NDC disqualifies Emelia Arthur from contesting Shama primaries

News Ghana
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The National Vetting Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has disqualified the Deputy Western Regional Minister Madam Emelia Arthur from contesting against the incumbent MP for the Shama Constituency, Hon. Gabriel Kojo Essilfie.

Although reasons for her disqualification have not been made known, there had been issues with her membership and loyalty to the NDC.

The election for the Shama Constituency was suspended last Saturday because disagreements over the candidature of the former Shama DCE had not been resolved.

Whilst the entire constituency executives insisted that Madam Emelia Arthur was not an active card-bearing member of the party, and thus, ineligible to contest, some polling station executives, rooted for her candidature maintaining that she was a loyal member of the NDC and better placed to retain the seat for the party.

Although Madam Arthur successfully went through the regional vetting, which was described by the constituency executives as fraudulent, it appears she was unlucky with executives at the national level who sat on the matter.

The constituency executives had threatened to resign en bloc if she was cleared to contest.

The Western Regional Chairman of the NDC, Nana Toku, who spoke to Maxx News, did not give reasons for her disqualification except to say that it is in the interest of the party.

According to him, the decision was taken solely by the national executives after they had deliberated on a report forwarded by the regional wing. He said the national executives also held talks with Madam Emelia Arthur and impressed upon her to support the incumbent in the larger interest of the party.

Nana Toku said the incumbent MP has also been advised to remain calm. He noted that regional executives with support from the national headquarters will embark on a campaign to unite the disgruntled groups in the constituency to forge ahead in unity in the 2012 elections.

“It is my party issues so I don’t want to go into details. The issue is that they have spoken to Madam Emelia Arthur and she understands that she has to allow her colleague to go and we have been talking to the incumbent to remain calm so we all join hands together for the NDC’s victory” the Regional Chairman said.

Meanwhile the group of polling station executives who endorsed Madam Arthur’s candidature say they might support her to go independent. But that decision is to be taken at a news conference on Thursday. Spokesperson for the group, Famous Hotorwovi, told Maxx News Madam Arthur is billed to attend the press conference to speak to them.

“The constituency executives who are doing that do not like the woman. But we grassroots people who work for the party prefer the woman. The decision they have taken will bring problems for the NDC in the Shama Constituency and we will advice ourselves. We only heard on radio that she has been disqualified with no reasons” he said.

However, Madam Emelia Arthur, a two-time parliamentary candidate of the National Reform Party (NRP) in 2000 and 2004, has remained silent about these developments.

Source: Joy Online

SRI LANKA: An innocent man is illegally arrested, tortured

William Nicholas Gomes
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Dear Mr. N K Illangakoon,

SRI LANKA: An innocent man is illegally arrested, tortured and laid with a false charge by the Wattala Police

Name of the victim: Mr. Narahenpita Gamage Sisil Weerasinghe(48) is resides at No: 212/1, Woodland Estate, Colombo Road, Chilaw
Alleged perpetrator:
1. Police officer Mr. Mahinda attached to the Police Station of Wattala
2. Two other police officers attached to the Police Station of Wattala
Date of incident: 30 December 2011
Place of incident: Wattala Police Station

I am writing to express my serious concern over the case of Mr. Narahenpita Gamage Sisil Weerasinghe (48). Sisil is married, the father of two daughters and a retired soldier. Sisil, who resides at No: 212/1, Woodland Estate, Colombo Road, Chilaw is disabled as the result of injuries to the right leg and hand in a battle during July 1992. Following his partial recovery Sisil was removed from operational duties and given light duties. He retired from the service in 2007 and later worked as a private security guard attached to the Peoples Bank.

On 30 December 2011, he was working at the People’s Bank branch at the Headquarters of Island Revenue Department at Fort, Colombo. On this particular day after completing his work he was on his way home by bus. Then as he felt a stomachache he informed the conductor and asked him to stop the bus. He alighted from the bus and went to a nearby for toilet after which he waited for another bus to continue to his home.

While he was waiting a red colour three-wheeler came and stopped in front of him. Then the persons who were in police uniforms asked him what he was waiting at the roadside for at that time (by this time it was close to 10 pm). Then Sisil explained what had happened to him and told the officers that he is waiting for a bus. The police officers accused him of planning to commit to a house breaking. Sisil explained to them that he was a former soldier of the Sri Lanka Army, that he was disabled and presently working at the Peoples Bank Security Section at the Island Revenue Department Branch. However, the officers did not accept his explanation, accused him of arguing with them and started to beat him with fists and boots. The officers then dragged him into the three-wheeler and brought him to the Wattala Police Station.

At the police station again three police officers including a police officer who was later identified as Mr. Mahinda started to beat him with a cricket bat. Another officer beat him with a plastic pipe that had been filled with sand. Sisil was assaulted all over his body and pleaded with the officers not to beat him. He repeatedly explained that he was a disable soldier but the officers did not listen. Even after Sisil fell to the ground the officers continued to beat Sisil mercilessly. Later they locked him in a cell.

As Sisil was suffering immense pain he pleaded with the officers to provide medicine. They then took him out from the cell and brought him before a doctor. Before he was brought into the doctor two officers held his arms while another officer forcefully poured liquor into his mouth. Sisil tried to resist but the officers forced him. Then he was brought before the doctor. Then Sisil explained to the doctor in the presence of the perpetrators how he was tortured in police custody. He further told the doctor that due to the assault one of his hands was fractured and that he was experiencing enormous pain. However, to his amazement the doctor ignore him and did not provide any treatment or medicine.

Later Sisil was returned to the police station and put back in the cell. When he started to screaming with pain one of the officers gave him two tablets but he did not know what it was.

Later in the morning on 31 Sisil was asked to sign a document but he refused. He further explained that he cannot read without his spectacles. The officers told him that if he signed and pleaded guilty at court he could go home and get treatment. He then signed the document and was brought to the Wattala Magistrate’s Court. The police officers who tortured him were present in the court and they stood close to Sisil while he was produced before the Magistrate. Sisil did as he was instructed and pleaded guilty. He later learned that he had been charged with indecent behaviour due to being inebriated. He was then fined Rs. 1,500/=. Sisil vehemently denies the accusation and states that as he was in severe pain and in fear of further torture by the perpetrators who never once left his side. He therefore states that he had no option but to plead guilty to the charge.

Sisil went home and received treatment from a doctor. Though the doctor provided medicine by 2 January, 2012 Sisil’s condition worsened. He was admitted to the Chilaw Base Hospital for treatment by his family members. While he was treated at the hospital the doctors revealed to him that there is a fracture in his hand. The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) examined him and recorded his situation. The officers attached to the Police Post of the Hospital also recorded his statement. On 4 January he was discharged but he was asked to return to the clinic for further treatment.

Sisil states that he was illegally arrested, detained, severely tortured and maliciously prosecuted. He states that his fundamental rights were violated by the police officers attached to the Wattala Police Station.

After he was discharge from the hospital Sisil complained to the Human Rights Commission, Inspector General of Police, Attorney General, the Director of Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police of the Western Province (North) and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Wattala Police Station. To-date none of these authorities have responded to him nor investigated his complaint.

I request your urgent intervention to ensure that the authorities listed below instigate an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest, illegal detention, torture by the police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country for misusing powers of state officers and for wrongful prosecution. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the police department.

Yours sincerely,
William Nicholas Gomes
William’s Desk

www.williamgomes.org

Border Security Force continues war on people of Bangladesh in Indo -Bangla border

William Nicholas Gomes
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January 19, 2012

Mrs. Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Office of the Prime Minister

Tejgaon, Dhaka

BANGLADESH

Fax: +880 2 811 3244 / 3243 / 1015 / 1490

Tel: +880 2 882 816 079 / 988 8677

E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]

Re: Border Security Force continues war on people of Bangladesh in Indo -Bangla border

Dear Mrs.Sheikh Hasina ,

I am writing to express my concern regarding a Bangladeshi citizen brutally tortured by Indian Border Security Force (BSF).

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and its partner organisation, the Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), have been documenting and reporting cases of extreme forms of brutality committed by the Border Security Force (BSF) stationed along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal state.

Since the past eight years, MASUM is reporting directly and through international human rights organisations like the AHRC, cases against the BSF to the Indian authorities. So far MASUM has reported about 800 cases. These are cases of torture and other forms of custodial violence, rape, murder, extortion and corruption. The AHRC is not aware of any open and credible action taken against any of the officers mentioned in these cases, though every possible detail has been provided to the authorities.
According to the latest information received is a video of extreme torture by the BSF of a civilian that reportedly happened on 16 January 2012. The video shows blood-chilling torture, committed by the BSF. The incident is a shame and the brutality documented alarming, suggesting that the officers require psychiatric assistance, a condition that challenges their very legitimacy to guard the country’s border.

When the video was aired yesterday through local television channels in West Bengal, the administration has taken ‘action’. This is the suspension of eight BSF officers and the transferring of the District Magistrate (DM) and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Murshidabad district.
International human rights watchdog Asian human rights commission shared in the statement that the official defensive statement by the BSF, that the video could be as old as 15 years, is nothing but irresponsibility in print. The security agency that is mandated to protect the country’s border should have the minimum knowledge, that mobile telephones with a camera, now though common, was exceptionally rare 15 years ago. The BSF does not have a case that their officers exposed in the video are serving in the same outpost for the past 15 years. If the video is not of an incident that happened on 16 January, then on what reason was the officers stationed at Charmurasi border outpost suspended?

AHRC also disclosed  that the video shows officers, identifiable in person, violating every code of their operative mandate, in some of the most brutal and inhuman manner. It shows the alarming wilt of discipline among the officers. Any agency, having such sick officers posted on duty has serious reasons to consider overhauling its operative structure to ensure basic discipline. In the BSF however, such actions are unlikely to happen. At the most the case would end, probably after a decade, with some punitive actions taken against the officers who are now placed under suspension.

In the statement AHRC also mentioned that the DM and the SP, of Murshidabad should have known that such incidents are common. They cannot content otherwise, since the MASUM and the AHRC together have sent these officers some 800 cases during the past eight years. These two officers have the legal responsibility to answer for what is in the video since had their office been diligent enough such incidents would not have repeated. In a case reported by the AHRC and MASUM on 19 October 2012, the victim in the case was stoned to death by the BSF. The incident happened within the jurisdiction of Raninagar Police Station. No action has been taken on this case so far. The details of the case are available at AHRC-UAC-210-2011.
AHRC mentioned that the Inspector General (IG) of the BSF is also responsible for the incident since the IG’s office is bound by ‘command responsibility’. In the same vein, the Inspector-General commanding the South Bengal Frontier unit of the BSF and the Commandant and under whom the officers involved in the incident served are also to be punished. Command responsibility is no legal fiction. It is legal norm, which applies in this case without exception.

AHRC shared that most importantly the question that needs to be answered now is that what allows the BSF to perpetuate such horrendous forms of violence against unarmed civilians? Had the BSF been operating in compliance with the Border Security Force Act, 1968 and its Rules 1969, such incidents would not have happened. It shows that discipline and commitment to duty is not ensured within the rank and file in the force. Violence by the BSF against unarmed civilians and other forms of corruption and crimes committed by the BSF with impunity is a threat to the border security of the nation. Such a BSF is a threat to the entire country.

If experience were of any value, one need to see whether, at least in this occasion there would be a transparent investigation and adjudication. If national security is of any interest to the government, it should prove it by taking actions in all cases reported to the government, of crimes committed by the BSF. The AHRC is willing to once again submit to the Government of India a dossier containing details of the cases documented by the AHRC involving the BSF.

Dear Prime Minister, It is not an isolated issue of Brutal torture by neighboring country’s Border Security Force. Indo-Bangladesh became ground of human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, reports of rape.

Bangladesh is not in war with India or there is no visible enmity between two friendly countries. I want to remind you hold a constitutional position and you also have the responsibility to secure the life of the citizens’ home or aboard.

I request you please publicly discuss with Indian government of the requirements for the treatment of detainees under international human rights law, in particular the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention Against Torture).

I condemn your government’s continuous failure to address the continuous the life and property of Bangladeshi citizens from the Indian BSF.

Please ask the Indian government to stop war on the peaceful Bangladeshi citizen and take proper action against the forces and bring them under law.

I urge you, ask the Indian government to form a special commission inquire the cases of torture, rape and other forms of human rights violations on Bangladeshi citizens of last 3 years and bring the perpetrators under law and insist the Indian government to give proper compensation to the Bangladeshi victims of torture, rape and other sorts of human rights violations, who were victimize by the BSF and other forces in Indo Bangla border.

I suggest you in terms of information’s of different human rights violations on Bangladeshi citizens in Indo Bangla border the prominent Indian human rights organization Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) would be a natural and credible source of information.

I will again urge you take the proper initiative to secure the life and property of Bangladeshi citizens in Indo Bangla border.

I thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely yours,

William Nicholas Gomes

William’s Desk

www.williamgomes.org

Nothing exciting about latest reshuffle – Nana Akomea

News Ghana
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NPP’s Communication Director, Nana Akomea, says President Mills’ latest reshuffle will add nothing new to the government.

President John Mills in his last reshuffle before his term expires early next year has brought on board Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South, Fritz Baffoe, and the MP for Nabdam, Moses Asaga.

Fritz Baffoe will be heading the Information Ministry while Moses Asaga takes oversight responsibility at the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare.

To many political pundits, the president’s latest reshuffle is important, going into an election year.

However, to Nana Akomea, “nothing is exciting about the reshuffle”.

To him, the resignation of former Education Minister, Betty Mould-Iddrisu is more dramatic and should generate the needed questions; not a reshuffle.

The NPP had called on the then Education Minister who was serving as Ghana’s Attorney General when the judgment debt were paid; to resign but, Nana Akomea said though she has resigned, questions still remain as to the main reason why she did.

“We don’t know if she resigned because of our call; that is, if she has resigned because of the role she played in the loss of 928 billion cedis to the state; or she resigned on health grounds; or she resigned because she didn’t like her job as a minister”, he told Xfm 95.1 in an interview, adding, “we hear she has been appointed as a high commissioner to South Africa which is very strange; for a senior cabinet minister to be appointed as a high commissioner; which is lower than a deputy minister. So it’s all very strange; we need to be told why”.

“Because the matter involves corruption and the massive loss of gargantuan fund, we need to know the reason why she has resigned. Anything short of that, the case will still not be closed”, he said.

A statement which indicated President John Mills’ acceptance of Betty Mould-Iddrisu’s resignation stated that she did not want to be a hindrance to the president’s Better Ghana agenda. But Nana Akomea is not convinced.

He asked, “why will she be a hindrance to the better Ghana agenda? Is it because of some gargantuan mistake that she has done? We just need to be told. In what way has she been a hindrance to the Better Ghana agenda? When we have the reasons, then we can interrogate the matters. And the people of this country deserve answers to how come this government paid up 928 billion cedis to an NDC financier when we have so many basic everyday needs of the people that are not satisfied”.

Source: Joy Online

Turkey: Police raid of NGOs offices in Diyarbakir

William Nicholas Gomes
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16 January, 2012

Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara,

Turkey,

Fax: + 90 312 417 0476;

E-mail: [email protected]

Re: Turkey: Police raid of NGOs offices in Diyarbakir

Dear Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

I have been informed by the Human Rights Association (IHD) about the police raid of the offices of its Diyarbakir branch as well as that of the General Centre of the Public Workers’ Trade Union (KESK), the Education Workers’ Trade Union (Egitim-Sen), the Kurdish Language Research and Development Association (Kurdi-Der) and the Solidarity Association For Prisoners’ and Convicts’ Relatives (Tuhay-Der).

According to the information received, in the early morning of January 13, 2012, the anti-terrorism unit of the police raided on the basis of an illegal search warrant[1] the offices in Diyarbakir of IHD, KESK, Egitim-Sen, Kurdi-Der and Tuhay-Der, in the framework of a wide ranged anti-terrorist operation intended to dismantle an alleged terrorist network – the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK)[2] – that in fact targets peaceful activists from the Kurdish community who are not related to any terrorist activities, including human rights defenders and associations. The police confiscated computers found on the premises of all organisations. All were later returned except those confiscated in IHD’s offices.

I denounce the continuing harassment of human rights defenders and organisations in Turkey, and particularly IHD members, members of trade unions and those fighting against the impunity of serious crimes and calling for a peaceful resolution of the Kurd question, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities. To that extent, the Observatory recalls that several IHD members are currently in pre-trial detention, notably Mr. Muharrem Erbey, IHD General Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of its Diyarbakir Province branch who had been detained since December 2009, Mr. Arslan Özdemir, Ms. Roza Erdede, IHD members in Diyarbakir[3], Mr. Ragip Zarakolu, Honorary Board Member and Founder of IHD and publisher, and Ms. Büsra Ersanli, lecturer at the Marmara University Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations in Istanbul[4], members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies[5] and lawyers[6]. Dozens of other human rights defenders remain in provisional release pending the outcome of criminal trials on alleged terrorism charges[7].

Accordingly, I call upon the Turkish authorities to put an end to the continuing harassment against human rights associations and defenders and urges the Turkish authorities to stop raids and release all human rights defenders held in detention immediately and unconditionally, since their detention is arbitrary.

I urge you guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ragip Zarakolu, Ms. Büsra Ersanli, Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede as well as all other members of IHD, KESK, Egitim-Sen, Kurdi-Der and Tuhay-Der, members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies and lawyers, and in general, all human rights defenders in Turkey.

I also urge you please  release immediately and unconditionally Mr. Ragip Zarakolu, Ms. Büsra Ersanli, Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede as well as members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies and lawyers who are currently detained, since their detention is arbitrary as it only aim at sanctioning their human rights activities;

Please put an end to all acts harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Ragip Zarakolu, Ms. Büsra Ersanli, Mr. Muharrem Erbey, Mr. Arslan Özdemir and Ms. Roza Erdede as well as all other members of IHD, KESK, Egitim-Sen, Kurdi-Der, Tuhay-Der, members of associations of families of victims of abusive anti-terrorism policies and lawyers and, in general, all human rights defenders in Turkey;

I also urge you please  comply with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.

More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Turkey.

I thank you for your consideration of my recommendations. Please be reassured of my highest regards.

Sincerely yours,

William Nicholas Gomes

William’s Desk

www.williamgomes.org

[1][1] The warrant was issued by the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 10 on the demand of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution Office in violation of rules governing jurisdiction. According to the law, only the Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecution Office has the jurisdiction to apply for a search warrant concerning an association located in Diyarbakir province.

[2][2] A body said to be the “urban front” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

[3][3] See Observatory Annual Report 2011.

[4][4] See Observatory Urgent Appeal TUR 003 / 1111 / OBS 121, issued on November 3, 2011.

[5][5] See Observatory Urgent Appeal TUR 002 / 1011 / OBS 119, issued on October 25, 2011.

[6][6] See Observatory Joint Open Letter, December 16, 2011.

[7][7] See Observatory Annual Report 2011.

SRI LANKA: Do not protect an accused charged before a court of law

William Nicholas Gomes
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The Honourable Shanthi Eva Wanasundara
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA

Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: [email protected]

Dear Ms. Wanasundara,

I have learned from  Asian Human Rights Commission  of your decision  to take over the prosecution of a Private Plaint filed in the Magistrate’s Court of Panadura, without the consent of the Complainant of the said case, upon an application and representations made by and on behalf of the Accused who is a Superintendent of Police. The case bears No. 92368 (Private Plaint)

The decision of the Attorney General was communicated to Court by the Senior State Counsel who appeared in Court on December 15, 2011, in the case referred to.

The accused in this case is Lesly Hamilton Gregory Cooray who was the Superintendent of Police for Panadura area, at the time that the alleged incident took place. The Complainant is M. Nishantha Fernando Jayawardena.

By this decision you will be protecting an accused charged before a court of law. This is very opposite to what an Attorney General who exercises the public prosecutors role is suppose to do. This is dangerous to the nation as  it undermines the rule of law. Your role is to protect the rule of law and not to undermine it. Thus this is gross abuse of your powers. The AG’s power to exercise nolle proseque ( Not to prosecute), should not be so trivially used in violation of the principle of equality before law.

We do not know whether this is done due to political pressure or on your own initiative. Whatever, be the reason there is no excuse for threatening the rule of law in this manner.

Besides, you are depriving a citizen a right to a remedy. That is the worst that can be done to a victim of crime. Sri Lankan Government is duty bound to provide all citizens remedy for the crimes they suffer. This also an international obligation under Article 2 of Civil and Political Rights Covenant, ICCPR.

In recent times former AG’s have abused their powers and there is on going public criticism on that score. Your action will further bring bad image to the institution you are heading.

We urge you to review your illegal and wrong decision in this case. And withdraw your takeover of this prosecution with the view to withdraw it and thus help an accused who is charged in a court of law. By withdrawing this decision your will assist in rebuilding much damaged national stability and also respect the rights of a citizen to pursue justice, which is been so badly sabotaged.

For further details please read the AHRC statement

Yours sincerely,
William Nicholas Gomes

William’s Desk

www.williamgomes.org

Iran: Summons of Dr. Mohammad Maleki to serve a one-year prison term

William Nicholas Gomes
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1

January 26, 2012

Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

President

the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran,

Fax: + 98 21 649 5880.

E-Mail: [email protected]

Re: Iran: Summons of Dr. Mohammad Maleki to serve a one-year prison term
Dear Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

I have been informed by Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), regarding the following situation in Iran.

New information:

I hav been informed by the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) of the summons of Dr. Mohammad Maleki to serve a one-year prison term.

According to the information received, on January 23, 2012, Dr. Mohammad Maleki, founding member of the Iranian Association for the Defence of Liberty and Human Rights (IADLHR)[1], was summoned to Evin prison to serve a one-year prison term (See background information) and was given three days to go to prison. He stands a high risk of arrest at any time.

I condemn the judicial harassment of Dr. Mohammad Maleki since it seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities and expresses its deep concern about the ongoing attempts to hinder the peaceful activities of human rights defenders in Iran.

Background information:

Dr. Maleki spent five years in prison from July 1981 to August 1986 as a result of his strong objection to the closure of universities. He was also arrested on March 12, 2001 and spent more than six months in solitary confinement without trial.

On August 22, 2009, Dr. Mohammad Maleki was again arrested after the presidential election for having boycotted the 2009 presidential election and protesting the post-election abuses and spent more than six months in detention in Evin prison before being released on bail in March 2010. He was then accused of contacts with opposition groups. During his detention, he was hospitalised several times owing to a heart attack and other physical problems including prostate cancer. He was also reportedly denied access to an adequate treatment[2].

His trial, which was initially scheduled at Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolution Court for July 27, 2011, was then re-scheduled to July 30, 2011 due to the refusal of the accused to attend the trial[3]. Dr Maleki then attended the court, but refused to defend himself and said he would not appeal the sentence, because he considered the court of first instance to be illegal. He had initially faced the charge of “moharebeh” (fighting God), “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamanei” (the incumbent leader) but was finally sentenced on the charge of “propaganda against the system.”

In September 2011, he wrote a brief report to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on the tortures he had suffered during his prison terms and was subsequently interrogated and received a notice banning him from travelling abroad.

Actions requested:

i.        Please guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Dr. Mohammad Maleki as well as that of all human rights defenders and their families in Iran;

ii.        Put an end to any kind of harassment – including at the judicial level – against Dr. Mohammad Maleki and more generally against all human rights defenders in Iran.

iii.       I urge you to conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, in particular:

–       its article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;

–       its article 5.b, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels, (…) to form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups”;

–       its article 12.2 which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

iv. More generally    ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Iran.

Thank you for taking into consideration our concerns and recommendations.

Sincerely yours,

William Nicholas Gomes

William’s Desk

wwww.williamgomes.org

Cc:

·       Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shahid Keshvardoost St., Jomhuri Eslami Ave., Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98 21 649, + 98 21 649 / 21 774 2228, E-Mail: [email protected]

·       Head of the Judiciary, His Excellency Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, Ministry of Justice, c/o Public relations Office, Number 4, 2 Azizi Street, Vali Asr Ave., above Pasteur Street intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98 21 879 6671 / +98 21 3 311 6567, Email: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

·       Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98-21-66743149, Email: [email protected]

·       H.E. Mr. Seyed Mohammad Reza Sajjadi, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7330203, Email: [email protected]

·       Embassy of Iran in Brussels, 15 a avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: [email protected]

Mills Must Step Down -Kumah

News Ghana
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…John Kumah

A leading member of the Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG) and a member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) communication team, Mr. John Kumah has stated that Professor Mills must step down as President before the December 2012 general elections.

In an interview with the Front Page, he said Prof. Mills has disappointed Ghanaians by saying that he did not know anything about the payment of the judgment debt to Mr. Alfred Abgesi Woyome which has become the issue of the day. He explained that the amount that was doled out to Mr. Woyome alone can improve the lives of Ghanaians in terms of good roads, good drinking water, schools, health-care and other basic amenities.

A fire-brand in the NPP communication team, John Kumah elaborated that as at now, Mr. Woyome has not being able to prove to the world that he had a contract with the previous government and so he deserved that kind of money, yet the NDC and Prof. Mills see nothing wrong with it and allowed those who connived with Mr. Woyome to go scot free.

He said, “once his ministers are disappointed and are now resigning from their positions, it goes to indicate the fact that, President Mills himself must also resign because he has disappointed Ghanaians”.

Mr. Kumah told this papers that AFAG will never allow the gargantuan crime which the former Attorney General (A-G) Mr. Martin Amidu alleged is going on will never be allowed to be swept under the carpet by the Prof. Mills-Ahwoi-Mahama administration.

The AFAG leading member noted that they will use the rule of law to let truth the come out even if not under this government. “We are sure Ghanaians have seen the difference between the NPP government and the NDC government and by the grace of God NPP will come back to power to correct all the mistakes of this NDC ‘sie me preko’ administration”, he concluded.

Source: Front Page Newspaper

ON NIGERIA POLICE AND OTHER SECURITY AGENCIES

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On Nigeria Police and other security agencies
By Samuel Noah Oluwafemi
Thursday, January 26, 2012

Late Ojukwu

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.- Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein; an all-time inscrutable scholar, in the context of my thought summarized this article in the fore-going witty axiom. Nigeria, like so many other countries within the Africa region seems to be fulfilling a part of this truism while other rational countries are on the other divide.

In advanced climes where everything works without agitation or demand from the populace, citizens have been relieved of the burden of having to call on God to solve all their problems including those He has already delegated. For example, citizens do not have to trust God for basic amenities that should define the existence of humans in the first place.

The opposite, however, holds true for Nigeria. We have to pray and ask God just about anything ranging from putting roof over our heads, to putting food on our tables, and providing clothes for us to put on. We also trust Him to be our security personnel – I only wonder how much we will be willing to pay Him for all these services at the end of the month, if He were to charge us or remove subsidy from them. Amusingly, we now even pray for him to turn water into petrol after he has given us the resource in large quantity!

While the developed climes have used their ingenuity to better the living condition of the larger percentage of the populace, ours have been the opposite. While citizens in economies that have applied the principles of love, integrity and trust are enjoying the eventual benefits, Nigerians often will have to seek God’s face for miracles in order to ave such benefits. Therefore, as the great scientist puts it, there are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle – just in the case of access to basic amenities by most people in developed world. The other is as though everything is a miracle – obviously this resonates with our condition in Nigeria.

One of such conditions we obviously live in today is in the area of safety. Safety in this context is not restricted to the recent threat from Boko Haram but most importantly, this has to do with those who are paid to defend and ensure we are secured. An average Nigerian now trusts a vigilante over men of the Nigerian Police Force. The reason, however, is not far-fetched as police and some other security agencies have proven anti-people in critical moments when Nigerians are in dire need of their services.

Each time I read in the dailies of how Nigerians are killed over discomfited arguments with our national security operatives, I get disturbed. Within October 2011 to January 2012 alone, over five Nigerians have been buried from the killings of trigger-happy Nigerian policemen. On Sunday 16th October 2011 for example, Victor Emmanuel, 20years, was guned down while coming from Church on the account of challenging a police request of some sort in Bayelsa State. Most gruesome of the story is the killing of this 20-year-old right before Mrs. Victor Grace, the mother; a woman who has for 20 good years nurtured the young man.

As it is our culture to respond to issues while the memory is still fresh, House of Representative adopting a motion sponsored by Honorable Warman Ogoriba (PDP, Bayelsa), mandated its committees on Police, Human Rights and Justice to investigate the matter and report back in two weeks. That was in October 2011. We hope a report has been submitted and not just submitted, but the appropriate action taken against the culprit. I am sure most Nigerians will want to know what the current development about the case is.

Between that incident in October last year and January 2012, many other inhumane acts have been committed by the men of the Nigeria Police. Report has it that from January 1 to January 14 alone, not less than 4 people have been confirmed dead through the bullets of our supposed security custodians. Ademola Aderinto, 25, on the 9th of January 2012, though not part of the protest for the fuel subsidy removal, but playing football with friends in the Agege area of Lagos, was reported to have been shot and consequently died in his own pool of blood!

What is the worth of a Nigerian life to a Nigerian police? It was confirmed that another of those shot at the same venue as Ademola later died in the hospital that same day and others sustained several degrees of injuries. The police officials at the nearest station which happens to be the division in which the concerned culprit is attached even refused giving out a police report in order for hospital to treat the others who were also wounded until a reporter intervened.

While we wait on the House of Reps on their enquiry into the killing of Victor Emmanuel, we also hope Lagos State commissioner of Police will ensure that justice is done to the killer of Ademola and others who have been fell by the bullets of our security personnel. Above all, we hope the Inspector General of Police and other security chiefs will find lasting solution to this.
I sincerely hope that one day; Nigerians will not need a miracle in order to enjoy the benefits of the Nigeria police and other security agencies.

Oluwafemi writes from Lagos

ADAPTATIONS…A MIRROR ON NIGERIA

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Adaptations…a mirror on Nigeria
By THERESA ONWUGHALU
Thursday, January 26, 2012

With his eyes set on nation building, John Oyewole Adenle who teaches art at the Federal College of Education, Osiele Abeokuta, recently showcased 35 plastic sculptural pieces tagged Adaptations. Though his first solo exhibition, Adenle has participated in several group exhibitions over the years. He is currently a doctoral student for his PhD. in Art Therapy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He explained how he was inspired by Igbaro and Raqib Basorun’s works.

Expectedly, the exhibition held at Yusuf Grillo Art Gallery, Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Yaba, Lagos, attracted other notable artists and art lovers. Some of the works include Ori-yeye-ni-mogun, Unequally-yoked, Kokoro to n jefo, Hydra-headed and Reverse. Ori-yeye-ni-mogun, which is made of plastics and fibre glass, is the first work carried out by Adenle in the progression of his experimentation with plastics. It depicts the plight of the downtrodden in society. The work literarily shows how hundreds of innocent masses suffer for offences not committed by them.

The mixed media work, National Cake, is symbolic of the reckless way the revenue of the country is being shared at the centre especially by the National Assembly. Apart from legislating outrageous increases of their salaries and wages, they share and eat allocations meant for their constituencies without giving back to the electorates. They have not only caused political decadency but have also made democracy to be expensive at the expense of economic development.

The artwork reveals the scrambling at the centre for national cake and the hunger and starvation represented by the dry bones at the four corners of the work. The thirty-six assembled bottles symbolize the lawmakers from the thirty-six states of the federation and they are united in their unwholesome politics of eating the nation to the bone marrow.

The piece, Unequally-yoked, is a fabricated plastics which depicts how Nigeria exists only as a geographical entity. It is now clear that Nigeria, a nation so complex in nature and culture ought not to have been amalgamated together as one. This fact has also led to civil war and in recently, led to fight for resource control, sectional militancy and tribalism. The plastic arrangement of the artwork outlines the map of Nigeria showing jumbled components that are forcefully joined in a marriage of inconvenience. The colours of the component plastics are in sharp contrast against one another. The black background also signified uncertainty that has already enveloped the nation and how it challenges national unity. The spotted red plastic at the Delta area of the country may as well translate to the fact that our oil may be our time bomb if no discussion is facilitated at a national conference table.

Kokoro to n jefo is made of both wood and plastics. It is a prefix of a Yoruba proverb that translates as: ‘The insect that infests a vegetable resides in its stems’. The insects or cankerworms that milk the national resources are not ghosts, they reside among the people. The work shows a design replicating the effects of ants’ infestation on wood. These people are the politicians and leaders who are merely interested in what they can benefit from. One may also be surprised that the corruption at the surface may be a child’s play compared to the internal invasion already caused by the ‘pests’. This work warns of the imminent explosion if the system is not fumigated with truth, probity and uprightness.

Hydra-headed is a plastic work that depicts the nature of Nigeria’s multiple problems. Each national problem is hydra-headed as the works reveals. This means each big problem has smaller ones. The work is a monster-like figure with multiple heads. Each head can be interpreted as representing each problem including insecurity, power failure, corruption, religious conflict, tribal war and sectional militancy among others. Reverse, another plastic work, explains the paradox of our growth and development, which is a mirage says the artist “We think we are moving forward yet in the reverse. We move one step forward and two steps backwards.” As much as the artist wishes to see Nigeria moving forward, he keeps seeing an inverted image that is bemused by roughness, coarseness and stone-heartedness.

Adeola M. Balogun, curator of the exhibition said the exploration of plastics both in two and three dimensional formats reveal a passionate experimentalist and environmentali0st in Adenle, while Dr. Kunle Filani, the Provost, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, , described Adenle as creatively curious, versatile and experimentally restless. Also Odubiyi James Abiodun, Head, Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Federal College of Education, Osiele Abeokuta, said “Form this collection, we are brought into the world of Adenle as a passionate sculpture who expresses his talent through works of art. Apart from his duty as an academic, he has established himself as a frontline artist whose works and wealth of experience would inspire younger artists.”

Mr. Kehinde Adepegba, Art and Industrial Design Department, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, noted that Adenle is one of those artists who are deeply touched by the new spectacle of socio-political debacle in Nigeria after 51 years of independence.
“Through Adaptations, Adenle has expressed his innermost contemplation about the socio-political state of the nation. He does not only projects the problems for all to see but also offers solution in works titled: Angelic Visit and Voyage,” Adepegba said.
Meanwhile, Kenny Badary, Chairman, Society of Nigerian Artists, (SOVA) Ogun State Chapter said the initiative by John Oyewole Adenle is highly commendable as has reduced disposable needs and costs.

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