances have occurred all in the guise of draconian laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, which grants Indian paramilitary and police forces license to detain, shoot, and torture at will with virtual protection from being prosecuted by civilian courts and international bodies.

Yet, the international community and its media remains silent on documented civilian killings as well as fake encounter killings. The murders of several Kashmiri youth this past month by security forces clearly exhibits the widespread and systematic practice of shoot-to-kill strategies conducted by the state security apparatuses of India. Soldiers and state security forces are able to use bullets to combat stones and slogans under the protection of Indian security legislation.

Please help join the people from all over the world to put an end to this apathy. “ I Protest” is one such group that believes in Human Rights and Dignity for all. Let the powers to be know that you stand against Human Right Violations and will not be a party to it. Not on our watch today or ever… We as inhabitants of this world will not rest till Human Dignity is respected and honored everywhere. We refuse to be a silenced majority and demand the Government of India to stop and urge our respective representatives to act on our behalf and put an end to such outrageous crimes…please sign and pass on this petition to everyone you know. Every signature counts. Say NO TO HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS.

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Enforce the Equality Act and the Supreme Court ruling:

On 8 April 2010, United Kingdom Parliament passed the Equality Act 2010. This was a recognition that Britain’s Black, Asian, Muslim, ethnic minority, immigrant and Lesbian/Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) communities are a permanent, growing and dynamic force in the life of this nation. The right to equality and respect that lies at the heart of this Act must be the right of everyone who lives, works or studies here: it is divisive, discriminatory and inhumane to deny equal treatment to anyone based on their country of origin.

Around the world LGBTI communities are waging a mounting struggle for liberation and for fundamental democratic and civil rights. In many of the world’s poorest and most oppressed countries, LGBT communities, encouraged and inspired by the victories and rights won by sisters and brothers in western Europe and north America, are bravely and proudly refusing to be invisible any more, often in the face of fierce persecution. This is a global movement that crosses national boundaries.

Many LGBT people have had to come to Britain to seek asylum or as immigrants, in order to continue being open as the people they are and to continue the struggle. It is completely unacceptable that for years they have been denied the benefit of the rights secured by the LGBT communities in Britain, because of racist persecution by Britain’s immigration and asylum system.

It is unacceptable that the immigration authorities routinely isolate asylum seekers from society by holding them in detention, and accuse asylum seekers of falsely claiming to be LGBT. It is unacceptable that a country that has just adopted an Equality Act, guaranteeing LGBT people equal rights to be open as who they are without facing discrimination, has been deporting LGBT refugees to the countries they have fled from and telling them to pretend to be someone they are not, by hiding their lesbian, gay male, bisexual or transgender identity.

Now the fight for LGBT asylum rights has scored a major victory. On 7 July the UK Supreme Court overturned this policy. The court ruled that it is a contravention of the 1951 Refugee Convention to return LGBT asylum seekers to their home countries on the basis that they could live ‘discreetly’ – i.e. conceal their identities.

This strengthens the earlier victory that was won on 19 May when Britain’s Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition pledged that “We will stop the deportation of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution.”

At the same time, however, the Government is cynically cutting the availability of legal aid to immigrants and asylum seekers. Unless we fight to reverse this decision immigrants and asylum seekers will be unable to avail themselves of the Supreme Court decision and the Government’s promise: they will be at the mercy of the immigration authorities because they can’t afford a lawyer. Only a united, collective struggle against racism and homophobia can defeat this policy and ensure the enforcement of the words and spirit of the Equality Act and the Supreme Court decision.

To that end we pledge to look for cases and conduct campaigns that set examples of using the Equality Act and the Supreme Court decision to the full and mobilising to implement them – e.g. by speaking the plain truth about racism and homophobia, demonstrating at tribunal and court hearings, opposing immigration raids on campuses or in workplaces, stopping deportations, and organising speak-outs to expose discrimination and empower our communities.

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I write on behalf of the Alyawarr people of Central Australia, as authorised by their kinsman and nominated spokesperson, Richard Downs.

The Alyawarr are leading a gathering of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Alice Springs during 6-9 July 2010 to protest against racism and the Intervention, and discuss ways of approaching these issues. They seek your support.

Three years after the Intervention was hurriedly implemented without consultation on the back of the Little Children Are Sacred report, and without incorporating the vast majority of the report’s recommendations, there is little evidence that the Intervention has achieved or will achieve its stated outcomes. The Alyawarr people are protesting against the Intervention as it has worsened their lives and community, and is clearly a racist policy.

The Alyawarr have walked off their prescribed community of Ampilatawatja and set up a protest camp on country. They are fighting for the Intervention to be rolled back, and for Aboriginal people to be allowed to direct their own lives with dignity and respect. They are resisting being pushed from pillar to post by government actions that, whatever their intention, result in further disadvantage, the indignity of compulsory income management and loss of control of their own community.

The Alyawarr elders are seeking your support for the Alyawarr people and the Intervention Walkoff. You can support them in two ways:

· attending or sending a representative/s to the Alice Springs gathering
· writing a letter of support, or agreeing to be a signatory to either of the ones enclosed

The Alyawarr people appreciate your consideration in this matter. Their action is a grass-roots movement, and your support will be significant. As anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “A small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Find out more:

· Alice Springs gathering, 6-9 July 2010 www.defendingindigenousrights.wordpress.com

· Alyawarr Intervention Walkoff
www.interventionwalkoff.wordpress.com

· Contact Richard Downs on 0428 611 169

Take action:

· Attend the Alice Springs gathering 6-9 July 2010 www.defendingindigenousrights.wordpress.com

· Express your support:
- Write a letter of support. Please email to tammiedavidson17 [at] gmail.com by Monday 5 July 2010 if possible.

- OR be a signatory to the below letter of support - please click on the blue 'Sign the Petition' button below.

Again, thank you for your consideration of this request for support from the Alyawarr people. You can make a difference in the fight against Indigenous inequality. I hope that you or your representative/s will attend the gathering in Alice Springs. I look forward to seeing you there and working together toward achieving equality and justice for Indigenous peoples.

Yours sincerely,

Tammie Davidson
on behalf of

Richard Downs
Alyawarr spokesperson for the Intervention Walkoff
Phone: 0428 611 169

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The United Nations currently recognizes as indigenous any nation that declares itself as such, and according to section 10 of the UN General Assembly’s 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, “indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.”

Israel fits all the criteria to be recognized internationally as indigenous natives to the Land of Israel, and the only current requirement is a public declaration from a representative body of the Jewish people, whether it be from Israel’s Knesset, the WZO or even the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria.

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Demand a peace process now.

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We, the under signed, call on the Iran Government Judiciary Branch to grant immediate repeal of the judgment against Shahin Zeinali, by Judge Pirabasi of the Branch 26,Revolutionary Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Shahin Zeinali , 29-year-old Iranian journalist and a member of the Pan-Iranist Party has dedicated his life to journalism has been sentenced to two years, three months incarceration by Judge Pirabasi.

On Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Shahin is charged and convicted of unlawful gathering and conspiracy against National Security through his membership and activities in Pan-Iranist Party (2 years confinement), Propaganda against the regime by participating in illegal assemblies that led to chaos, and interview with the foreign media (91 days confinement). In addition he has to pay $150,000.00 as monetary fine.

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*UPDATE JULY 28TH, 2011*

Zia Nabavi, student and activist, sentenced to 10 years in prison and exile, there are concerns that he might be transferred back to the horrible Karoun prison, due to the fact 10 other political prisoners have been transferred.

He had recently written a letter in May 2011 to Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the Human Rights Council of the Iranian Judiciary, about the appalling conditions in Karoun prison, and in response, he and other political prisoners were transferred to Ahvaz Clinic (still bad conditions, but better than Karoun).

More info: http://persian2english.com/?p=22381


*UPDATE SEPT 27TH, 2010*

Please sign for him!

Zia Nabavi was severely beaten and held in solitary confinement for 48 hours upon arriving to Karoun prison in Ahvaz!! He was detained on June 15, 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Appeals Court reduced the sentence to 10 years exile in Izeh prison. His exile sentence in Izeh was later changed to Karoun prison.

Read further: http://persian2english.com/?p=14752

*UPDATE!!!! JULY 2ND 2010*

ZIA NABAVI IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION IN HOSPITAL AFTER SUFFERING A NERVOUS BREAK DOWN IN PRISON. PLEASE SIGN & READ FURTHER: http://persian2english.com/?p=12426

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Drop all charges & Release Zia Nabavi! A masters student who has been subjected to much torture in prison for wanting right to education!!!!!

Seyyed Ziaoldin Nabavi (Zia Nabavi) was arrested on June 15, 2009 in the course of the events that followed the Presidential election. Since then he has been imprisoned incessantly. He initially was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 74 lashes, which was later reduced in appellate courts to 10 years imprisonment for one remaining false charge of being in connection with MKO (Mujahedin). Nabavi wants his case to be immediately reviewed, saying he is NOT a part of MKO and was only defending the right to education for *starred students (students banned from universities for speaking out) at Babol University.

Nabavi states: "Believe me, if I am sentenced to 10 years in prison for my activities through a legal & legitimate trial, I will not protest, contingent on that I will be convicted on my true identity as a student activist and a defender of the right to education, and not on fake titles such as opponent, Mohareb, and collaborator with the MKO."

Excerpt of a letter from Zia Nabavi to Sadegh Larijani,

"Honourable Head of Judiciary,

I have already received the verdict of the Appeals Court as I write you this letter. To my astonishment, I have been cleared of all charges except for Moharabeh. Based on the most irrelevant accusations, I was sentenced to ten years in prison to be served in exile in the town of Izeh. I am stating clearly that my activities and my train of thought are so disproportionately different from the accusation against me and the sentence give to me that [I believe] the overall situation surpasses a tragedy. Rather, it resembles a joke.

1- It is clear that my charges were connected to my activities with the Council to Defend the Right to Education, because that was the basis of my interrogation. If we accept the verdict given by the Lower Court and the Appeals Court on my Moharebeh charge, then we can conclude that the charge against me is “enmity against God through defending the right to education.” Does the judiciary system really regard defending the right to education equivalent to a fight against the Islamic establishment?

2-Section 189 of the Islamic Criminal Code states that “Moharebeh and sedition on Earth” are proven through the following methods: a) By confessing once, contingent on that the confessor is mature and of sane mind and that the confession is made under free will b) Through the testimony of two fair men.

Based on the report by the Ministry of Intelligence and based on the indictment, I never confessed to the charge. Also, the testimony of two wise[sic] men is not present in the case. How can you prove my charge of Moharebeh? Is finding me guilty not against the text of the law?

3-Throughout the interrogations, I was under pressure to confess that [the act of] defending the right to education was proposed by the “MKO”. Of course, I never accepted this unjust connection."
....
8. I along with other friends who have been banned from education pursued our case through legal channels for nearly one year in order to return to university. If the claims of the Ministry of Intelligence regarding our suspicious contacts and ties [to the opposition] were true, why was there no form of disciplinary action taken against us before the election? Doesn’t the arrest of nine students the day after the election who were banned from education indicate a kind of revenge on banned students by taking advantage from the news and media vacuum created during that period?

9. I have been a constantly active student during my six years of education and undoubtedly one of the student activists of Babol University. During the Presidential election, I was actively involved in the electoral campaign of one of the reformist candidates. All the activities were within the boundaries of the constitution. Now, how is it that overnight and after the election, I turned into a Mohareb and an opponent?"

Full translation here: http://persian2english.com/?p=11855

Zia Nabavi is asking for only the basic right to education and for a fair trial to be given to him for the remaining charges against him. (No one should even be prosecuted against for wanting to go to college!)

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John Hunt is a trauma survivor with a diagnosis of 'paranoid schizophrenia'. He has spent over four years locked up in Carraig Mor psychiatric treatment centre in Cork city, Ireland.

He has been over-medicated on an array of psychotropic medications with dangerous adverse effects. He has had tardive dyskinesia, akathasia and has developed incontinence. His physical/ mental/ emotional/ spiritual health has been severely neglected and has deteriorated since being in Carraig Mor.

He has had no access to a rehabilitation team or psychotherapist and no day release in two years. There are no plans to rehabilitate John and return him to the community where he belongs. He is merely maintained and contained. John and his family have no voice in relation to his future. We are afraid that John's physical health is being damaged considerably. We cannot stand by and watch this happen any longer.

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Visitation Rights Revoked for All Political Prisoners in Iran:

June 13, 2010

The government of Iran continues to mount pressure on its citizens. As per a recent order by Tehran’s prosecutor, until further notice, all political prisoners will no longer be allowed personal, face-to-face visitation with family members. Moving forward they will be allowed to meet in cabins that permit phone conversations only. Regular prisoners are still able to meet with their families once a month. It is not clear when the visitation ban will be lifted.

As of this week, families of political prisoners will only be allowed personal visitation with their loved ones through special permission by the prosecutor’s office. Even if the families are successful in obtaining this special permission, children, sisters, and brothers of political prisoners no longer have visitation rights.

It has been reported that these new measures are designed to prevent the dissemination of statements and writings by political prisoners to the outside world.

Translation: Negar Irani (thank you)

http://persian2english.com/?p=11849

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فارسی


دادستان تهران تمامی ملاقات های حضوری زندانیان سیاسی را قطع کرد

اشتراک

دوشنبه, ۲۴ خرداد, ۱۳۸۹

چکیده : بر اساس این دستور ،از این پس خانواده های زندانیان سیاسی زندانی ها فقط می توانند با عزیزان خود ملاقات کابینی داشته باشند، یعنی از طریق تلفن و از پشت تلفن عزیزان خود را ملاقات کنند

دادستان تهران طی دستوری تمامی ملاقات های حضوری زندانیان سیاسی اوین را از این هفته و برای مدت نامحدود قطع کرد.

براساس این دستور ،از این پس خانواده های زندانیان سیاسی فقط می توانند با عزیزان خود ملاقات کابینی داشته باشند، یعنی از طریق تلفن و از پشت تلفن آنها را ملاقات کنند.

زندانیان عادی حق دارند ماهی یکبار با خانواده های خود به صورت حضوری ملاقات کنند اما این امکان از زندانی های سیاسی گرفته شده است.

از این پس خانواده ها تنها با دستور ویژه دادستان حق ملاقات حضوری با زندانیان خود را خواهند داشت.

حتی در صورتی که خانواده های زندانیان موفق به گرفتن دستور ویژه از دادستان برای گرفتن ملاقات بشوند فرزندان ،خواهران و برادران زندانی از حق ملاقات محروم خواهند بود.

گفته می شود این محدودیت ها با هدف جلوگیری از رساندن پیام ها و نوشته های زندانیان به بیرون از زندان ایجاد شده است.

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Mosquito Devices are speakers that emit a loud buzzing sound to keep teens away from certain areas.

They can only be heard by people under the age of 25, however this includes babies and very small children.

We would like them banned as they are dangerous and hurtful towards young children and violate the human rights of young people.

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Legislation for, the protection of boat and houseboat or floating home dwellers and their rights of tenure are urgently needed in the UK.

Over 150.000 people in Great Britain alone, live and reside full time on board their boats, houseboats or floating homes.

And yet there are no legislation in the UK to protect the rights of tenure for floating communities and their dwellers.

Travellers and Gypsies have their rights, so should boat dwellers too!

This Campaign is for the Legislation of the;

* Rights of Tenure / Housing Rights for boat or houseboat dwellers.

* Protection, security and safety for boat, houseboat and floating home dwellers and their communities.

Vogue La Galere! / Push The Boat!

Campaign Movement for the rights of tenure for boat and houseboat dwellers. Please Help and sign and spread the word. Follow twitter @domportucallis

*Thank you!*

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Dear Friends

Since 1997 the South African Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) has been engaged in seeking peace, human rights and democracy for the Kurdish people in Turkey. The similarities between the struggle of Abdullah Ocalan and Nelson Mandela are striking. The struggles of the South African and the Kurdish peoples are not dissimilar. The South African people have achieved their objective. The Kurdish people are still struggling to achieve their rights. In their struggle Abdullah Ocalan has been instrumental for the rights of the Kurdish people in the same way as Nelson Mandela was instrumental in the fight for the rights of the South African people.

Nelson Mandela’s release from prison 20 years ago on 11 February 1990 was the key to peace and democracy in South Africa. Demanding the release of Mandela and other political prisoners was a precondition to negotiations for a democratic constitution. Abdullah Ocalan has persistently, over the last decade, advocated a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, based on dialogue and negotiation. Ocalan has proposed a non-violent resolution of the conflict so that real democracy, justice and human rights can be afforded to the Kurdish people. Last August Abdullah Ocalan presented a road map to peace in Turkey. Like Nelson Mandela, Abdullah Ocalan, can play an important role on behalf of the Kurdish people to find a lasting solution between the Kurdish and the Turkish peoples.

In recognition of this role the Kurdish Human Rights Group in South Africa is launching an international campaign “one million signatures for the release of Abdullah Ocalan, the legitimate leader of the Kurdish people”. The European Court of Human Rights Court (ECHR) have found that the trial of Abdullah Ocalan in Turkey before a semi military tribunal was unfair. This effectively means that according to the findings of the ECHR his continued imprisonment “on Imrali an island off the coast of Turkey” is unlawful.

We call on all peace loving people in South Africa and the World to show their support and solidarity for the Rights of the Kurdish people and demand the immediate release of Abdullah Ocalan. I herewith request that you personally join our campaign by signing our petition publically on Sunday 21 March 2010 at 3pm in the Cape Town Company Gardens at the Cape Town Festival. In the unlikely event of you being unable to be with us, I request that you please sign the attached declaration.

Yours sincerely Essa Moosa (Chair – KHRAG)

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The turkish police harshly attacked a peace demonstration organized by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in silopi Sirnak on June 3, 2010. Over ten thousand people attended the demonstration.

In addition to dozen of BDP polticians BDP MPs Sevahir Bayindir, Hasip Kaplan, and Hamid Geylani were among the demonstrators.

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การสร้างภาพลักษณ์ของประเทศบนพื้นฐานข้อมูลที่ถูกต้องและครอบคลุมมีความสำคัญอย่างยิ่งในชุมชนโลกยุคโลกาภิวัตน์ ข้าพเจ้าจึงขอเชิญชวนพี่น้องคนไทยในประเทศสิงคโปร์ ร่วมกันลงนามสนับสนุนให้สถานเอกอัครราชฑูตไทย ประจำประเทศสิงคโปร์ได้เข้ามามีบทบาทในการทำความเข้าใจกับสื่อมวลชนเกี่ยวกับเหตุการณ์ที่เกิดขึ้น และจัดให้มีกิจกรรมเพื่อเสริมสร้าง ความสามัคคีปรองดองของพี่น้องชาวไทยในสิงคโปร์ ดังมีรายละเอียดตามเอกสารแนบข้างล่าง การลงนามจะมีตั้งแต่วันจันทร์ ที่ 7 มิถุนายน 2553 เวลา 8 นาฬิกา ถึง วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 10 มิถุนายน 2553 เวลา 23.59 (หมายเหตุ หากช่วงค่ำของวันพฤหัสบดี ยังมีคนมาร่วมลงนามเป็นจำนวน มากอยู่ ทางตัวแทนอาจจะมีการเลื่อนปิดการลงนามออกไป ซึ่งจะแจ้งให้ทราบต่อไป)

ด้วยความเคารพอย่างสูง

ดร พณชิต กิตติปัญญางาม
สถาบันวิจัยทางด้านเทคโนโลยีการ สื่อสารข้อมูล
ประเทศสิงค์โปร์

รศ ดร ฐิติมา สุทธิวรรณ
มหาวิทยาลัยแห่งชาติสิงค์โปร์

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20 years ago the Bangladesh government broke the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when they allowed the child marriage of my mother, Saira Ahmed, to a British paedophile. The purpose of this petition is to generate enough support that the Bangladesh government will recognize that they have broken several articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and press charges against the family my mother was married into.

In addition to signing this petition, please join our facebook/twitter to keep updated on how this petition progresses.

The act of child marriage is not rare: from 2000-2008, 64% of women aged 20-24 in Bangladesh were married before they were 18 years old.


1:Saira during her child marriage. 2 & 3: Saira now




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"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." 
-- Kofi Annan

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********
HABIBOLLAH GOLPARIPOUR HAS FELL INTO A COMA AS A RESULT OF HIS HUNGER STRIKE TO PROTEST AGAINST HIS DEATH SENTENCE ON MAY 30TH, 2010.
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Updated:

Habibollah Golparipour, a Kurdish political prisoner on death row who went on a hunger strike on May 12, 2010 said, “I will continue my hunger strike until I die.”

Habibollah Golparipour, a Kurdish citizen from Sanandaj, was charged with "Moharebeh" (enemy of God) and sentenced to death by the Mahabad Revolutionary Court. He went on an unlimited hunger strike to protest his sentencing and the unacceptable conditions and restrictions in Mahabad prison.

During a recent meeting, the case judge threatened Golparipour, telling him that his death sentence would be carried out if he did not end his hunger strike.

In response to the judge’s threats, the Kurdish activist said, “I know that I will be executed soon, therefore I will end my own life in order to shame you, even after my death.”

According to the Foundation for Kurdish Human Rights, Golparipour’s physical condition has seriously deteriorated and he is no longer conscious.

*Another prisoner, human rights activist, Mahialdin Azadi went on hunger strike and is suffering from acute physical illness since he began a hunger strike on May 13, 2010 to protest the complete lack of treatment in prison that has led to the serious deterioration of his health.

حبیب‌الله گلپری‌پور: با اراده خویش به زندگیم پایان خواهم داد

حبیب الله گلپری پور فعال کرد محکوم به اعدام که از روز ۲۲ اردیبهشت در اعتصاب غذا به سر می برد گفت: اعتصاب خود را تا مرگ ادامه خواهم داد.

رهانا: حبیب الله گلپری پور شهروند کرد اهل سنندج به اتهام محاربه از طریق فعالیت تبلیغی و عضویت در یک حزب مخالف نظام به استناد ماده ۱۸۶ و ۱۹۰ قانون مجازات اسلامی از سوی دادگاه انقلاب مهاباد به اعدام محکوم شده است.

به گزارش «کردیش پرسپکتیو» نامبرده در اعتراض به صدور حکم اعدام و همچنین محدودیت های اعمال شده و شرایط بسیار نامناسب زندان مهاباد از روز چهارشنبه ۲۲ اردیبهشت در اعتصاب غذای نامحدود به سر می برد.

در هیمن خصوص سایت خبری ۲۴ کاتژمیر اعلام نمود که گلپری پور در دیداری که با قاضی پرونده داشته است مورد تهدید قرار گرفته که چناچنه اعتصاب غذای خود را نشکند به زودی حکم اعدام وی صادر خواهد شد.

این فعال کرد محکوم به اعدام در پاسخ به این تهدید از سوی قاضی مربوطه گفته است: ” من می دانم که به زودی اعدام خواهم شد، بنابراین با اراده خویش به زندگی خود پایان خواهم داد و کاری خواهم کرد که پس از مرگم نیز تنها شرمساری برایتان باقی بماند”.

اعتصاب غذای آقای گلپری پور از روز چهارشنبه ۲۲ اردیبهشت ماه همچنان ادامه دارد و گفته می شود نامبرده در وضعیت جسمانی وخیمی به سر می برد.

شایان ذکر است سید احسان مجتوی وکیل نامبرده به صدور این حکم اعتراض نموده که تاکنون هیچ پاسخی دریافت نکرده است.

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Angela Hermens has received a seizure alert dog, and the landlord / Red Door Housing are evicting her for having the dog. The law says Angela is entitled to the dog.

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Britain's counter-terrorism strategy was thrown into turmoil when a judge ruled that two Pakistani students posed a serious threat to national security but could not be deported because of the risk they would be tortured or killed in their own country.

A special immigration court ruled that Abid Naseer was an al-Qaida operative who remained a serious threat, while his friend Ahmed Faraz Khan had been radicalised before coming to the UK and was willing to participate in terrorist activity.

Neither man was allowed to see the evidence upon which the court reached its decision, and nor was their solicitor. After they had been publicly identified as terrorism suspects, the court also ruled that it was not possible for them to be deported to Pakistan, where terrorism suspects face torture or death.

Mr Justice Mitting, chair of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), said that in Pakistan "there is a long and well-documented history of disappearances, illegal detention and of the torture and ill-treatment of those detained, usually to produce information, a confession or compliance".

Mr Naseer, 23, was one of 10 Pakistani men arrested last April as part of a massive counter-terrorism operation in Liverpool and Manchester.

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It is a well known fact, due to historical evidence, that the Assyrians are the indigenous people of Iraq. Yet the Assyrians currently do not have any indigenous rights and are suffering as a nation.

On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding declaration upholding the human, land and resources rights of the world's indigenous people. The declaration, also recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination and sets global human rights standards for them. It states that native peoples have the right "to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties" concluded with states or their successors.

Furthermore, it has been stated in the 111th Congress 1st session Senate resolution "Expressing the sense of the U.S. Senate on religious minorities in Iraq, October 26, 2009: (Whereas it is widely reported that only 500,000 to 700,000 indigenous Christians remain in Iraq as of 2009)". This is a dramatic reduction of the indigenous Assyrians considering that before the latest Iraqi War there were 1.3 million indigenous Assyrians in Iraq. It is worth noting that currently these people are suffering in neighboring countries due to lack of opportunities.

In conclusion, we are asking that you look into this matter so that the Assyrians do not become depleted from their motherland, and they be given their indigenous rights, so that there is a better chance for them to return to Iraq.

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Recently a package of legislation was introduced in the state senate, called the Methadone Accountability Package. These bills and a resolution include S.B. 1293, S.B. 1294 - the Methadone Addiction Prevention and Treatment Act, S.B. 1376, S.B. 1377, S.B. 1378, S.B. 1382, S.B. 1383, and S.R. 348.

This package of legislation would would limit the length of methadone therapy for addiction treatments. This act would intrude on Pennsylvanians doctor-patient relationship, by limiting the rights of doctors and patients. It would limit health care choice and would put addicts in treatment at risk of returning to illicit drug use, by forcing patients off of methadone prematurely.

The length of methadone therapy for addiction treatments should be determined by the doctor and their patient, depending on how the patient responds to the therapy. The scientific evidence that methadone remains one of the most effective ways of treating opioid addiction and dependence is overwhelming.

Doctors should be practicing medicine, not the legislature. We ask the members of the Pennsylvania state Senate Committee on Public Health & Welfare to oppose and vote against all legislation in the Methadone Accountability Package, should it come up for a vote in committee, and should it pass committee, to vote against passing the package's legislation in the General Assembly.

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