Amnesty International Group 22 Pasadena/Caltech News
Volume XXIV Number 1, January 2016
UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday, January 28, 8:00 PM. Monthly
Meeting. We meet at the Caltech Y, Tyson
House, 505 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena. (This is
just south of the corner with San Pasqual.
Signs will be posted.) We will be planning our
activities for the coming months. Please join
us! Refreshments provided.
Tuesday, February 9, 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, February 21, 6:30 PM. Rights
Readers Human Rights Book Discussion group.
This month we read "The Moor's Account"
by Laila Lalami.
COORDINATOR'S CORNER
Hi
Happy New Year to all! I can't believe it's
2016 already...
I'm glad to see that we're starting to get
more rain to ease the drought.
As the area near Vroman's Bookstore
becomes gentrified, we're sad to see the
Mexican restaurant "La Fiesta Grande"
relocate to South Pasadena. We usually go out
to eat after the book group, alternating with
"El Portal". (BTW, all are welcome to join us
for the book group and/or meet for dinner
afterwards, usually around 8 pm).
Amnesty's Annual General Meeting (AGM)
will be held in Miami April 1-3 2016. Click on
this link to register and to see a preliminary
agenda:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/human-
rights-conference-2016
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 February 21, 6:30 PM
Vroman's Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena
The Moor's Account
by Laila Lalami
BOOK REVIEW
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15th, 2014
Assured, lyrical imagining of the life of one of
the first African slaves in the New World-a
native, like Lalami (Secret Son, 2009, etc.), of
Morocco and, like her, a gifted storyteller.
The Spanish called him Estebanico, a name
bestowed on him after he was purchased from
Portuguese traders. That datum comes several
pages after he proudly announces his true name,
"Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam al-
Zamori," and after he allows that some of the
stories he is about to tell may or may not be
quite true owing to the vagaries of memory
and-well, the unlikelihood of the events he
describes. The overarching event of this kind is,
of course, the shipwreck that leaves him, with a
body of Spanish explorers whose number will
eventually be whittled down to three, to walk
across much of what is now the American
Southwest. Led by çlvar Nœ–ez Cabeza de
Vaca, "my rival storyteller," the quartet
encounters wondrous things and people: cities
of mud brick, maidens draped with turquoise,
abundant "skins, amulets, feathers, copper
bells," and always the promise of gold just
beyond the horizon. They provide wonders in
return: Estebanico is a source of exotic
entertainment ("It was harmless fun to them,
but to me it quickly grew tiresome"), while his
fellow traveler AndrŽs Dorantes de Carranza
sets broken bones and heals the sick. Lalami
extends the stories delivered by Cabeza de Vaca
himself in his Naufragios, which has been
rendered in several English-language editions
(e.g., We Came Naked and Barefoot; Adventures in
the Unknown Interior of America; Castaways), but
hers is certainly the most extensive telling of the
tale from "the Moor's" point of view. As elusive
as gold, she tells us, is the promise of freedom
for Estebanico, who provides the very definition
of long-suffering. She has great fun, too, with
the possibilities of a great historical mystery-
namely, whatever became of him?
Adding a new spin to a familiar story, Lalami
offers an utterly believable, entertainingly told
alternative to the historical record. A delight.
AUTHOR BIO
Laila Lalami is the author of the novels Hope and
Other Dangerous Pursuits, which was a finalist
for the Oregon Book Award; Secret Son, which
was on the Orange Prize longlist, and The Moor's
Account, which won the American Book Award,
the Arab American Book Award, the
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and was on the
Man Booker Prize longlist. The Moor's Account
was also a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction. Her essays and opinion pieces have
appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the
Washington Post, The Nation, the Guardian, the
New York Times, and in many anthologies. She is
the recipient of a British Council Fellowship, a
Fulbright Fellowship, and a Lannan Foundation
Residency Fellowship and is currently a
professor of creative writing at the University of
California at Riverside.
PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE
Narges Mohammadi
By Alexi Daher
Update on Narges Mohammadi
Since our group adopted Narges Mohammadi
last summer, an Individual-at-Risk from Iran,
we've written letters on her behalf during our
monthly letter-writing meetings and we've been
seeking opportunities to get petitions signed
whenever possible. We've been very fortunate
to have Elise Auerbach as our co-group
specialist on Iran. She's been great in providing
updated information. Lately she proposed that
we include, in conjunction to our work for
Narges, actions pertaining to the causes Narges
fought for in Iran. If you recall Narges was
imprisoned for her fight for human and
women's rights. She also was very outspoken in
her opposition to the death penalty of juvenile
offenders. So, when our group adopts issues
Narges spoke fiercely against, we continue her
legacy in solidarity.
As we entered the New Year 2016, our group
made a wonderful Amnesty connection with the
International Narges Network, thanks to Jean
Christophe, in Belgium. Narges' International
Network includes Amnesty groups in Austria,
Denmark, Norway, France, Sweden, UK, Group
139 in the US and now us! Isn't this exciting?
The idea is for groups to share with one another
their work on Narges' case, seek help in
translation when needed, and work on actions
together.
From Jean Christophe (Amnesty Belgium)
In December 2015, Taghi Rahmani (Narges's
husband, exiled in Paris with their twin
children) spoke at a conference. In an email
received on Jan. 14, 2016, Jean-Christophe
reported that the scheduled December trial for
Narges did not happen and no new date has
been set. This is reason for hope, as Narges was
expected to face severe charges which would
have been very difficult to change. In prison
Narges does not regularly receive the
medications she needs. This lack of medical
support might be considered as a case in itself to
request that Narges be released.
At this time, Jean-Christophe's group is working
on getting an appointment with Federica
Mogherini, High Representative of the
European Union For Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy and vice-president of the
European Commission, to urge her to speak to
the Iranian authorities in favor of Narges.
Upcoming Events and Proposals
Three main projects, short and long term, have
been proposed to the Network. Participating
groups in projects 2 and/or 3 will inform the
network. Our group will vote on project
participation as well during our monthly
meeting.
1. For the short term: Letter Writing
* Date: January 2016, on-going
* What: Write letters deliberately
focusing on Narges being denied
the medical support.
2. Upcoming Iranian New Year, Nowruz
(Proposed by Jean-Christophe)
* Date: on or around March 21 2016
* What: Take Group Pictures
during monthly meeting, add 1
or 2 lines sentence. Jean
Christophe will collect the group
pictures and notes. Pictures will
be addressed to Narges herself.
He will insure it gets to her.
Nowruz Action 2
* Date: During Letter-Writing
meeting, March 21 2016
* What: Generate cards to POCs in
Iran and their families through
the Nowruz action every year.
Nowruz Action 3 (proposed by
me)
* Date: March 2016
* Location: TBD
* What: Amnesty International's
Iran Action Circle in Pasadena.
Celebrate to mark the Iranian
New Year. Guests treated to
delicious Iranian food,
refreshments, awareness raising
presentations and more. Share
the festive spirit of Nowruz,
welcome the spring, and
remember to take action on the
grave human rights abuses going
on in Iran.
3. Long Term Project: A Vigil for Narges
(Proposed by me)
* Date: Thursday April 21, on
Narges' Birthday
* What: Vigil and Action towards
media in collaboration with other
groups. We will discuss a plan of
action during our monthly
meeting and propose to the
Network.
Group 22 Legislative Efforts
I invite our group members to participate in
lobbying our elected officials this year.
Legislative efforts include establishing contact
and meeting with our Congresswoman Judy
Chu. Members interested in getting involved in
legislative work please let me know.
I look forward to keeping you abreast with work
our group will be doing with the International
Narges Network. We are onto a great start!
DEATH PENALTY NEWS
By Stevi Carroll
"Capital punishment has not, in a single state,
proven to be a deterrent to capital crime. ... Society
consists of human beings who make mistakes. There
are those who are, occasionally, negligent, and some
who are even dishonest or unethical. We are faced
with the troubling fact that if we, as a society, err in a
capital case, the sentence is irreversible."
From The Denver Post: Pete Lister- retired
corrections officer and military veteran
We're Off To The Races
You might be one of those lucky people who did
know how much the Powerball was worth and
somehow do not know who The Donald, Cruz,
Rubio (and the rest of the Rep gang), Hillary,
and Bernie are, but I doubt it.
Here in the Golden State we may be faced with
dueling ballot measures to allow the good
people of California to let the rest of the world
know what we believe about the State killing of
people. One would lessen the time between
conviction and execution by shortening the
appeals process. The other would abolish the
death penalty.
Once again, Mike Farrell and Death Penalty
Focus with the help of other organizations, like
Amnesty International, are going to attempt to
have the Department of Corrections move from
the death penalty to life without possibility of
parole and thus abolish the death penalty.
I've been in the 'I'm moving, now I'm on a trip,
oh yeah, the holidays are here again, and now
I'm back to work and the gym' mode for the
past couple of months. By February, I am
hopeful we will know how we can walk our
abolition talk.
What's The Reward For Lost Years Behind
Bars?
The coffers of LA are twenty-four million dollars
lighter. Kash Delano Register spent 34 years in
prison for a murder he didn't commit. His cash
reward: $16.7 million. Bruce Lisker was a 'guest
of the State' for 26 years. His award: $7.6
million. Both believe the detectives in their cases
"ignored evidence of their innocence and
fabricated evidence of their guilt."
While Mr. Register and Mr. Lisker cannot get
their decades spent in prison back, and the real
murderers in these cases have been free and
among us, the LA city lawyers are worried
about the police misconduct allegations that
may come from this case. According to an article
in the LA Times, "taking the cases to trial could
be even more financially devastating."
To read more on this story, go to
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-
ln-wrongful-convictions-20160119-story.html.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and I got to share this
beautiful planet for a little over 20 years, and for
this, I am forever grateful. As hard as it might
be for anyone to remember, MLK talked about
more than his 'Dream'. The March on
Washington August 18, 1963, was called The
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Dr.
King understood the impact of inequality not
only for drinking fountains, the vote, and
education but also for employment - social
justice as well as racial justice.
We forget that June 4, 1967, Dr. King gave his
Beyond Vietnam speech in which he shone the
spotlight of injustice on the Vietnam War. He
knew We must learn to live together as brothers or
perish together as fools. I often wonder what our
national racial and class attitudes would be
today if Dr. King had not been shot to death.
And I am confident he would have worked for
the abolition of the death penalty in the United
States, and around the world.
... "in his sermon 'Loving Your Enemies,' Dr.
King preached a philosophy that had no room
for capital retribution: 'Returning hate for hate
multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a
night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot
drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate
cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies
violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in
a descending spiral of destruction.'" (from Death
Penalty Information)
Exonerations
Note: As you read the exonerations, please hold
in mind Cameron Todd Willingham, executed
February 17, 2004. He, like Amaury Villalobos,
William Vasquez, and Raymond Mora, Han Tak
Lee, and Davey Reedy, was very likely innocent.
Donovan Allen
State: WA
Date of Exoneration: 12/1/2015
In 2002, Donovan Allen was sentenced to life in
prison without parole for the murder of his
mother in Longview, Washington. Allen was
exonerated in 2015 after DNA tests implicated
the victim's nephew as the killer.
Floyd Bledsoe
State: KS
Date of Exoneration: 12/8/2015
Floyd Bledsoe was sentenced to life in prison in
2000 in Jefferson County, Kansas for the sexual
assault and murder of his 14-year-old sister-in-
law. He was exonerated in 2015 when DNA
testing linked his brother to the crime.
Amaury Villalobos
State: NY
Date of Exoneration: 12/16/2015
Amaury Villalobos (left), William Vasquez and
Raymond Mora were sentenced to 25 years to
life for setting a fire that killed a mother and her
five children in Brooklyn in 1980. In 2015, they
were exonerated (Mora posthumously) after the
fire was shown to have been an accident and a
witness who identified them recanted.
Han Tak Lee
State: PA
Date of Exoneration: 12/17/2015
Han Tak Lee was sentenced to life in prison
without parole for setting a fire that killed his
daughter in Pennsylvania in 1989. He was
exonerated in 2015 after fire expert John Lentini
demonstrated that forensic evidence did not
support the theory that the fire was intentionally
set.
Marvin Roberts
State: AK
Date of Exoneration: 12/18/2015
Marvin Roberts (left), Kevin Pease, George Frese
and Eugene Vent, who became known as the
Fairbanks Four, were convicted and sentenced
to decades in prison for a 1997 murder in
Fairbanks, Alaska. They were exonerated in
2015 after the real killers were identified.
Davey Reedy
State: VA
Date of Exoneration: 12/22/2015
In 1989, Davey Reedy was sentenced to life in
prison for setting a fire that killed his two
children in Roanoke, Virginia. Reedy was
pardoned in 2015 after advances in fire science
established that the forensic evidence on which
his conviction was based did not suggest arson.
(source: The National Registry of Exonerations -
http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration
" When we, society, wrongfully convict someone,
whether through malfeasance or neglect, or whether
the technology extant at time of trial was insufficient
to prove innocence, then we, society, have a
responsibility to release him, to publicly acknowledge
the error, and allow that citizen to move past the
horror that we, society, have inflicted. How do we do
that after we've put him to death?"
from The Denver Post: Pete Lister- retired
corrections officer and military veteran
Stays of Execution*
January
14 Jason McGehee~ AR
14 Kenneth Williams~ AR
19 Gerald Watkins PA
21 Ronald Phillips ^^ OH
21 Jeffery Wogenstahl^ OH
22 Andre Station PA
Executions
December 2015
9 Brian Keith Terrell GA
Lethal Injection: 1-drug (pentobarbital)
January 2016
7 Oscar Ray Bolin Jr FL Lethal
Injection: 3-drug (midazolam)
20 Richard Masterson TX
Lethal Injection: 1-drug (pentobarbital)
21 Christopher Brooks AL
Lethal Injection: 3-drug (midazolam)
~ On October 8, the Arkansas Circuit Court
granted a temporary restraining order staying
all eight scheduled executions so that already
pending judicial review of the state's execution
procedures could take place.
^^ On October 19, 2015 the Ohio Department of
Corrections issued a statement that Gov. Kasich
granted reprieves postponing all executions that
the state had scheduled in 2016. Ohio has been
unable to obtain the execution drugs required to
conduct executions under state law. All
execution dates have been rescheduled by the
state.
^On January 30, 2015, the Ohio State
Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
announced that it would postpone all of the six
executions scheduled in 2015 to that point. All of
these executions would be scheduled in 2016 to
allow time for the state to obtain new drugs for
lethal injections. The new drugs that Ohio
announced it would be trying to obtain were
sodium thiopental and pentobarbital.
WRITE FOR RIGHTS (DECEMBER )
GROUP 22 LETTER COUNT
Girls Forced into Marriage
BURKINO FASO 8
Fred and Yves
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 8
Teodora del Carmen Vasquez
EL SALVADOR 8
Costas
GREECE 7
Saman Naseem
IRAN 8
Zunar
MALAYSIA 9
Yecenia Armenta
MEXICO 11
Phyoe Phyoe Aung
MYANMAR 9
Waleed Abu Al-Khair
SAUDI ARABIA 7
Rania Alabbasi and Her Children
SYRIA 9
Albert Woodfox
USA 12
Muhammad Bekzhanov
UZBEKISTAN 9
TOTAL 105
GROUP 22 JANUARY LETTER COUNT
UAs (IRAN) 11
UA (DP USA) 5
Other UAs 18
Total 34
To add your letters to the total contact
aigp22@caltech.edu
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.