AIUSA Group 159 Newsletter
Urge General Assembly to Sustain Governor's Vetoes of Death-Pennalty Expansion
Attend Screening of the Documentary "Torturing Democracy"
The Uighurs at Guantanamo
Vigil to End Torture -- Nov. 12
Lobby to Close Guantánamo
Legislative Agenda
Current Actions
Recent News from Amnesty International USA
Governor Kaine has vetoed all five bills passed by the 2009 Virginia General Assembly to expand the death penalty. We celebrate these actions in helping to prevent expanding the capital murder statute to include accomplices through the elimination of the “triggerman” rule and include the murder of fire marshals and auxiliary police officers.
However, our work to stop death penalty expansion efforts this year is not over. Those bills will now go back to the General Assembly where your legislators will vote to sustain or override these vetoes on April 8th. It is crucial that the Governor’s vetoes be sustained so that these dangerous and unnecessary expansions do not become law.
Please contact your Senator and Delegate today and ask them to oppose all death penalty expansions; to locate your legislators click here. Below you will find a letter that you can send to your representatives.
More, from Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
However, our work to stop death penalty expansion efforts this year is not over. Those bills will now go back to the General Assembly where your legislators will vote to sustain or override these vetoes on April 8th. It is crucial that the Governor’s vetoes be sustained so that these dangerous and unnecessary expansions do not become law.
Please contact your Senator and Delegate today and ask them to oppose all death penalty expansions; to locate your legislators click here. Below you will find a letter that you can send to your representatives.
More, from Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
END U.S.-SPONSORED TORTURE
Find Out What YOU Can Do
Film Screening of the Acclaimed Documentary
Torturing Democracy
Followed by a Discussion with the Producer
Thursday, April 2, 7:00-9:30p.m.
Doors Open at 6:45 for Light Refreshments
George Mason University, Arlington Campus
Original Building, Room 329
3401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington
Orange Line Metro: Virginia Square
Parking: On-Street or Clarendon Square Lot, 3033 Wilson Blvd.
(6 blocks east—free on weekday evenings)
Co-Sponsored By:
Amnesty International Arlington and Reston/Fairfax Local Groups
and GMU--Fairfax Student Group
Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture
Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union
For additional information, contact
Fran Bromberg (, 202-302-1903)
or
Gay Gardner (, 703-627-6482)
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Members of AIUSA Group 159 were among those packed into a crowded courtroom in Washington on October 7 to hear arguments on whether U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina could and should order 17 Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be released into the United States. Members of the local Uighur community and other concerned spectators anxiously awaited the outcome of this unprecedented case, which vividly illustrates virtually everything that's wrong with Guantanamo.
Uighurs are a much persecuted ethnic and religious (Muslim) minority in China. Because they are likely to face torture or execution in China, they cannot be returned to China. The 17 Uighurs in Guantanamo were captured in late 2001 after fleeing to Pakistan when their camp in Afghanistan -- where some of them acknowledge having received firearms training -- was destroyed in the U.S. bombing campaign. They were sold by Pakistani forces to the U.S. military and transferred to Guantanamo in 2002, where they have been subjected to sleep deprivation, threats, environmental manipulation, prolonged isolation, and other forms of ill-treatment. More recently, the government has conceded that none of the Uighurs pose a threat to the U.S.
The U.S. government has long been seeking without success to resettle the Uighurs in another country, although it did not officially reclassify most of them as "no longer enemy combatants" until the end of September 2008. In the October 7 hearing, the Justice Department seemed to be arguing in effect that, although the government conceded the Uighurs were not a security risk to the U.S., it is up to the President to control the borders, and only he can decide under U.S. immigration laws who is and is not admissible into the U.S.
The government's attorney stated at one point that, for a court to order release would be equivalent to a court ordering a foreign country to accept a detainee. Judge Urbina replied, "Do you really believe that?" and asked what the security risk to the U.S. would be if the Uighurs were allowed to live here. The Justice Department attorney replied that Congress has decided that people who receive the kind of military training the Uighurs received are inadmissible under the U.S. immigration laws because they're a security risk. Whether someone is an enemy combatant is a narrower question than whether that person is a security risk, according to the government.
In the end, Judge Urbina concluded that--
1 -- The Uighurs' detention has become effectively indefinite because the government can't provide a date by which it expects to release or transfer them.
2 -- It is reasonable to assume the Uighurs won't return to the battlefield.
3 -- The government has proposed no alternative to releasing them, only its authority to indefinitely detain them while "winding up" their cases.
4 -- The government has stymied its own efforts to transfer the Uighurs by insisting until recently that they were enemy combatants.
The judge reasoned that, because indefinite detention is unlawful and the government has pressented no alternative remedy, the immigration laws do not apply and the Uighurs must be released into the local Uighur community. In issuing his dramatic ruling (which was greated by scattered applause in the courtroom), Judge Urbina ordered the Uighurs to be brought to his courtroom a few days later. When the government's attorney said they might be taken into custody upon entering the U.S. mainland, Judge Urbina admonished that he did not want the Uighurs to be "molested" by the government.
However, that was not to be the last word. The government subsequently asked the Federal appeals court to stay Judge Urbina's order to give the government time to appeal. The appeals court granted the request for a stay, and oral arguments on the appeal are scheduled for November 24.
Uighurs are a much persecuted ethnic and religious (Muslim) minority in China. Because they are likely to face torture or execution in China, they cannot be returned to China. The 17 Uighurs in Guantanamo were captured in late 2001 after fleeing to Pakistan when their camp in Afghanistan -- where some of them acknowledge having received firearms training -- was destroyed in the U.S. bombing campaign. They were sold by Pakistani forces to the U.S. military and transferred to Guantanamo in 2002, where they have been subjected to sleep deprivation, threats, environmental manipulation, prolonged isolation, and other forms of ill-treatment. More recently, the government has conceded that none of the Uighurs pose a threat to the U.S.
The U.S. government has long been seeking without success to resettle the Uighurs in another country, although it did not officially reclassify most of them as "no longer enemy combatants" until the end of September 2008. In the October 7 hearing, the Justice Department seemed to be arguing in effect that, although the government conceded the Uighurs were not a security risk to the U.S., it is up to the President to control the borders, and only he can decide under U.S. immigration laws who is and is not admissible into the U.S.
The government's attorney stated at one point that, for a court to order release would be equivalent to a court ordering a foreign country to accept a detainee. Judge Urbina replied, "Do you really believe that?" and asked what the security risk to the U.S. would be if the Uighurs were allowed to live here. The Justice Department attorney replied that Congress has decided that people who receive the kind of military training the Uighurs received are inadmissible under the U.S. immigration laws because they're a security risk. Whether someone is an enemy combatant is a narrower question than whether that person is a security risk, according to the government.
In the end, Judge Urbina concluded that--
1 -- The Uighurs' detention has become effectively indefinite because the government can't provide a date by which it expects to release or transfer them.
2 -- It is reasonable to assume the Uighurs won't return to the battlefield.
3 -- The government has proposed no alternative to releasing them, only its authority to indefinitely detain them while "winding up" their cases.
4 -- The government has stymied its own efforts to transfer the Uighurs by insisting until recently that they were enemy combatants.
The judge reasoned that, because indefinite detention is unlawful and the government has pressented no alternative remedy, the immigration laws do not apply and the Uighurs must be released into the local Uighur community. In issuing his dramatic ruling (which was greated by scattered applause in the courtroom), Judge Urbina ordered the Uighurs to be brought to his courtroom a few days later. When the government's attorney said they might be taken into custody upon entering the U.S. mainland, Judge Urbina admonished that he did not want the Uighurs to be "molested" by the government.
However, that was not to be the last word. The government subsequently asked the Federal appeals court to stay Judge Urbina's order to give the government time to appeal. The appeals court granted the request for a stay, and oral arguments on the appeal are scheduled for November 24.
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Saturday, October 25, 2008
There is a great opportunity to express your opposition to torture on Wednesday, November 12, at 11:30 am and urge the next President to take action. People from various faith communities and other torture opponents will be gathering at the United Church at 20th and G Streets, N.W., in support of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture's (NRCAT's) Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order on Torture and Prisoner Treatment. From there they will walk to the White House, where various religious leaders will offer brief remarks. The Declaration of Principles -- originally proposed by NRCAT, the Center for Victims of Torture, and Evangelicals for Human Rights -- is also strongly supported by Amnesty International. AI members are joining in a petition drive to secure as many endorsements of the Declaration as possible before presenting the Declaration to the new President-elect. The November 12 gathering coincides with meetings around the country with members of Congress, in which they will be asked by constituents to endorse the Declaration and urge the next President to issue an Executive order incorporating the six principles. To view the text of the Declaration and to endorse it on line, go to www.nrcat.org . If you have questions about the event, contact Gay Gardner at gaygardner@msn.com.
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Saturday, October 25, 2008
We need your help to put the pressure on Washington to close the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility and to bring individuals responsible for crimes to account and ensure that they are given fair trials and punished accordingly. During the week of June 30, hundreds of Amnesty International members and supporters will visit Congressional offices to press for action.
You can help Amnesty International as it seeks to bring those responsible for crimes to account and ensure that they are given a fair trial and punished accordingly. By meeting with U.S. Representatives and Senators who are both very supportive of closing Guantánamo, and those who might have different views, we will raise the chorus of individuals working for closure of the facility, and we will ensure that the facility is closed in the proper manner and we will also quell those voices who would have the human rights abuses persist.
You can sign up to join one (or more) of these lobbying delegations. Virginia voters can also get more information from Legislative Coordinator Howard Schreier (; 703-979-2720).
You can help Amnesty International as it seeks to bring those responsible for crimes to account and ensure that they are given a fair trial and punished accordingly. By meeting with U.S. Representatives and Senators who are both very supportive of closing Guantánamo, and those who might have different views, we will raise the chorus of individuals working for closure of the facility, and we will ensure that the facility is closed in the proper manner and we will also quell those voices who would have the human rights abuses persist.
You can sign up to join one (or more) of these lobbying delegations. Virginia voters can also get more information from Legislative Coordinator Howard Schreier (; 703-979-2720).
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
One way to advance the cause of human rights is to ask your Members of Congress to support those bills, resolutions, etc. which address threats to and abuses of those rights.
See the VirginiaUS Policy and Legislation Guide. If you are not a Virginia resident see the Government Action Network home page.
See the VirginiaUS Policy and Legislation Guide. If you are not a Virginia resident see the Government Action Network home page.
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Saturday, January 01, 2000
Amnesty International USA Group 159 Newsletter
Saturday, January 01, 2000
Information (about the
group, and Amnesty links)
