Amnesty International Group 22 Pasadena/Caltech News
Volume XX Number 2, February 2012
UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, February 23 7:30 PM. Monthly
Meeting. Note new location - Tyson House,
505 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena. (This is south
of the corner with San Pasqual, next to the
Credit Union, set back from the street. We will
post a sign.) We will be planning our activities
for the coming months. Please join us!
Refreshments provided.
Tuesday, March 13, 7:30 PM. Letter writing
meeting at Caltech Athenaeum, corner of Hill
and California in Pasadena. This informal
gathering is a great way for newcomers to get
acquainted with Amnesty!
Sunday, March 18, 6:30 PM. Rights Readers
Human Rights Book Discussion group. This
month we read "A Woman Among Warlords"
by Malalai Joya.
COORDINATOR'S CORNER
Hi everyone
I'm enjoying a quiet day of respite from the
craziness of work today as it is the President's
Day holiday, catching up on household tasks
and errands, but also reading a good mystery
novel by a local writer, Diane Emley, about the
Pasadena PD.
Be sure to read Joyce's column on the
congressional hearing on the case of our POC,
Gao Zhisheng and click on the link in her
column to watch the live webcast. Also, Group
22 member Wen Chen and family took part in a
protest at the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate
against the persecution of Falun Gong members
in China. We applaud their dedication and
hope the persecution ends soon.
Con carino,
Kathy
RIGHTS READERS
Human Rights Book Discussion Group
Keep up with Rights Readers at
http://rightsreaders.blogspot.com
Next Rights Readers meeting:
Sunday, March 18, 6:30 PM
Vroman's Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Boulevard
In Pasadena
Author Bio
Malalai Joya, at only 30 years of age, has been
called "the most famous woman in Afghanistan"
and compared to democratic leaders such as
Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi. Born in
Afghanistan's remote Farah Province, she grew
up in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan before
returning to Afghanistan as a social activist and
a teacher at underground girls' schools during
the Taliban's reign. In 2003 she was elected to
Afghanistan's constitutional assembly and, two
years later, was the youngest person elected to
Afghanistan's new Parliament, a post from
which she was suspended in 2007 for her
regular denunciation of the country's warlords
and their cronies in government.
Book Reviews
Kirkus Reviews write about Joya's book: "A
chilling, vital memoir that reveals hidden truths
about Afghanistan and directly addresses the
misguided policies of the United States."
Library Journal writes: "This book will interest
those who seek stories of real-life heroines
risking death every day for their nation."
Publishers Weekly writes: "Joya was outspoken
in condemning these warlords she called
"criminals" and "antiwomen," enduring the
shutting off of her microphone, assassination
threats and, finally, suspension from Parliament.
Joya is on a dangerous, eye-opening mission to
uncover truth and expose the abuse of power in
Afghanistan, and her book will work powerfully
in her favor."
Noam Chomsky writes: "Perhaps the most
remarkable feature of this inspiring memoir is
that despite the horrors she relates, Malalai Joya
leaves us with hope that the tormented people
of Afghanistan can take their fate into their own
hands if they are released from the grip of
foreign powers, and that they can reconstruct a
decent society from the wreckage left by
decades of intervention and the merciless rule of
the Taliban and the warlords who the invaders
have imposed upon them."
The Independent Weekly: "Raising My Voice is
an inspiring story of courage and Malalai Joya's
struggle against oppressive regimes, given that
attempts have been made on her life and more
are imminent, and her public defiance of male
politicians is most impressive. She makes the
case very clearly that foreign aid is going to the
tribal warlords and not the people who
desperately need assistance."
PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE
Gao Zhisheng
By Joyce Wolf
The Congressional-Executive Commission on
China (CECC) held a hearing on Feb. 14 about
the case of Gao Zhisheng, Group 22's adopted
Prisoner of Conscience. I watched the live
webcast of the hearing.
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) is chairman of
the CECC. In his opening statement, he
mentioned that China's vice-president Xi
Jinping was at this very moment meeting with
President Obama. When last interviewed in
April 2010, Gao Zhisheng said his jailers taunted
him, "You must forget you are human!" Mr.
Smith concluded his summary of Gao's case,
"To Vice President Xi, we will not forget. We do
not know if Mr. Gao is alive or dead. In
solidarity with Mr. Gao and his family, we
know, however, that we are here to honor Mr.
Gao's accomplishments, his rights advocacy and
his image. We will not let those who hold him
kill Gao Zhisheng's legacy. We will not allow
these criminals to dispose of his significance.
And, we will not forget Mr. Gao's profound
humanity."
Four witnesses testified at the hearing: Geng He,
wife of Gao Zhisheng; Li Jing, wife of
imprisoned professor Guo Quan; Jared Genser,
legal counselor and founder of Freedom Now;
and Reverend Bob Fu of China Aid. Their
statements, as well as a recording of the live
webcast, are available at
http://www.cecc.gov/pages/hearings/general
/hearing4.
Geng He has been a tireless advocate for her
husband since she and their two children fled to
the U.S. in 2009. The Washington Post published
an excellent article by Dan Zak about the busy
schedule of Geng He and her team during Xi
Jinping's visit. One of the team's major
accomplishments was the personal delivery of a
letter to Xi Jinping from Speaker of the House
John Boehner about the plight of Gao Zhisheng.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/styl
e/a-world-away-from-china-geng-he-seeks-
justice-for-her-dissident-
husband/2012/02/08/gIQA2EGjIR_story.html
Amnesty's China country specialist suggests
that we mail cards of solidarity to Gao Zhisheng
in Shaya Prison. The address is:
Gao Zhisheng
P.O. Box 15, Sub-box 16
Shaya County 842208
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
People's Republic of China
Postage is now $1.05.
FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS IN LOS
ANGELES ASKED FUTURE LEADER OF
CHINA TO STOP THE PERSECUTION
by Wen Chen
China's vice President Xi Jinping, amidst
domestic turmoil triggered by Chongqing Police
Chief Wang Lijun's unsuccessful defection to the
US consulate over high-level power struggle,
visited the U.S. Feb. 14-17. The last two days of
his visit was spent in Los Angeles. Xi's arrival
was a rare opportunity for persecuted groups
like Falun Gong to raise his attention to and call
for an end to the 13-year-long brutality.
My family and I, together with another ~70
Falun Gong practitioners, joined a public rally
and press conference in front of the Chinese
consulate in Los Angeles on Feb 15. Braving the
rain, we held banners for two hours. Victims of
the persecution and supporters of Falun Gong
spoke through microphones and accepted
interviews from mainstream media including
the Associate Press, Radio Freedom Asia, Voice
of America and KPCC.
Professor Yingnian Wu from UCLA, the
spokesperson for the local Falun Gong
practitioners, said: "[Falun Gong] is a spiritual
meditation practice. The main excuse of the
Communist regime for the persecution is that
there's so many people, tens of millions of
people, practicing Falun Gong. The regime
feels threatened."
Falun Gong is a body and mind exercise based
on the principle of Truth-Compassion-
Tolerance. Since it was introduced to public in
1992, the exercise attracted more than 100
million Chinese people because of its health
benefits and improvement of morality. The
Chinese Communist Party started the
crackdown towards Falun Gong in July 1999.
While there is no official ban, Chinese police
rounded up Falun Gong practitioners through
"financial incentives" and forced them into
prison camps and "brainwashing classes.". If
they refuse to denounce their beliefs, they will
be tortured to death. In the past 12 years, the
communist party detained millions of
practitioners and killed thousands of them.
More than 3,500 people have been confirmed
killed by Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
police.
The demonstration came just one day before
China's next leader, Xi Jingping, was going to
visit L.A. as part of his United States tour. We
asked Xi Jinping to immediately stop the
persecution of Falun Gong, to conduct a
thorough investigation of the Chinese officials
responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners, and to bring to justice the main
culprits, including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu
Jing and Zhou Yongkang, etc.
"The Communist regime is a criminal gang. Why
should I have any expectations for a criminal
gang?" said Wu. "But, of course, as a person, Xi
Jingping, I don't treat him like a gang member. If
I treat him as a person then I hope he has a
conscience and I hope he follows his conscience
to do something that a person, a human being,
should do."
The future chosen leader of Communist China,
Xi Jinping, arrived in Washington on Feb. 13
and will be visiting Los Angeles on Feb. 16 and
17. Xi is on course to become secretary of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this fall at the
18th Party Congress, replacing top leader Hu
Jintao. Just a week ago, Wang Lijun, the deputy
mayor and the head of the Public Security
Bureau of Chongqing, went to the U.S.
Consulate in Chengdu, might be requesting
political asylum due to the internal power
struggle within the Chinese Communist Party.
The U.S. Department of State has verified this
daylong visit and said Wang left on his own
volition. It was reported by various media of
both Chinese and other languages, that Wang
had a long talk with the staff in the U.S.
Consulate and revealed much confidential
information within the CCP. He also submitted
some undisclosed paperwork. When Wang was
the Police Chief in Jinzhou City, Liaoning
Province, at least 500 Falun Gong practitioners
were detained, 71 were persecuted to death, and
30 were disabled.
Falun Gong practitioners, who have been
persecuted for twelve years by the Chinese
Communist regime, would like to make two
requests:
- First, we hope the U.S. government to
disclose the contents of the conversation
between Wang and U.S. Consulate that is
relevant to Falun Gong.
- Second, we ask China's next leader, Xi
Jinping to immediately stop the
persecution of Falun Gong, to conduct a
thorough investigation of the Chinese
officials responsible for the persecution
of Falun Gong practitioners, and to bring
to justice the main culprits, including
Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Zhou Yongkang,
etc.
As Governor Brown and Mayor Villaraigosa
meet with Xi, we would like them to be aware of
the Communist regime's 12-year-long
persecution of millions of innocent Falun Gong
practitioners and help stop the persecution
within their capacity, including raising this issue
to Xi. The persecution is a severe crime against
humanity and affects many US citizens and
residents.
DEATH PENALTY NEWS
By Stevi Carroll
SAFE California Campaign
I am writing this column on the day signatures
for the SAFE California Campaign to get the
death penalty on the November 2012 ballot are
due. The campaign has collected around
750,000 signatures thus giving the needed
safeguard to reach the 500,000 verifiable
signatures. Now the work begins.
At a January SAFE CA meeting, we discussed
what will happen next. The forces against the
initiative include the Criminal Justice Legal
Foundation, Crime Victims United, the
California District Attorneys Association, and
the California Correctional Peace Officers
Association (prison guards union). This attack
will be well funded and needs to be deflected.
In the SAFE CA campaign corner, we have
Amnesty International, ACLU, Death Penalty
Focus, the Episcopal Bishops of the Diocese of
Los Angeles, and the California Catholic
Bishops (to read the Catholic bishops statement,
go to
http://www.safecalifornia.org/downloads/201
2.01.12-ca-bishops-endorse.pdf).
And we have the Briggs Initiative revisited.
February 12, 2012, Ron Briggs, son of former
state Sen. John Briggs, had an op-ed about the
death penalty in the LA Times. On November 7,
1978, California voters passed the Briggs
Initiative, named for Sen. Briggs, which
reinstated the death penalty in California. At
that time, Ron Briggs, his father Sen. Briggs, and
others believed that the death penalty would
bring justice to California.
While he says he remains a staunch Republican
conservative, his and his other family members'
beliefs about the death penalty have changed.
"We'd thought we would bring California
savings and safety in dealing with convicted
murderers. Instead, we contributed to a
nightmarish system that coddles murderers and
enriches lawyers." They thought that victims
would get justice and be able to go forward with
their lives. The reality is that the appeals
process forces victims' families to revisit the
crimes. Ron Briggs is now a county supervisor
in El Dorado County and has seen the results of
the present death penalty process.
Mr. Briggs writes, "If the murderer had been
sentenced to life in prison without the
possibility of parole rather than to death, the
long cycle of appeals could have been avoided."
He has come to the conclusion that the Briggs
death penalty law does now work. He says,
"Had I known then what we do today, I would
have pushed for strong life sentences without
the possibility of parole."
The closing of the op-ed is particularly
important for Amnesty International and our
involvement in the SAFE CA campaign:
"The Briggs family has decided to endorse the
SAFE California campaign, a fall 2012 ballot
initiative that would replace the death penalty
with a punishment of life without the possibility
of parole. The state has another chance at real
justice. We should embrace it."
The article can be found at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-
briggs-death-penalty-
20120212,0,6495041.story?track=rss
To hear an interview with Ron Briggs on the
Madeleine Brand Show, go to
http://www.scpr.org/programs/madeleine-
brand/2012/02/14/22525/safe-california-
intitative-seeks-shift-on-death-penalty
For now, something each of us can do to help
the SAFE California campaign is give money.
Donations can be mailed to
SAFE California Campaign
237 Kearny Street, #334
San Francisco, CA 94108
or you can go online
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1265/p
/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_pag
e_KEY=8141.
As I know more avenues we can walk the walk
with this campaign, I will let you know. You
can also go to the SAFE California Facebook
page or to the campaign's website:
http://www.safecalifornia.org/home.
Reggie Clemons
At our February letter writing, Elizabeth asked
about Reggie Clemons. I was at a loss for the
details of his case. The following is from the
Amnesty International USA website. The link is
to an informative video about Reggie's case. It's
well worth the watch.
FEBRUARY 1, 2012
Why Missouri should NOT execute Reggie Clemons
Reggie Clemons was sentenced to death in St.
Louis as an accomplice to a 1991 murder. There
was no physical evidence and since allegations
have arisen of police coercion, prosecutorial
misconduct, and a "stacked" jury in the Clemons
case. Despite so many lingering questions,
Missouri is still planning to execute Reggie
Clemons.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/multimedi
a/why-missouri-should-not-execute-reggie-
clemons
Good News: Joe D'Ambrosio
Also in January Joe D'Ambrosio became the
140th person on death row to be exonerated.
Mr. D'Ambrosio was imprisoned for over 20
years. To read an article and see a video about
this case, go to
http://www.cleveland.com/brett/blog/index.s
sf/2012/01/joe_dambrosio_finally_free_spe.html.
Executions Stayed
January
31 Nicholas Tate Georgia
February
1 Donald Newbury Texas
16 Gary Allen Oklahoma
22 Michael Webb Ohio
Executions
January
26 Rodrigo Hernandez Texas Lethal Injection
(pentobarbital)
February
8 Edwin Turner Mississippi Lethal Injection
(pentobarbital)
15 Robert Waterhouse Florida
Clemency Granted
January
20 Robert Gattis Delaware
GROUP 22 MONTHLY LETTER COUNT
UAs 17
POC 8
Total 25
To add your letters to the total contact
lwkamp@gmail.com.
Amnesty International Group 22
The Caltech Y
Mail Code C1-128
Pasadena, CA 91125
www.its.caltech.edu/~aigp22/
http://rightsreaders.blogspot.com
Amnesty International's mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and
ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and
expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all
human rights.