UA: 333/09 Index: MDE 13/127/2009

Two women, Mehrnoush Etemadi and Hayedeh Tabesh, both members of the Campaign for Equality (also known as the One Million Signatures Campaign) have been arrested in Esfahan, central Iran, in relation with their peaceful activities for the Campaign. Mehrnoush Etemadi is held in Dastgerd Prison, Esfahan, but Hayedeh Tabesh’s whereabouts are unknown.

Amnesty International believes both women to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful expression of their right to freedom of expression and association. [ Lire la suite » ]

UA: 332/09 Index: MDE 19/006/2009

An outspoken critic of the human rights record of Libya, Jamal al-Hajji, was arrested on 9 December and apparently transferred to prison. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for his criticism of the Libyan authorities. [ Lire la suite » ]

First execution under Ohio’s new protocol

Kenneth Biros was executed in the US state of Ohio on 8 December. He was sentenced to death for the murder of Tami Engstrom in 1991.
Kenneth Biros received a single-drug lethal injection shortly after the US Supreme Court denied a request from his lawyers to stay his execution. His lawyers had sought a stay on the grounds that the new untested method had never been used in “any other civilized country” and would amount to an “impermissible human experimentation”. [ Lire la suite » ]

Further information on UA: 296/09 Index: ASA 36/007/2009

Yong Vui Kong has received a stay of execution, after lawyers argued that his earlier withdrawal of an appeal was void due to his poor mental health. His appeal will now be heard by the Court of Appeal early in 2010: if it is unsuccessful, he may then be executed. [ Lire la suite » ]

UA: 329/09 Index: AMR 34/014/2009

Trade unionist Jorge Chen Alvarez, an official in the National Health Workers' Union, has received a death threat believed to be connected to his work improving health care services for pregnant women and girls. [ Lire la suite » ]

UA: 331/09 Index: ASA 31/011/2009

Major Niranjan Basnet of the Nepal Army was charged by a civilian court in 2008 with the murder of a 15-year-old girl. He was recently found to be serving in a UN peacekeeping mission in Africa; the UN have now expelled him from the mission, and have instructed the government of Nepal to repatriate him. It is now possible to bring him to justice. [ Lire la suite » ]

UA: 330/09 Index: MDE 30/019/2009

Former political prisoner Lotfi Dassi was arrested by security forces in Tunisia on 23 November, apparently in relation to his activities to secure financial aid for families affected by floods in the town of Redeyef. The authorities have not acknowledged that they are holding him. He may have been subjected to enforced disappearance and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. [ Lire la suite » ]